Chapter 1

I’ve had this story floating sround for a few years and finally got around to submitting it. Hope you enjoy it.

“I hate having to sleep with this damn thing!”

“Sorry, it’s so you don’t fuck up your new hip, Mom.”

“There you go with that foul mouth of yours again.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m a lost cause, Mom. There’s no changing me now.”

“Just give me one of those other pillows. I don’t want that thing strapped to my leg.”

“Nope. Abduction wedge, Mom. The doctor said you had to use it, so you’re going to use it.”

“What if I have to get up in the middle of the night?”

“Then you yell for me…or call or text me. That’s why I’m here, sleeping in your spare room. So, stop bitching about it. Do what the doctor said to do.”

“I can’t believe the way you talk to me.”

I had to bite my tongue at that remark. It’s pretty convenient that she seems to forget the things she’s said to me over the years. Now wasn’t the time, though.

She finally relented and let me help her get situated. Hopefully, the pain meds would help her rest and keep her out all night.

I quietly closed her door and made my way to the kitchen. I grabbed a bottle of beer and went out onto the front porch.

I couldn’t believe I was back in this dumpy little town. Thankfully, it was only temporary.

I had forgotten how quiet it was around here, especially in the evening. Not surprising, since everything closes up around 8:00 p.m. here…except for the bars. It was actually kind of peaceful.

I downed the last of my beer and went back inside. I had to try and get some sleep. Mom would be up at the crack of dawn and would need my help getting around.

I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and ditched the bra. After putting on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, I climbed into the old lumpy bed in Mom’s spare room and drifted off.

I was pulled from my sleep by my mother yelling my name from her bedroom. “Delaney! Delaney! De-lane-ey!”

I glanced at my phone… 5:30 a.m. She had slept in.

I shuffled into her room, “Morning, Mom.”

“It’s about time. I have to pee and I’ve got this damn contraption strapped to me.”

I helped her up out of bed and guided her and her walker to the bathroom.

Afterwards, I made us some breakfast and some coffee. I then helped Mom into her recliner so she could watch whatever it was she watched in the mornings.

I opted to sit on the front porch and enjoy the early September morning. As I sat drinking my coffee, I received some friendly waves from passersby and had a brief conversation with a few of Mom’s neighbors. They asked how she was getting along after having her hip replaced.

After a while, I found the bottom of the cup and felt that another one was needed. I took my fresh cup and joined Mom in the front room.

I was annoyed as soon as I walked into the room. On the tv was Fox News. I had no idea she watched that trash. Mom sat there, fixated on the screen, shaking her head as the host rambled on.

“Can you believe what this idiot is doing? How can they let him get away with that?”

“The president! He’s a crook. It’s a shame what’s happening to this country. These illegals, and these…these damn… quer…uhm, I mean… sinners.”

“Isn’t it a little early for this shit, Mom? You can’t trust the things they say. It’s just designed to get you riled up and angry.”

“Why don’t we turn on The Price is Right or something?”

“But this is important.”

“Is it really? What are you going to do about it? Are you going to take your walker to Washington and tell them how it is? It’s depressing to listen to. Let’s watch something fun.”

She sat and pouted for a moment before she gave up and changed the channel. The rest of the morning passed without incident.

Later on that day, I made us some lunch, and Mom dozed off while I checked in on a few things back home.

In the early evening, Ruth, one of Mom’s neighbors, brought us some chicken and noodles and mashed potatoes for dinner. She wanted to check on Mom and make sure we were eating well. I appreciated her checking on us, and the food was delicious. I ate way too much, though.

“It sure was nice of Ruth to look in on you. The food was great too.”

“Eh, she was just being nosy.”

“Mom?! You should be thankful for a friend like that. I highly doubt she was being nosy.”

“You don’t know her.”

“OK, Mom, whatever. I like her, and I think she is sweet.”

Mom just huffed and continued watching television.

It had been about a week since Mom had her hip replacement surgery, and she was feeling much better. She was getting around really well, considering what she’d gone through, and barely needed pain meds.

