open with her elbow while balancing a tray of empty glasses, a bowl of ice, and pitcher on her forearm. “Who’s ready for some sweet tea?” Betty sang with an enormous grin. Piper had made the idiotic assumption that Betty was inside brewing some hot tea and coffee for an after-dinner treat. But obviously she was inside mixing up the simple syrup and black tea bags to pour over large glasses of ice.
Bobby’s face was bright red as he tried half-heartedly to stifle his laughter. Piper plastered a gigantic smile across her face and said with as much conviction as she could muster, “Yum.” At that, Bobby let loose his poorly contained amusement. His body shook as tears began to roll down his cheeks, and soon Piper followed suit. The two couldn’t catch their breath long enough to give some explanation to Betty, not that they would have told her the truth anyway.
“Are you two on drugs? I mean it’s nice to see you getting on so well but someone’s going to pull a muscle.” The two had begun to gather their composure, sit upright again, and wipe the wetness from their eyes. “Well that’s better,” Betty sang, grabbing the handle of the pitcher she had placed on the small outdoor table. “Now we can have our tea.” Piper and Bobby erupted once more in irrepressible laughter.
Chapter Five
Piper found the cable company to be a relatively good fit in her life. She had made it easily through her training as well as her thirty day probation period. She was ready to get started on her unaccompanied installations and repairs. The work was repetitive but gave her time to think, and she appreciated that.
For the last month she had continued to join Bobby, Scott, and Jules for dinner at Betty’s every Wednesday night. Because of her rotating schedule she didn’t have the ability to tail the judge as well as she had before. It also meant fewer breakfasts at the diner with Betty, which was disappointing.
These new friends and a new job were beginning to lull her into complacency. The world was looking a little shinier and brighter these days, and the memory of the judge’s assault was becoming fuzzy. Her nights were spent dealing with long, internal battles between what she thought was right and what she currently felt was right in her life. She had spent so much of her adolescence immersed in turmoil that for the first time she was feeling a sense of normalcy. Who in their right mind, she wondered, would give that up for the sake of traveling the moral high ground? There were days when she was convinced she had the righteous fortitude to continue chasing down information. Then there were other days she could easily picture herself being quite content swinging on the front porch and counting the lightning bugs after a home-cooked meal at Betty’s house.
Piper wasn’t inclined to believe much in fate, but it seemed hard to deny as she pulled her white cable van into the driveway two doors down from the judge’s house. She sat for a moment staring over at his door. She told herself if a sign of some sort presented itself then she’d let it reignite the spark that had seemed to be burning so brightly a month ago.
Piper’s attention was drawn from the judge’s door to the entry of the house she was parked in front of. A tall, voluptuous blonde woman stood waving and practically bouncing out of her much-too-tight clothes. This woman looked as though she was greeting a ship coming home on military leave rather than a stranger from the cable company. Piper liked playing a new game she called “What would Betty say?” Betty would probably describe this woman’s clothes as being tight enough to see her religion. She loved Betty’s unique colloquialisms and found many of them stuck in her head.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she called to Piper as she stepped out of her van. “Oh, you’re a woman? Well I wish I had known that, I wouldn’t have gotten all gussied up for nothing.” The
Bobby’s face was bright red as he tried half-heartedly to stifle his laughter. Piper plastered a gigantic smile across her face and said with as much conviction as she could muster, “Yum.” At that, Bobby let loose his poorly contained amusement. His body shook as tears began to roll down his cheeks, and soon Piper followed suit. The two couldn’t catch their breath long enough to give some explanation to Betty, not that they would have told her the truth anyway.
“Are you two on drugs? I mean it’s nice to see you getting on so well but someone’s going to pull a muscle.” The two had begun to gather their composure, sit upright again, and wipe the wetness from their eyes. “Well that’s better,” Betty sang, grabbing the handle of the pitcher she had placed on the small outdoor table. “Now we can have our tea.” Piper and Bobby erupted once more in irrepressible laughter.
Chapter Five
Piper found the cable company to be a relatively good fit in her life. She had made it easily through her training as well as her thirty day probation period. She was ready to get started on her unaccompanied installations and repairs. The work was repetitive but gave her time to think, and she appreciated that.
For the last month she had continued to join Bobby, Scott, and Jules for dinner at Betty’s every Wednesday night. Because of her rotating schedule she didn’t have the ability to tail the judge as well as she had before. It also meant fewer breakfasts at the diner with Betty, which was disappointing.
These new friends and a new job were beginning to lull her into complacency. The world was looking a little shinier and brighter these days, and the memory of the judge’s assault was becoming fuzzy. Her nights were spent dealing with long, internal battles between what she thought was right and what she currently felt was right in her life. She had spent so much of her adolescence immersed in turmoil that for the first time she was feeling a sense of normalcy. Who in their right mind, she wondered, would give that up for the sake of traveling the moral high ground? There were days when she was convinced she had the righteous fortitude to continue chasing down information. Then there were other days she could easily picture herself being quite content swinging on the front porch and counting the lightning bugs after a home-cooked meal at Betty’s house.
Piper wasn’t inclined to believe much in fate, but it seemed hard to deny as she pulled her white cable van into the driveway two doors down from the judge’s house. She sat for a moment staring over at his door. She told herself if a sign of some sort presented itself then she’d let it reignite the spark that had seemed to be burning so brightly a month ago.
Piper’s attention was drawn from the judge’s door to the entry of the house she was parked in front of. A tall, voluptuous blonde woman stood waving and practically bouncing out of her much-too-tight clothes. This woman looked as though she was greeting a ship coming home on military leave rather than a stranger from the cable company. Piper liked playing a new game she called “What would Betty say?” Betty would probably describe this woman’s clothes as being tight enough to see her religion. She loved Betty’s unique colloquialisms and found many of them stuck in her head.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she called to Piper as she stepped out of her van. “Oh, you’re a woman? Well I wish I had known that, I wouldn’t have gotten all gussied up for nothing.” The
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