Chapter 1:

I was new to Canada and Letterkenny, to be more exact. A few days ago I up and left my home in the mountains of Tennessee. I had been in one of thoes relationships that you are warned about in after school specials and sad bill boards. You see, I was with this guy Frankie for three years. He was the apple of my eye and no one could be as handsome and manly as him, but Frankie had some bad habits. Mostly getting drunk and beating up on me. I won't go into gory details but the last time messed me up pretty good. He escaped jail time, how I don't know, but as soon as I got out of the hospital I took everything I had and fled north. It took a few days but, somehow I ended up here in this small town of 5000 folks, well 5001 including me. I was dog tired and with the little bit of money I had left I rented a small apartment above a garage from a nice old couple. They helped me with places to find work and I settled on trying out the bar they had suggested, Modeans II.

The next day I walked into the well worn establishment not knowing what to expect, the sweet, yeasty smell of beer filled my nose in an instant. A woman was wiping the bar top down with a rag as she greeted me,

" I ain't seen you round here before. My name is Gail, what's yours?" She make jerky movements when she talked and in all honestly, it looked quite bazzar.

"My name is Jess, I was wondering if I could apply for a job here?" I asked. I started to question whether or not I should be doing this as Gail set her full half lided gaze on me.

"I don't have time to be trainin' a new girl. Do you have any experience tendin' or bein' a waitress?" she asked as she swiveled her hips back and forth. Shaken from her deeply awkward stare I nodded my head.

"Um, Yes, ma'am I have at least 6 years experience with servin' and bar tendin'," I answered. She gave me one last look over.

"Fine you can start tonight, but don't fuck up," she said as went back to cleaning. I thanked her and went around the bar to grab things to clean the tables with. In a few hours time the place was swarmin' with people. There was music playing in the back ground along with the sudden clack of pool balls bouncing off of one another. I was clearing up a table full of glasses when I saw an unusual trio of men walk through the door. One was big and burly, the second was lanky with curly red hair, the third was ram rod straight in a plaid shirt. I went back to what I was doing knowing my Nanny would have scolded me about staring. I finished up the other tables around me pretty quickly and headed back toward dish room.

"Hey, Jess, I want you to come here and meet my friends," Gail called out in her half drunk way

I put down the huge round tray I had been holding and rubbed my hands on my blue jeans. It was the trio from earlier. I pushed some of my blonde hair behind my right ear. as I stood behind the bar beside Gail.

"Jess, This is Dan, Daryl, and Mr. Fine Ass himself, Wayne. Guys this is the little number I hired this afternoon." The burly and lanky ones, Dan and Daryl, both shook my hand warmly. I turned to look at Wayne as his eye brows lifted slightly.

"Hi," I said as I offered my hand. Wayne stood quickly to his feet in a mechanical motion,

"Hi, there," he said in a sort of monitone voice.

"Hi, its nice to meet you," I smiled as he gently gripped my hand. I could have sworn I saw the corner of his mouth twitch. Gail had poured us all a shot and with some enthusiasm I took the brown liquid down the hatch. I brought the shot glass down once more to the bar top and drove it twice onto its polished wood surface following the rest of the group.

"So's wheres ya froms Miss Jess," Dan asked as he took another swig of an almost empty beer.

"I'm from Tennessee," I answered.

"Oh, you're one of thoes Southern Belles then," Daryl commented more than asked.

"Nah, I'm more rugged than that, I lived in the Appalachian Mountains," I replied mimicing the smile on Daryl's goofy face. I turned and grabbed the boys each another brew and made quick work of the bottle tops.

"Thats whats I's appreciates abouts ya, Miss Jess, that Southern hospotalities." Dan took a big swigg as I grabbed the almost empty bottles and trashed them. I left them all after that with the excuse of work. Wayne lifted his beer and nodded at me as I left, I nodded back with another smile. I cleaned up in the back for a while and another coworker, Bonnie worked the floor. It was late when I emerged from the kitchen. The same three where sitting and talking with an addition to their group. A very pretty blonde sat beside Wayne nursing a beer. Gail was behind the bar still, talking with the girl in an animated conversation. The door bust open suddenly as these greasy hair group of drug heads came in. The obvious leader stared me down in a predatory fashion then sneered at me with a hateful expression,

"It looks like their is a new addition to the Shirt-Tuckers," he hissed. I looked down at my flannel shirt, which was not tucked and jeans and then back up that this tweeked out guy. He laughed as he looked to his followers, "I bet she's just as dumb as the other ones," Before I could square up, Wayne had left his seat at the bar flanked by Dan and Daryl.

"Hey, now, Skid that's no way to talk to a girl," he calmly commented as he looked down his nose at the greasy guy, "Now, I suggest you apologize to her before we do some talkin' outside." The "Skid", as Wayne called him, coward in front of him. The girl from the bar took a drink from her beer and looked at the group of guys,

"Well, Stewart, you know my big brother's right. So, pidder-padder," she said nonchalantly.

Stewart, as I now know him, huffed and turned to me with a glowering look.

"I'm sorry if I offended you my lady," he grumbled. Wayne stepped aside and the Skids passed without incident. Wayne finished what was left of his beer and walked toward the door with Daryl and Dan after him. I stared after him as Gail leaned against the bar top.

"My brother is sweet on you. I'm Katie by the way" the girl said as she finished her bottle, Gail offered her another one which she declined.

"What makes you say that?" I asked as I turned to her, "I mean I just met the guy." She smiled a coy smile and looked at the door the fellas retreated too.

"I just know Big Shoots," she answered. She hopped off the stool she was sitting on and followed suit out into the cool autumn night. Letterkenny was going to be interesting to say the least. The strange town was a people watcher's paradise for sure and I was about to learn a whole vocabulary to go with it. I knew from that point on that I would be seeing more of Wayne, Katie and their friends.