Corn, Cows, and the Apocalypse (Part 1) (6 page)

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Fires Within-

             
It was hard for me to be mad at August.  It was hard for me to be mad at anyone I loved, because I hated conflict, but it was especially hard with August.  She was like my mother, sister, and best friend all rolled into one and I couldn’t bring myself to defy her or fight with her, even if I did think her opinion about Priest was wrong.

             
Technically she was right, Priest was not going to sober up just because I told him he should, but she was wrong that I was going to get hurt by him.  She thought that I had hopes that Priest would go back to the way he was.  I had no hope of that.  All I wanted was for him to stop wallowing in misery.  If he wanted to drink and smoke pot, then at least let it be for the pleasure of it, not the numbing of it. 

             
I managed to stay out of everyone’s way until the weekend was over.  We went to a few parties that ended the same way they always did.  I went home early on the four-wheeler to snooze, while everyone else hung around to schmooze.  As usual, the early night shift lacked any major glimmer grim, at least nothing I couldn’t simply drive around and away from.

             
When I got home early for what had to be the eighth week in a row, I made a decision.  I was going to sleep with Devin.  It shouldn’t have received the cresting excitement that I felt, but I wasn’t going to sleep with him for reasons of love or even lust.  I was sleeping with him because I was mad. 

             
I’m not quite sure how being mad meant that I should sleep with Devin, but in my head it made sense.  I was going to piss off Haden, but I didn’t care.  I was sick of spending the apocalypse like a prude while everyone else was living it up. 

             
Truthfully, I think what I really wanted to do was sleep with Priest to piss August off, but as I said before, it’s hard for me to be mad at August.  To outright go against her wasn’t going to work.  However, sleeping with someone she approved of, while pretending it was someone she didn’t approve of, might offer me the revenge I desired, without the repercussions.  Yes, that actually sounded logical in my head.    

             
Monday night was fairly boring, or it would have been had my decision to sleep with Devin not encouraged a good number of stupid follow up decisions. 

             
First, there was the liquid courage.  I certainly couldn’t just tell Devin I wanted to sleep with him, because I’m a coward, and that would be anticlimactic considering how long he’s been waiting for me to give in. 

             
The second stupid decision was the dress.  I didn’t have a lot of sexy clothes, so I altered a long dress from my closet to make it a short dress.  It was a little too short, and after I removed the sleeves and cut into the bodice to add lace, it was much to revealing.  It was a few pounds too tight as well.  When I finally slipped it on, my breasts were shoved up like I was laced into a bustier. 

             
My third stupid decision was making my intentions known to Devin in front of everyone.  Alas, all the other decisions could have been erased if I would have only discreetly drug Devin upstairs like a normal rendezvous.   

             
By the time I made it down to the bonfire in the backyard, I was thoroughly toasted.  My three friends were illuminated by the fire they were sitting around.  When I arrived August started speaking before the firelight had illuminated me.

             
“Oh, Lenore, at last, I want you to…”  She trailed off as the fire revealed my
very
little black dress.  “What are you wearing?”

             
“I wanted something nice to mark the occasion.”  I said or slurred, depending on how it sounded to them. 

             
Devin whistled.  “Well, well, well, Lenore.  I wasn’t sure you had any shape under those t-shirts, but there you are.”

             
“Shut-up, Devin.”  Haden snarled. 

             
“It’s okay, Haden.”  I said misinterpreting the reason for her defensiveness.  “I don’t mind the attention.  Not tonight.”  I sat down on Devin’s lap and he jumped in shock, but welcomed me by wrapping his arms around me. 

             
“What has gotten into you, Lenore?”  August chided.

             
“Nothing…yet.”  I smiled and squirmed against Devin’s lap.  He smiled broadly and chuckled. 

             
“Are you drunk?”  August asked standing up. 

             
“Yeah, yeah, shush mom.”  I waved my hand and leaned in to kiss Devin.  He pulled away, but didn’t stop smiling. 

             
“I can’t do that while your drunk, girl.”  He shook his head. 

             
“It’s the only way I can.”  I said and bit his earlobe, since he couldn’t pull any farther away.  He chuckled and urged me closer despite his reservation to my inebriation.               

             
“Devin!”  The snap sounded from both August and Haden.

             
“Okay!”  He said pulling me away.  “Oh, sweet thing, why couldn’t you have done this last night, or any other night before this night.”

             
“What’s wrong?”  I asked running my hand up his leg.  August ground out his name again, before he stopped me from reaching my goal.  He kissed my hand.

             
“I’m going to have to ask you not to do that, but just for the record, yes, yes, and yes.  I smiled and slipped out of his lap.  There was a lot more opposition to our hook up than I thought there would be, but I was determined to get Devin on my side. 

             
“What do I have to do to convince you?”  To add to my already egregious humiliation, I started to dance: a slither in my body, a roll in my shoulders, and a dip in my knees.  It might have looked more like an epileptic seizure though.    

