Dixon's Girl- TWD

Knock Out

Daryl POV

It was around midnight when my dad came home from the bar, earlier than usual. He must have been kicked out again, probably for fighting.

Jody was asleep with her back to me, as still as could be. Atleast, I assumed she was asleep. There was a good chance that she was just trying not to move a muscle, so she didn't disturb the peace

I hoped my dad would just walk past my door and ignore us. Maybe he wasn't in the mood for fighting tonight. Or maybe he would choke on his own vomit and die. That's what Jody always hoped for when it came to her dad. I'm not sure I feel the same about mine. Sometimes, I want to kill him. If I was bigger and stronger, I'm convinced I'd beat him to a pulp. But then, I remember that he's my dad. And without him, I'd be taken into care and I wouldn't see jody again. Merle wouldn't get custody because of his record. So I'd be alone. In that way, I need my dad. It'd be nice if he became paralysed or something though. Then maybe I'd believe in a god.

"She here?" Will asked from outside my door. I didn't answer him. There was no good way to do this. I ignore him, he beats me. I answer, he beats me.

"Wake up, boy!" He banged his fist against the door. That's when I realised that jody was awake, because she moved her hand behind her, to hold onto mine. Will continued, "I know she's in there. I've told you before, I won't have that girl in my trailer! She's an uptight bitch who thinks she's better the every other fucked out there. Come on, son. Bring her out here so I can show her what happens when the rules are broken!"

He used to like her. When we were younger, he never had a problem with her. Not like he did me and daryl. In fact, he was sorta...Nice to her, if that's possible. But then she slapped him last year after he grabbed her ass and kissed her neck. Since then, he's hated her guts

"Just ignore him. The doors locked," I whispered, holding onto her. Jody sat up in bed, gently pushing me off

"Jody, what are you doing?"

"He may be the oldest in the family. But he doesn't pay the bills. He doesn't fix the sink, nor does he clean his own puke from the carpet after a night out. It's you! You and daryl. This is your trailer, and it's about time he realised!"

I did not like where this was going. Jody was brave, but there is a fine line between brave and stupid and opening that door was the point where she crosses the line.

"He's not worth it," I tried to convince her but she shoved me off, putting her jeans back on. When she was dressed, Jody stood up and grabbed something from under my bed. I couldn't see what it was in the dark, but when she opened the door and let in the light, I saw that she was holding a gun, pointing at my dad

Will scoffed. "What you gonna do with that girl? Huh? You gonna kill me?"

"I don't have to kill you. I just gotta hurt you. I reckon if I shot the right place, you might lose a leg, perhaps be paralysed." As she said that, merle walked out from his room.

He took a moment to properly look at the ridiculous situation we were in. Me in the doorway, half naked, jody in the hall pointing a gun, and my dad, pressed up against a wall

Unusually quiet, he told jody, "go back to bed."

"But-"

"He ain't worth it girl. Daryl, help me out here."

I nodded, gently holding Jody's arm and lowering the gun. Will began to chuckle as she turned her back to him. But hearing that must have sparked something, and she suddenly spun around and hit him in the head with the gun, knocking him out cold

There was a silence as we stared at the body. "Is he dead?" I asked

Merle walked closer and sighed, "not quite. Just knocked out." He pointed at jody, "for your own sake, you better pray to God that he doesn't remember this in the morning. Now, help me move him. If he wakes up in bed, maybe he'll forget. He's drunk enough."

Me and jody grabbed a leg each, and helped merle to drag our dad into his bedroom. Merle wasn't much help, just watching with a smirk on his face. "What you so happy about?" I asked when we had finished

"Your girl's got some balls, I'll give her that." That was when I too began to smile, looking at Jody.

"Stop your staring. Come on, I'm going back to bed." I followed her back into my room. As we got into bed, she wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my neck

I asked, "how long has that gun been under my bed?"

"Not long. Just since my daddy got locked away. Figured he didn't need it right now."

"When's he get out?"

"Between 12-18 months depending on behaviour."

"Oh, so never then."

"One can only hope."

I chuckled, kissing her cheek. My hand rest on her ass as we both closed our eyes. "You're tense," she whispered

"He's gonna kill ya, if he remembers."

"Like merle said, we gotta pray to God."

"I ain't praying. God ain't done nothing for us, why would he start now?" Jody wasn't overly religious. She believed in God, and sometimes she'd pray. But she wasn't a very good Christian. She would tell me that just because she believes he is real, and he is powerful, it don't mean she's gotta agree with his ways. I sorta understand that, but if she believes, wouldn't she be scared of hell?

"God has bigger issues. Not that he's doing much for the droughts or the starving. But praying ain't gonna do no harm."

"Yeah, except make me look like an idiot."

"Don't say that. You're starting to sound like merle," she reminded me so I muttered an apology.

It took a while for us to go to sleep. Our minds were restless and although I'm glad jody knocked my dad out, I'm not sure it was the best option. If he had beat me, then it would have been over by now. But this will always play on my mind