It was Sunday evening. We had just finished dinner when there was a knock on the door.

I got up and answered the door. I opened it to see an older man standing on the front porch. He introduced himself to me as Carl. He said he was one of Mom’s neighbors. I hadn’t met him yet, but it was nice that she had so many people around her looking out for her. He said he lived a little further down the road. He explained he had missed her at church and wanted to check on her.

Church? Mom never mentioned that she had started attending church. In all my life, we had never belonged to a church, much less attended one for any reason. Maybe it was a way for her to meet people? I’d have to ask her about it later.

I had some phone calls to make, so I left those two to chat and excused myself to the front porch.

I finished my phone call and went to enter the house. I had just opened the screen door when I heard Carl talking.

“It’s these teachers, Doreen. They are indoctrinating the children. These DEI hiring practices are ruining this country. They are hiring these… these…these fucking illegals and these fucking queers to teach children to be gay and… my god, Doreen, these kids are shitting in litter boxes! In the classroom!”

“I know…it’s disgusting. I hate them all.”

Those were the actual words out of my mother’s mouth. “I hate them all”. My blood was fucking boiling.

“Excuse me?! What the fuck is this bullshit? Really, Mom? You hate them all? The queers and illegals? The teachers? You do remember that I’m a fucking teacher, right? I’m also a lesbian. So do you hate me, too?”

“Fuck you.” I spat, making final eye contact with Carl.

I stormed out, slamming the door behind me. I reached the bottom of the steps on the front porch and realized that my car keys were still inside. Fuck. I couldn’t go back inside after storming out like that.

I was probably too pissed off to drive anyway. I started walking, having no idea where I was walking too.

I reached into my pockets and discovered I had some money in one of them from when I ran to the grocery store earlier. I was only a few blocks away from one of the bars, and a drink sounded like a good idea.

I walked up to the front door of Scooter’s Tap and prepared myself for what was beyond the entrance. Little redneck bars like these were often… interesting. I opened the door, and I swear everyone inside turned and looked at me. I paused with the door open and sheepishly stepped inside. I noticed there were a few empty seats at the far side of the bar, so I took the furthest one.

“What can I get ya?” The gravelly-voiced bartender asked.

“This ain’t tv, sweetheart, what kind?”

“Oh, Uhm…” I glanced at the tap handles. “Sierra Nevada. Please.”

The bartender nodded and soon placed my drink on the bar in front of me. I slapped my money down and told him to keep the change. He tipped his head towards me and let a tiny grin sneak out.

I took a glance around the establishment to get a feel for the place. It was dimly lit, typical of a bar of this type. There were 4 pool tables towards the back, several tall pub tables and chairs between them and the bar. Almost everyone was chatting with someone else.

My eyes landed on the pool table furthest away. The two men that were playing appeared to be having a difficult time landing a ball in a pocket. They’d each go through the motions of strategically lining up their shot, but would inevitably miss or just knock a few more balls around the table. It was entertaining to watch.

I observed this back and forth between them for several minutes before my eyes caught something else.

Back in the corner, behind the table, perched upon a stool, a pair of eyes looked back at me. I couldn’t see her at first due to the brightness of the lights over the pool table. We made eye contact briefly before both glancing away. I turned and took a drink of my beer, focusing on the bottles behind the bar.

I glanced back over in her direction and caught her eyes on me again. I averted my sights back to the bar, then pulled out my phone. As I thumbed through my phone, I heard a soft voice from the front of the bar.

“Can I get three more of these, Buck? Please and thank you.” She said, handing the bartender the empty bottles.

I glanced up from my phone and saw her. She was looking towards the bartender, which gave me time to quickly study her. She was pretty. Not like supermodel pretty, which I don’t prefer anyway, but average girl next door pretty. She looked to be about my age, with dark brown hair, brown eyes, pretty eyelashes, and soft features.

Like me, she appeared to be carrying a few extra pounds, which was definitely my thing. Then she caught me looking at her.

