*Author's Note*
Thanks for reading, faving, following, and reviewing.
Got a new laptop (since mine died for no reason Monday night) so I can write anytime I want to now lol.
Anyways this is mostly in Novella's POV, but there is a Cap POV for the last scene.
Sunday Pt.1
Novella POV:
Ah, it was Sunday and instead of sleeping in late I was being dragged to church by Uncle Perry and Roseanna. I was actually in the back of my uncle's hatchback, sandwiched between my broad brother and Sarah Elizabeth, who was in a booster seat. The sound of gospel country flowed out of the radio as we drove the short distance to the small church deemed the Tug Fork Church of Christ. It was run by Reverend Garret, a shady man that bent the lord's word to tickle ears in my opinion.
Uncle Perry's eyes shot up and trained onto the review mirror. He had a stern look on his face as he slickly told me, "Novella, dear, please remember your manners. I know you haven't been in the house of the lord for a while, so please act respectful."
"Yea and stick some money in the collection plate." Moses snickered, shootin' me a snarky look.
"Oh, Novella, you'll do fine." Roseanna smiled at me through the review mirror. "Once you step foot inside the church you'll feel your sins lift off your shoulders and you'll know how to act." She assured me as the we pulled up to our destination.
My uncle turned into the church's lot and the first thing I noticed was that nothing had changed about the building or the parking. The lot was still too small and off the left of the white steepled holy house. Once my uncle turned off the car we all got out of it. Uncle Perry, Roseanna, and Sarah Elizabeth all had bibles in their hands. Moses looked like he didn't want to be at church since he had a slight scowl on his face. Well, I didn't want to be here either. Eh, at least my work clothes could double as church clothes so I didn't stand out like a sore thumb.
As we walked up to the large wooden double doors of the chapel I felt a bit of nostalgia hit me. I hadn't stepped foot into the church, well any church for that matter other then as a wedding guest, in a decade. As I walked into the one room building, behind my family, I noticed that nothing had changed with the church's décor. It still had white walls, wooden pews, a walkway, and a wooden pulpit along with a pipe-organ and a few chairs for the makeshift choir to sit at to the left of the pulpit.
Silently I followed my family to the pew that they always sat in. Of course, since the pew already had Randall, Sally, and Alifair sitting on it there wasn't room for me. I looked to the pew behind that one and noticed that Tolbert, Sally Elle, Pharmer, and Bud were in that one. There was room for another person, well actually a few more.
Tolbert stood up stepped out of the pew while telling me, "Ella, come sit down."
I just smiled tightly, nodded my head, and walked by Tolbert to enter the pew. Pharmer slid over so that I could sit next to Sally Elle. As I took my seat Tolbert sat back down and instantly went back to singing the 19th century hymn everyone in the church was belting out. I took a deep breath before joining in the song. It was a song I hadn't heard since moving away from Pike.
Reverend Garrett was leading the hymn, singing loudly and deeply while waving his hand around in the air as if he was a concert conductor. Nice to see that salt and pepper hair and bearded man hadn't changed. Honestly, I wasn't expecting him to.
Little Sally Elle was singing along and seemed to have the hymn memorized that the young age of 3. Some of her words were mispronounced due to her age, but still she didn't skip a beat in the old-fashioned hymn. Well, Kentucky is a part of the bible belt so…
After what seemed like an endless amount of singing a number of hymns that were so old General Robert R. Lee must've sung them the makeshift choir, consisting of maybe 8 or 9 old bitties, left the choir chairs by the pulpit and found seats in the pews. Reverend Garrett's wife left her spot at the pipe-organ and took a seat by their daughter (the nastiest and skankiest bitch I've ever met, but just saying…) on one of the front row pews. Reverend Garrett looked at the crowd from behind his pulpit and said, "Congregation, if you please, turn open your bibles to Luke 15:12."
Instantly everyone grabbed their bibles from the book nook on the back of the pew in front of them and flipped the pages to the verse. Even little Sally Elle had a bible. It was one of those pink my first bibles from Precious Moments. Since the little girl with unruly ginger curls and a freckled nose couldn't read she dropped the good book on my lap while saying, "Open it, p'ease. I share wit' ya."
"Okay." I smiled warmly at the girl while opening the book and turning the pages until I found the verse Reverend Garrett wanted us to read. Ah shit, Luke 15:12 is the parable about the prodigal son. I felt like somebody was boring a hole in my head and when I lifted my eyes up towards the pulpit low and behold Reverend Garrett was looking right at me.
Oh no…this isn't going to be good…
The Reverend's loud deep voice read the passage. To me it seemed that every word of the parable went in one ear and out the other, sadly. Everyone else in the church just nodded their heads as they listened to the verses. I caught Tolbert looking at me a few times out of the corner of my eye. Guess he figured out that my homecoming was the base of today's sermon too.
