Nana picks me up as soon as my shift ends, she looks like she's had a long day. Her salt and pepper hair falling out of her bun, she's sweaty and her pants are covered in flour. Despite the fact that she has money put back, not to mention papa's life insurance money, she still works part time at a local bakery. It helps her fill the void.
I have three sets of grandparents. Nana is my adoptive grandmother, she has two biological grandsons, Mark and Eric, they belong to Aunt Jewel. I'm not her blood granddaughter, but she's never treated me as anything less than hers. Her husband Alan, my papa, passed away when I was seven.
There's Granny and Pop, my mom's parent's. Mom's their youngest daughter out of three kids, I'm their youngest granddaughter out of five grandchildren. Every Sunday that mom and dad had to work, Granny and Pop would dress me up and take me to church with them. Pop practically paraded me around the church because I was his little light. His little Lucy, Lucy means light, They had to keep headphones on me because the choir singing overwhelmed my senses. Though they mean well, they just don't understand my disorder.
Finally, there's mamaw and papaw, my grandparents on the sperm donor's side. I'm their one and only grandchild. They have two children, my aunt Stephanie and my shit for brains sperm donor, Dick Gregor. Aunt Steph is a lesbian and never wanted children. And as far as Dick was concerned, I was an accident. Mom never kept mamaw and papaw from seeing their only grandchild, but only on the grounds that daddy dearest wasn't anywhere near me. Just the fact that they chose their only grandchild over him gives me joy.
"So, how was work?" Nana asks with a jovial, wrinkled smile. Her eyes are hazel-brown, same as dads. Being around her makes me feel safe and nostalgic.
"It was good, I managed to set a bully straight, I think." I say, getting Stitch situated in the back seat before buckling myself into the front seat. "I wasn't having any of that."
"That's my girl." She chuckles as she hands me a peanut butter doughnut. It's exactly what it sounds like, a peanut butter flavored cake doughnut, covered in peanut butter icing. "Your reward for the day, Mr. Stitch."
Sugar Sweets Bakery sells these specifically for dogs, I have her bring me one occasionally, can't risk Stitch getting lazy or overly spoiled. Drool starts to drip from his mouth as I pull the doughnut into smaller pieces. His manners go out the window when doughnuts are involved. Drops of slobber fling here and there as I hand the pieces to him, he smacks loudly.
"And for you, my Lu Lu." Nana hands me a cake doughnut, covered in white frosting drizzled in cherry and chocolate icing. My favorite doughnut in the whole world.
The first bite is like heaven, I'd solemnly fight to the death over these things. Like most people, I'm motivated by food, especially sweets.
"The loveliest young man came in today, he was covered in grease and smelled like a mechanic's shop. He bought two dozen cupcakes for his coworkers. This young widow came in, she was counting out pennies to pay for a birthday cake for her son, poor thing. You know what the young man did?" She asks me.
"What?" I ask between bites.
"He gave the woman back her money and bought the cake for her, he even gave her fifty dollars." Nana's voice breaks. "It's nice to see that there's hope for humanity."
Her heart is as tender as mine. When I see old people in public and they need help, I can't help but volunteer. And I always give my spare change to the homeless. I was always taught that kindness doesn't cost anything.
"He reminds me of you a little, kind and addicted to the cherry lover's doughnuts." She chuckles as she pulls into her driveway.
Suddenly, I don't like where this is going. Nana works in mischievous ways, unlike God who choses mysterious.
"So don't be mad, but…" She trails off.
Now I really don't like where this is going.
"Nana", I sigh and Stitch whimpers because even he knows this isn't about to go well. "Please tell me you didn't." I beg.
"I may have given him your cellphone number." She feigns a coy smile.
Oh, hell! Now some dude I don't even know has my phone number, just because he bought a little boy a birthday cake. God, don't make me deal with this, I pray.
"Oh darling, all I did was tell him I had a really beautiful granddaughter, showed him your picture and gave him your phone number." She playfully swats my leg. "If he likes you, he'll message you, and if he doesn't then he won't."
Not sure if I should take that as an insult or a compliment. I really need to tell Macey about this nonsense. Don't get me wrong, I want a man, but I want to find him myself.
"Fine." I sigh, letting Stitch out of the back seat.
"Got any plans for later?" Nana asks.
"Yeah, Macey and I are going to Dairy Queen, then we're going backroading."
"That sounds fun." She says before heading out to tend to her garden.
I stare at the pictures of dad on the mantle above the fireplace. His death was so sudden, he and Officer Hudson were hit head on by a drunk driver. It shouldn't be this way; he should still be here. Damn drunk!
Macey pulls into Nana's driveway and honks the horn; Stitch jumps into the seat next to her. I sit next to him. Nana walks around to Macey's side of the truck and she rolls down the window. "Hey, Sweetie, will you take this homemade salsa and jelly to your mother for me?"
"Sure, Mrs. Bolton", Macey smiles, "What flavored jelly is it this time?"
"Blueberry." She answers with a smile.
"Yummy, mom better share." She laughs.
Nana has a huge green thumb, and can make any type of food tasty. Her favorite thing to do is make preserves and can vegetables.
"Be careful you two." She says, waving us goodbye.
As she pulls out of the driveway, I tell Macey everything. "Guess what that crazy woman did now."
"This sounds interesting." Macey chuckles.
"She gave some customer my number."
"Oh, shit." She chortles. "Matchmaker Nana at it again?"
About two years ago she tried to set me up with a new member at her church, a guy named Ryan. Around everyone else he quoted scripture and acted like Mr. Goody Two-Shoes, but when no one else was looking he was Mr. Grab Ass. He always tried to cram his tongue in my mouth or grope me. I've always been more comfortable around women, and have trouble speaking up around guys, which made it worse.
