Red River Blue
Chapter 7
Harley poked through the cans of food that were set up on a shelf in what served as the prison's small kitchen area. It looked like a lot, but considering half of it was condiments, the pickings were actually pretty slim. She settled on a large can of boiled potatoes. They had a couple cans of corned beef hash and a can of spam in the camper. Plus a jar of fire roasted peppers. If she chopped that all up and fried it in her mom's big cast iron pan, it would probably taste alright. Maybe even be something close to edible.
"You're going to make breakfast?"
The quiet voice came from behind Harley, and she turned to see who was talking to her. It was that little blonde girl. Beth, the old guy's daughter. She was balancing that little squealing baby on her hip. Must be weird having parents that old. Harley's mom was only fourteen years older than her. Maybe that's why this girl was so quiet. Harley was pretty sure it was the first time she had even heard the girl speak.
"Or are you getting stuff ready so your mom can do it?," Beth asked. Harley bit back a smile.
"My mom only likes to bake," Harley explained. She did okay with the fish the day before, but Harley had been watching her close to make sure she didn't burn it or flip it a million times and make the skin soggy. The baby started to fuss, and Harley watched Beth pull out what she needed to make a bottle for the girl.
"Why don't you just give her the tit?," Harley asked. She remembered her mom nursing Wren. Everywhere her mother went the girl used to cling to her like a baby koala. It would be a pain in the ass, but it still seemed like that would be much easier than finding clean water and formula for a baby that was probably eating at least every four hours. Beth's eyes got wide and then her face turned about ten different shades of red.
"Oh, she's not mine," Beth finally said, "her mom died having her." Harley nodded her understanding. She felt bad for the little squirt. It would be hard to grow up without a mom. Even in the old world. If she didn't have hers who knew what would have happened to her. Her dad could never be depended on for anything. And her nana died when she was four. So she probably would have ended up wherever kids with no parents went.
"Here, I kin hold'er while you make the bottle," Harley offered, holding her hands out for the girl. Beth hesitated and then handed the little bundle over. She was going to give the girl instructions on how to hold the baby properly, but it was obvious that she already knew what to do. Harley held the baby carefully, but with confidence. She noticed Beth looked surprised, so she explained. "My mom didn't want me gettin' knocked up like she did," Harley told the other girl, "so she used to make me volunteer at a daycare place down the road from us. Guess she thought all them screamin' babies would be good birth control."
Beth laughed a little at the story while she measured the formula into Judith's bottle and shook it up to mix it. She took the baby back to feed her and Harley walked out to the camper to get the cans of food and the pan she planned to cook them in.
Her mom was doing laundry with that gray haired lady, washing Wren's crap out. She must have decided to wash her own clothes out because she was wearing one of the uniform's from the bakery. A pink tank top and short cutoff demin shorts. Uncle Daryl was leaning against the wall, smoking and trying to pretend he wasn't staring at her mom's ass. Harley scratched at her nose to hide her smirk. Who did he think he was fooling?
"Harley, you want your clothes washed too?," River called over to her, "there's another bakery uniform you can wear until they dry." Harley nodded. They were stuck here for the day at least, so she might as well get some clean clothes out of it.
She pulled herself up into the camper and quickly changed her clothes. Then she grabbed the things she had come out to the camper to get and piled them into the large pan to take them back inside, dropping her clothes off to her mom on the way.
"You look cute sweetie," her mom told her, pulling her close just long enough to plant a little kiss on her cheek. "Love you baby." Harley leaned into her mother's embrace but as she walked away her face got cloudy again. Her mom was happy. Too happy. That usually only meant one thing. Something was going on between her and him again. Harley sighed.
The bastard she had the misfortune to be graced with as a father was nothing more than a two bit sperm donor. A drunk and a drug addict. He could never be trusted. She had seen it happen time and time again over the years. Her mother would finally get herself together. Everything would start going great for them. Then he would show back up. And he would ruin everything. A few times they even had to move because of him. Didn't matter how far they ran though, he always found them. Even now at the end of the world they had somehow managed to get mixed up with him again. And now her mother was humming while she washed out Wren's bloody sleeping bag. Disgusting. Just absolutely disgusting.
Harley got the pan heating and since Wren was refusing to go outside, she sent that kid in the hat out to drain all the water out of the cans. Then she chopped everything up and dumped it into the scorching hot pan. The trick was letting it sit without stirring it so the potatoes would get a crispy crust on the bottom.
The smell of food cooking was bringing people out from their cells or away from whatever tasks they had been doing. The women each took a few seconds to offer Wren a little sympathy or maybe a bit of advice concerning her visit from Aunt Flow. Harley was slightly irritated by how much attention her sister was getting for throwing a fit, but she couldn't be too mad. These people did seem like they were just trying to be nice. She decided she would let it go as long as Wren shared out some of the chocolate candy that black woman with the crazy hair just slipped her.
Beth's dad came in, hobbling on his crutches. He sat down and Beth handed him the baby so she could help Harley get the plates out. Beth picked through the bushel of peaches and plucked out the ripest ones, piling them into a bowl and setting it in the middle of the table. Wren scooted close to Hershel so she could get a better look at the little baby in his arms.
"She's so cute," Wren gushed. Hershel handed the baby over, cautioning the girl to be careful and support Judith's head. "Now that I'm a woman that means I can have a baby someday," Wren informed Beth's father. Beth and Harley giggled.
