Where the Spanish Moss Hangs Low.

Chapter I

Everyone was staring at me in disbelief. Ninety eyes were all looking at me like I had stripped down and started running around the church we were in. Forty-five dropped jaws and one me ,Katie Small, looking at the lawyer reading the will of my late Grandma Lottie.
"And finally to my dearest Katie I leave the family's estate."
I sunk back into my seat in the very last pew. The lawyer, Mr. Lockett, waved for me to come to the podium. I heard the sharp whispers of my aunts uncles and cousins saying things like.

"She only got it because Grandma was stuck with the little brat,"And "She probably begged for it,"then the every so realistic "Its cuz she's the baby,". It really stung because these are the people who consoled me when my parents died and now their throwing the most shade. As I was making my way down the isle my cousin Missy ,who was a year older than me with two kids of her own did the unthinkable. She tripped me with her diaper bag and bolted for the podium opposed to my cautious light steps. she yanked the will out of the lawyers hands and tore the will in half.

As if she were a serial killer she screamed "If I can't have that old bags house that little snot can't," and as if she was a raging bull she sped at me with all of her might and jumped onto my back as i was already trying to run away. Its a shame her kids had to see their mom so disheveled. We kicked and clawed at each other until our uncles Wilbur and Jonah pulled us apart.

"This is a house of God ladies.," Uncle Wilbur preached."I would expect as much from apes but not cousins," he said as he carried Missy into the preachers office. I felt a burning sensation on the entire left side of my face. I touched my cheek and blood stained my hand. I squirmed out of my Uncle Jonah's hairy arms and ran out of the church. I bolted for my car and slammed the door shut. I bawled at the top of my lungs. My face was as red as a beet and my neat bun was now a birds nest of hair after my epic battle. As I patted my pockets to look for my keys I slowly realized I had left them in the church. I dreaded going back inside after that display. I formed a plan to sneak back into the building and grab my purse from the back as quiet as possible. I wiped away the tears from my face and crept out of my navy blue Beetle. The car was older than me and I'm 25. So I'm surprised it still ran. As I snuck across the parking lot into the church it started to rain. I opened the door which luckily for me was shielded from everyones view by a wall. I nearly crawled past the preaches office where Missy was still being detained. My purse was in sight and every one was in prayer lead by my Uncle Jonah. His eyes flashed open to see me crawling towards my bag. I stopped like a deer in the headlights. He was still talking when he smirked a little bit and nodded his head to signal that I could get my purse and leave. Missy must of seen this through the window in the door because as soon as I had my purse in my hand she burst through the doors. Everyone in the sanctuary whipped their heads around and I knew it was time to run. I sprinted to my Beetle with keys in hand and Missy at my heals yelling death threats. I flung the door open and got in. As I tried to close the door she grabbed it by the handle. I knew I had to sacrifice my car to save my life. As I was being punched I managed to get the key into the ignition and slammed my foot onto the gas pedal. I trampled the bushes in front of me and sped onto the road. With the honks of cars I sped off towards home. Even though it was hundreds of miles away I was determined to be anywhere but here. Tears clouded my vision to the point that everything looked a milky grey. As a side affect of this I slammed right int the back of a car sitting at a red light. My windshield shattered and the airbag deployed with a cloud of smoke. After patting down the useless air bag I looked out of the hole that used to be my door to find a tall handsome man less than a foot away staring at me in the pouring rain."Katie?" I recognized his voice. "Ben?"