Part 2: Square One
Chapter 1: Something’s Changed
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“I just don’t get it.” DD slurred. Her tongue grasped for the last drops of moonshine, before smacking the shot glass on the table as she tried to steady herself, sending it rolling.
“Don’t go too hard hun.” Tess said in a worried voice, stopping the glass.
“I just. I can’t talk to Scott.”
“Why not.”
“I don’t know what to say! Aina, what do I say!” DD turned to Aina and grabbed her by the shoulders, arms weak and limp as her body drooped low before lazily rising again.
“I do not know. I’m not him. I don’t even know what happened.” Aina responded.
“I think you just need to give it time” Tess shrugged. DD spun around on the old office chair. Was she really reduced to drinking every night in a 7Eleven at a folding table. It’d been what, a week since the water run?
“Trent won’t even talk to me.” DD complained.
“I told you I didn’t understand just forgiving you.” Aina was shaking her finger at DD. DD had already told Tess her story, more or less.
“You sound close with both of them, I’m sure they’ll come around.” Tess pat her back.
“I don’t get good things.” DD retorted, closing her eyes and resting her dizzy head on her knees.
“Not with that attitude.” Aina poked DD.
“Alright enough of that, shut up and deal” DD groaned, scooching back to the table. Tess quickly dealt out two cards to each girl. DD glanced at her cards: pocket aces. She shoved half her quarters forward, old world money Tess pulled from the safe for poker. The other girls called her and Tess dealt the next three face up cards. A four, a five and an ace. DD doubled down and Tess folded, then put out the 4th card, a 3. DD checked. Aina stayed in. The 5th card came out, a king. DD doubled down one last time, leaving her with very little money. Aina called.
“Three of a kind.” DD slammed the cards down and smiled wide, knocking over Aina’s stack of dimes.
“Straight.” Aina smiled and swept the change away.
“Dammit. I’ve had enough.” DD slammed her fist down on the table and stood up. ”Teach me parkour.” Aina looked forward at DD, stars in her eyes, and alcohol on her breath.
“Yes.”
“No, sit the fuck down.” Tess pulled both girls back to their seats. “Let’s talk about something.”
“Okay. Why did you leave Vegas?” DD asked, barely forming full words.
“Oh well, that’s not my favorite story.” The two girls probably wouldn’t even remember this in the morning she supposed. “So I dated this girl named Chloe in Vegas for a while. She really changed as our relationship went forward. She went from being incredibly lovey to being cold. I’m not sure if it was my fault or not. Eventually I couldn’t take it anymore and I broke up with her.”
“So you came to Winchester?” Aina asked.
“No there was a step in between. After the breakup I moved, but she started showing up at my door to call me names, I moved away from her several times, she just kept finding me. So without telling anyone I packed up a backpack and walked out of town. I just kept going, and somehow I made it here.”
“Dude, that sucks.” DD exclaimed.
“I’ll kick her ass if she comes here.” Aina was standing up with her fists on the table. “DD, tell us about Sam!” she demanded suddenly.
“What?”
“You talked about them so much on the water run. Tess, Sam saved DD from being eaten by a Trawler!”
“Really?” Tess was curious now.
“Yeah, they did do that.” DD explained.
“And you don’t have any injuries from a Trawler attack?” Tess pondered.
“It kinda just thrashed me.” Tess and Aina were looking at her now. “Okay fine. Sam and I worked together in Reno. Normally I’m pretty shy with new people but there was something comforting about them. We started drinking after work, and eventually we were hanging out in each other’s apartments. Although we were at theirs’ more, my place was crowded. They are probably the only person I’ve ever been able just to slow down with, besides Trent.”
“Oh, you liked them.” Aina teased.
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“I… maybe a little.”
“Oooh!” Neither girl would let DD free now.
“Did you guys like… date?” Aina asked, “You told me you never dated anyone.”
“We didn’t date. We cuddled a bit here and there, and there was a little experimentation, but we never dated.”
“You can’t not tell us more.” Tess said.
“I’m too drunk for this shit.” DD moaned, then continued, “So like. We were really comfortable with each other and one day they asked me if I wanted to try something new. I had no clue what that meant. They asked if I’d ever had a sexual relationship before and I explained no, and that I wasn’t really into the idea.”
“Man, you are too proper girl.” Aina said.
