Alexandria

Rick had been walking around the walls all morning, checking for weak spots and thinking of a lot of things he wanted to do to make the place more secure that he probably was not going to be allowed to do. He walked back towards the house, skirting what was left of the giant dirt pile. RickyJo's horse trotted over, sniffing at the pockets on the front of his shirt. Finding that he had nothing to offer, the horse went back to nibbling at the grass in Aaron's yard. As Rick approached, he saw Merle, Eugene and Noah were sitting on the front porch. That was a strange assortment of people if he ever saw one. He knew right away that something was going on. As he started up the steps, Eugene spoke up.

"You can't go in there right now," he informed Rick. Rick threw the men a questioning glance. What did they mean he couldn't go in there. This was his house. Was someone cleaning the floors or what?

"All the girls are in there," Noah announced, like it was a big secret, "They are having a meeting."

"A meeting?," Rick asked, "About what?"

"Shut thafuck up," Merle hissed at everyone, "I am trying to listen." Once he said that, Rick noticed the man had positioned himself near the window and was cocking his head slightly to one side. "Even that old broad is in there, the one that likes to pretend she runs the place," Merle added. Carl appeared from around the side of the house.

"Could see them," Carl said, "But I couldn't hear anything." He had climbed up on a garbage can so he could look in the side window.

"What were they doing?," Noah asked.

"Just sitting around talking," Carl answered. Merle glared at them both.

"Shut up," he said for what he felt like was about the thousandth time in a row. Rick walked up on the porch and took a seat in the chair on the other side of the window. Then he leaned in and tried to see if he could hear anything.

All the girls were settled down now, drinking the iced tea that Carol and RickyJo had passed around. They had called the meeting, so it seemed polite to provide everyone with something to drink. RickyJo had been taken aback when Maggie had shown up with Deanna, but she guessed it was fair enough. She did say she wanted to meet with all the women. And Deanna was a woman. Now that she was here, RickyJo was interested to hear her opinion on the matter at hand. Besides Carol and RickyJo, Beth and Sammie had the most knowledge of what was going on, but that was mainly because they had the most contact with Jessie. RickyJo looked at Carol, who nodded at her to go ahead and start.

"Y'all see all the girls are here," RickyJo started. Then she waited for everyone to quiet down before she went on. "Everyone except Jessie," she said. "Thats because I wanted to talk to you about her. Carol? Why don't you tell them what you told me.," she suggested. Carol cleared her throat.

"I was baking cookies with Jessie's younger son," she started. This drew smirks from a few people, which Deanna noticed, but did not comment on. "He asked me for a gun so he could use it to protect his mother," Carol paused and let that sink in. Then she went on. "He said his mother put a lock on the inside of his closet door so he could hide in there from his father. The other night he heard yelling and then a thud. When he came out his mother was unconcious on the floor."

"Oh no," Deanna said. Most people looked shocked and upset. Beth and Sammie looked ready to cry. Michonne looked angry, but she always looked a little angry. But Deanna did not look shocked. RickyJo could tell by the look on the woman's face that she was not surprised at all to hear what Carol had just said.

"Did you already know about this?," RickyJo asked the woman. Deanna nodded. At least she had the decency to look ashamed.

"I hoped it would get better," Deanna admitted. RickyJo was not impressed. This woman was giving her a hard time about self defense training and she had been letting Pete beat the shit out of his wife and not done anything to stop it.

"Well its not getting any fucking better," RickyJo said to her, trying to control her tone.

"Its a private family matter," Deanna said. The truth was before Rick's group got here, Pete was the only person they had with any medical training and Deanna had not been willing to risk upsetting him or making him want to leave. He was a big guy too, one that not a lot of people would be willing to stand up to.

"Its not a private matter," Michonne said, "its an insult to every woman here." Most of the girls were nodding their heads now.

"Is this the kind of community you are trying to build?," Maggie asked Deanna, "One where woman have to live in fear of their own husbands?" She knew the woman better than the rest of the girls, having spent the most time with her. And she had really been disappointed to find out that Deanna knew about Pete and Jessie and had not done anything about it. The way all these women were looking at Deanna was making her feel terrible, and very ashamed.

"No its not," she said firmly. Maggie reached over and squeezed her hand reassuringly. Tara patted the woman gently on the back. Questioning Deanna's leadership was not what this meeting was about. RickyJo felt the same way. She had been a little upset when she found out Deanna had already known, but she also respected the woman for all the good things she had done for Alexandria.

"The question now," RickyJo said to Deanna, "Is what are we going to do about it?" If Deanna had not been in the room, Carol would have outright suggested that they just kill the man. Instead she kept quiet.