             
August moved to stop me, but Devin grabbed her and pulled her back down on his lap.  “No, no, no, this is too priceless to interrupt.  You go girl!”

             
“Devin, this is uncalled for.”  August said struggling against his grip. 

             
“Oh, let her have her moment.  Lord knows you aren’t going to let her have anything else before she goes.”

             
“Goes?”  I asked in mid crouch.  “Where am I going?”  I stood up without consideration for my center of gravity, my blood alcohol level, or the fire behind me.  I faltered and fell right at the fire. 

             
I could see August struggling to get off Devin in time to save me, but for the first time ever, I realized that she was right.  She couldn’t be there to save me every time.  I waited to feel the burn, and hoped that I could get out before my hair caught on fire, but I never hit the coals.

             
Arms braced my back and lifted me away from the growing heat.  When I opened my eyes, I saw a man, a strange man.  I didn’t wait for introductions.  I screamed and punched him in the face.  He dropped me and I crawled to the safety of August’s legs.                                         

             
“Lenore,” August said, “I’d like to introduce you to my brother, Garrett.”

-
Sisters?-

             
“What the hell were you thinking?”  Haden drug me into the house by my wrist.  I think she wanted to be dragging me by my ear, but she wouldn’t have gotten me very far, since I was still too drunk to function without a sober-eye-dog. 

             
“I wanted to get back at her.”  I said as I stumbled after her up the stairs to my bedroom. 

             
“For what?”

             
“She thinks I can’t be friends with Priest, without getting hurt.”

             
“What?”  Haden pushed me down on my bed and searched my closet for non-whore clothing.  “She just doesn’t like him.  None of us do.  He’s a freaking priest who didn’t get taken by God.  Imagine what he must have done to deserve that.”

             
“He’s not bad!  He’s just broken!”  I yelled much louder than necessary.

             
“Shut…up.”  Haden clamped her fingers together indicating how my mouth should be.  I should have said “fuck you,” but the alcohol decided that crying was a much more scathing insult.  “Oh, for craps sake, Lenore, you are so bad at drinking.”

             
She knelt down before me and pulled off my high heels, before removing my dress.  “I’m sorry, Haden.”  I whined.  She glanced up before pulling me to stand.  “I shouldn’t have tried to sleep with Devin.  I know how much you love him.”

             
“Love…what…”  She sighed.  “Is that why you never went for him?  Cause you thought I would be mad?” 

             
I nodded and sniffled.  “Wouldn’t you be?”

             
“Hell yes, but no more mad than if you ate my chips.  I hate to share.”

             
I shook my head.  “You two can pretend all you want, but I see how much you want each other.”

             
Haden grabbed an extra big wad of tissues from my bedside table and shoved it to my nose.  “Blow.”  I blew and she viciously pinched away what must have been assaulting to her perspective.  “Look, you do whatever you want with Devin.  I might be mad, but I’ll get over it.  This is the end of days.  I’ve got no reason to hold a grudge, especially against one of my sisters.”

             
“Sisters?”  I asked. 

             
“Yeah, stupid, what did you think we were?”

             
“I thought you hated me.”  I said.

             
“No,” she snarled.  “I don’t hate you.  I like you, but you do annoy the crap out of me, so yeah that makes us sisters, right?”

             
I hugged her.  I wasn’t sure it was the alcohol either.  She had never expressed anything but irritation to me.  I was relieved she didn’t hate me.  She hugged back for a moment, and aside from my nudity, and my nose threatening to leak on her shirt, it was nice. 

             
When she pulled me away, she dressed me like a child pulling my pants up for me, and slipping my arms into my shirt.  I buttoned my pants and tucked in my shirt.  Before she could drag me back downstairs, I hugged her again.  She tried to pull away, but I tightened my grip, and she gave in.  I thanked her and released her.  The second hug might have been the alcohol.

             
We came downstairs and found the party had moved into the kitchen, so we joined everyone there.  I started to slow my approach, but Haden jerked my wrist and nodded her head up at me, indicating that I should keep my chin up or be brave, or some such inspirational shit.

             
“Hellooo sexy.”  Devin drawled shortly before Haden punched him in the gut on the way by.  It must have hurt because he didn’t say anything more. Haden sat down at the table with Garrett and August.  Devin was standing leaving one open chair available opposite Garrett. 

             
“Sit down, Lenore.”  August instructed.

             
I glanced at Devin as if he might be able to take the seat instead.  Despite looking a little green from his gut shot, he smiled and mouthed, “It’s okay.”  I took the seat keeping myself a good foot from the table.  The kitchen felt small with five people in it and my claustrophobia was kicking in. 

             
“Lenore Evans, this is my half-brother Garrett Smith.”  August repeated the introduction, but this time, instead of being quickly ushered off with Haden, I shook his hand.  Garrett was a rusty blonde with buzz cut hair, and hard muscular features.  His square chin was only slightly over shadowed by his nose, which was a little too big, but he was attractive.  Not as attractive as Devin, but really, who was? 

