My Angel is the Centerfold

Chapter 6

"I think he changed the locks," Carol lamented, pulling on the doorknob hard enough to jingle the set of keys that were dangling from the lock. River gently tugged on Carol's arm, pulling her towards the front porch steps as she suggested they try the back door instead. Carol removed her keys from the lock and headed down the steps. She was clinging so tightly to the metal keys in her hand that they were cutting into her palm. Even though River checked the roster at the county jail and confirmed that Ed was indeed locked up behind bars, Carol couldn't stop her hands from trembling in fear. Her stomach was in knots. And she could feel herself sweating even though it was actually rather cold for a spring morning in Georgia.

As they rounded the corner in the backyard, Carol paused. She glanced behind her, reassuring herself that she hadn't come alone. River and Harley were with her. Daryl followed them over on his motorcycle. And Harley's ice cream date was also present, presumably hoping to make a good impression on her family by spending his morning lugging the few prized possessions that Carol had out of the house she shared with her husband and back to River's apartment. The young man who Harley introduced as Spencer Monroe was well over six feet tall and had the build of a competitive athlete. And as she glanced back at them, Carol reminded herself that between Spencer and Daryl, they'd be quite capable of protecting her even if Ed was there. Which he wasn't.

"My key doesn't work in this lock either," Carol said, jerking her key back out of the door and letting out a defeated sigh.

"Move back," Daryl said, stepping up onto the porch with her and moving towards the door. He squared his shoulders up, casting a pointed glance at the young man behind him. When Spencer only returned Daryl's glare with a look of confusion, Harley spoke up.

"Looks like that door was already busted up when we got here," she announced, knocking into Spencer's ribs with her elbow. His face lit with understanding and a fair bit of amusement at what he knew was about to happen.

"Looks like that to me too," Spencer agreed, biting back a laugh as he smiled down at Harley. From how smitten he appeared to be with her, Carol guessed the young man would have agreed to just about anything she said. But even if that wasn't the case, he didn't seem to have an issue with Daryl forcing the door to Carol's house open. She wasn't sure if they were even doing anything wrong. Regardless of Ed's opinion, this was her house and her door. And she was probably within her legal rights to smash it into firewood if that's what she wanted to do.

Daryl lifted his leg and delivered one hard kick to the back door. The loud crack of the wood broke the silence as the door bowed in and then popped open. He stepped back, gesturing for Carol to enter her house. She took a few tentative steps inside, stopping in the kitchen as she looked around in horror. It was obvious that Ed hadn't bothered to clean up after himself since she left. There were empty liquor bottles, old takeout containers, and dirty dishes scattered everywhere. The smell of old food and unwashed dishes filled the air. Seeing her kitchen in such a state gave Carol a hard rush of anxiety. If she even left a dirty coffee cup in the sink, Ed would throttle her into next week. She couldn't imagine the pain she'd be in if she left this sort of mess. Carol didn't even realize how fast and hard she was breathing until felt River's hand wrap around hers, holding it tight until her panic attack passed.

"Momma C!," Harley barked. "Whatcha want outta this pigpen kitchen?"

Carol squeezed River's hand once more before she let go. Daryl had the refrigerator door open, taking a peek inside. He snagged a bottled beer and twisted the cap off, swallowing half the beer down in a few hard gulps. If Carol wasn't in the midst of a total freakout, she'd probably find his beer thieving funnier. As it was, he only got one small smile out of her before she opened the cabinets and pointed out the things she wanted from inside.

"All my baking stuff. My pot and pans. And on the top shelf here, is what I have left of my grandma's good china," Carol said, pointing to the items she wanted.

"Ya wrap those fancy plates up in the newspapers we brought," River cautioned. "Make sure they don't get broke."

"Yes ma'am," Spencer replied. He'd been calling both Carol and River ma'am since he showed up. Something that Carol found endearing and River found hilarious. This time River managed to hold her giggles in until Spencer and Harley were out the back door to retrieve the boxes and newspapers from the car.

Carol took a deep breath and pushed further into the house. The dining table was one of the few large pieces of furniture that she actually wanted. It was an antique that she found at a secondhand store and refinished herself. It had beautiful hand carvings in the wood around the edges of the tabletop. So Carol headed for the dining room. She stopped in the doorway, a small squeak of shock escaping from her lips. The table had a giant crack down the center, like someone smashed it with a sledgehammer. Carol was instantly glad that she took River's advice and refused to allow Sophia to come with her to the house. She was sure she'd only seen the beginnings of Ed's destruction. And Carol was glad her daughter wasn't here to see what else he'd done.

"Ya want that table?," Daryl asked. He stepped into the doorway with her, standing so close that Carol could smell the soap he showered with and the fresh beer on his breath.

"It's broken," Carol said, letting out a sad sigh.

"I can fix it," Daryl assured her.