"Well," Sasha said, "He will have to move out and live somewhere else." A few people nodded. Rosita knew the man better than the rest of the girls, since she had been working in the informary with him. She knew people were thinking he had value since he was a doctor, but from what she had seen, he was not only an asshole, but a fall down drunk as well.

"He is not going to want to leave," Rosita said. Deanna noticed most of the women were looking at RickyJo, waiting for her to tell them what to do. She had gotten a hint of it the other day when the group was gearing up to go on the run, but now Deanna realized she had judged the dynamics of this group wrong. This is the woman she should have taken on as an advisor. There was an awkward moment where Deanna thought RickyJo was going to speak up and make a decision without consulting her. But RickyJo just crossed her legs, letting her one boot bounce slightly in the air. And she looked at Deanna, waiting for her response. In that moment she could have taken away most of the power that Deanna had. But she chose not to. Instead, she won Deanna's respect.

"We are not going to give him that option," Deanna said.

"If he doesn't go easy?," Tara asked. She hated the guy, but she still didn't want to see anyone get hurt. Now Deanna looked at RickyJo. Michonne had been watching them closely, and was very interested in the subtle communication going on between the two women. RickyJo waited until Deanna nodded at her. Then she smiled that little half smile that always scared Tara, but turned her on a little at the same time.

"Then he is going to find out how it feels to fight a woman that hits back."

Rick and Merle had heard most of what was going on. Merle didn't really care about that stupid dick doctor. If all the girls wanted to kick his ass, that was going to be some quality entertainment. RickyJo had been acting weird about that Jessie girl, and he was relieved to know it was only because she was worried about her and not because anything was going on between the two of them. Rick was irritated that no one had felt the need to inform him of what was going on.

"Jessie's husband is beating her?," he asked no one in particular. Merle looked at him like he was the biggest idiot on earth.

"She was over here hauling dirt in 90 degree weather in a long sleeve shirt," Merle informed him, like that should have explained everything. Really Merle had not known for sure until now, but he had guessed. Rick shrugged. He had not taken much notice of what the woman had been wearing. As long as the girls didn't have their tits out again, they could wear whatever they liked. Merle whacked at his leg with the metal thing he wore in his arm.

"What," Rick hissed, trying not to talk too loud.

"If all them bitches go over to beat some sense into that prick," Merle warned him, "You better keep your cop ass out of it."

"Yeah," Noah added, "they are probably all on their periods. Don't women get all crazy when that happens?"

"Don't know," Merle told the boy, "why dontcha go on in there and ask 'em." He gestured towards the door with his arm. Maybe they could beat up the fucking beanpole as a warm up. Even Rick had to hold back a little laughter at that. And for once he thought Merle was right. He was only going to get involved if it came down to kicking Pete out of the safe zone. For now he would let the girls handle this how they wanted.

And with that thought, the front door of the house opened with a whoosh. The guys were trying to act nonchalant. RickyJo deposited the baby into Merle's lap and headed down the steps. Guess that meant he was watching him for now. MJ clapped his hands and started trying to grab for Merle's arm sleeve. When that grew boring, he started pulling the front of Merle's shirt down.

"TeeTee," the boy demanded. Merle pushed his hands away.

"How many times I got to tell you, I ain't got nothing for ya in there kid?," Merle told his son. Noah wrinkled up his nose.

"What is he doing?," Noah asked. Rick laughed. He knew what the kid was doing, he tried to do it to anyone with breasts, and some people without. Beth refused to hold him for a week after the last time when he had reached down her shirt and grabbed her nipple so hard he left a bruise.

"He's hungry," Rick told Noah, "go inside and get the applesauce out of the fridge." Noah got up and ran inside, reappearring quickly so he wouldn't miss anything. Rick moved his chair closer and started spooning the sauce into MJ's mouth. The kid opened his mouth so wide, he reminded Rick of a baby bird. Then Rick turned to see what was going on across the street. The girls were over in Jessie's front yard now. RickyJo and Deanna were up knocking on the door.

RickyJo knocked again, harder this time. Jessie was usually out by this time, working on the gardens and it was making her nervous that all the blinds were closed. Finally Jessie opened the door a crack. Seeing RickyJo there, she swung it open wider. Then she noticed all the woman were out there. It creeped her out a little.

"Whats going on?," she asked.

"We need to speak to you," Deanna told her. Jessie nodded and opened the door all the way. To her relief, only Deanna and RickyJo came in. The other girls stayed outside. Pete had been drinking already, and she was hoping he had laid down and passed out. If he was asleep, she didn't want to wake him. RickyJo got in close to Jessie and put her arm around her. When she touched her on the back, Jessie winced.

"The reason why everyone is here," RickyJo told her, "Is because we care about you. And we know Pete is hitting you." She stopped to let Jessie digest that.

