Kill a Dixon Part 4
“Um, Miss… Miss Lori?” Daryl said nervously. He was sitting in front of a big pile of socks that were spreading across the coffee table, matching together fuzzy pink ones and ones with extra support and special ones that helped Lori’s pregnancy cankle situation. But behind him the woman was watching some TV show and combing through Daryl’s hair.
Daryl didn’t mind.
Actually he was really enjoying the way her nails scratched against his greasy and probably still dirty scalp. He hadn’t washed his hair while at Officer Walsh’s but he had rinsed it well. It was dirty, yes but not too bad. He liked the way her pink would graze his ear every so often and how cool her hands felt on his forehead and ear. It made him feel safe.
He was in a nice cozy home, with a full stomach, wearing fresh cleaned clothes with a very nice lady petting his hair while matching up nice clean socks. It was like… like a dream.
“Yeah, Daryl? What is it?” Lori said and sat up a bit to look down at the boy. She was having a nice time. Daryl was very helpful. He got her a glass of water when she asked, brought her the piles of folded clothes so she didn’t have to walk from the bedroom to the living room, and she had to admit that he was really like a kicked puppy. He had no manners whatsoever and didn’t really know how to do everyday housework but he tried. He tried and he learned quickly.
Daryl just swallowed and kept his eyes down.
“Are they gonna make me stay with my daddy? Officer Walsh and Officer Grimes, are they gonna make me stay? I know I cain’t live with Officer Walsh and I cain’t stay here but-”
“You can stay here. Actually you will stay here. Down in the basement, now it’s not really fully finished but there’s a bathroom and we just had to put a bed into storage that we can put down there. We’ve got all the supplies to finish it but then Rick was promoted and then Carl happened and we haven’t had time since.” Lori said and started hatching out a plan. It would give Daryl a space but also be separated from the main house. Plus the door down locked from the outside if ever Daryl misused their trust, or someone came to hurt him they could lock their asses down there because no one’s ever gonna hurt this poor ba-
Lori stopped her thoughts and almost giggled to herself. She was almost glad the young man was bringing her maternal ways to light. Preparing her for everything she’ll feel for Carl, to a lesser degree but preparing nonetheless.
Daryl turned around and looked at her with those beautiful blue eyes, loose socks falling to the floor from his lap.
“Why?” The man said quietly and kept looking at her. Why were all these people being so kind? So caring? It hurt Lri’s feelings.
She reached out and cupped his chin, feeling the few wiry hairs that inhabited it.
“Because I said so. Rick can talk to the low income housing people and get them to see reason. I’m sure we can find you a job, at least something to get you some money until you can find a job you like. You don’t have to stay here, no one’s gonna make you stay or go. I have a good feeling about you Daryl, and I think you feel the same way about me.” Lori said in all sincerity while staring into Daryl’s eyes, making sure he understood. Daryl just stared at her and nodded after a moment. His face turning red and tears welling in the corners of them.
Lori wiped the ones that started to fall and gave him a smile before leaning back.
“Plus I’m pregnant and if you try to argue with me, I’ll cry.” She said in a joking way but Daryl just sat up on his knees and sniffed a little and looked right at her with seriousness.
“I promise I won’t make you cry.” He said and she laughed. He looked confused but she just scratched at his head and he smiled.
Soon her three valiant men were back. Shane hugged her and left to go back to work, Rick got ready for his shift and put dinner in the crock pot, and Daryl showed Lori all his stuff. She sat down on the couch and looked at his measly belongings. He had an old battered blue canvas backpack which was packed with one plastic comb, two foldable hunter’s knives, three sleeveless button downs, a pair of tattered blue jeans, and a picture of a woman sitting on a couch holding a baby while smoking a cigarette. He also had a cross boy with four arrows which he left on the porch.
Lori helped him put the clothes in the wash and helped her down the stairs to the basement.
“Oh you just didn’t put the insulation and the plywood up. You just gotta use screws, it’s easy, look.” Daryl said and started lifting things into place like a puzzle. Lori handed him screws once she found where Rick had left the drill, luckily it was on the charger.
Once he had the last of the boards put into place he was sweaty and hungry and tired. It had been a few hours, so they went up and ate what Rick had made.
That’s usually how the first few days went.
Daryl slept on Rick and Lori’s couch. He got up before them and sat on their porch and watched the sun rise. Rick woke up and made breakfast for Lori to eat in bed and left a plate on the table for Daryl. Lori and Rick got showers ( shower usually) then Daryl waited for Lori in the laundry room and did up the laundry with her seated on the bench folding.
They talked a lot. Daryl had never felt like he wanted to talk to anyone. He told her about his mom, Merle’s habits and friends, and of course eventually he told her about what daddy had done. Told her crying on the couch about the men. It had always been men that hurt him. And with cool calm hands she’d pet down his back and listen. At night she’d shed a few tears telling Rick that she wanted to swaddle up the boy and carry him around in her pocket and that she hopes those men rot in the worst corner of hell.
