Life I Left Behind (A Daryl Dixon Story)

Chapter Thirty-Three

Daryl

Seventeen Years Old

I slammed front door behind me, rattling the glass panes of the two windows on either side. I could still hear the drunken, muffled yelling coming from the other side. There was a loud thud as something was thrown against the other side of the door. I fought the urge to go back inside and slam my fist against his stupid face again. Instead, I took a deep breath, turned my back and headed down the driveway.

The conversation replayed in my head and I kicked viciously at a rock in my path. It went spiraling off the gravel and into the overgrown grass. Why my old man even gave a shit was beyond me. He barely seemed to notice my existence for the past two years except when he was shitfaced drunk or needed someone to yell at. I tried not to be there for either of those type of moods. This time, it had been the phone that had set him off. At first anyways. I wished I had heard it first, but it was damn near impossible to hear anything from my bedroom in the basement. When I finally decided to come up the stairs and head out, he was blocking my path.

“That damn school o’ yours called. Said sumfin ‘bout you quittin?” He spat at me. I tried to side step him and he shoved me back. “I ain’t done talkin’, son. You drop out, huh? Wanna be a loser like that damn brudder o’ yours? I always knew you wouldn’t amount to shit. You’re nothing, -Daryl. Nothin but a-“

My fingers had curled into tight fists at my side and before I had thought even twice about it, I had swung a punch right into his face. He stumbled back and slammed into the wall behind him. He stared at me speechless for a moment before struggling to his feet. He pointed a finger at me, his eyes bulging in their sockets and his breath reeking of stale alcohol and too many cigarettes.

“Ya’ think hittin’ me makes you a man? You still ain’t shit. I should call the damn cops on your ass! You lil sunna of a bitch.”

I thought about how good it would feel to just feel my fists collide with his face over and over again. ‘Not worth it’, the thought had suddenly appeared in my head. I stalked past him, grabbing my jacket from where it was draped over the kitchen chair. He was still yellin’ and screamin’ his head off. The blood had pounded in my ears and I felt myself shaking with rage. The point was, though, I was out here and he was back there.

I took another deep breath to clear my lungs. I had already reached Charlie’s driveway. By the time I made it to the door, I was feeling about as calm as I could be. I knocked loudly. The door was thrown open almost instantly and I found myself lookin’ into the grinning face of a little boy with dark hair that stuck up in every direction and what looked like icing all over his cheeks.

“Daryl! Hi! We’re making cupcakes!” He pretty much just shouted out at me, bouncing on his toes.

I laughed, not being able to help myself. “Yeah, I see that. Maybe you should get some cupcake to go with all that icing on your chin.”

“I ate a lot. Momma says I’m cut off, but she don’t know I had another when she went to the bathroom!” He whispered loudly.

“GABE!” A familiar voice hollered before I could get in an answer. A second later Charlie was pulling the door wide open and pushing her baby brother to the side. “Are you bothering, Daryl? Shouldn’t you be in the kitchen making an even bigger mess?” She asked, placing her hands on her tiny hips.

“We was just talkin’, Charlie. Geeze… you’re cranky!” He muttered. He gave me one last wide smile before hurrying back off into the house.

Charlie watched him go before rolling her eyes. She looked back at me. “Sorry, he’s had too much sugar.  And for some reason he’s crazy about you.”

“Why wouldn’t he be? I’m like the cooler older sibling he never had.” I smirked.

“Ha, you’re hilarious. Just remember that the next time I dump him off at your house when my parents leave me to babysit him.” She said with a mock glare. A smile had replaced the look in seconds, though. “Hold on, I’ll be right out.” She disappeared back inside the house and I turned around, dropping down onto the front step.

The sun was sinking lower and lower, the colors of the sky turning the purple-gray of a fresh bruise. The temperature went down with the sun, bringing on a chill that sunk deep into my skin. I pulled my jacket on as the screen door clattered open behind me. Charlie dropped down on the stoop, wordlessly handing me a cupcake that was smothered in a huge clump of chocolate frosting.

“Gabe decorated these all by himself. He’s very proud.” She said in an amused tone before taking a small bite off the top of the cupcake in her own hand. I set mine down next to me on the step, not really in the mood to eat.

“My dad found out ‘bout me droppin’ out.” I said quietly. “We got into it ‘gain.”

“What happened?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Nothin’ different. ‘Cept this time I hit him. Pretty damn hard, too.”

Charlie’s head snapped towards me, her eyes wide and the cupcake frozen halfway to her mouth. “You hit him?” She asked incredulously.

I hung my head a little. “I ain’t exactly proud of it either, Charlie.”

“No! I mean, no I’m glad you did it! I’m not mad you hit him. God, he deserves it more than anyone!” She exclaimed, shaking her head. “I guess you shouldn’t have, but at the same time he shouldn’t be pushin’ you around all the time.”

“I just don’t wanna git into trouble. Like Merle always does.” I admitted, pushing my hair out of my eyes.

Charlie scoffed a little. “He won’t call the cops, if that’s what you’re worried about. Because then you could easily get him in trouble right back. He’ll just crawl right back into his miserable, drunken stupor until the next thing sets him off.” She took another bite from her cupcake and chewed slowly.

“I know, you’re right.” I exhaled, feeling a little better after talking about it with Charlie. I picked up the cupcake she had brought me and took a bite. It was pretty damn good.

“I know I am too.” She said in a very matter of fact tone. “You know I’m not all that happy about you droppin’ out either but…I’m not gonna try and stop you or make you feel bad about it. If it’s what you need to do, then I understand.” She shrugged.

“Thanks, Charlie.”

“Just sucks you won’t be at school anymore.” She pouted suddenly.

I raised an eyebrow. “What? You gonna be lonely without me or sumfin?” I smirked.

Charlie shot me a half-hearted glare before shrugging her shoulders. “I dunno, maybe. Mostly I’m just gonna miss getting a ride home every day.”

“I see. That’s all I am to you? A ride home?” I joked.

Charlie grinned at me. “Yeah, thought you might have figured that one out by now.”

I shook my head. “Damn girl, you can be mean as hell sometimes.” I took a bite of the cupcake. A thought suddenly popped into my head. “Ya know, I can always swing by and pick you up after work…supposed to get off ‘round three at least part of the week.”

 “Damn right you can pick me up.” She shot back at me. A smile played about her lips. No need to say anything else. One of the things I liked about being friends with Charlie. Didn’t have to say much to know what the other one meant. We finished our cupcakes in content silence. That was the other thing about Charlie…didn’t take much for her to turn any day from shitty to good in about ten minutes. And the fact that someone like that wanted to hang around a Dixon blew my damn mind every single day.