It was laundry day at the Quarry and Zayla, Andrea, Amy, Carol and Jacqui were at the stream, cleaning everyone's clothes. Usually, they'd be washing the clothes they were wearing too, but unfortunately, Ed was supposed to be keeping watch today. The man was stationed in a chair about 50 feet away with his eyes set on Carol's smiling face as the group of women laughed about something.
"Y'all doin' a lotta gigglin' over there." He called out to them in annoyance. "I don't know what could be so funny 'bout dirty clothes."
"What's really funny is these mile-long skid marks in your drawers. And I know these belong to you, big boy." Zayla held up the ruined underwear in question between the very tips of her fingernails. "Somebody needs to lay off the beans."
"Ed, what're you even doing here?" Amy interrogated, since the man clearly wanted their attention. "You're not helping with the laundry and you're barely keeping watch. Why are you here?"
"He's here for the show, Amy." Jacqui said with a hip bump to the younger blonde. "A group of sexy women splashin' around, getting wet and bending over must be doing wonders for his inner Perverted Peter."
"You'd better not jack off to the thought of me." Zayla warned, making the girls burst out in laughter. "I'm not kidding. You do not have my consent to fantasize about me ever. I'll know if you do and I'll go full Freddy Kruger in your dreams, try it."
Ed frowned and stood. "Carol, come here."
"You don't have to listen to him. He doesn't own you." Andrea told the short-haired woman, making her stop.
"Carol, get over here now or it's gonna be worse."
"Just what exactly is gonna be worse, Ed?" Andrea asked as she stood in front of Carol, her sister by her side.
"I'd like to know too." Zayla commented, filling the last space to complete the unbroken barrier formed in front of Carol with the rest of the women.
"Girls, it's alright. I'll just go with him."Carol quietly said, putting her hands on Andrea and Zayla's shoulders. "It's fine. I'll be okay."
"Him talking down to you and treating you like shit is not okay, Carol." Amy reminded.
"Carol." Ed urged and Carol's eyes flicked over to his. Zayla wasn't sure if anyone else noticed, but she saw a bit of fear creep up in Carol's jade eyes. He stomped a few feet closer. "I said, now."
"She wants to stay with her friends." Andrea protested.
"She ain't got no damn friends. Now get outta my way."
"Or what, Ed? Is it 'gonna be worse' for me if I don't obey you?" She mocked his earlier words, staring down the man with steely eyes.
"I said move, bitch."
"Hold on. I got this one, Barbie." Zayla separated the two and made Ed step three feet back by poking him in his tubby chest. "Nobody calls her a bitch 'cept me. So, right now, I suggest you apologize and drag your fat, lazy ass back to camp while you still got two unbroken legs to walk on."
"Carol is my wife and she does what I tell her to."
"Yeah? Well, as of today, Carol is my wife and she'll do whatever the hell she pleases and if my wife wants me to make sweet love to her all night long, then it's my job to make sure it gets done. And, guess what, big boy? Andrea, Amy and Jacqui are all my bitches too, prison rules. I'd love to see you even try it with any of 'em, I dare ya'."
"Someone oughta' teach you to shut the fuck up when a man's talking, potato breath."
Zayla's heard just about every Irish slur there was. She'd laugh at some of them- the ones that she didn't really take offense to because she knew the meaning or origin behind them- but some of them really got under her skin for the same reasons. When she was younger, every insult made her angry and she'd usually end up in the principal's office for her reaction, but by High School, she got something of a grip on her temper. Ed wasn't the first to call her 'potato breath' and that was one of the insults she'd usually laugh at, but not this time.
Ed let out a growl and as soon as she saw his hand bawl into a fist, she sucker punched the man in the face, hard enough to draw blood, and grabbed his left hand, pulling his wedding band off as he stumbled to find his footing. She twisted his arm behind his back and that made him yelp while she gave him a push to get moving, hearing the women cheering behind her.
"Hey, honey-bunch!" Zayla called out to Carl, unknowingly giving the boy a nickname. She loved Carl; he was a good kid just like Sophia and he didn't like getting haircuts, but he seemed to favor Zayla trimming his hair over his mother. Maybe it was because the redhead sported a pixie cut for so many years and Carl liked the way she'd trim his hair. He never told her and she didn't bother asking because she didn't mind; spending time with the freckled-faced boy became something she looked forward to. "Where's your Momma?"
"In the RV stitching some of the dry clothes." He replied, glancing at what she was currently escorting around the camp like a prized hog. He blinked at Ed and Zayla could hear the man muttering curses at the boy, but Carl smirked and said to her, "I don't think I need to ask. I'll tell Sophie he provoked you."
"Such a good boy." She smiled and gave him a pat on the head with her free hand as she passed him, going their separate ways.
"Zayla…" Dale called out to her from the RV's front; he seemed to be tinkering with the engine again.
"He challenged my status, Dale. I don't know if I'd call myself Alpha around here, but he's definitely an Omega. He just learned his goddamn place and he better not overstep his boundaries again."
"Does he need medical attention?"
"She broke my arm!" Ed cried, but the noise just made Zayla twist his arm until he yelled out in pain.
"Shut up! If I broke your damn arm, I'd be beatin' you with it, you big, bulky son of a bitch!"
Lori poked her head out of the RV's door, her expression almost a replica of Carl's when she saw the uncomfortable position Ed was in, but she wasn't at all surprised when she saw who was responsible for his current state and likely all the commotion.
"Hi, Zayla…" She sighed. "What's going on?"
"Ed needs to learn him some manners, so I thought it'd be a good idea for him to have a time-out. I know you and Glenn keep track of all our supplies, so I was wondering if I could get some rope? All mine's gone."
Lori looked between them and for a moment, wondered if she should indulge in Zayla's antics, then she shook her head and went to go find what the ginger asked for.
"Now, you're gonna dangle there like a cheap, overstuffed piñata and think about all the gross shit you've done today." Zayla told Ed as he dangled high from a tree just on the outskirts of camp where everyone could keep an eye on him, but he was still far enough away not to cause any more trouble. "And don't think anybody's gonna cut you loose 'till you come up with a heartfelt apology for all my bitches and my new wife, bonus points for creativity. Work up a poem, sing a song, do a little dance. I don't care what you do, it just better be genuine or you ain't gettin' down."
"You can't just leave me up here!"
"Watch me, bitch." She smirked as she turned her back on him. "And if I were you, I'd keep real quiet."