A Brother's Influence (A Daryl Dixon Story)

Merle comes home

The smoke that filled the bar seemed to go straight to Daryl's head. Growing up with an old man that smoked, he was fairly use to the burn that touched both his nostrils and the back of his throat. How in the hell he never started was beyond him.  It wasn't like he never tried it, when he was a teenager, he hung out at the river with the rest of the redneck boys in his group and tried one now and then but it never stuck.

What Daryl liked, and what he did most nights was to get him a small bottle of moonshine and lay on the bank of the creek and lay back and just stare at the stars in the sky. It wasn't like he was a dreamer, he knew life didn't have anything better in store for him than what he was living right now. He wasn't meant to go to school, or to have a normal job or even find a girl that wasn't hanging out at Bussy's every Saturday night.  No, his life, for better or worse, was right here in Bartow, Georgia, population 211. 

Bartow was a one store/bar town that no one purposely moved to but desperately moved from. Daryl lived there all his life. His only memories of his mother were here and tied him to this town like a tether. Since her death, when he was eight, the only influences he had in his life were his dad and Merle, and Merle was gone half the time either being locked up or on a drug binge.

Once in a while. a part-time job would come up at the metal factories but Daryl usually relied on the five finger discount to help him out when he needed money. He never stole in Bartow though, just something about stealing from folks you saw everyday just didn't seem right. Merle didn't seem to have such a problem, if a person had something he wanted, he was going to take it, no matter what. 

Merle happened to be out of jail at the moment and that's who was slugging some guy in the head and was ready to break a beer bottle over his head when Daryl showed up, Merle paused in the middle of his fight to talk to Daryl.  "Hey there little brother, where the hell have you been, been waiting here for 15 minutes or so" Merle greeted Daryl. He looked at the guy he was beating up on and he was knocked out so Merle dragged him out the back door and left him in the alley.

"Get off my ass, I had some business in Midville."

The owner of the bar/store was use to Merle and his escapades so he paid no never mind to the rucus. Merle, though, yelled at the bartender for letting someone like that drunk fellow into the bar. Daryl ignored the whole exchanged because he was use to his brother getting into scrapes.

"What were ya doing in Midville?"

"Got me a pretty set of rims for a Dodge truck if you know of anyone," Daryl snorted back.

"Just might. Are you going to buy me dinner, it's been a few days since I ate a solid meal."

"I can get you some nachos or something, that's all they have here."

Merle's expression tightened as he gulped the last of his beer, "let's go buy a couple of steaks and take them back to the house and watch some Braves kick ass."

"Okay on the steaks but the cable's out, it's been a slow month and some bills didn't get paid." And quietly in his head he gave a no thanks to Merle who hasn't contributed anything to the house for the past half of year.  Daryl was getting sick of his brother and he hadn't been back all of ten minutes.

Daryl parked his 72 Ford pick up in front of the crumbling old shack. If there ever was a real good wind, his home would fly away. He would complain but this was the only thing his old man ever gave him so he guessed he shouldn't shit talk about it. The outside of the place looked like the trash cans had blown over and threw trash all over the yard but if you come by one day next month, it would look the same. Daryl never was brought up to care much what his house looked liked. Ain't nothing to do here 'sept sleep and eat and only he and Merle ever saw it.

"Season those steaks while I get the grill," Merle told Daryl. 

"Can't get the grill, I sold it, we'll have to broil them in the oven."

"You sold it?'

"Yeah, I had a bad toothache last month and needed to get it fixed and the doc in Midville wouldn't work on me until I had the money, so I sold it."

"Hell little brother, I could've pulled that damn tooth for you, it's not like you'll need all of them anyway."

"Huh, no thanks, I don't need to look more redneck than I already do, plus I wouldn't be able to eat a steak like this, come on, let's get dinner made, I'm starving." 

They broiled the steaks and ate but then they just sat around and talked, About nothing important and soon Daryl was tired and started to go to bed.

"Hell, little brother, it's still early. We can head to Beeville and go to the bar over there." 

"Ah Merle, no. Besides, you probably don't even have any money."

"I got enough to buy us a beer," He needed to go to the bar, this house was so boring to him.

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