"You hafta have sex first ya dummy," Harley told her sister. Wren wrinkled her nose up at the thought of doing something so disgusting. Hershel looked down at Judith and smiled as he tried to maintain his composure. The conversation was bordering on innapropriate, but he was happy to see that his younger daughter was smiling. Beth had such a sweet smile. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen it. Having girls her own age around would be good for her. Even if they were not the type of friends he would have approved of her having in the old world, in this new world they were just about perfect.
Hershel steered the conversation in another direction, asking the girls a little about their lives before the turn and what subjects they liked in school. Harley told him she used to play a lot of sports and the guitar. Her younger sister liked to dance and read books. Beth and Harley started talking about music while Hershel asked Wren a little more about what sorts of books she liked to read. Carl even chimed in, talking about his comics. The atmosphere in the room was friendly and relaxed. Then the girls' father walked in.
Wren was all smiles, showing him that she had been trusted to hold the baby. The man smoothed his hand over her hair and sat down next to the girl. Hershel felt the pressure in the room increase dramatically. Harley turned her back on the man, dishing the food she had cooked out onto the plates. Hershel could see the tension in her slim shoulders. Her jaw ticked and he knew she was grinding her teeth. He could also see that Merle had not failed to notice the change in his older daughter's demenor, but was pretending nothing was wrong.
"You cook breakfast there angel?," he asked the girl, "smells good."
With that Harley turned and slammed the spatula down on the table. She had prepared herself to ignore him. But the use of his old pet name for her had put her over the edge. Who did that asshole think he was? Calling her Angel. He didn't have the right.
"My name is Harley," she hissed, "In case you don't remember." She flipped up her middle finger, practically shoving it into Merle's face. "You might have fooled mom, but you don't fool me. Asshole!"
With that she stormed out of the room and headed for the cell she had slept in the night before, throwing herself down on the bed. She balled up her pillow and held it close to her chest, trying to hold off the tears that she knew were coming.
Hershel sat there for a moment with his mouth hanging open, rather shocked at the girl's behavior. Just a few moments before, she had been making polite and pleasant conversation with him and Beth. She had some fire in her, that was for sure. It took more courage than most grown men had to stand up to a man like Daryl's brother.
Hershel noticed Beth and Carl looked as shocked as he did, while Merle and Wren were pretty much just carrying on as though the girl's outburst was just business as usual for them. Hershel waited a moment to see if Merle planned to go after the girl and speak to her. When it was clear he wasn't going anywhere, Hershel spoke up.
"Would you mind if I had a word with your daughter?," he asked Merle. Merle shrugged. River already told him to let the girl alone and give her space. But she didn't say anything about Hershel talking to her. If Hershel thought he could help her after three different trained professionals hadn't been able to make so much as a dent, he could knock himself out.
"It's your funeral," Merle told him. Hershel scooped some hash onto a plate and set a fork on top of it. Then he hobble stepped awkardly over to the cell Harley was in, moving slowly so the food didn't spill. He tapped on the bars.
"GO AWAY," the girl hollered. She sounded like she trying to hide the fact that she was crying. Hershel pushed past the sheet that was covering the cell door and set the food down on the empty upper bunk across from the one Harley was lying in. He sat down on the lower bunk. "I'm not hungry, and I said go away," she mumbled.
"Just wanted to make sure you were alright," Hershel said. The girl grunted in repsonse, not turning away from the wall. He brought his hand up stroking his beard and trying to think of what he could say to make her understand. She was hurting herself more than anyone else.
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your father will not forgive your sins...," Hershel quoted.
"What is that?," Harley asked, "church stuff?" Hershel admitted it was in fact 'church stuff', it was a quote from the book of Matthew. Harley finally turned away from the wall, her face blotchy red and stained with tears.
"I left my skateboard out," she said. At first Hershel was confused as to what she was talking about, but then she wiped at her nose and continued speaking. "I left it out and my dad came home drunk and tripped over it. He was carrying a bottle of booze and it broke on the floor. So he got mad and beat my mom's face in with my skateboard. What does God think about that?"
Hershel paused, taking in her story. He felt like he wanted to pass judgement on the man, but then he remembered all the terrible things he had done when he was deep into the bottle. Selling his father's watch. He was so bad Maggie's mother would lock the bedroom door to keep him out and make him sleep in the couch.
"I'm sure he's sorry about that," Hershel quietly offered.
"He's always sorry," Harley spit back, "Doesn't mean he won't do it again." Hershel was quiet again. Thinking. She was at least talking, so there was hope.
"My Gran used to tell me that holding a grudge was like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die," Hershel told the girl. She didn't respond to that, instead Harley turned away from him and back towards the wall. Hershel could tell she was shutting down. She needed some time to think and digest. Hershel left the plate of food for her and headed back to the table.
Harley could feel her stomach grumbling. And the plate of food Hershel had left for her smelled so good. She finally kicked off the blanket she had yanked over herself and rolled over. She thought she was alone in her cell, so seeing someone sitting on the opposite bunk scared her. That silent black woman was sitting on the opposite bunk, right where Hershel had been sitting before. Harley had not even heard her come in.
"You here to give me another lecture?," she asked the woman once she had recovered from her shock. Michonne shook her head.
"Came to see if you want to get out of here for a while," Michonne said. Her voice was throaty and musical. Not what Harley expected her to sound like. Harley thought about her offer and quickly nodded. "Eat up then, because we are leaving in a few minutes." With that Michonne got up and left the cell as silently as she had entered.