Boulevard of Broken Dreams {Daryl Dixon}

T h r e e

Vada sat at the bar in the pub again, right beside her sister. She didn't get the job, and the manager was even rude enough to inform her that she'd never get one because of how many times she'd been fired. Now, more than ever, she needed bourbon.

"You had a lotta that today, sis. Can I try some?" Josephine said eagerly, placing her orange juice down on the counter.

"You ain't gonna like it," Vada grumbled, handing the barista her glass after she'd emptied it.

"But I like everything you like!"

"Just shut your mouth and quit being so hard-headed."

The twins fell silent once again. Vada stared, feeling broken, down at her sixth glass of bourbon. She hated doing this to her sister, but in order to take the punishment she knew she'd receive when she got home, she'd have to be wasted. 

Moments later, someone else walked into the pub. Josephine perked up at the sound of the door opening, but Vada only reached for her glass and downed her bourbon in two gulps. From the corner of her eye, she could see the person staring at her, which wasn't uncommon in a pub. It was the perfect place for a pervert to find his next one-night stand, but it wouldn't be her.

As Vada watched the barista refill her cup for the seventh time, Josephine poked her shoulder. "Vada, someone's here!"

"Shut your trap or we're goin' home," she hissed.

The twins heard the man ask for a glass of whiskey. His voice was deep, and somewhat husky. Both girls wondered where they had heard it before, but neither of them brought it up. For a brief moment, Vada could feel the man's eyes burning holes into the side of her head, but he quickly looked down when Josephine peered at him curiously.

Then, just like that, he had ghosted out the door.

>>>

The Georgia heat beat down on Daryl as he stood outside the pub, leaning against his beat-up truck. From his pocket, he pulled a cigarette and lighter. Much to his dismay, smoking became a habit of his over the years. But, it wasn't quite as severe as Merle's, whose voice already sounded like an eighty-year-old smoker. The tension from inside the pub slowly melted away as a puff of smoke clouded before his face.

Minutes later, the twins walked out of the pub and toward one of the shittiest looking cars Daryl had ever seen. Clearly it had been wrecked several times, and more of it was rusted than not. He secretly watched as one of them, he assumed Josephine, skipped to the passenger's side of the car, while the other, Vada, headed toward the driver's side. Just by seeing the paleness of her face and the redness of her eyes, he could tell that she had a lot to drink, and wasn't feeling well.

Once the two were settled in, Vada turned the key in the ignition, causing the engine to spit and sputter for a moment. But, it didn't start. So, she tried again, only to get the same result. After three more failed attempts, she rested her head on the steering wheel for a brief moment before getting back out of the car.

"Damn this piece of shit!" She shouted, slamming her door.

"Maybe Dad will come and get us!" Josephine chimed, climbing out of the car as well.

"He ain't comin' for us, and don't call him 'Dad' either!" Vada snapped at her.

With this cigarette hanging from his mouth, Daryl approached the twins, causing them both to look at him. "I, uh, can look at tha' fer ye'," he offered, hoping that maybe it would make up for what his brother had done.

"To hell with that, I'm selling the damn thing to someone who can afford to get it fixed," Vada grumbled, turning away from him.

"We can sell it and move to our own house, huh Vada?" Josephine asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll do that, Jo."

Daryl sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "It won' be worth much. I'm a mechanic. I'll fix it fer free if ye' want."

"If you're tryin' to make up for what your little buddy did to my sister, it ain't workin'," the angrier twin muttered, throwing the hood of the car up.

Josephine frowned. "C'mon, sis! If we go home without a car, Dad's gonna hit you!"

"You shut your mouth before I kick your teeth in!" Vada demanded, stomping toward her sister and slapping the back of her head. She then whirled around, shooting Daryl a glare. "Well, if you're so high and mighty, go on and fix the damn thing!"

So, that's exactly what he walked forward to do. Josephine tried moving closer to watch as he reached down to tinker with the engine, but her sister yanked her back. It was clear that she had no intention of trusting anyone. But, Daryl couldn't blame her. When it came to the small, redneck town they lived in, women had to be that way. 

Moments later, Josephine was pacing around, kicking the gravel around beneath her worn sneakers, as Vada leaned against the car, watching her twin boredly. She seemed to have calmed down for the most part, although her icy stare didn't fade away.

"I, uh, think I foun' th' problem..." Daryl mumbled, holding up a rock with a black, greasy hand.

Vada's eyes flitted from the rock to Josephine. "Damn that son of a bitch! Always doin' some stupid shit."

Hiding his amusement, the Dixon reached back down, digging around the inside of the car for another rock. "She likes puttin' things in 'ere, huh?"

"Dumb bastard loves ruinin' what little I have. She don't mean to, though. She's just an idiot, that's all."

Daryl looked up at her, only to see that she was staring out at her sister again. He couldn't help but stare, observing how lazily she rested her hip against her car, and how, behind her eyes, stood two brick walls that looked impossible to break down. Oh, she had a story alright. There was a story behind those walls, hiding deep in their shadow. And he, Daryl Dixon, was gonna find it.