Revered Garrett snapped his black worn bible shut while boldly stating, "In every community there's a prodigal. A person that leaves for riches and better things. All seems lost, that they'll be lost and goin' down a life of sin forever. For years they'll be dancin' with the devil, partakin' in worldly evils. But one day they'll return home. The prodigal always returns home to ask forgive, to wash away their sins and to be made ready for the promise land."
Dear lord, is he improvising or did he write this out and memorize it? It's a bit much. A bit dramatic. Hell, I forgot exactly how much of a fire and brimstone preacher Reverend Garrett was.
The fired up Reverend Garrett shook his hand high in the air while shouting, "Our prodigal had returned! Not a son, but a daughter! A daughter that has come home to be wrapped in the embrace of the lord while she does the lord's work of freein' those wrongly accused and falsely imprisoned by the wicked unjust and ungodly enemy!"
Great…So I'm gonna be the prodigal daughter of the Tug Fork Church of Christ whose mission from God's to save Tolbert, Pharmer, and Bud from a prosecution by Cap and the rest of the Hatfields. Good to know that.
Suddenly people randomly started to urge the Reverend on by shouting 'Preach it, preacher!', 'Yes, yes!', 'Praise Jesus!', 'Praise the lord!', and a few other things.
Oh, I felt a bit awkward sitting in the middle of this. I've been away from this for too long. I wasn't used to the fire and brimstone sermons of Reverend Garrett anymore. The fact that he was basically promoting my job of working the McCoy boys' defense along with their so-called innocence was a bit much.
Reverend Garrent slammed his hand on his wooden pulpit, causing a loud echo to sound out in the little one room chapel, as he droned on and on with his over the top sermon.
After the very interesting church service I got drug to the McCoy house for the traditional Sunday dinner, which consisted not only of dinner but visiting for the entire day before dinner was even made and served. Lucky me, I'm stuck in a farmhouse packed with a shit ton of McCoys. There were so many of them that I couldn't even count them all. On the top of my head I could only name Randall, Sally, Alifair, Tolbert, Sally Elle, Pharmer, Bud, Calvin, Billy, Roseanna, Bad Frank, Nancy, their 4 kids, Jefferson, Sarah Wolford, Squirrel, Parris, and of course my Uncle Perry and my brother Moses. The other McCoys I forgot the names of. Jim and his wife Lissa wasn't at the McCoy's farm house, which wasn't a shock to me cause before I went to college back when they first wed they would alternate every other Sunday which family they would spend dinner with.
I had volunteered to help Sally, Roseanna, and Alifair with dinner, but was turned down due to being away from a country kitchen for so long. Sally's exact words was and I quote 'Novella, sweetheart, you've been 'way from these woods too long t'rememba how we cook an' do 'round 'ere. You'd best be used out on the porch watchin' the lil ones.'. So that's where I was, sitting on the front porch in a rocking chair watching a bunch of snot nosed kids play around.
Damnit, just cause I've been gone for a decade doesn't mean that I can't cook. I've made plenty of Sunday night dinners back in Baltimore for me and Cap back when we were together. He never bitched 'bout my cooking, he always ate the steak, pork chops, or pot-roast that I made greedily. With how brutally harsh and honest Cap is if he didn't like how I cooked he would've told me and just not eaten the food.
But of course, I couldn't tell Sally McCoy that I was a damn good cook that fed Cap Hatfield every Sunday night for a good 3 months. She'd go crazy, have a breakdown or stroke, if I did.
I was silently rocking on the porch whenever I heard the front door open and the sound of boots shuffles against the wooden planked floor. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tolbert take a seat in the open rocker next to me, a bottle of Bud in each hand. "Here." I heard Tolbert tell me as He held the bottle of beer out for me to take.
"Thanks." I semi-smiled while taking the offered bottle from Tolbert's hand, our fingers brushing slightly.
"Figured ya could use some co'pany." Tolbert smirked, taking a swig of his Budweiser.
"Yea, I'm getting a bit bored rocking and watching kids." I honestly told Tolbert, a thinly lined smile crossing my lips before I took a sip from my beer.
"Ma don't mean no harm not lettin' ya in the kitchen. She's right tho, ya been 'way too long t'be able to cook the family recipes."
Rolling my eyes, I scoffed, "Cooking's not rocket science, Tolbert. Either you know how or you don't and I still know how."
"I doubt that." He smoothly, but gruffly, remarked between drinking his beer.
"Why?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at the man sitting to my left.
"Just cause." He answered me smugly. I wanted to smack the smug look off his face. I hated that answer, just cause. That vague generic two-word answer meant that I would never receive a real answer to my question. The last time I heard it I was being dumped. Yea, safe to say I really didn't like hearing just cause come out of Tolbert's mouth.
Instead of demanding a further explanation I just nodded my head while letting out a simple, "I see."
"Sally Ella likes ya, ya know." Tolbert informed me as he slightly pointed his beer bottle to the direction that his daughter was at playing with her cousins and youngest aunt. I just nodded and took a sip of my beer which caused Tolbert to go on with, "She don't take t'women much. Makes it hard as hell for me t'date."
"So, you don't date much." I stated, not asked, as I rocked and drank.
