WASTELANDS.
chapter four, bruises.
[ season one, episode three ]
RICK, DARYL, T-DOG, AND Glenn leave for Atlanta. Rick talked to Odessa about the way she talked to her mom and that he would always be there by her side no matter what. She told him she loved him. He told her he loved her too.
Now he is gone again and Odessa can only think, what if he doesn't come back this time?
She doesn't want to be anywhere near her mother so she sits with the other ladies of the camp, washing clothes.
She sits between Amy and Carol, glancing at Shane and Carl every couple seconds. He is trying to teach her baby brother how to catch frogs.
"Can someone explain to me how the women would up doin' all the Hattie McDaniel work?" Jacqui asks.
"The world ended. Didn't you get the memo?" Amy glances at her.
"It's just the way it is," Carol says, glancing back at her asshole husband. This causes Odessa to look back at him with a disgusted look.
"Shouldn't be that way," Odessa looks over at her. "Women aren't slaves. We're badasses, we're superheroes."
Carol smiles softly at her. "Yes, we are. I do miss my Maytag though."
"I miss my Benz, my Sat Nav." Andrea then says.
"I miss my coffeemaker with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey," Jacqui grins.
"My computer. . . texting." Amy says with a sad look on her face.
"I miss my roller skates," Odessa frowns. "And music."
"I miss my vibrator," Andrea says so suddenly that it catches Odessa off guard. She snorts at the woman's comment.
And what catches her even more off guard is Carol saying, "me, too." The five women laugh harder at her comment.
But their brief moment of happiness and laughter is ruined by a big, ugly, smelly monster walking up behind them. "What's so funny?"
"Just swapping war stories, Ed." Andrea replies.
Ed lingers behind the five as if examining their work, "dude." Odessa turns around to face him, "do you have a problem?"
"Nothin' that concerns you," he eyes Odessa, "and you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club." He then says to his wife.
Odessa's eyes narrow. She can sense Andrea becoming more angry by the second as well.
She then looks up to see Lori and Shane talking in the distance. She frowns, her eyes moving downwards.
Ed continues to stand behind the group of five until Andrea finally snaps it, "Ed, tell ya what—" she stands, "you don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here." She tosses a wet shirt into his hands. He is fast to sling it back at her, the wet fabric whipping her hard in the neck.
"What the hell?" Odessa stands. The anger shaking her entire body.
"Ain't my job, missy." Ed says.
"Andrea, don't!" Amy begs her sister.
"What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?" Andrea questions.
"You're killin' yourself with them by the way. But hey, I mean, good riddance!" Odessa smiles at the asshole, teeth shining and everything.
"Well, it sure as hell ain't listenin' to some uppity smart-mouthed bitches." Ed glances between the two. "Tell you what— come on. Let's go."
"Wait, no," Odessa grabs Carol's arm. "Please don't go with him." She whispers.
Carol smiles sadly at her. "I have to." She whispers.
"No, you don't. It's not safe for you or Sophia," she begs silently. "Please, Carol. My dad and Shane will protect you both from him."
"I have to." She repeats.
"Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass just because you're some college-educated cooze." Ed says to Andrea.
"At least she has an education!" Odessa laughs. "Unlike you, you fat, disgusting, inbred pig!"
"And I'm not afraid to know you on your ass either just because you're the daughter of the Queen Whore and her bitches." Ed says to Odessa.
"What?" She laughs angrily, her eyes wide with fury. "What'd you say?"
"Don't make me repeat it." Ed glowers down at her. "Now you come on now or you're gonna regret it later."
"So, she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed?" Jacqui butts in. "Yeah, we've seen 'em."
"Stay out of this. Now, come on! You know what? This ain't none of y'all's business. You don't want to keep proddin' the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking. Okay?" He grabs Carol's arm.
"No, no, Carol. No." Odessa quickly grabs the older woman's arm again.
"You don't tell me what! I tell you what!" Ed shouts before he strikes Carol across her face.
Screams burst from all the women. Mostly from Andrea and Odessa. "You fuckhead!" Odessa screams, shoving at Ed's chest.
His arms reach out and shove her back. She falls back all too fast. Jacqui tries to grab her but as she falls her head slams onto the corner of the bin she'd been sitting on earlier.
Her vision blurs from the hit. "Hey, you're okay, honey," Jacqui crouches beside her in the water. She hold a shirt to Odessa's bleeding head.
She glances towards the shoreline when she hears Carol screaming and sobbing. There is Shane beating the absolute shit out of Ed.
"Shane," she mumbles but only Jacqui hears her.
"You put your hands to your wife, your little girl, that girl in the water, or anyone else in this camp I will not stop next time. I'll beat you to death, Ed. I'll beat you to death!" He punches him one more time before he stands and kicks his ribs.
He moves to the water and Jacqui allows him to pull Odessa up by her arms. In that moment, she is in too much pain to care that he is touching her. Her head rolls onto his shoulder, "I think I have a concussion," she mutters to him.
"I gotcha, kid," he quickly picks her up bridal style and carries her up to the camp where everyone is quickly crowding around.
"What happened!?" Lori exclaims when Shane walks past her. He doesn't explain. He simply walks past her and into the RV where he lays Odessa gently on the bed.
"Shane!"
"Ed pushed her and she hit her head," he explains. "I think she's got a concussion."
After a while, Jacqui has joined them and helps Dale clean all the blood off of Odessa's face and neck. The girl isn't allowed to sleep. She hates it.
Her mother doesn't even stay long enough to find out if she's okay. Carl lays beside her, sleeping soundly. Shane drops by every thirty minutes, Andrea, Amy, and Jacqui have all checked up on here. Even Carol and Sophia have.
She lays there in silence. She doesn't even doze off. As angry as she is at Ed, at Lori, she doesn't have enough strength in her to do anything about it.
Shane has already handled Ed. And Odessa has already told her mother she wishes it was her in her father's place.
Now all she can do is await her father's return.
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word count: 1,192
okay!!! that was something, wasn't it?? odessa is the leader of the carol and sophia peletier protection club. i can't wait until you guys see the relationship that blooms between dessa and carol in season two. it's going to be amazing.
but how about lori literally not caring that her daughter could've died?? what a bitch. just so you guys know, i like canon lori. this version of her is just for the sake of my story and odessa's development.
are you guys ready for the next two chapters?? 😬😬. the rest of this season is not at all friendly to odessa. it's gonna suck for her because once the camp is attacked, she's changed forever and it won't be pretty.