One day Macey saw me unsuccessfully trying to escape his advances and how he twisted scripture to try and justify what he was doing. I felt like it was my fault because I couldn't get him to stop.
This all went down outside Cosmic Bowling Alley in town. He made the mistake of grabbing and molesting me, the more I tried to push him away, the harder he squeezed my ass. Tears were falling down my face, but went unnoticed because he kept my back turned to the alley's entrance so that people couldn't see my face.
"Now, darling, as my future wife, you must submit." Ryan mocked me. "Even the bible says a wife should submit to her husband."
It hurt; his touch hurt. With one hand he squeezed my butt cheek, in the other, he dug his nails into the nape of my neck so deep and hard that blood broke through. His words hurt. I couldn't breathe, he just wouldn't let go, he held me so tight that I couldn't move. I started to feel blood droplets forming on my neck. He had his tongue crammed into my mouth.
Out of the blue, I was free. I could move and breathe again. Ryan was pinned to the bowling alley wall, Macey's hand wrapped around his throat. Her normally beautiful emerald, green eyes were dark as night.
"Listen here you son of a bitch!" She was frothing in absolute anger. "If you ever lay your hands on her again, I will rip your soul out of your body, and personally send it to the God you pretend to believe in." Her grip on his neck tightened. "In fact, I believe you should change churches." Her nostrils flared out, and she finally released him,
He ran off quicker than the Flash.
Macey proceeded to assess my wounds, "Lucy, what the hell? How long have you been going through this?"
I broke down crying. "A few weeks. I just didn't to want to let Nana down, she wanted the best for me."
"Dude, I know you're shy, but that scared the hell out of me." She hugged me and made me swear to never go out on a date with someone I didn't want to ever again.
I'll give her this, she made the devil look nice. She made print outs of his Facebook profile picture that said, "I'M A WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING!!" then put them in all the Hymnals at the church. It wasn't easy, but somehow, she snuck into the church and did it.
After that Ryan moved states, I think. I know the embarrassment sent him out of town, and as far as I know, the church never found out who made the fliers.
"Nana's going to get me put in jail." Macey sighs.
"If he does text, I'm not responding. Unless he's really hot." I joke.
She chuckles in amusement, "Dude, you're a mess, but I love you."
We pull into the Dairy Queen parking lot, thank God it's Friday night. I've dealt with teenagers all day and I need time to emotionally prepare for a full week of working with them next week.
The smell of warm cheeseburgers and blizzards on a brisk Friday night has my stomach rumbling. Surprisingly, it's not very busy here tonight. I order my regular, cheeseburger, fries and a sweet tea. Stitch lucks out and I decide to order him three chicken strips.
I make my way to the sweat tea fountain, only to hear a man ask me, "Hey, do I know you?"
His voice isn't familiar, Pewee Valley is a small town, and I know pretty much everyone. Frozen by shyness, I look up at the man from the corner of my eye. All it takes me is a second to size someone up. If I had to guess, he is about five foot nine. His eyes are caramel brown with flecks of gold in them. He has an unusual face, rounded cheeks, but a sharp chin. Black, disheveled hair lays everywhere on his head, and his eyebrows, arms and shirt are covered in something black.
Oh, I've definitely never seen him before, I'm sure of it. My cheeks flush with heat. Why do I have to be so awkward around guys?
"No", my voice breaks, and I duck my head down. "I've never seen you before in my life."
Smooth move, Lucy, real smooth move. This will be a long, lonely life because I can't even talk to a guy.
"If I may ask, what's with the dog?" He asks, pointing to Stitch.
"He's my service animal." I say softly. "I have autism. He provides emotional support."
I manage to hold eye contact with him for longer than one second. Something about him puts me at ease.
"Oh." He falls silent with that look of not knowing what to say.
"Dude, foods done, lets go." Macey interrupts the awkward conversation as she walks out of the door with our food.
"Well, that's me." I say ducking my head down into a slight bow.
We hit the back roads, food in hand and music beating in the background. Our music tastes are so opposite, I think it's rap in the background.
"So, what happened back there?" She asks. "You looked like a constipated deer caught in the headlights. I took that as a sign to get you out of there."
"Not really sure, that cute dude started talking to me. He asked if I knew him, and then asked me why I had Stitch. I told him I have autism, and then it got awkward. So thanks for pulling me out of that." I explain.
"Your body was tense, but I can see your face. Did you like him?" She lights up a joint.
I shrug, "He had nice eyes."
I look up into the starry night, feeling at peace with the world due to the second hand high. Gravel crackles under Wanda's wheels. At some point Macey has switched from rap to country. It's as if I'm floating.
Out of nowhere, Macey screams like a banshee and throws the truck into park. She leaps out of the truck and disappears.
What in the actual hell?!
Stitch lets out a small growl. I attempt to look out the back of the trucks window, but can't see for a crap. My heart's racing so hard that I can hear it in my ears, Seconds that seem like eternities pass before Macey comes back.
"Dude, what the hell?" I ask.
Her eyes are wide with a psychotic look in them, she looks like she's about to commit a murder or something. "I saw a possum. I tried to pet him, he waddled off before I could. He acted like he thought this bitch is crazy."
A possum? She scared the pee out of me over a possum? She's always been crazy, but this is insane. Still somewhat high, I bust out laughing. "You're a crazy woman!" Oh, I'll never forget this. She's never living this down.
"What? Possums are awesome, I want one. I also want a bat, they're like flying puppies." She says unapologetically.
I chortle, "If that's the case, you might as well live in a cave."
"Bet", she laughs, "You joke, but a cave would be a cool place to live, and no one would bother me."
"Ah, your dream home." I laugh.