For the Love of Serenity Skye

Chapter One: Red Maple Trailer Park

Raindrops dripped onto Serenity's face as she woke from a less-than-desirable night of sleep. It was dark and dreary outside. The air was heavy, and the summer storm staying stationary over the small town of Coal Valley, West Virginia, felt like it would never let up. Summertime in Coal Valley was hard. The small air conditioning unit in her bedroom window in the rear of the mobile home trailer she and her momma shared wasn't doing a good job. She climbed out of bed and wiped her face with her arm. Looking up at the ceiling, it was one of many leaks in the roof of the old trailer that needed to be repaired. The only problem was there was nobody to fix them. Serenity didn't have a daddy. She never knew him. Her momma, Eden Haywood, was well-known in Coal Valley and for one reason. The family history of the Haywoods would go back far. Moonshiners, coal miners, and everything in between, Eden came from a long line of no-good troublemakers. Most of the family were outlaws, and the women were known for never having just one man around, let alone a husband.

Growing up without a daddy wasn't something Serenity thought of as strange. Now, eighteen, she was used to the idea. The leaks in the roof were the least of her problems. She walked into the bathroom, looked into the mirror with the same long crack from top to bottom that had been there since she was little, and tried her best to hold back tears. She never cried in the daytime, only at night alone. She washed her face, brushed her long brunette hair, and carefully put it in a low bun. Serenity was a natural beauty. She was the most beautiful girl in town. Living in a place so ugly, poor, and lonely wasn't easy. But she did her best not to look too pretty, although she wondered what wearing nice clothes and makeup would be like. What would it be like to live in a lovely and safe house? That was quickly dismissed as another drop of rain fell from her head and into the bathtub, which never stopped leaking. The trailer was falling apart, and it looked a lot like her life. She slipped on her waitress uniform and carefully walked past her momma's bedroom. The door was wide open, and in the bed, she realized again that her momma wasn't sleeping alone. Another strange man would be lying next to her. Serenity had lost count of how many men she had seen in that bed. It hurt her deep inside. She often wondered if any of them were her daddy. The sad truth of the matter was she would never know.

She put on a raincoat and rainboots and panned the living room and kitchen. Both of them were in disarray. It didn't matter how much she tried cleaning and improving the living conditions; her momma would never help her keep it that way. The roles were reversed. Serenity was more of an adult than her momma was. There were empty beer cans and ashtrays full of cigarette butts scattered on the coffee table. They didn't have a flat-screen television. Instead, they had an old one with rabbit ears. Serenity never understood why her momma insisted on having one. They also didn't have cell phones. Nobody in town could afford one. Serenity got her news of the outside world in the diner she worked in and magazines that lined the front counter of Braxton's Grocery Store. It was a completely different world outside of Coal Valley. She was oblivious to realizing that the town was in the dark ages. The faces of the people in the magazines were those she didn't know. Celebrities who lived in New York and California posed next to expensive cars and houses. It was like another universe to her.

She opened the front door and carefully walked down the cinder block steps, doing her best to avoid the mud puddles around the walkway. The rain was still coming down as she walked through Red Maple Trailer Park to the main road in town. It was seven o'clock, and logging trucks passed through and headed to the lumber yard. They were big and noisy and the most common sight in town. Most folks drove old cars and trucks; nobody could afford anything new. The majority of the residents relied on government assistance. Serenity and her momma were among those who needed help. She hated it. This was not living. It all felt so wrong, and every day felt like Groundhog Day.

Serenity walked ten minutes through town until she reached Big Hank's Diner. The smell of breakfast wafted from the old building before she stepped inside. The diner was filled with hungry men eating quickly before heading to work. Hank was behind the counter cooking a mess of eggs and pancakes as orders were being called out. "Serenity, table one!" Hank yelled. Hank Cecil was an older man who must have weighed three hundred pounds. His family owned the diner for years, and it was a landmark in Coal Valley. Even in a lousy economy, it has survived. Hank was a generous man who loved Coal Valley and was known to give free meals to those in need. Serenity was blessed to have him as a boss.