rag doll | TWD

[2] a fourteenth street hooker

should i stay or should i go?--- the clash

[The Greene Farm]

♮♮♮

Maggie stared at the back of the refrigerator at the flyer held by a small magnet. The Rag Dolls: Live at Marco's Pub.

"What's on your mind, Maggie?" Her father asked her, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Just keep wondering where JJ went when she left. If she left."

"I'm sure she did. She probably found her family and is hunkering down just as we are."

Maggie shook her head, "I don't know. She was stubborn as hell." Their attention was turned to Rick coming down the stairs and standing at the edge of the kitchen. "Rick." She greeted with a smile, "Why don't you sit, and I'll get you something to eat? You'll need the strength if you have to give more blood."

Rick nodded, pulling out a chair from the table. But just as he was about to sit, the flyer on the fridge caught his attention. "This picture." He took it out from the magnet. "How do-"

"That's Maggie's old band she played with in college."

She noticed his intent staring. "We called ourselves the Rag Dolls. It was JJ's suggestion. She was band's lead guitarist. Then, there was Marcy, who-"

"The lead guitarist. What was her name again?"

"Jana Jackson, but everyone called her JJ."

Rick shook his head, scoffing in disbelief, "her name's Jackson Jana not Jana Jackson. She started telling people JJ stood for Jana because Jackson was too boyish."

"How'd you know that?" Maggie became suspicious.

"She's my sister."

♮♮♮

After taking a moment to collect herself, JJ decided that going to Maggie's was her best option. It was secluded, and she knew she was always welcome. But if there was one thing about JJ, it was that she sucked at driving. She had hit more trashcans than a raccoon looking for food.

She'd been to the Greene family farm many times, so she knew the general direction of where she was going, but past the first three turns, she was lost without a GPS. So, she resorted to using a paper map, something she would always judge her brother for using. He was never a fan of technology, so he held on to the traditional way of doing things for as long as he could.

Rick taught her everything she needed to know. How to handle herself, how to shoot, how to fix cars and most importantly, how to drive. It wasn't his fault she naturally sucked at driving.

By the time JJ turned 15, she was, by law,considered an orphan. She could choose to live with her next of kin or beplaced in a foster home. Rick and Lori, who were recent newlyweds, decided thatthey had plenty of room and could spare a bedroom. But even before they had lost their parents, Rick had always taken to raising JJ.

The Grimes' kids lost their mother at a young age to cancer, leaving them under the supervision of their father. For Rick, it was no problem. He was the son, the trophy child who could do no wrong. For JJ, things got difficult. Her father had so desperately wanted another boy, and even went as far as giving her the name Jackson to cope. She was an embarrassment, so she embraced the roll of being the problem child.

It wasn't long before the elder Grimes died from an overdose in his car. JJ didn't shed a tear.

"Okay, so I take a right on 411 and..." JJ told herself before she flipped the map right-side up, realizing she had been looking at it upside down. "Shit." She huffed and leaned against the hood, "damn, I really wished I'd paid attention when I went with Maggie."