Red River Blue
Chapter 11
Bringing her right leg forward, Harley planted her foot between her hands. She could feel the stretching burn down along the inside of her thigh on the opposite leg. She kept her breathing slow and even the way the other woman told her as she tried to copy her movements.
"What do you call this again?," Harley asked.
"It's yoga," Michonne told her, "we are doing a sun salutation." The woman brought her other foot forward and raised her butt up so she was standing but stretching down to touch her toes. Harley mimicked her movements, her curly ponytail falling forward into her face as she reached down to touch her toes.
"Is this how you get your ass to look like that?," she asked. Michonne almost started laughing. She felt her lips curl up into a smile. It had been so long since she smiled, the expression felt strange on her face.
"No, that's just called being black," she told the girl. Harley coughed out a laugh and almost fell forward, catching herself with her palms on the dirty cement floor. She decided she was going to go ahead and like Michonne. The woman had a funny off sense of humor. And she had listened quietly when Harley told her what happened between her and that man in the store the day before. Michonne didn't lecture her or treat her like a little girl. Harley did not tell her mother what happened because she was afraid the women would never let her out of her sight again if she found out some man tried to rape her while she was on that run. So she was grateful she had MIchonne to confide in.
They stood up and stretched out, reaching up with their arms and tilting back. Harley felt like she was getting the hang of this yoga stuff. It was just a series of stretches that were repeated in a certain order. She didn't get the immediate tension release like she did if she was running or playing field hockey, but all the stretching felt made her legs and arms feel good. It felt sort of like exersizing and relaxing at the same time.
Carol was behind them, trying to scrape something together for breakfast. She almost looked like she was thinking about joining them but was too embarrassed to ask. And then Harley's dad came in. The girl forced herself to take a long deep breath and blow it out through her mouth. Her mom had climbed into bed with her the night before and had a quiet whispering talk with her while Wren snored on the bunk below them. Telling Harley that she didn't have to like her father, but the outbursts needed to stop. They didn't have to be best friends, but they all had to find a way to coexist without making everyone else here miserable. Harley knew what that meant. She had made her mom embarrassed and ashamed of her. And for that and that alone, Harley was sorry. I don't need you to fight my battles for me baby, I can take care of myself. I promise. Even when it comes to your dad. Harley wasn't sure if she believed it, but she had promised her mother that she would try and rope her anger in.
So instead of giving her dad an angry look or saying something nasty to him, Harley continued on with her stretching and ignored him. Like he wasn't even there. She was enjoying herself and she wasn't going to let his offensive presence ruin her workout. Besides, Michonne was giving him the stink eye anyway, which was even funnier. When Harley peeked behind her, she noticed Carol was keeping a close eye on the man as well. She had been so wrapped up in her own emotions, Harley had not stopped to wonder how the rest of the people in this place felt about her dad. She saw it now. They didn't like him. At least these two women didn't. Knowing him they probably had a good reason. Harley wondered what her father had done to them. The possibilities were endless.
Merle woke up with a mission. After he rolled out of bed, he started looking around the prison for Michonne. He would rather avoid the woman, but living in such close quarters made that impossible. So he thought he better clear the air before that crazy ninja bitch decided to do what Carol had threatened and slit his throat while he slept. Or even worse, take her anger towards him out on one of his daughters. When Harley had gone on the run with that woman the day before, the had been afraid that Michonne might do something to hurt Harley. After all, she had killed the governor's daughter in front of him. He knew Penny was a walker, but it was still a little disconcerning. And it would not be the first time Merle's family had to pay the price for bad decisions he made.
Michonne was not hard to find. She was in the kitchen area, doing some sort of stretching exersizes. The problem was that Harley was with her. And Merle wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to the woman in front of his daughter. As far as he knew, his family didn't know much if anything about the events that had taken place shortly before they arrived. And he would rather keep it that way. But then again, it might sound better coming from him than if they heard it from someone else. He sat down on the closest bench.
Harley was ignoring him completely. Which Merle supposed was moderately better than being called an asshole and flipped off. He turned his attention towards Michonne. Telling her that he had no personal problems with her. When he tried to kill her, he had just been following orders.
"Like the gestapo?," Michonne asked. Harley snorted, but did not offer up her opinion on the matter.
Merle figured the woman's assesment was fair enough. He knew what he was doing was wrong. But he did it anyway. Just like all the other people he had killed since this whole thing started.
"Yup," he said, nodding in agreement. Michonne seem to have anything else to say. Which he hoped meant the subject was closed. But it was equally possible that she was still just biding her time and waiting to hurt him. So he said what he had really come to say.
"If you have a problem with me, you have a problem with me," he told the woman, "not my family." Harley and Michonne both snapped their heads in his direction. Michonne stared at him a moment and then gave a slight nod of her head. That was enough for him. She wasn't going to hurt his daughters. Harley was glancing back and forth between them with a confused look on her face. Before she decided to pipe up and start asking questions, Merle figured it was time for him to get the hell away from her. He slapped his hand down on his knee.
"Don't forget your cardio," he told the girls. Then he headed back down the cellblock to see if River was awake.
Harley watched him go. She felt full of mixed emotions. And confused about what had just happened. Her dad had been acting like he was afraid Michonne might try to hurt her. Which made no sense to Harley, since Michonne had been nothing but kind to her and her sister since they got here. She shook her head and went back to stretching her back. Her dad was so weird she didn't even know where to start.