A Broken World

Two

2007

"Ya fuckin' kidding me?" I let out a long sigh as I looked at Daryl. I had graduated college with a bachelor's in criminal justice and then went straight to the police academy and now I'm a cop. My hope was to become a detective and I've been trying to prove myself to the chief. That meant I needed to bring Merle Dixon in for questioning.

"I have to bring him in for questioning, Daryl. He's a suspect in a murder case! I can't just let him go because he's my best friend's brother!" I stood in front of him, hands on my hips. "I ain't tellin' ya where he is," he said, going to slam the door. I stopped it with my boot and pushed it open. "I'm going to need to look around," I said. "Ya got a warrant?" He asked and I shook my head. "Then get the fuck outta here!"

"Daryl, come on. I need to do my job. I don't want to have to go back to the chief and tell him we need to get a warrant. Please, just let me look around. This makes you look like you have something to hide, Daryl. I convinced my Chief to let me come here alone. Please just let me in so he doesn't send someone else out." He looked down at where my hand rested over my gun. It was simply a habit now, that's all it was.

"You gonna shoot me if I don't?" He asked. I looked at him in disbelief. How could he ask me something like that? I dropped my arms to my sides and looked him in the eye. "No, Daryl, I'm not going to shoot you. And the fact that you even asked me that fucking hurts. You've been a real fucking asshole to me for the past three years." He didn't answer me. Hell, he couldn't even look at me. "Fine. Guess I'll just tell the Chief he'll need to send someone else out with a warrant. Great fucking talking."

I turned around and walked to my squad car. I flinched a little when I heard him slam the door behind me. He's acted like an asshole towards me since I told him I was going to the police academy right after I graduated college. I know the Dixons hate cops. Of course they do, both Will and Merle were constantly in and out of jail. Will usually got a night, sometimes two after being picked up from the bar.

Merle was always more than that, like drugs. He also liked to get into a lot of fights. When I found out he was a suspect in a murder related to drugs, no surprise there, but I was shocked. Merle is an asshole. He's racist, thinks women are an object, he always makes disgusting comments towards women, fuck he's done it to me. But if someone asked if I think he could be capable of killing someone, the answer would be no.

I walked back into the station and straight to the Chief's office and knocked on the open door. He looked up at the paperwork in front of him. "Come in." I walked in and stood in front of his desk. "Did you search the place?" He asked. I shook my head, "no, sir. Daryl wouldn't let me in. Said we would need to come back with a warrant." He let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry, sir." He shook his head, "no need to be sorry. You tried, that's all that matters." 

After work I went straight home. I lived in a small one bedroom apartment in town, above the bar of all places. Charlotte, the bartender and owner of the bar, insisted that I rent the apartment after I moved out of my dad's. There were only a few regulars downstairs sitting at the bar so it wasn't loud, but it will be in a few hours. I set my belt down on my dresser and just as I was pulling my shirt out of my pants and unbuttoning it, there was a knock on my door.

I walked towards the door while still unbuttoning my shirt. Another knock came this time louder and harder. "Alright! I'm coming, holy fuck!" I looked through the peephole to see Daryl standing outside. I took a deep breath, exhaled, and opened the door. "The fuck is wrong with you!" I was taken back at him yelling at me as soon as I opened the door. "Excuse me?"

"Merle was arrested!" He yelled, pointing a finger in my face. I swatted his hand away and glared at him. "First off, lower your goddamn voice. Secondly, I have nothing to do with that. As you can see…" I gestured down to myself. "I just got home. He ran and hid. That made him look suspicious, Daryl. He knew the guy that was murdered. He was only wanted for questioning at first until he ran then it turned into him being a suspect. Don't blame me for your brother's stupidity."

"He didn't do anything! Merle wouldn't kill anyone and you know it!" Still with the yelling. "If you're going to yell then at least come inside. Either that or get the fuck off my doorstep," I said. "Fuck you! Fucking pig!" He turned, walked down the hall to the stairs, and disappeared. That's just great. I took a shaky breath and closed my door. Losing my best friend over and over again was starting to really fucking sucks.

I pulled my shirt off, walked back to my room, and threw it on the dresser. I was not looking forward to going into work tomorrow. I needed to get the fuck out of this small ass town. Maybe move to the city. Not like anyone would notice that I was gone. I need to put an application into Atlanta PD. New job. New apartment. New life. New start.

I took my hair out and stripped the rest of my clothes off then got in the shower. The hot water was a welcoming feeling. It felt amazing on my sore and aching muscles. My mind just kept going back to Daryl and how pissed he is at me. How much he hates me now. I finished up, got up, and dressed then decided to head downstairs to the bar and have a drink or five. I guess we'll see.

I sat at the bar nursing a beer trying to ignore Clyde and his horrible flirting. The man was old enough to be my father and was one of the town drunks besides Will. Clyde was the nice drunk who flirted with any woman he could. "Clyde, leave the poor girl alone before she arrests you and throws you in jail." Charlotte placed another beer in front of him and he took it, got up, and walked away. "How ya doin, sugar?"

"Well, my father doesn't talk to me because his wife has always hated me. My best friend called me a pig and hates me now too. So I'm doing fucking great!" I said. She put a shot glass in front of me and filled it with whiskey. As soon as she was done I picked it up and knocked it back. "I think I'm gonna move to Atlanta."