Chapter Text
She threw the last bag of kid’s clothes in the back of the truck before dropping the top down. “We good?” called D’wayne from the back seat, leaning to call through the sliding window.
Harley stalked up to the driver’s door, calling, “Yeah, fuck-nuckles. We’re good.”
She got in, turned to her best friend in the passenger seat and smiled, “We good?”
A bright pair of emerald green eyes turned to her and laughed,
“All good.”
**
Harley had always liked road trips, it wasn’t her fault this one went to shit. The plan was simple: grab her, her best friend, her best friend’s dumbass husband, their spawn, and some camping shit and take them on a trip down south. Her goal was to get away somewhere, give the baby, her god-daughter Pandora, some early memories outside the house. They’d also brought the youngest, a 3-year-old boy named Kaden, who was technically the baby of the family, but she’d been calling Pandy the baby for too many years before he’d come along to stop now.
**
They drove down 85 good and easy for most of the day. They’d managed till the bottom of North Carolina before they’d had to make their first stop so teeny toddlers could go piss. Harley pulled into the back corner of the gas station parking lot, since she didn’t need gas quite yet, and gave everyone a chance to stretch their legs. While Riley hustled her children to the bathroom, Harley stretched lightly and began opening doors to throw away any trash abandoned on the floor of her Dodge.
“Bro, I love you, but your truck is too fucking small for this shit, Harl,” D’wayne moaned, flopping out from behind the passenger’s seat after having been stuffed back there to watch the children during the drive.
Harley watched as he squatted to regain some mobility in his legs as she finally got all the kids’ snack wrappers up, “Di’ cha think yer damn car was gon’ do it?”
He looked up at her from where he was bent over to rub his ankles, “We did not need all of this shit, bro.”
“Most of its yers, asshat.” Harley said, throwing the bag of trash away forcefully.
She packed her black Dodge truck to the absolute fucking brim for this trip. In the bed were the tents, bags of hunting shit, sleeping bags and her cot, and whatever vestibule each member of the family chose to carry all the shit they’d need for the week-long trip to Georgia. Towed behind her small pickup was a 6-foot trailer to carry the three coolers, wilderness gear she’d packed, and a crate full of blankets and bedding. They hadn’t brought much in the way of food because she’d planned to hunt their meats and raid local grocery stores for what they needed to make a meal.
D’wayne had straightened and had begun to stretch with his hands above his head as he leaned back. “It would have more fuckin’ leg room,” he groaned through his stretch, “Speaking of which, is the fucking wolf really necessary?”
Harley looked over to the grassy patch of land off of the parking lot, where her newest addition was currently looking for somewhere to piss, “He’s just a puppy, couldn’t leave ‘im at home.”
D’wayne looked at her incredulously, “That motherfucker is not a puppy bro. That thing eats people.” He pointed to where the canine had begun to empty his bladder against a thin tree.
Harley crossed her arms and turned to him, “Six months. Makes him a puppy. Yer just mad he’s damn near tall as you are.”
Dire was her 6-month-old mutt puppy, bred specially for strength while keeping the ‘wolf-like’ appearance. This meant he was mostly German Shepard and Tamaskan, with a Labrador Husky thrown in there somewhere, crossed carefully with muscle dogs like Cane Corso and Rottweiler mixes for strength. After asking if her ‘dog-guy’ could throw in a Great Dane for size, all this amounted to ‘she bought a fucking demon’.
She liked dogs.
She gave a quick, “Dire!” as a call to her newest charge while motioning to the back seat. Her 2-and-a-half-foot-tall fur monster came barreling down the pavement towards her, having finished his pee, and was just exploring the tree line at the edge of the lot.
She smiled as he reached her and hopped into the back seat with ease. “Good boy,” she told him, rubbing his head as she fed him a treat out of his bag hanging from the back of her seat.
