❛ now daryl, daryl was gray. he always seemed to be bitter and emotionless with no other dimensions to himself; his mere presence was the only one. gray was intriguing, almost acting like an acquired taste, but it had the potential to be beautiful t...
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thirty three.
"I can explain," I whispered timidly, focusing on the tree-line. I wished I could run in there to get away from Daryl at the moment, but I know he'd come and haul my ass back.
"How do you see 'im," Daryl questioned me, biting his thumb nail. I never really thought about how he was there, ever. I couldn't really stop or bring him up.
"I don't know," I mumbled. "He's just there. Why?" I contemplated what I was about to say, hoping it wouldn't set him off. "You wanna see him?" I stared at him out of the corner of my eye. He was rigid, stiff as a board. I cussed to myself.
"Nah." He tossed his cigarette on the ground, stomping it out. "Wanna know why?" Daryl turned to me, his big boot stomping on the porch. My eyes flicked up to him. "He was never 'round for me. He was always off breakin' the law while I was stuck at home gettin' my ass beat by my old man." His voice began to grow louder. "So why the hell would he be here for me now? He cared for you more than he ever did me; heard 'im say that with my own ears, threatened my life if you ever got hurt." Daryl stepped closer to me, causing me to look up at him even more. He was livid. "I know how he talked 'bout me, sayin' I'm a pussy, a weak pansy boy."
"He was just joking," I whispered, trying to calm him down. I could feel my hands raise a little to defend myself, palms facing outward.
"The fuck he wasn't! He talked like that about me my whole life," Daryl hollered. I shrunk back. "Ye're blinded by all the good that only you saw in 'im, aren't ya, just cause he helped ya out for a few measly months." He glared at me. "There's no way in hell you can see ghosts, Strawberry, 'cause if ya could you'd see everyone we know...everyone we know is dead!"
"Daryl, don't say that," I hissed in disbelief.
"'Sides, if I used all my 'pea-brain' power like Merle said I had, I wouldn't be able to see 'im no way." Daryl's voice trailed off as tears welled up in my eyes. I really wanted to be smart and talk back to prove him wrong, but I couldn't do it. "You cryin' now?"
"I ain't crying," I muttered, looking back down at the ground.
"Stop actin' like a crybaby," he snarled at me before trudging off the porch into the trees. When he disappeared, I let my tears fall. I stared out at the tree-line again. I was really contemplating making a run for it in the other direction. I could hear the screen door creak open. I quickly turned my head away from the door, sniffling.
"Aften," Carol asked softly. "Everything okay?" Her foot was in the door, not sure if she should come out to comfort me or just shrink back into the cabin.
"Yeah," I said, quickly wiping my tears away. "I'm fine."
"Do you need anything?"
"The knife on the table."
"Aften, I don't think—"
"Please," I insisted rather loudly, actually surprising myself as my bottom lip trembled. "I'll be okay." Carol was quiet as she shrunk back into the cabin, grabbing the knife and coming back out to hand it to me. I took it and headed towards the tree-line. I needed to get away, clear my head.