"I am sorry for not doing anything before," Deanna told her. And as she said it, she realized she really meant it. "But you don't have to put up with it anymore." Jessie was starting to tear up now. She was embarrassed and scared and grateful and also a little overwhelmed. Pete had convinced her that he was worth a lot to this town and no one gave a shit about her. RickyJo pulled Jessie into her arms and hugged her, being careful not to squeeze.

"Its over," she told the woman quietly, "we are not going to let him hurt you anymore."

"What's going on here," Pete asked from the kitchen doorway. His voice startled the women, especially Jessie. He looked at RickyJo with no small amount of annoyance. Taking a few steps towards her, he said, "I think its time for you to get out.." Deanna was looking back and forth between them, not sure what to do. RickyJo squared up and held her ground. She took Jessie's hand and squeezed it tight. Tell him Jessie. It has to come from you.

Jessie stammered a little at first, but then she spit it out. "No Pete," she said, "You are the one that needs to leave." Deanna was hoping he would just go, but she thought the worst he would do is yell and maybe swear at them. Instead he said nothing, just stared hatefully at his wife and the woman beside her. Then he closed the distance between them in a flash. Swinging his arm he slapped Jessie hard with the back of his hand, sending her flying into the wall. RickyJo moved to help her and he seized her hard by the hair and started dragging her towards the door. Deanna was screaming at him to let her go. She tried to grab his arm and he shoved her hard. She landed, hitting her head hard against the corner of the couch.

Pete opened the door, expecting to find an empty porch. Seeing all the women there gave him a shock. Before he could recover, Michonne ran at him, launching herself onto his back and grabbing his hair to yank his head back so she could wrap her other arm around his throat in a choke hold. In his attempt to shake her off, he let go of RickyJo, threads of her long hair still dangling from his hand. Rosita came running in, followed closely by Sasha. They got around behind him to avoid getting kicked by Michonne's legs, which were swinging wildly. Then they kicked his knees out, dropping him to the ground. Jessie was already getting up, so RickyJo went for Deanna, checking to see if she was okay. Then she dragged her away from the fight as carefully and quickly as she could. Jessie nodded that she had her.

Pete had fallen onto the floor, so Michonne let go and jumped back. He was getting up so she aimed and gave him a good hard kick in the balls. Then Rosita and Sasha grabbed him under each arm and dragged him out of the house and down the stairs, dumping him unceremoniously in the front lawn. The other girls were standing around, keeping out of grabbing range. With the feeling returning to his balls, his alcohol fueled anger was coming back as well. He was not going to be pushed around and thrown out of his own house by these little bitches. RickyJo came down off the porch. She could see he was getting up.

"Its over," she told him, "if you leave peacefully now, none of this ever happened."

"This is my house you fucking whore," he informed the woman. Sammie darted in behind him and punched him hard in the lower back. Pete make a woofing noise and put his hand to his back. Sammie smiled at him. Nobody talked to her friend that way. Carol tried to hide her grin. Sammie was a fiesty one. Pete grabbed at the girl, but she danced back out of his reach.

"Looks like you got kicked the fuck out of your house asshole," Sammie announced.

"Why don't you just leave?," Tara suggested.

"I will fucking kill you," Pete hollered at the girls. Beth picked up a clump of dirt that must have fallen from one of the wheelbarrows. She took careful aim and then launched it at the back of the man's head. It hit hard and exploded into the air like a halo of filth.

"I would like to see you try you sloppy ass drunk," Beth told him. Like an angry bull that had been repeatedly poked and taunted, Pete suddenly locked in on Beth like she was a red flag. He ran full force at the girl without warning, tackling her to the ground, where he started to choke her. Sammie and Tars descended on the man, hitting him and trying to pull him off. Sammie heard RickyJo yell move as she ran at them, kicking Pete full force in the ribs and sending him flying. Beth sat up, grabbing at her throat and coughing. Then there was water spraying at him. Carol had grabbed the house with the power nozzle from the side of the house and she was aiming it at his face and chest. Seeing that Beth was alright, now some of the girls were laughing.

Pete was backing up into the street, holding his arms up to try and keep the water from his face. Most of the girls were cheering Carol on now. Spray him good. Aim for the crotch. And thats when Rick tackled him. He had his gun out and he was hitting the man over and over again in the face. Carl ran over from the porch and tried to pull him off. Rick hit at the boy, knocking him backwards onto his ass. Deanna was out of the house now, holding onto Jessie's arm, and they were screaming for him to stop. RickyJo was yelling at him, enough, enough. Not only did he have his gun out, that no one was supposed to know about, but he was going to beat the man to death. The girls had only planned to rough him up a little, not to kill the guy for chrissake.

"I'm fine," Beth was yelling, "stop it Rick before you kill him." Then Michonne came out of nowhere and punched Rick as hard as she could, knocking him out cold.