Soon, Riley returned and Harley and D’wayne tasked themselves with assisting in getting all the squirmers back in their seats before taking off. D’wayne was right, it was a tight fit in the cab. He was sitting in the back seat on the passenger side, behind his wife, where there was more leg room and he could watch the kids. Pandy-bear sat directly behind her, keeping herself entertained mostly with a granny square and her stuffed giraffe, Grass, while next to her, her brother was working hard on some kind of chocolate bar that Harley knew damn well his mother did not pay for. Kaden didn’t actually have a seat in the middle; her truck only seats four, but his car seat was ratchet-strapped in, so as long as he was buckled, he was probably the safest mother fucker in there. Harley glanced over to her right and smiled seeing Riley in the passenger seat.
If Harley had a soul, it was Riley. They’d met 13 years ago in middle school; Harley was mid rant about hardcore porn when Riley had been introduced to the table. Meeting Riley was the best thing that ever happened to her, would ever happen to her, Harley knew it better than anybody. Harley wasn’t good at much in the way of communicating, but Riley didn’t need words, didn’t need anything, it’s why she deserved so much. They’d been through a lot of weird shit together, both good and bad. Nothing could beat the time the toaster exploded though, in Harley’s opinion.
Hell ‘n high water they’d be there, Harley screaming and kicking up fuss, and Riley would get blistering mad at her for being a bitch when she didn’t need to be. She had that kind of smoky, white trash anger that could only be achieved with drugs in the bloodline. Something could get her going and she’d puff and puff till she was so tired she couldn’t think straight. Her anger was thick and heavy and hung around her like a cloud. It was so different from Harley, her anger shot off like sparks, hitting whoever was too close. When she got going, that fire could burn the world down if she let it. It’d led to some pretty nasty bitch fits between them, but they could just look at each other, and laugh. God, they could laugh. Harley smiled.
“Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout?” Harley heard Riley’s voice cut through the noise she called a brain. She fought her smile as she readjusted her grip on the wheel, “You.”
Riley had removed her shoes almost as soon as the family had hit the road and currently had her legs bent with her shins pressed tight to the dash of the small truck. She’d turned to stare at the embarrassed driver, meaning her dark, sandy blonde hair was whipping in the wind created by the open window. “Gay,” she taunted as she turned her body towards her, clearly expecting this to turn into conversation.
Harley grinned as she glanced over at the woman, “Bet yer ass I am.” She slid her hand over Riley’s exposed legs, grabbing at one of her thighs. Both women laughed as the conversation caught D’wayne’s attention.
“Hey that’s my wife!” the man called as he swatted at Harley’s offending hand.
“Mine first mother fucker!” She crowed as she tightened her hand on Riley’s thigh.
***
Noise from the middle seat later cut the trio’s quarreling short. “I gotta pee!” Called Kaden from his car seat. He was swinging his legs and bouncing up and down in what was clearly the best ‘pee-pee dance’ one could do while buckled into a child’s car seat.
The two adults looked at her; as the driver, she was the only one paying any fucking attention as to where they were. The sun was setting in the horizon, so it would do them some good to stop and get some sleep. She sighed and handed Riley her phone, “Find the cheapest AIDS free motel you can.” They were about 30 minutes away from Lexington, so it shouldn’t have been too hard to find a cheap motel and expensive gas a short ways from the city.
After 8 minutes of search and discussion, and another 4 minutes of driving, Harley whipped into a gas station parking lot just as fast as the trailer would let her. “Alright, I’m stopped go!” Harley yelled as Riley leaped out of the truck to open D’wayne’s suicide door. He had already unbuckled Kaden and had him in his arms as Riley swung his door open. The father wasted no time in getting the child, and his now very full bladder, into the store.
The two women shared a look, a breath, and then a laugh. “Gotta love tiny baby bladders,” Harley said jokingly, looking at Riley as she leaned against D’wayne’s open door. Six years of parenthood and they were all still forgetting the ticking time bomb that was toddler sized bladders, poor Kaden almost pissed himself waiting for them to take their exit.
