talk || book 7 of 'she's a dixon'

chapter 9

negan lead carl and i through a door which lead into the inside of the large factory building where negan and his people lived. "check this out" negan whispered to us. he walked over to the railing, where down below his people were working.

carl and i followed. we looked down, and all of negan's people kneeled at the sight of him. "the saviors have gone out into the world and fought the dead and come back with some really good stuff. some of that stuff can be yours if you work hard and play by the rules. today, everybody gets fresh vegetables at dinner. no points needed" negan said to all of his people. everyone started clapping and chattering.

negan turned around to face carl and i, and his people remained kneeling. "you see that? respect. cool, huh? they still on their knees? as you were" negan said to carl, but then calling to his people. he then started to walk off, and carl and i followed.

we followed negan into this large, well decorated room which was filled with women wearing black dresses. "ladies. don't mind the kids" negan said to the women. negan then stood next to carl who looked uncomfortable. " i know. every woman where you're from dresses like they do the books at an auto shop. no offense little dixon. i know you're gonna want to look at their titties. it's cool. i won't mind. they won't mind. knock yourself out." negan said quietly to carl. instead carl just looked down at his feet, and i squeezed his hand tighter to say thank you.

carl and i stood in silence as negan talked to one of his 'wives'. a few minutes later, negan came back with a glass of beer. he took carls open hand, and placed the bottle in it. negan then went over to the young blonde girl who was crying and started talking to her. i tried my best to block out the uncomfortable conversation.

carl and i continued to stand in silence, just following negan with our eyes. we were caught off guard when he held up a finger and in walked dwight and dad. dad held a plate of food in his hands, and once again didn't take his eye off of me.

negan went over to the plate of food, and started eating a small bit of it. "carl, will you grab this tray for me?" negan asked. carl let go of my hand, put down the beer bottle, and took a step towards dad to grab the tray. "take care of her" dad whispered to carl handing the food tray off to him. carl nodded and held the food tray standing next to me.

"why do you got them here?" dad asked negan. "woah! what we talk about when you're not here, is none of your business. do not make me put this toothpick through the only eye the kid has. you go with dwight. he'll get you a mop. dwighty boy, fire up that furnace. i'll be down in a few. time for a little deja vu. come on kids" negan said walking out of the room. carl and i silently followed, forcing me to break eye contact with dad.

carl and i followed negan into a bedroom, and negan shut the door behind us. "are all of those women actually your-" carl started. "wives? yeah. always wanted to screw a whole bunch of different women. i mean, why settle for just one? why follow the same old rules? why not make life better?" negan said cutting carl off. carl looked over at me clearly uncomfortable. " i don't see the problem with just settling for one" carl said looking at me, but talking to negan.

"come on you two love birds, sit. let's get started" negan said walking over and sitting down at the couch which was placed in front of two chairs. carl sat the food tray on the glass table that stood in the center of the couch and the chairs, then sat down in one of the chairs. i sat down on the chair next to it.

"started on what?" i asked. negan chuckled. " i want to get to know you two a little better. i mean, i already tried getting to know you but you wouldn't comply. so i might as well try again" negan said. "why?" carl asked quietly. "work it out, you're smart. in fact, i'm gonna tell you just how smart you are, in case you don't already know. see i'd expect kids your age to be moping around, not doing a damn thing, except crying about missing the prom. but you two, you gone out on a mission. you found me, you killed four of my men, and you're smart enough to know that i'm not gonna let this slide. even for you little dixon" negan said.

he then put his head in his hands with a smile. "aw i can't do it. its like talking to a birthday present. you got to take that crap off your face. i want to see what grandma got me" negan said referring to carls eye. "four men! two for you both of you. punishment" negan yelled. negan then looked at me, then back at carl. " i'm asking you this because i already know the answer if i ask little dixon. do you really want to piss me off carl?" negan said bending over to get closer to carl.

carl looked over at me for reassurance. i'm one of the only people that have seen it without a bandage on. "take it off" i said knowing right now was not the time to push negan's buttons. you have to work up to it.

carl let out a sigh, then took off his hat. he handed it over to me, and i gently placed it on my lap. carefully he unwrapped the bandage revealing where his eye once was. "christ! that is disgusting! no wonder you cover that up. have you seen it? have you seen it little dixon? i mean that is gross as hell. i can see your socket. i want to touch it. oh come on, can i touch it?" negan said going on about carls eye. i looked over at carl and noticed he was about to cry. i reached over and grabbed his hand, holding it in mine.

"damn. holy hell kid. look, its easy to forget you're just a kid. i didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything. i was just screwing around" negan said apologizing. "just forget it" carl said quietly.

i looked over at negan and gave him the death glare. he hurt my boy. negan made eye contact with me. 'i'm sorry' he mouthed to me.