Southern Misconceptions

Lightining Bugs And Paint Stains

Copyright © 2015 Naudia Scott

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"Jesus is outside, Charlie!" Samson yelled, tugging on her t-shirt. "He's got the long hair and a beard too!"

Grimacing, Charlotte unpreid his hand from her shirt. "I heard you the first time, kid. Now if your mama was here, she'd beat you black and blue for tellin' stories." she said, frowning at the nine year old. "Hurry up, and finish eating before your dad leaves you. Mrs. Jensen might mark you absent again if you're late again."

Samson huffed, and crossed his arms before stalking back to the kitchen table with a pout.

"Fix your face and eat. You don't got all day." She groaned, turning to the sink to wash dishes. Charlotte sank her hands into the hot water, and scrubbed mindlessly at a syrup covered plate.

Summer in Beaufort was the same every year. Too damn hot to do anything, and absolutely too small to have any form of entertainment. The only exception to this summer was the fact that she hadn't been forced to vacation bible school by her overly religous grandma.

That in itself was a blessing. She'd choose babysitting her neighbor's kid over sitting in an unairconditioned church for a good eight hours. All Charlie had to do was make sure Sam was up, dressed, fed, and out the door for summer school.

Tutoring, of course, would cost extra.

She rinsed out a glass mug before sitting it in the rack to dry with the other dishes. "I've got a few things to do later on, so you'll have to use the key to let yourself in. You know where it is, right?"

"Yea, one underneath the welcome rug, and the other in the flower bed next to the rock."

"Good boy. You done?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder.

He nodded, and stood to hand her the plate. "Thanks Charlie. I gotta go, but I'll be back before four o'clock."

He was out the door with his bag slung over his shoulder in less than a minute.

She washed his dishes quickly, and made sure to take out the trash. She was quick on her feet as she shot out the back door, sprinting to the large receptical that sat on the curb. She tossed the bag in before skip jumping back to the house, trying to avoid getting her feet burned by the hot pavement.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a man with long hair tied into a loose bun at the top of his head. He wore a black sweater with a pair of matching black jeans, and she could've swore he was crazy for wearing stuff like that in hundred degree weather. And, what was even crazier was the fact that he didn't even look bothered by it one bit.

She stopped her awkward running, and hopped in place. From the looks of it, she'd be getting a new neighbor. A pretty attractive one at that. Probably from the city because he was most certainly not from around here. No one dressed that nice, or even had a fancy looking car like he did.

Not even the mayor.

A moving truck sat in front of the house to left of hers, and she watched as a stream of men flowed in and out of the house carrying boxes along with furniture.

The tall man glanced over the bush that sepeated their yards looking dierectly at her. She waved despite the sudden uneasy feeling that had settled in her stomach.