The blond gave her a look. Harley laughed at her friend before looking at Pandora in the rear-view mirror, “Why don’ ya let ya momma take ya inside too, huh? Pee while ya can ‘n I’ll get gas ‘n meet’cha.” She finished her statement with a look to Riley.
“Kay!” The girl chirped as she put down an almost lump free square of dandelion yellow yarn. Riley rounded the back of the truck, over the hitch of the trailer, and collected her child from the booster seat.
Harley pulled the truck in front of one of the four available pumps and filled her tank up for the road the next day. She opened the two driver’s side doors and looked at Dire from his position on the floorboard. “Guard the truck,” she pointed a finger at the dog, who ‘woofed’ at her before adjusting himself further into the carpet. She nodded and turned to walk towards the dinghy building, closing the doors behind her.
The building was small, with a wall of glass for a front, advertising different wares with cheap signs. The pavement in front was dirty, loose trash laying on the concrete next to the trash can.
Harley frowned, how hard could it be to pick it up and actually get it in the damn can? Nasty bastards.
On the right-hand side, there was a lump of blankets and dirty clothes, that upon further inspection, was in fact a homeless man, hunkered down under the awning to sleep for the night. He didn’t look good; Harley hoped he got some help soon or wouldn’t make it.
The man’s skin was loose, with a sickly hue most definitely assisted by the shitty halogens in the gas station. He laid still with his head bent at an odd angle to rest against the glass. She couldn’t see the man’s body under all his blanketry, but he’s thin if he needs that many layers in the 78 degree heat of late August. It had gotten fairly dark while she pumped gas due to the tall trees blocking the little sun still in the sky, but it wasn’t going to get much cooler than this. Harley frowned at the man’s predicament as she passed him, raising her hand to open the door of the convenience store.
Once inside, she glanced around for one of the two adults brought on the trip. She entered just in time to see a now unladen Kaden teetering out of the men’s bathroom, little hand clutching his father’s bottom two fingers, and turning towards the first available ‘snack’ he saw. D’wayne, however, saw her and smiled. He glanced down and twitched his fingers to get the small boy’s attention. “Hey bud, go to Aunt-ly,” he murmured, nodding in Harley’s direction. She continued her stride, smiling as Kaden looked over at her before letting go of his father’s hand.
She watched as he wobbled over in that way he does, before throwing his arms around her legs and looking up at her. Kaden had his mother’s eyes, a deep green that, when hit by the light just right, would look faceted like diamonds. He had his momma’s curls too, in a similar blond shade, that the older woman ran her hands through.
Her smile always softened for Kaden. She held his gaze for a moment before he decided to break the silence. “Aun-ly! Snack!” came the childlike cry as he pointed behind him, towards the display he wanted from a moment before.
“Trust me buddy, you don’t want that,” D’wayne said as he walked up to the pair, “How about Aunt-ly takes you to find something edible?”
Harley looked at him with a smirk, “How about Daddy does it him damn self?” The man looked at her, offended.
“Aunt-ly would like to piss too after driving for 8 hours,” Harley explained, crossing her arms. D’wayne made an ‘oh’ sound before disentangling the small child from her legs.
She crossed the store towards the bathroom, pushing the door open. She opened the door to see Riley and Pandora; Riley drying her hands with Pandora standing obediently next to her. The older women smiled at the sight of each other. “What’s up, sugar tits?” Riley asked, as she threw her paper towel away.
Harley snorted at her choice of words. “Gotta piss, is all,” she mumbled as she passed the two blondes. She entered a stall and closed it, beginning to look around for something to cover the seat with.
“Want us to wait?” She heard Riley call from outside the stall. This place wasn’t bougie enough for specialized toilet seat covers, so good ol’ butt paper and prayer it was.
“Nah, go ahead n’ make sure yer damn husband feeds ya baby,” she called back.