“Delaney. That’s a pretty name.”

“Whatcha got there?” She nodded towards my beer.

“Uhm, Sierra Nevada.”

“Oh! You like the fancy stuff, huh.”

“I’m just giving you shit. You play pool?”

“Want to knock a few balls around with me?”

I wasn’t sure if that was an attempt at making a sexual joke or what, but I wanted nothing to do with any kind of balls. Male or pool.

“Oh, not tonight. It’s been a rough night so far. Just stopped to have a quick drink. Sorry.”

“Oh. Well, maybe next time.”

“Maybe. It was nice meeting you.”

She took her 3 beers and walked back to the pool table. I picked up my glass and finished off my beer. No sooner had the empty glass touched the bar, it was whisked away, and a fresh one was in its place.

I looked up at the bartender, and he motioned towards the back corner. I turned to look over in that direction and saw her. She smiled and waved. I waved back and mouthed “thank you” to her.

I was back to scrolling on my phone when someone sat down next to me.

I looked over, and it was Piper. I put my phone away.

“I haven’t seen you around here before.”

“Yeah. I’m in town to help my mom. She just had her hip replaced.”

“Oh? So you used to live here?”

“Yeah, well, I lived 10 minutes away in Granton. I grew up there.”

“Ah, okay. That’s probably why you don’t look familiar. Been gone a while then?”

“Since college. Went to school three hours north and stayed there.”

“I’m a middle school teacher.”

“That sounds exhausting.” She laughed.

“Oh, it is.” I laughed with her.

Of course, her laugh was adorable. She had a beautiful voice, had an amazing scent, and was so cute. But there was no way she was gay. Being that I was the only other woman close to her age in this sausage fest, she was probably just looking to socialize a little.

“Do you have kids of your own?” She asked.

“No. No kids for me. Teaching is enough. What about you?”

“I’m not really the mom type. I love kids, but I don’t want any of my own.”

“Listen, Piper… uhm, I should tell you up front that… I’m into women. If that bothers you…”

“Oh, thank god. I was hoping I was right, but… I’m kind of rusty.”

“Oh?! Well, then… okay. I was not expecting that. What gave me away?”

Piper giggled, “I don’t know… I just had an inkling. The guys I was playing pool with made comments as soon as you walked in. I told them that they’d be disappointed if they tried making moves.”

“You were right. Especially tonight.”

“So you said it’s been a bad night? Care to talk about it?”

I exhaled before delving into what had happened.

“I…We, my mom and I, got into an argument. I overheard her neighbor…the fucking asshole…and her talking about… stuff. It pissed me off, and I lost it.”

“I’m sorry. Has this neighbor been a problem before?”

“I don’t know him. I haven’t met any of her neighbors before, actually. It’s… I’m sorry, we just met, and I don’t want to dump all of my bullshit on you.”

“It’s okay. I asked for it.” She laughed.

“True. That you did.”

“You’ll feel better letting it out.”

“Okay… so…sorry, this might sound like it’s going to be long, but it’s not. I promise. Okay…after I graduated college, my dad passed away. It’s been 17 years. We were close, like, really close. Mom and I got along too, but Dad and I were just… like best friends. He accepted that I was gay without hesitation. Mom…not so much.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your dad. Sorry about your mom too. That sucks… I know.”

“Thank you. So, like I said, she had a hard time with it. Anyway, after Dad passed, Mom and I kind of drifted apart. I was living and working three hours away, she sold our family home in Granton, and moved into a little house here. I tried staying in touch, but she just seemed like she didn’t want to put in the effort. To my surprise, she’s been getting hooked on politics, and I think you can imagine which kind. I’ve been trying to reconnect with her. She even asked me to come stay with her after her surgery. I thought maybe things would get better between us… but tonight…her and her neighbor were talking about teachers and indoctrination, and turning kids gay, illegals, DEI… all that horrible bullshit. I heard her say something… I just…I can’t believe it.”