"You don't have to do that," Carol said. She could feel the tears threatening behind her eyes. And she blinked them away, hoping Daryl didn't see her crying over a broken table.

"She wants the table," River said, her voice sounding firm in a way that didn't allow any room for further arguments from Carol. "Let's go get yer clothes and shit and get the hell outta here," River suggested, tugging Carol through the dining room by the hand. "It stinks like man farts and old cheese in this place!"

Carol smiled and shook her head at River's attempt to lighten the mood. But as she followed her friend up the stairs, she couldn't help but notice that the foul odors in the house were growing stronger. River stopped in the hallway, shaking out one of the garbage bags she brought for them to haul her and Sophia's clothes away in. Carol stepped into the bedroom she shared with her husband. She braced herself for bad memories and possible destruction. But she didn't prepare herself for the smell. All her clothes had been ripped from the closet and the dresser and hurled into one corner of the room. Some of them appeared to have been ripped apart. In addition to the obvious destruction, it looked and smelled like Ed had been pissing on the pile of her belongings.

River entered the room and took one look at the mess before she dissolved into laughter. It seemed her opinion was that Carol's husband was more dog than man and his territorial pissing was proof of that. River shook open the large black trash bag in her hands and approached the soiled pile of clothes. Using the tips of her fingers, she began plucking the items up and shoving them into the bag.

"It's a'right, we'll just take 'em to the laundromat and wash 'em on hot with lots of soap," River promised. She was trying her hardest to breathe through her mouth as she lowered Carol's soiled clothes into her bag. When she picked up a green sweater, what looked like a hard turd was revealed. The offending refuse rolled down off the pile towards River's pink high top sneakers. And she jumped back, screaming at the top of her lungs. Carol heard Daryl's heavy tread on the stairs. And then he appeared in the doorway with a large bowie knife in his hands. One look at the knife and Carol screamed as loud as River had when the turn rolled towards her clean shoes. Daryl glanced back and forth between them, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. It was clear the two women were alone in the room. No one was being attacked.

"There's a big hard turd!," River hollered, pointing towards the floor. Daryl approached. And to Carol's total horror, he picked the item up with his bare hand. Once he had it in his hand, Carol realized that what they thought was a large chunk of man shit was in fact just a rolled up black sock.

"Yer up here screamin' over a fuckin' sock," Daryl huffed. "Fer fuckssakes River, I thought ya got jumped!" Daryl's eyes moved from River to the pee smelling sock in his hand. And a slight grin spread across his face before he hurled the item in River's direction. She screamed absolute bloody murder, dropping the bag of pee clothes and swiping at the front of her shirt where the turd sock touched her.

"Fuck you Daryl," she squealed. "You asshole!"

Carol didn't even realize she was laughing until she had to wipe the tears out of her eyes. Daryl grinned in her direction as he headed back out of the room, holding up his middle finger at River as he went. She was also flipping him off. And laughing.

When Carol finally got control over herself, she shook open her empty bag and started picking up the items she thought might still be salvageable. River moved to the closet and started pulling out the few pairs of shoes Carol had in there. Carol didn't think anything of River poking through her closet until she heard the woman laughing even harder than she had about the turd sock. Carol turned, her cheeks going red with embarrassment when she saw River kneeling on the floor in front of the closet with a large pink vibrator in her hand.

"Better pack this up," River announced between giggles. "Wouldn't want to leave yer boyfriend here all alone!" River shook the rubbery vibrator around in the air, making the head end of it bob back and forth. "He's a big boy!," she teased.

"Oh my god," Carol huffed. "Give me that!" She moved forward, snatching her sex toy out of River's grasp and stepping back. To Carol's absolute horror, Daryl chose that moment to reappear in the bedroom doorway. While she and River were packing up her clothes, he and Spencer got the table loaded into the back of the truck. And now they were looking for further instructions. The moment she saw him, Carol's eyes went wide as the color rose in her cheeks. She glanced back and forth between Daryl and the large pink dong in her hand. Then she whipped her hand behind her back, trying to hide the toy from Daryl's view. But in her hurried movements, Carol turned the fucking vibration on. And the dildo began to emit a very loud aggressive buzzing noise.

"Uh," Daryl said. "We finished loadin' up yer table…" He paused, trying to cover the smirk on his face by chewing at the side of his thumb. There was a mischievous twinkle of interest in his hooded blue eyes as he looked at her. One that made her insides instantly flush with heat. "...I think I'll check Sophia's room and see if I can find the dolls she was askin' fer," he said, giving her one more look before he darted away.

Once Daryl disappeared from the doorway, Carol jerked the stupid vibrator out from behind her back. She twisted it off and threw it into the bag with her soiled clothes, trying her best to ignore River's excessive laughter. Carol shook her head, thinking that If she could manage to get through this day without dying of either stress or embarrassment, it would be a damn miracle.