A Tourist in Mayberry

8/10) Pain Becomes a Person (Clawing Their Way out of Your Stomach)

 When her water broke and Sienna was all alone for three hours she wished Damien home, but now he was here and things seemed worse. Between the pain and Damien all sweaty and nervous, Sienna was definitely on edge and frazzled. She knew from reading the baby books the baby daddy, if he was going to be any help at all, needed to remain calm. She tried to calm Damien down by talking to him about what was going to happen. Strangely, this calmed Sienna down, and as she relaxed, she felt more in control. Damien, not so much. He looked like a man trapped in a burning building trying to find his way out.

The pain stopped as suddenly as it started. Sienna was starving all of a sudden. Sienna felt like eating something. She made herself a peanut butter and banana and grape jelly sandwich. She was ravenous. She ate the whole thing and drank a glass of milk. She felt better.

And then, the weird guy showed up. She did not know who he was or why he was there, but she was pretty sure Damien had called him earlier when he stepped outside. Why was the weird dude here, and why were they not going to the hospital? Damien and Weirdo were talking in hushed voices in the kitchen where she could not hear, though she could hear a little of what Damien was saying because his voice was unusually high and cracking today. She kept hearing the word "baby". Why was this stranger talking about her baby? She looked at him hard. She saw something about the stranger that looked familiar, something cocky and arrogant. Wait a minute, I know this dude. He's the mean ass motherfucker (sorry baby) from the trailer park. He shot at my dog one time. Why the hell was he here? And then a thought that made her catch her breath - is he the man Damien has been talking to on the phone about my baby?

Sienna began to get all nervous again. Her anxiety resulted in her tensing up her muscles. She got up and started to pace. The pain started again and she felt like the baby was trying to claw its way out with tiny little, but sharp fingernails. She started demanding, "Get me to the hospital, you fuckers," and apologizing to the baby for the bad language. "Sorry, I'm sorry baby."

Damien and the mean man had one last high-pitched conversation in the kitchen. Sienna noticed the mean man looked nervous now too. What's he so nervous about, she thought, he's not having a baby. Suddenly, the mean man abruptly left without even saying goodbye, or I'll be back, or even saying he was going for help. Well, good, thought Sienna. I'm glad he is gone, mean ass motherfucker, dog shooter (Sorry Baby!). He was no help at all.

Sienna began to calm down again. She began to talk quietly and slowly  to Damien. An hour or so or what seemed like eternity passed, she went to the bathroom to clean up. She got her little overnight suitcase with her gown and the baby's bring-home outfit. She tried to talk Damien into going to the hospital. He would not listen to her pleas, so she changed her tone. Sienna became demanding. She almost had Damien to the door to take her to the hospital when he slapped her.

Not hard, he justified to himself, just trying to get her to calm down.

Sienna held her hand-printed face. "Did you just smack me? The mother of your baby that I am about to have right now. You piece of shit. When this is over, I swear Damien for real this time, we are through."

Damien grabbed the suitcase Sienna was holding on to. "Calm down, or I'll do it again."

Then, like the sidelined quarterback coming back in the game, the front door busted open and Matthew took a step inside. Sienna swore later she heard music. It was the music from a western before the gunfight on the street begins. Damien swallowed the knot in his throat.

Matthew squared up. "What did I tell you about hitting a lady, son?"

Damien and Sienna both froze holding the babys-a-coming suitcase and staring at the old man. The old man, who Sienna had been terrified would show up since their runaway, was here. Sienna took one long look at Matthew and one deep, panicked breath and fainted. Damien took one last look at the old man, glanced at a fainted Sienna and made a split second decision setting his path farther down the wrong road. Damien ran out the back door.