They’d eat lunch, Shane would call or come by to check on him and bring him stuff. Comic books since Daryl had mentioned that he couldn’t read all that well, some good socks and new underwear since Daryl didn’t have very many, and of course he brought over new documents from the court house.
Then Shane would leave or hang up, Rick would fuss about how Daryl could eat whatever he wanted since he ‘wouldn’t be worth keeping if he was gonna wither away’, and he’d leave. They’d go to the basement, Daryl and Lori, and work on drywall and paint. Daryl was always careful not to get anything on Lori and to not make too loud of noise. Lori however laughed and flicked paint at him saying that she wasn’t made of glass.
Daryl found that he rather liked having his walls painted warm brown, a familiar color as his walls back home were dark wood shiplap. So they painted them brown and Shane helped him put the bed in the main room, just a boxspring and a mattress on the floor. Daryl was so happy he couldn’t contain his smile.
Then he had sheets and a blanket and an orange and black patterned quilt. He had food and his own chores to finish. He had a routine. And he was never happier.
Lori helped him look for jobs while Shane found out where would take him if he asked. Lori found that Daryl liked quiet jobs, solitary jobs. He also liked mechanics and had taken a mechanics class in highschool and had a few certifications. He had thought about a job as a cook at a diner but then one day Shane had come in with a smile and a pat on the back.
A salvage yard. All he did was take things apart and toy things to different areas. It was the best. So then his routine changed. He got up, showered, put on his uniform, and caught the bus. He worked from nine till noon, walked three blocks to a little cafe where a very nice lady, Carol, had a cup of ice tea and the special of the day waiting for him, and walked back to work until three. Then he would walk around in the alleys and look for stray cats and maybe do a bit of dumpster diving. Shane would pick him up on the corner near the bank and drive him home. He would get a shower in his bathroom, put his laundry in the washer, and eat dinner with Miss Lori.
Sometimes Rick was home during dinner but most of the time he wasn’t.
He’d started a habit of putting all the clean laundry from the week in the round white basket and every Saturday him and Miss Lori would watch House MD and fold laundry.
Rick told him he could stay as long as he wanted. So Daryl made a home. He found a gray patterned area rug and a floor lamp in his dumpster diving which ended up actually not looking too bad in his little apartment.
He bought Miss Lori snacks and brought her little pastries from the cafe because he didn’t have the heart to tell Miss Carol that he really didn’t like sweets. He even made some friends at the yard. There was the owner, Dale, who would tell him all sorts of cool tips and tricks and mostly worked on his own projects. There was a little asian guy who came around every Monday looking for parts for his mustang that was older than he was and always falling apart. He ended up being a really nice guy who Daryl could tease with and talk to. The guy, Glenn, eventually started coming around to hang out and talk to Daryl.
Then Glenn and Dale start talking and they end up having beers after work on Friday’s before Glenn’s shift at the pizza shop. Then Glenn starts bringing around this girl, his girlfriend, Maggie, and her and Daryl hit it off.
So Daryl’s routine changes again.
Eventually he finds a nice apartment in the building next to Glenn and Maggie’s. Rick and Lori send him off with the bed they let him have, a recipe book of easy cheap recipes, and promise that they’d always be there for him. Of course Lori had made him promise to come to the hospital when Carl was born, only a few weeks away.
“He’ll need his Uncle Daryl after all.” She had said which caused him to cry like a baby right there in the doorway.
Sundays were for visiting Lori and Rick and helping do laundry and the week's episode of House MD.
Mondays were for talking to Glenn, changing his bed sheets (Miss Lori demanded of it) and occasionally going and renting a movie.
Tuesdays were for cleaning his apartment and grocery shopping with Miss Lori.
Wednesdays were Dinner at the Grimes residence and Daryl always did his best to bring something. Most of the time though it was a small package of beers and those fizzy cherry drinks Miss Lori liked.
Thursdays he smashed cars and played checkers with Dale.
Fridays he had a beer after work with Dale, Glenn, and Maggie. They listen to the radio and sometimes play checkers.
Saturdays are for sleeping in and going with the flow. Sometimes Glenn came over, sometimes he went to Miss Lori’s, and sometimes he laid in bed all day.
And every week was similar but slightly different.
Soon enough he was going to the Grimes residence more and more often again. He was cleaning and cooking and rocking a little tiny baby in his arms. Lori would fall asleep anywhere she could and Daryl would be happier than hell to rock little Carl or feed him a bottle.
Then he found a little puppy hiding under a car in the yard. Mangy and dirty and smaller than his hand. Daryl had taken the day off and took the little thing to the vet.
At the end of the day Daryl was proud of himself. He had a place of his own, a good job, a sort-of nephew, a dog called Dog, and most important of all he finally had the one thing he’d never had before, a family. A family found in a husband and wife and a sweet little baby, a bachelor, a mechanic, a pizza delivery boy and his girl, a cafe owner, and a mutty puppy dog.
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