Life I Left Behind (A Daryl Dixon Story)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Daryl

Eight years old

"I still don't think yer' name's really Charlie." I said, wrinkling my nose.

"Yeah it is. I'm not a liar." The girl said simply. Her dark hair was pulled back into a long braid. I watched as she scooped up a big handful of mud and flattened it into a pancake.

"It's a boy's name." I stated simply. I watched her for another second before going back to the hole I was digging. I was trying to find some worms to go fishing with. I had no idea what Charlie was doin', besides destroying her dress with mud.

She let out a loud, annoyed sigh. "It's short for Charlotte, you dummy. But I hate Charlotte. Charlie's better." She pressed another pile of mud into a flattened pancake and added it to her pile.

I thought about it for a second. "Yeah, Charlotte's not as good." I agreed, nodding my head. I spotted a worm squirming around in the dirt I was digging up and pulled it out happily. I added it to the little bucket sitting in the grass next to me. "What are you doin'?" I asked curiously.

Charlie wiped her hands on her dress, smearing dirt all down the front. It was everywhere, even a little on her face and matted into the tail of her braid. "What's it look like? I'm making mud cakes."

"Ew." I said, making a face. "What for? You ain't gonna eat 'em are ya?"

She gave me a big grin. "No. Unless you eat one. I'll do it if you do it."

I raised my eyebrows. She may have claimed she was a girl, but she sure didn't act like one. "Nu uh. You won't do it." I shot back at her.

She stood and placed her hands on her hips. "I will, too. What? You scared of eating a little mud?" She bent and scooped up two of the mud patties, handing me one. "On the count of three…"

I took the mud cake from her hand. It was soft and mushy. I didn't know what it tasted like, but it didn't look too good. "No, you do it first. Or I won't do it all."

Charlie shot me a challenging look. Before she could answer, though, we both heard her mama hollering from the back door.

"Charlotte Asher, I swear if you got that new dress covered in mud you'll be in serious trouble! Come inside!"

I eyed the muddy dress and gave her a grin. "You're in trouble." I stated smugly.

She stuck her tongue out at me. "Yeah, well at least I'm not a fraidy cat." She took the mud cake in her hand and threw it at me, where it stuck to the front of my shirt in a big glob. She immediately burst into laughter.

I stared at her, eyes wide with surprise. I glanced down at my shirt and wiped off as much as I could before throwing it right back at her, where it splattered into her hair. This only made both of us laugh harder.

"Charlotte!" Her mama hollered again.

Charlie sighed. "Guess I better go. Wanna play again tomorrow?"

"Sure." I said. It had been a long time since there were any other kids around to play with. And Merle was too old to hang out with me anymore. He wasn't that much fun anyways.

Charlie shot me one last grin and ran off in the direction of her house. I watched her go before grabbing my bucket of worms and trudging off towards home. It wasn't really where I wanted to go right now, but I needed to get my fishing pole from the garage. I hoped I'd be able to get it without mama or daddy noticing.

I slipped around the side of the house and ducked under the half shut garage door. My pole was leaning up against the side of the wall. It used to be Merle's, but he let me have it last summer, before he went away to juvey. I didn't really know what juvey was. Mama said it was like jail for kids. Sometimes she said if I didn't start actin' good, they'd take me there. I didn't believe her, though. I wasn't as bad as Merle.

I had just grabbed my pole when the door the led from the house into the garage was pushed open. I froze, wondering if I had enough time to roll underneath the garage door and run away. My mama saw me, though, before I even had the chance.

"Daryl?" She stopped, surprised to see me. Her blonde hair was piled on her head in a bun, a cigarette dangling between two fingers. "Christ, kid. You're filthy! You best not let your father see you like that. Draggin' mud all in his house."

I lowered my eyes to the ground. "He won't. I'm sorry, mama."

"That Daryl you talkin' to?" A deep voice rumbled from inside the house. My heart thudded in my chest. My eyes shot up to meet mama's eyes. "I told that damn boy he ruins one more pair of shoes, I'll-"

"It ain't Daryl! He must still be playin' with that neighbor girl!" She hollered back, keeping her eyes locked on me. Even if mama and I didn't get along all the time, there was one thing we felt the same about…making sure daddy never got mad.

I took a few steps back before quickly bending and disappearing beneath the garage door and back into the bright summer sunlight. I instantly felt relief coursing through me. I wondered if it was normal to hate comin' home. If I could, I'd live out in the woods. Merle was supposed to teach me how to hunt soon. I wandered off towards the woods behind the house. I hoped the fish were biting today.