Around the corner and past a few desolate spaces was Michael's house.
Michael lived in a farmhouse painted white that was often obscured by the fiery red leaves of the great trees around it, for he lived in Autumn days, with nights that were perpetually Summer. The wainscoting was immaculately detailed, the screen doors were always intact, the porch was hospitable and the backdoor had a view of rolling hills that Norman Rockwell would've died ten times over to paint.
Today, Dollface stood at her easel, painting the landscape in oils.
She wasn't Bob Ross, but what she had so far was sufficient.
Behind her, Michael was working on his station wagon in the driveway. He liked tinkering with it, it was something to do.
As he worked, Dollface told him about the party Dolli Mae's family hosted, and that Wolfie had come back, without opening her mouth.
Wolfie was sent home from Camp Granada after setting the place on fire and laughing maniacally as the world crashed down around her. Michael found this amusing and asked if she was a long lost niece.
Dollface laughed, and said no, but before burning the place down, she managed to push a kid into a pit of poison ivy, watch someone get ptomaine from dinner, and purposely abandoned someone in the woods, not to be seen until sometime the next morning by a search party, before she'd set the place ablaze.
She was grounded for most of the Summer, but knowing Wolfie, she'd slip her leash and go on with her vacation, unbothered.
Dolli Mae came back after her long week of shooting around the same time Wolfie was perma-banned from church camp, but with a better bounty.
Shiny gold medals and the annoyed looks on the faces of boys from bigger cities who'd never met a gal like her.
In unison, Michael and Dollface set their tools down and walked into the house.
They sat in the tiny kitchen, drinking unsweetened coffee and eating muffins. Michael, after a small pause in their conversation, asked about the new restaurant.
Dollface shrugged, still not sure what she thought about it.
He stood and ruffled her hair, lumbering out of the kitchen in heavy workboots and she followed behind. She watched him duck under the front doorway and down the path.
He turned to her, and waved, red shop rag hanging out of his coveralls pocket.
She waved back, black eyes meeting.
…..
Dollface stood at the dairy counter with the ice cream scoop in a stained green tee shirt.
Last night was wonderful. The Jensons knew how to host a party!
Dolli Mae had been covered in gold and silver metals, never bronze, Southern accent on full tilt, bouncing from guest to guest as Princess held hands with Lily under a table and ate a slice of chocolate cake with her special friend.
And yes, Dollface knew. She wasn't stupid.
She was just happy Princess had found someone so perfect for her.
And for some reason, she felt a mild envy for that, and feared she was a freak for thinking of such thoughts towards both boys and other girls. Her grandmother would think her immoral, but Dollface could never understand why.
Best of all, Joey Drew himself had come on his way home from the studio in his ink stained clothing to show the ever tiny Dolli Mae the flip note animation he'd made of Bendy in a cowboy costume bobbing up and down with a pistol.
No, he didn't, Joey Drew was dead.
But she remembered that.
Even though it couldn't have happened.
Dollface sniffed, back in the present.
She was currently in the only fully air conditioned building in town. All the other places in town had their windows wiiiiiiide open to combat the early summer heat, her great uncle Barney's restaurant the only place with proper AC.
Ting!
"Hello ma'am, may I take your order?"
A woman in black stood in the doorway, looking mildly out of touch in her long, black Victorian dress.
She looked moist, dress too heavy and dark for a blazing sun.
Michael watched with Dollface, suspicious.
Dollface was surprised that there weren't any other customers today. Then again, the lake was farther out of town, and leaving your house now would result in a fleshy puddle on the sidewalk.
The mint tiles had just been wiped down by the owner just minutes before, and the lady, maybe in her thirties, brushed a finger on them with her free hand, other carrying a hefty book, rubbing her thumb and index together. She looked at her fingers in general disdain.
"Ma'am, may I please take your order?" She repeated. Dollface found this lady rather rude.
"Just looking."
Dollface watched the lady walk up and down the aisle. It's best not to make assumptions, Dollface decided, remembering her grandmother's teachings. Assumptions and words are more powerful than any weapon.
Michael snorted, reading the stranger as bad news.
"Uh, this one?" The lady seemed mildly out of it as she pointed at the dairy-free peach sorbet. She didn't look like a hobo that had come off the highway.
"Ooh, that one's my favorite, good choice." Dollface smiled up at her from her side of the counter, her favorite because it was the only dairy-free option, "Cup or cone?"
See, not so bad!
"Small cup."
"Alright." She scooped out the size for the lady and plopped it into the paper cup, walking to the register. "Anything else ma'am?"
The blonde in black replied with a shake of her head.
"Two dollars please."
The lady patted herself down, then pulled out a wallet.
One that didn't need rubber bands to keep it together like everyone in the town's needed. Dollface gulped, taking the money and passing the sorbet over. Their hands accidentally crossed paths, and the woman looked away, quickly grabbing a plastic spoon.
Dollface looked at the counter. This lady gave her the heebie-jeebies, but Gramma taught her to be polite.
Michael quietly hid behind the shine.
She wondered what Thorne was doing.
Probably lifting stuff.
Thorne liked lifting stuff.
Especially when she lifted stuff with String Bean.
Wolfie was probably wandering around town like she usually did during the summertime, now that she was home and banned from watching movies or hanging out with friends.
And Princess was rehearsing by herself.
She liked to rehearse every morning in the small dance studio Raina, Mike's late wife used to help run. She sometimes came back after lunch to escape her mother's at-home daycare service.
Dollface sighed, bored as the lady left.
She looked around, making sure she wouldn't be seen by one of the teenagers watching the grill in the back and snuck to the soda display fridge nearby.
She grabbed a Koala Springs soda bottle and grabbed the bottle opener from the pouch hanging from the side of the fridge and took a swig. She didn't like sugar too much, but a fizzy treat that tasted of peaches could never hurt, and if Uncle Barney was stocking Orbit or Koala Springs, she'd happily take the risk.
Dollface leaned against the counter, satisfied.
She jumped, startled when the woman came in, mid-sigh, and hid the bottle behind her bac.
"Can I help you?"
The lady looked around, dazed and confused.
"My ice cream melted."
"Would you like another one?" Dollface asked, as she usually would. She prayed she wouldn't have to deal with another bitch who wanted a refund or free food again.
"No, um, could you put it in the freezer?" She asked.
"Yes, of course!" Dollface smiled.
This lady was insane!
"Yeah, and could I have some sprinkles too?"
Now for the real test, "That'll be an extra fifty cents, ma'am."
The lady nodded, as if agreeing. "Sorry for the trouble, here's twenty."
"What?" Dollface asked, blinking as a twenty dollar bill was slid over the counter. She took it, not even believing what she was just handed and opened the register. She tested with the fraud detector and watched as the ink disappeared.
Genuine.
Only the Custer's had this kind of liberty, but they were just as stingy as everyone else!
Even Michael was incredulous.
Dollface rang up the twenty and began counting out the bills.
"No, keep it." The lady said, setting her runny sorbet down on the counter, "I mean it."
Dollface nodded, face unable to hide her suspicious surprise and kept all but fifty cents, pocketing the rest. She took the ice cream and put it in the walk-in.
"It'll be a few minutes."
"Is it alright if I waited in here?"
"Go ahead."
Dollface and Michael were both keenly aware of the woman's following eyes as they wiped down a countertop. Nervous, Dollface checked the toppings and made an excuse for herself to go to the back and restock the crushed Giggles Cookies.
Once the woman's sorbet was rehardened and given a scoop of colorful sprinkles, Dollface could breath easily and finish her soda, feeling watched and glad there was another person in the building.