             
“Nice to meet you,” I said.  I was still pretty drunk, but I was not without my sense of embarrassment for my earlier display.  He no doubt saw most of it from the shadows beyond the firelight.  If he was in anyway amused by me, he didn’t show it—just the opposite. He looked bored, like he realized that his blind date was a taxidermist, and he still had three more meal courses to go before he could gracefully leave.  “I didn’t know you had a brother.”  I told August.

             
“You will be leaving with Garrett tonight.”  August stated like the entire conversation leading up to that decision had already happened. 

             
“Say what?”  I looked at Garrett.  He wasn’t surprised by the statement.  He barely looked at me.  He seemed to have found a fleck of dried noodle on the table and was determined to scratch it off. 

             
“Garrett is going to train you in self-defense.”  August said matter-of-factly.

             
“Oh, geez, not this again.”  I stood up, but Devin blocked my escape.  I must have looked as betrayed as I felt because he looked sheepish.

             
“Please, sit and listen.”  He whispered before squeezing my shoulder.  Had it not been him, I might have been gruffly pushed into my chair.  As it was, when I finally sat, he made it a point to rub my shoulders to keep me down.  My claustrophobia flared again. 

             
“I need you to be part of this group.”  August said.  “In order to do that, you need to train.  You said yourself, you can’t fight us.  You know us all too well.  I’m confident that my brother can train you to be who you need to be.”

             
“Who
you
want me to be?”  I said snidely.

             
“I’m not asking you to change yourself into someone new.  I’m asking you to become the woman you are supposed to become.”

             
“I am who I’m supposed to be.”  I said.  “I’m fine with who I am.” 

             
Garrett looked at August.  “I see what you mean.”  His voice was deeper than I expected.

             
“What did she mean?”  I stared down Garrett and crossed my arms for effect.  I tried to shrug away Devin’s hands, but he was no longer hiding the fact that he was holding me down.  “What did she say about me?”

             
Garrett looked me over like he was making his own assessment.  “That you’re stubborn.  However, I disagree.  I think you’re just lazy.”

             
“Excuse me!  You don’t even know me dirt bag.”

             
“Big words for someone who can’t back them up,” Garrett leaned back in his chair.

             
“Did she tell you I can hit a grim in eye from a hundred feet?”  I bragged. 

             
“Is that supposed to impress me?  What can you hit at two feet?”  Garrett leaned forward over the table.  “How about now?  I’m a grim sitting at your table.  You got in a lucky shot outside; let’s see if you can do it again.”

             
“You wouldn’t make it that close to me if I had my bow and arrow.”  I said.

             
“That’s the point, Lenore.”  August was no longer making any effort to hide her exasperation.  “He was that close to you outside.  He was just outside of the fire light, and you never saw him.  You never even suspected that someone was there.”

             
“I was drunk.”  I said.

             
“Would it have mattered?”  August asked.  “You just assume that we will take care of it.  You never even worry.  You are a liability to us, and until you can be more than my cook, you can’t stay here.”

             
I struggled against Devin, before a slipped under his grasp and away from the table.  “Get off me!  Fuck you!  Fuck all of you!” 

             
I ran upstairs, away from them all.  I secured myself behind my locked door and fell into my bed.  Seconds later the door frame splinter and August came in with Garrett behind her.  I yelped and jumped up using my bed as a barrier between us.

             
“Just knock her out.”  Garrett grumbled.

             
“No, she goes voluntarily, or they’ll be nothing more to discuss.”

             
“Leave me alone!”  I sounded like a teenager screaming at my parents, but I didn’t care. 

             
“Lenore, please don’t make me force this upon you.  You have to learn to identify trouble.  You can’t always depend on a weapon that will eventually run out of ammunition.  Why do you think I don’t carry a gun?”

             
“How can you ask me to leave you?”  My voice started to shake with the pain I felt from this potential abandonment.  “I love you.”  I whispered trying to stay below the squawk of emotion forming in my throat.   

             
August’s demeanor softened and she approached me with the motherly warmth that I wanted and needed at that moment.  “I’m not asking you to leave.  I’m asking you to make yourself strong and then come back to me.”

             
I shook my head.  “I don’t want to be strong.  I just want things to stay like this.  I don’t want to lose anyone else.  I don’t want to be alone again.”

             
August hugged me and pet my hair, but didn’t offer any comments.  I could tell she was soundlessly arguing with Garrett over my shoulder.  “If I let you stay here, will you promise to let him train you?”  I nodded into her shoulder.  “No matter what, you have to do as he asks.  You have to listen to his instruction as if he were me.”

             
“I don’t like him.”  I whispered even though he could probably hear me. 

             
“I don’t need you to like him.  It will be easier to fight him if you don’t, remember.” 

             
I drew back and looked at her.  “You brought him here, so I had someone to fight that I don’t know well enough to feel bad about hurting.”

             
“That’s essentially the gist of it.”  She said. 

             
I looked Garrett over.  He was standing at the door, looking as perturbed by this whole scene as that blind date he was just on.  “I don’t think I’ll feel bad about hurting him.”