She heard Riley’s confused voice, “Kaden? Again? Damn, fat bitch. ” Harley chuckled at the mother’s whispered comment as she heard her shuffle her charge out the door to reunite with the rest of the family.
Through the door of the dimly lit bathroom she heard her god daughter’s voice chirp out, “Bye Aunt-ly!” Harley smiled at the small show of affection as she wiped and began to reunite her pants to her waist.
Aunt-ly was the moniker originally given to her by Pandora when she had first begun learning how to speak. The family had watched for months as she babbled closer and closer to ‘Aunt Harley’. At some point in the child’s brain, she had decided simply to cut out the middleman, said middleman being the entire first syllable of her name, and ‘Aunt-ly’ was born. Harley enjoyed the nickname, as unconventional as it was, and tried to live up to its expectations.
Finally exiting the restroom, she glanced around for her family. She caught sight of D’wayne by the drink coolers and began in that direction. As she passed, she caught sight of the end cap that had secured Kaden's attention from earlier. D’wayne was right, the toddler did not want its contents as a snack.
Displayed at the end of the second to last aisle were unground coffee beans in bright red and blue bags depending on roast. Kaden had a terrible habit of seeing the most appealing packaging and assuming it was food. Suppose you couldn't blame the man, considering he can't read, but it led to a bitch of a tantrum when he doesn't understand why no one will let him eat Mommy’s tampons. Harley guessed they looked like popsicles.
Ignoring the logistical failings of the youngest Wilson child, she patted D’wayne on the back as she passed him. The man’s head popped up to look at her from behind the glass door. “You want anything?” he asked.
Harley looked back at him, “Who’s payin?”
D’wayne paused for a moment, “It’s your money in the back of that truck.”
“And the tank,” she reminded him, crossing her arms.
D’wanye adjusted to lean against the edge of the glass, “Then, yes, I am definitely paying. What do you want?”
Harley shook her head, “Nothin,” as she turned to leave, she heard D’wayne scoff behind her. She’d be fine, didn’t need him spending money on something she didn’t need.
Two aisles down, she saw Riley evaluating the value chip selection. Further down the aisle, the children were babbling over candy filled toys. Harley smirked and lightened her footsteps. The older woman was focused on her task and didn’t sense the hunter behind her. She jumped as Harley’s arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her hard against Harley’s wider chest. Harley’s familiar laughter in her right ear eased her panic, but not her reaction. “ Bitch! I almost hit you!” Riley yelled, before relaxing in Harley’s arms.
Harley turned her head to look at Riley, resting her chin on the woman's shoulder. “Wouldn't've felt it,” she responded with a smug grin.
“Damnit, why’d you have to be a weird lil’ numb freak?” Riley moaned. Harley just shrugged and began leaving kisses on Riley’s shoulder as she went back to mulling over the chips.
After a few moments, Riley’s biggest pain in Harley’s ass interrupted the silence. “Are y'all gay everywhere?”
“Yes,” the two women responded in sync.
“You’ve known us, what, 10 years?” Harley asked him incredulously.
“Shut up,” was the response she received.
“Ugh, the hoes are fighting,” Riley said, referring to the two of them and their bickering. Harley just laughed into Riley’s neck as she listened to D’wayne try to convince his wife to stop letting Harley do ‘his job’.
When Riley pointed to the chips she wanted, D’wayne didn’t hesitate to pick them up for her, letting Harley continue to cling. Harley swung her left arm over her shoulders, walking in tandem with the woman as D’wayne walked slightly behind them to the counter.
The counter had a hot bar, with some shitty pizza and dry looking chicken wings baking further under the heat lamp. Harley looked over to the register, where Riley was looking back at her from where she and the children were on the other side of D’wayne as he placed his items on the counter. She caught sight of the large water bottle he had among his purchases. She told him she didn’t want anything, dammit. “Y’all want dinner?” she called to her one woman audience.