"Nah, my lil girl don't ever get 'long wit' anyone I try an' bring home." Tolbert explained, even though he didn't have to. I just nodded my head in understanding.
"Ya got problems datin'?" I heard Tolbert's velvet timbre ask over the sounds of children laughing, squealing, and shouting as they played tag in the front yard amongst the trees.
I let out a small and barely noticeable laugh before telling Tolbert, "No, I got problems with getting bored quickly."
He looked me dead in the eye. "Ever get bored of Cap?"
"You don't want to hear that answer, Tolbert." Was the only thing I told him, knowing he's figure out the real answer for himself.
"Reckon that's a no." Tolbert quickly spat, his usually smooth tone sounding jaded and gruff. "We're ya serious wit' that fog eyed bastard?" He asked, jealousy dripping from his voice the way venom drips from the fangs of a poisonous snake.
"Don't call him a fog eyed bastard and to answer your question it was casual."
"How long?" Tolbert pressed, his storm-blue eyes hardened as they bore a hole into my head.
"Don't worry about it, Tolbert." I snapped, not liking how he was so worried about me and Cap. Hell, Cap never poked and pried for details on my past with Tolbert.
"Think I need'a worry cons'derin' everythin' goin' on right now." He seethed, his temper clearly starting to slowly get heated up. Hell, why does Tolbert always have to be so mean and demanding over nothing.
"I'm working your defense case. That's what you need to worry about, not my personal life." I firmly told him, narrowing my eyes at him. I was standing my ground, he didn't need to worry about what was going on or what went on between me and Cap.
Cap POV:
I was parked in front of my brother's piece of shit house. The thing should be condemned that's how bad it looked with its rotting porch, dented and stained siding, and plastic bag covered windows. I wouldn't let a dog let alone a pregnant wife live in that mess of a trailer Johnse called home. I avoided walkin' up and inside of it as much as I could. The place was a shithole inside too. Looked like a mix between a hoarder's house and a garbage dump.
I always parked my car at the curb and honked for Johnse whenever I had to pick him up for dinner at our parents' house. I was impatiently waiting on him to emerge from his house. He should've been out minutes ago. I slammed my hand on the horn, letting it make a loud and long blaring honk. As soon as I dropped my hand from the horn and grabbed my pack of cigarettes from my pocket the front door of the rundown trailer opened and out walked Johnse.
While lighting up I noticed that my older brother looked like shit. His shirt was wrinkled and he looked like he'd been on a bender with his 'shine again. I swear he drinks more then what he sells. If it wasn't for him being a mama's boy he'd be living under a bridge right now. Our ma's the reason he gets money, she always wears our pa down and guilts him into giving Johnse money to live off of.
As I took a drag off my Marlboro Red the passenger's side door open. Silently my brother sat down and closed the door. He smelled bad, he was drunk or almost there.
"Damn, Jonse, took ya long enough to get your ass in my car." I told him as I pulled away from his house, going straight down the road.
"Shut up, Cap." Johnse ran a hand through his silk blonde hair before sighing, "I was fightin' wit' Mira." She was pregnant and hormonal, what else was new. Johnse leaned his arm on the edge of the window while explaining, "She didn't want me goin' t'dinner since she's not allowed to go too."
Our ma had a strict rule when it came to coming over for dinner which was don't bring your hussy with ya. Johnse hated that rule since it meant every wife he ever had always remained home. Only girl he ever brought home was Roseanna and ma didn't like her either, but that's cause our ma felt she was lazy and too naïve even tho she seemed like a nice person. I never had any problems with ma's no hussy rule.
"You know the rule, can't bring your hussy home for dinner." I told my brother, flicking some ashes out of my window.
"Yea, which is why you've never brought home a girl. All ya ever fuck with's hussies." My brother pointed out with a smart-ass grin plaster on his pretty boy face.
I glared at my brother and pointed my cigarette at him while firmly warning, "Johnse, don't go there."
"But it's true." Johnse told me while I took a quick drag off my Marlboro Red.
"No, it ain't. " I quickly remarked as I blew a ring of smoke out of my mouth. "Nova's not a hussy. She a nice girl, a good girl, and I would bring her if I could, but I can't."
A large grin spread over my brother's face as he piped up, "I knew it. You're in love with Novella Landon."
"I ain't in love with her, just fond of her's all." I said before bringing my smoke up to my lips, taking a drag.
"Are ya'll workin' things out? Getting' back t'gether?"
"Tryin' to. We're talkin' and I'm taking her to Florida in a few weeks for her friend's wedding."
"Oh, Tolbert's not gonna like that. Neither will any of the McCoys or that lawyer Cline." Johnse pointed out the obvious. Of course, they weren't gonna like it. Hell, McCoy didn't like nothing if it wasn't done their way and how they wanted.
"Don't give a shit what they like and don't like. It's not their life, it's ours." I honestly and bluntly told me brother as I tossed my cigarette butt out the window. Johnse silently nodded his head at me before turning his attention to look out the window.