Beyond Appearances

Jazz Hands

I wake up with drool dried to my face. I looked at the clock, it reads 7:30. I pull myself together with a groan, and get ready for the day. I walk down to the kitchen, knowing I have the house to myself for one more day.

I pull out the eggs, cinnamon, and bread. I start making french toast to the beat of Cardi B.  I start singing along and shaking my hips. When I go to open the fridge I feel a body press to mine.

I quickly kick my foot up in between the intruder's legs, and turn around punch them in the gut. I soon realize right after I hear a grunt, that it was just Johnny. I get down on the floor next to him.

"Oh my God Johnny! You can't sneak up on me like that. Are you okay?" He focuses on breathing considering I got him right in the kahones. "Damn girl! I just wanted to dance with you." I laugh because I saw that he was smiling. I stand up, and help him to his feet. Thankfully, my French toast didn't burn.

I make us both a plate, hoping to make up slightly for my defense moves. He grabs the juice and cups. We sit and enjoy our meal making small talk, before we head to the ranch.

I take up my daily task of poop scooping, and Johnny feeds the cattle. He calls me over after I finished my chores. I look down at what he's standing in front of. A bunch of wood and paintbrushes. "Aren't we missing the paint?" He laughs. "Yeah, we gotta go pick the colors, I was going to leave that part up to you." I smile. "What are we even building?" He laughs. "Sarah wants another chicken coop. She said it can't be boring, it has to have pizzazz!" He does what I assume to be his version of jazz hands.

We make the long ride to the hardware store in town. It's a small, mom and pop type. We are immediately greeted by an older woman, Edna after walking in. "Welcome to Fraiser's. Anything we can help y'all with?" We ask for paint samples. She leads us towards the back of the store, where there is a wall covered in all sorts of colors and shades.

I immediately start picturing how I want the coop to look. I'm thinking of just making it a collaboration of bright and springy colors. I start grabbing shades such as tidal wave, sunflower, creamsicle, just anything bright. Johnny looks at me like I have ten heads.

"V? What are you planning?" I smile and laugh. "It's gonna be bright, and happy! Neon!" He shakes his head and walks to the front so we can order it and pay.

Edna smiles when she sees us. "There's the lovely couple!" I go to correct her, when Johnny wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close. "Edna, I just can't get enough of her. We're picking out the paint samples for our new home." She just looks at us in awe. I smack Johnny away, giving him a death glare. Edna finished mixing our paint and rings us out.

When we get back in the truck, I punch Johnny in the arm. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He just starts laughing. "She thought we were cute, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to embarrass you." I cross my arms over my chest. "She's goin to think I have no class, decorating my house like an Easter egg!" I drop my head into my hands and laugh.

When we get back, I help unload the paint cans. We start laying everything out, and opening the cans of vibrant paint. I put the wood out in front of me, deciding what slats should be colored what. I start painting once I get a clear vision of how I want it to turn out.

Johnny tries to help but I stop him. "No way! This is my project now. You can help when the painting is done." He holds his hands up in surrender, and moves into another job. Smart man.

Once I'm done painting all the slats an array of colors, we let them dry. I attempt to start picking up. That is until Johnny sneaks up behind me. He puts a handprint of chameleon green on my cheek. I whip around with a handful of creamsicle, aiming for his beautiful face. We eventually end up being covered in every shade imaginable. We both surrender after we run out of paint.

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After our color war, I ran home to wash it off. The shower was a great way to finish off the day. Something about scalding hot water just soothes me. Hunter used to call me a freak after he'd take a freezing cold shower due to me hogging every last bit of the hot water.

I slip into a tank and pajama shorts. For my last night of freedom, I decided to have an ice cream sundae for dinner. No one is home to judge me, so I figure why the hell not.

I add 3 scoops of Neapolitan, whip cream, gummy bears, and chocolate sauce to the bowl. I grab a beer to wash it down, and I settle on the porch. The peepers begin chirping, and the fireflies start their late night soirée. I sit back and let the beautiful picture sink in.

The moment doesn't last long. I start hearing a woman and man yelling just down the road. At the ranch to be exact. I head back into the house depositing the empty dishes in the sink, and sliding my boots on. I head down to the ranch, ready to raise hell.

When I follow the voices, I see a young woman standing in front of her beat up car screaming at Johnny. He stands there listening, but his jaw is set like an animal waiting to bite. I rush over and try to figure out what is going on.

"What the hell are y'all yelling about?" The woman looks at me, daggers shooting from her eyes. "Look at this, Johnny's got himself another mistress." She sizes me up. No way in hell am I going to allow this. "Excuse me? I am nobody's mistress. Don't start shooting your mouth off, especially about me." I return her death glare. "V, go home!" I look at him with wide eyes, seething at the mouth. "Yeah, go home." I hear her voice, and lose it. "You both can get fucked! I hear y'all yelling again, and I'll have you escorted off my property." I walk off. More like cooling off. I was ten seconds away from bashing that bitch's head in. That must be the blue car I saw the other day. He's someone else around whoever that is.

I enter the house grab a beer, and go back out and sit on the porch. I don't hear yelling, just the sounds of nature. My warning must've scared them. Johnny's going to have a lot of explaining to do.