Riley pointed to the counter, “Chips.”
Harley let her face go slack, “Yer feedin’ yer babies chips fer dinner? We ain’t gettin’ back in the truck after. We're goin’ to the motel.” At the parents’ ‘Oh shit’ looks, Harley figured they had both forgotten the plan in favor of muscle memory. Every stop before this, it was: get out, pee, snacks, truck, repeat; it wasn’t surprising they hadn’t thought about any real food for the night.
She left her order with D’wayne, who was trying to figure out a meal for every member of the family with the meager variety provided by the gas station, much to the annoyance of the very bored-looking cashier. Harley turned her gaze out the window. She was tired, she’d been driving for hours, and even though every rider had at some point taken a nap, she had no such luck. She sighed as she looked toward her truck, making sure the things in her trailer looked the way she left them. They did, and her bed locked, so she wasn’t worried about any of that. She just wanted to go to sleep, and the call of the cheap motel bed was loud.
The homeless man stirred in the corner of her vision as she heard D’wayne call her name. Turning, she watched him gesture towards the bags gathered on the counter. She walked over and grabbed one, watching as Riley picked up her youngest, and led the way to the door, now being the only one with a hand to do so. Harley made sure everyone made it out the door before letting it shut behind her. As she made her way to the truck, she strode past D’wayne with ease on her longer legs. She busied herself with trying to get her keys out of her pocket, not paying attention to what was around her.
She would always regret that.
She had just gotten the keys in her hand when she heard the yell. She whipped around to see D’wayne with someone’s teeth sunk deep into his left shoulder. He fell to one knee as the bags he had been carrying on the side fell out of his hand. The fucking homeless man woke up and bit him . She barely heard Riley scream as ran up to the pair. She placed her key in between the knuckles of her fore and middle finger before thrusting her hand forward and driving the keys deep into the homeless man’s left eye while sweeping his leg out from under him. He let out a strange, gurgling scream, more like a growl, and fell backwards, but it didn’t matter. She knelt to help D’wayne off the pavement, then picked up the bags he had been carrying in the hand of his attacked arm.
D’wayne held his arm close to his body as he screamed, “Dude?! What the fuck?!? ” As much as Harley agreed with the gentle sentiment, now was not the time.
“Get in the truck!” she barked at him.
“He just fucki-” D’wayne began, but Harley wasn’t having any of it.
“What are you gonna do?! Sue him?!” she kept supporting, slash pushing, the man towards the truck.
The kids were crying, and she wanted them away from here as fast as possible. The less they saw, the better. She hit the button to unlock her doors and nodded to the clearly disturbed Riley, who was unable to do anything about the situation with the crying children in her arms and by her legs. The mother began opening the driver’s side doors to get her charges into their seats, and out of the line of sight as fast as possible.
They arrived at the truck, Harley wiped the keys off on her leg while handing D’wayne off to his wife to be helped into his seat on the other side of the truck. She stole a glance behind her, to see the homeless man had gotten up and was making his way towards them. She didn’t know what the actual fuck that guy was on, but she made a note to make sure none of the kids ever found it.
Over his shoulder, she saw the cashier from inside on the phone with someone, looking panicked. They made eye-contact, and the blue-haired woman waved her off, clearly caring more about their current safety than how the cops would find them. Harley nodded, before throwing herself behind the wheel and taking off as fast as possible. She avoided hitting the homeless man, who slammed his body against the side of the truck anyway, smearing blood and eye-juice against the glass. The kids screamed again, and she and Riley began trying to calm them. Harley looked at D'wayne, he was bleeding heavily, the man must have really took a chunk out of him.
He was pale and shaking, Harley was no professional, but she felt safe assuming he was in shock, or on the way. He would’ve been calming the children too, if not. Harley worried her bottom lip with her teeth and looked back at the road as she tightened her grip on the wheel and sped up. She wanted to get the hell out of dodge about 3 minutes ago.