“But they convinced me to try this other thing; they were really into like… ropes.”
“Like tying people up?” Tess asked. “Kinky.”
“Yeah, I gave it a try, like I kept my clothes on and stuff.”
“Tell us more.” Aina demanded.
“No I’m drawing a line here, that’s my private life. I’m not sure why I said this much.” DD stopped briefly. “That’s enough me story time, Aina, tell a story.”
“Wait! I don’t have anything to talk about.” Aina said.
“Alright I need another drink.” DD got up and staggered away.
“Do you?” Tess raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.” DD said. “Tell us how you got into making moonshine Tess.” DD said, downing another shot.
“That started while I lived in Vegas, I just found the production of alcohol interesting, when I got here, sure enough there was a book on it in the library. I gathered all the parts I needed for a still and now here we are.” DD’s eyes would not lock in one position anymore, she searched for an equilibrium, but instead everything went dark.
- - -
“DD.” The girl was slowly waking up. “DD come on.” She opened her eyes, she was looking up at the ceiling of the 7Eleven. “I’m tired of running into you this way.” She looked down, a splitting pain crossing her head as she did so, her mother was staring at her.
“Hey mom.” Her voice cracked a bit.
“You need to stop doing this.” She said angrily.
“I can do what I want.”
“Stop trying to drown your misery away.”
“How else do I drown it away?”
“Healthier coping mechanisms for one.” Her mother scoffed.
“Like I’ll take advice from you again.” DD snarled. “You’ll be safer if you wear less revealing clothes Darla!” DD mocked. “I was wearing baggy clothes and never even removed my solar gear around the guy who tried to rape me!” Her mother tried to speak but DD continued. “Darla my life is so bad, Darla I hate your father! I never even met dad! You never told me about dad! All you ever did for me was shelter me to death and use me as your therapist! Look at me now mom, look how I turned out!”
“DD.” Her mother tried to interject.
“I don’t want your advice.”
“Let me finish.” Her mother snapped, then sighed. “You’re right.”
“What?” DD was taken aback.
“You, are right. About me using you to vent. Your father ran away as soon as I knew I was pregnant with you. I did my best to raise you alone but, I wasn’t ready either.”
“It doesn’t make up for it mom. I never asked to be born. I never asked for the emotional scars. The reason I started going by DD is because every time someone said Darla in a sad voice, a chill went down my spine. I feel like I don’t even know how to interact with people. I don’t know how to build relationships. So, I guess in one way I turned out like you; alone.” DD stood up and her mother extended a hand, but she refused it, and was already throwing her solar gear on.
“Weather’s bad DD, I think a storm is coming in.” Tess warned.
“I’ll be fine.” DD said coldly. She forced the door open, the howling wind pressing hard and shaking Winchester’s last traffic light wildly. DD pressed on anyway, past the barber shop, the old houses, and that's when she realized she was being followed.
“What do you want?” DD asked in an annoyed tone.
“To talk.” Scott replied back.
“I don’t want to.”
“I want to.” Scott said. He walked up to her. “Look, I know there’s a lot on your mind, and Aina told me you aren’t doing well.”
“Fine, walk with me.” DD instructed, all without looking at him. The pair moved into the desert in the wind but with a deafening silence between them.
“Why’d you never tell me you were struggling that way Scott?” She asked, “You were my best friend.”
“You were mine too. I didn’t want to add more to your plate. My parents and Trent’s dad were really close. My mom in particular always compared me to Trent, he was better behaved, did better in classes, everything. Eventually it happened with Aina too. Mom was always telling me that you were a bad influence and I shouldn’t talk to you anymore.”
“I… never knew.” DD said quietly.
“She always tried to make me something I’m not, she blamed all of my ‘acting out’ on you too. That’s actually why I started including Trent in our group. I figured if you and him were friends, he wouldn’t let my mom shove you away.”
“And it worked.” DD noted.
“Yes, it worked, and I ended up being really close with Trent too. We both did.”
“Have you ever told him our friendship started because you wanted to use him?”
“Yea. A while after you left. My mom told me ‘good riddance’ when you disappeared.” That comment shook DD to her soul.
“I guess both of our parenting experiences left something to be desired.” DD noted. The howling wind kept driving, buffeting any others still outside and herding them away.
To Be Continued