The beginning

Chapter 42

On Monday morning, I woke up early and got dressed for work. I decided to spare the parents a walk to the school and surprised my students by picking them up. When we arrived at school, I started the morning by getting the children to talk about the books they had read over the weekend. Afterwards I gave them some math problems to work on while I got their weekly spelling charts finished. The day went by fast and before I knew it, we were packing up and getting ready to drop everyone home.

Most evenings that permitted it, we all still ate together. We'd take turns hosting at either house and would swap stories about the latest news we'd heard around town. I wondered how long we would continue doing it. I really enjoyed it but could see the novelty wearing off as life continued and new relationships formed. After cleaning up, we'd all retire to our own rooms. Daryl was still making the most of our private space. Most evenings concluded just as he'd hoped. 

On Wednesday, Daryl and Aaron left for their first recruiting trip together. Both Eric and I got up early to see them off. I watched Daryl shoot off ahead of Aaron, who followed behind in his car. We waited until they disappeared out of sight, before leaving to start our own days. After school, I dropped Sam, Jessie and Pete's youngest son back home. For the first time in days, I laid eyes on Jessie. "I am so sorry I haven't been over. I've had a killer migraine for days," she explained.

"Don't apologize for being sick, silly. How are you feeling now?"

"So much better! In fact, I have some free time now. You still keen for that haircut?"

"Only if you're sure," I smiled. She nodded enthusiastically and ushered me inside.

Jessie pulled out a chair from her dining table and brought it into the kitchen. I sat down while she ran off to the bathroom to collect her hairdressing kit. When she returned, she asked, "what were you thinking of doing?"

I pulled the band from my hair that had been holding it up into a neat ponytail and let it fall over my shoulder. "See how uneven it is? Can you blend that through, please?"

"Absolutely I can. Want any length off?"

"I prefer my hair longer but take off as much of the dead stuff as you need."

Jessie smiled and showed me how much she needed to take off. "I'll add some shaping around the face and take some of the bulk out. You'll feel like a new woman." As she began brushing through my hair, she asked how it had become so uneven."

"We ran into some really shitty men out there. I was attacked. One of them pulled my hair as I tried to escape."

Jessie's face fell, but she remained silent as she sprayed water through my hair. When she had finished, she whispered, "I'm so sorry you experienced that. How awful."

"It's fine now," I reassured. "Rick saved our lives that night. He did what he had too, to keep us safe and to give Daryl and Michonne a chance at fighting back."

"He seems like a good guy. It's nice having someone like him around."

I nodded, "he's great. One of the best."

Jessie sectioned my hair off, then reached for her scissors and began cutting. "So, what's Rick's story? How'd you meet him?"

"I've known Rick for a long time. He and my brother were best friends. He had a wife, Lori. She passed away a little while ago, giving birth to Judith."

"That's terrible, but I'm so happy Judith's okay. Losing both would have been awful. Were you and Lori close?"

"We weren't always," I admitted. "But we were, when it mattered. I never did get to say goodbye though." I told Jessie the cliff note version of how I had been separated from the group after the farm had been overrun.