my tears ricochet

Chapter Eighty Eight

Daryl found her slouched against the counter in the kitchen, patiently waiting for the coffee maker to finish brewing a fresh pot.

"You're gonna be late," Daryl grouched, grabbing a pink binder from the table and shoving it into the school bag on the counter. It looked heavy, weighed down by different school journals and a few books, her old pencil case barely visible under the mess. He had bought the case years ago and it had lasted, plastered in old and new stickers, a little worn looking around the edges. "You need a ride for school?"

Ivy shook her head, turning her face slightly. Her hands were wrapped around an empty travel mug and he could see that her nail polish had been changed overnight, the chipped purple switched for fresh aqua blue. It reminded him the colour of swimming pools and summer. "Beth said she'd get me."

"She's cutting it close."

"She's a fast driver, don't worry."

"If she gets another ticket you're gonna start walking from now on."

Beth had gotten two tickets and a dozen warnings already from Rick, the hypocrite, about her driving. Last week Daryl had seen her practically flying around a dirt road in her father's pickup truck, kicking up a cloud of dust. He was also positive he had seen a familiar flash of blonde hair ducking below a dash, conveniently out of sight from his own truck.

"Can I have some money for lunch?" Ivy asked, grabbing the coffee pot when it finished brewing and pouring straight into the travel mug. She pulled out his battered old mug for the road and got him a cup as well, plain black like he always drank it. She was still in the phases of drowning her own in ungodly amounts of flavoured creamer, sweetening the bitter bite of it. Bottles of the flavoured creamer littered the fridge and every day she would select a new option. All of it was named after some kind of chocolate bar and made his teeth hurt looking at it.

Daryl tugged his wallet from his pocket and tossed it over, letting her pull out a few dollar bills. "Your uncle wants to go campin' this weekend."

She tugged out an old school photo of herself and grimaced before shoving it back in and giving it back. "Yeah, he told me. He sends, like, twenty texts an hour ever since you made him get that phone."

Merle lived across town but harassed Daryl over text like he was still in the next room over, shouting at him through the shared wall. His phone hadn't vibrated yet but it wouldn't be long before Merle was pulling up in front of the house in his rust bucket of a truck and was slamming on the horn for him to get out. "I'm gonna be late tonight."

"I'll meet you at Rosie's," Ivy said, doctoring up her coffee until it was pale enough it matched the beige walls of the kitchen, still the colour painted by the previous owners. "I can walk to the diner from here."

"Finish your homework first."

She hummed noncommittally, saved only by the sound of brakes screeching outside the house. They could both hear the muffled sounds of a pop song blasting from the radio. "I gotta go."

"Make sure she gets you there alive," Daryl frowned, squinting out the small kitchen window to the street. Beth gave him a wave and he could see Enid trying to adjust the radio volume before being swatted away from the controls.

Beth was in her sister's car, a loan for while Maggie was away at school. The bumper already had a dent in it. He was sure the older girl would kick up a fuss when she came home and saw it so he made a mental note to swing by and look at the damage himself, to see what could be mended. If he couldn't manage it, Axel or Oscar might have the time to fit it in on short notice at the garage downtown. "Remind her what the speed limit is, yeah?"