Red River Blue
Chapter 5
Merle grabbed an empty bag from the hall closet and headed upstairs to pack. They planned to leave after breakfast and it was already nearly lunchtime, so he was trying to get a move on. He heard their voices drifting out of his bedroom before he saw the girls.
"There's lots of boys at Hilltop," Mika declared with enthusiasm.
"Yeah," Beth agreed, much less enthusiastically. "Lots of farmers."
"Farmers have dicks too," Mika announced, breaking both girls up into a fit of laughter.
Merle paused in the doorway. Neither girl noticed his arrival. He shook his head at them. What looked to be the entire contents of River's lingerie drawer was strewn across the bed. Beth was lying half across the pile, her chin resting on her hands and her feet swinging in the air above her. Mika was prancing around in front of the two full length mirrors that were hanging on the wall opposite the bed. Her boobs looked ready to pop out of the lacy push up bra she was wearing. She had a plaid button down shirt over it. The shirt was tied under her breasts and unbuttoned so far down that it seemed to defeat the entire purpose of wearing a shirt in the first place. She turned around, peeking over her shoulder to see what her butt looked like in the tight jeans she had shimmied herself into. Merle cleared his throat.
"River said we could borrow some clothes," Beth said, looking around her and cringing a little at the mess Mika made of the room. Merle laughed. While his wife may have given the girls permission to borrow her clothes, he was quite sure that River meant a sweater or some socks. Not the items she only wore for him when they were alone in their bedroom with the door locked. Beth wasn't really too bad when it came to boys. But Mika was another story. The way that girl carried on, it was a wonder Daryl's hair wasn't as white as Carol's. She made Wren and Carl climbing out the windows and sneaking into each other's beds look like some sort of pleasant dream.
"Slut! Junior Slut! Both of you, get the fuck out of my room!," Merle ordered, pointing towards the hall behind him. Monroe poked her head out of her bedroom, regarding her grandfather with a little scowl.
"My mom says that's a bad word," she informed him. "And anyone that says it is a shovelshit."
"I think ya mean chauvinist," Merle suggested to the girl. Monroe cocked her head, considering this. "Wanna help me get packed up?," Merle asked the girl. Her face lit up in a big grin and she launched herself down the hall, wrapping her slim arms around his waist. Once Mika and Beth exited his bedroom, Merle headed inside. Monroe bounced over to the bed and started poking through the mess Mika left behind.
"What kinda dress is this?," she asked, holding up one of the more risque looking items. Merle snatched it from her hands, tossing it back into the dresser drawer.
"One that's not fer you," he told the girl, quickly scooping up the rest of the mess and jamming it into the dresser. She giggled and climbed onto the now mess free bed, jumping up and down on the mattress. Merle caught her by the waist and slung her down onto the floor. She bustled around, helping him find the items he was looking for and packing them into his bag for him.
Monroe favored her mother in looks, but with darker eyes and hair. But as of yet, she didn't have the hard edge to her that Harley always had. There was no hesitancy or distrust written across her features when she looked up at him. He would have taken an interest in the girl either way, she was his granddaughter after all. But since her father died before she was born, Merle was able to take a more active role in raising her than he might have been if the man was in the picture. He took the girl hunting and tracking. He sat on her bed and read to her. He did all the things for Monroe that the drugs and the alcohol kept him from doing with his own daughters. As Monroe grew, the old wound between him and Harley slowly began to heal.
"DAD! I'm all packed up!"
Axel stomped into the room, hauling his pack behind him. The boy looked ready to topple over from the weight of it. Merle pulled the bag off his son's back, nearly dropping it on the floor. He set it on the bed and pulled open the zipper. Merle grabbed the bottom of the bag and dumped the contents out onto the bed, trying not to laugh.
"Where in hell did ya get all these guns?," he asked. The pack was full to the brim with handguns. Some of them appeared to be loaded while others were not. The boy didn't pack himself any clothes. Or food. Or water. Only the guns.
"I stole 'em from Rick's house!," Axel announced with glee. Merle could only shake his head. He swore the kid must have been a ferret in a former life. River lectured their son about stealing until she was blue in the face. He would apologize. And then go right back to his bullshit the minute her back was turned. At least once a week, River had to sort through his room and return all the items she found to their rightful owners.
"Pick one gun to take with ya," Merle said, "...then take the rest back." Axel rubbed at the bit of blonde stubble on his head and looked the pile over like he was making the hardest decision of his life. Finally he plucked up one of the smaller handguns and tucked it into the back of his pants. Then he started tossing the rest back into the bag.
"Come on Axel," Monroe offered. "I'll go next door with ya." Merle smiled at the two of them. Axel was slightly older than Monroe, who was technically his niece. But she was far more mature and trustworthy. If Monroe went with him, at least the guns would actually be returned to Rick instead of hidden under Axel's bed or in whatever rathole he was currently favoring.
Merle took his pack downstairs and set it near the door. River caught him on his way into the kitchen, kissing him on the cheek and telling him that there was a tomato sandwich on the counter for him. He lingered near the stairs, watching the sway of her hips as she climbed them. Then he headed for the kitchen.
"Sure you don't wanna ride along?," he asked, directing his question to his oldest child. Harley shook her head and polished off the rest of her sandwich. She was looking forward to being alone with just her daughter. Peace and quiet was hard to come by at their house.
"MOM!," Monroe hollered as she burst into the kitchen. "Can we go to Aunt Wren's house tonight? They're having a fish fry!" Without waiting for an answer, Monroe added, "...and Rick said I can sleepover with Judith if you say it's okay!" Harley sighed and fought the urge to roll her eyes. She wasn't feeling like having dinner with Rick was on the top of her list of things she'd like to do at the moment. But now she couldn't say no without upsetting her daughter. Which was exactly why he invited Monroe over instead of her and got the girl all excited about it.
"Aren't you supposed ta be grounded?," Harley asked her daughter.
"NO!," Monroe argued, "I'm grounded from leaving town, not from eating fish!" Harley laughed, earning her a scowl from her daughter. "Mom! Please can we go? …please please please please please can we go?!" Monroe's voice was starting to get high and whiny. And the higher pitched her voice got, the closer she was getting to her mother until she was shrieking almost directly into Harley's ears.
"We can go," Harley finally said, eager to save herself from a headache later. Monroe shrieked in delight, hopping around the kitchen and clapping her hands. Before Harley could think about changing her mind, the girl tore ass upstairs to pack up her pajamas. Merle sat down at the table, having himself a good laugh at not only the entire situation but the disgusted look on Harley's face.
"Don't want to have dinner with good ole officer friendly?," he suggested, giving Harley a wicked grin. "You two have a little disagreement about somethin'?"
Harley huffed, making a noise that sounded like a horse coughing up a hairball. Merle laughed harder. He had no idea who Harley and Rick thought they were fooling. But everyone in town knew they were putting it to each other. And had been for quite some time now. Because anytime they weren't fucking, they were fighting like two angry cats. Rick wasn't exactly Merle's first choice pick to have as a son in law. But unlike the man that fathered his granddaughter, Rick at least was a capable fighter. And he seemed willing to put up with the wild assorted bullshit that Harley dished out to him on the regular. Which was a lot more than Merle would be willing to put up with from any woman. Instead of making him run for the hills like any sane man would do, Harley's heinous bitchy behavior seemed to only make Rick more and more determined to win her over. Merle was honestly starting to develop a strange grudging respect for the man. A few times he had even come close to telling the girl to cut that motherfucker some slack. But Merle kept his mouth shut. Partly because River told him he better stay out of that mess. And partly because watching Harley and Rick fight made for some high quality entertainment.