Prologue
The pool of crimson becomes larger. Her dark blonde hair is becoming slick with the red liquid and the longer I stand here looking down at her, the more I wonder how I'm supposed to carry on without her.
It was an accident.
I thought she was an intruder coming to steal equipment from my farm because it's happened before, so I grabbed my shotgun, stormed into the barn and pulled the trigger without so much as a second glance.
With a heavy sigh, I reach down, laying the weapon on the dusty, wooden floor then pick her up in my arms, cradling her close. I know what to do with her because no one will believe that this was unintentional. We've had some well-known spouts throughout the town, but I've never raised a hand to her. Only my voice and something like that is enough to be branded a villain to those that are on the outside looking in.
After a few moments spent with her, I get to my feet, holding her in my arms. I have six one-hundred-eighty pound pigs. They’ll take care of most of my tragic mistake and then I’ll worry about the rest when the time comes.
I’ll tell everyone she ran off and I’ll make them believe it since I’ll have enough time to think of a good story.
I’ll miss her and I hope that if I see her in another life, she won’t look down on me for this. Sure, things could have been better between us, but they can be better with loads of people I think.
We did our best and I did everything I could to keep her happy on our farm with our simple life together.
Simple isn’t a word I like, but it’s what can best describe what we had, and while it was enough for me, I don’t know if it was ever good enough for her. And while I think it’s honestly the only way to think of how we lived our lives, it’s a word, and all of its variables, that she used against me constantly.
“You’re so dense, Huck.”
“You don’t know much of anything do you, you simple bastard?”
“I don’t understand why you can’t be smarter about things, Huck.”
I look down at the body in my arms as I make my way over to the pigpen. I can feel the anger starting to rise inside of me. This bitch never loved me. No matter what I did, no matter how much I tried to gain her approval, I can honestly say now that she never loved me.
With a grunt, I toss the body into the pen and tip the brim of my hat as my animals come to do their part.
While they begin to feast on her corpse, I wonder if she’s worth any of the tears I shed after I realized what I had done. I wonder if she would have shed any for me.
It’s too late for that now, but remembering how she spoke to me when she was in one of her damn moods, makes me feel less guilty about what I’ve done.
Ding, dong, the bitch is dead.
Chapter One
“Maddi, don’t be nervous. I know neither of us has seen my brother in about ten years, but I know he’ll be happy to have you stay with him for a while, okay?”
I blow my hair out of my face with an upward sigh and glance over at Momma. I would be more inclined to believe her if she had at least called him and told him that I was coming to stay with him. The problem is that Uncle Huck does
n’t have a phone on his property that either of us know of, and I’m pretty sure Momma doesn’t have a carrier pigeon.
Be nice, I scold myself.
Uncle Huck has had enough people be mean to him in his life for being a big, yet simple kind of guy and he doesn’t need me to add to it.
“What if he gets mad that I’m there?” I ask her nervously as I begin to chew on the end of my hair. Momma looks at me unapprovingly and I can’t tell if it’s because of my nervous habit or if because I’m a little worried about surprising Uncle Huck.
“Stop doing that,” she snaps at me, pulling my hair away from my mouth, “And I already told you that he’ll be happy to have you. This will be good for all of us, Maddi. That bitch wife of his is still probably treating him like shit when none of us are around, and you and I haven’t exactly been getting along lately,” she finishes in a softer tone.
With as much as I hate to admit it, it’s the truth. I know how much Momma has been looking forward to getting rid of me for this summer vacation and while it hurts in a way, I think putting space between us for a couple of months will be best to repair our relationship.
“You’re right, Momma. I’m sure Uncle Huck will be happy to see me.”
* * *
The car creeps slowly up the long driveway of the property. We’re both being jostled gently back and forth as Momma crawls gently up the gravel until she finds a spot to park outside Uncle Huck’s farmhouse.
As we get out of the car, I can’t help but smile when I notice his big, dark green pickup truck. Everything is a little on the large side when it comes to him, but he likes to be comfortable and it’s no one’s place to tell him otherwise.
Remember that, I warn myself. Part of the reason myself and Momma haven’t been getting along as of late is because of my smart mouth. She tells me to do something or asks me for help and I sass her almost every single time.
Things will be different now, though. I’ve got a couple of months with a man I barely remember to help me be a good girl again.
Chapter Two
Momma sighs as she knocks on Uncle Huck’s door for the fifth time. If he’s inside, there’s no way he can miss the sound of the banging, but that would also mean that he’s not up for company today and I hope that she won’t just leave me here.
The sound of heavy footsteps approaching the door greets us and I can feel myself becoming nervous. I reach up and use a hand to smooth down my hair that no doubt became a mess in the car ride over and steal a nervous glance at Momma. She gives me an encouraging smile which she immediately turns toward the door when it opens partially.
“No shit,” the man that I think is Uncle Huck says, pushing open the screen door and stepping out onto the porch to formally greet us.