That's Where You Take Me

Growing up on a farm always had been the worst thing Median actually admitted to. She was the girl that everyone couldn’t figure out. She did her chores, and she hated them. Her parents always complained that she was too boyish and that she would never find a guy because she was too busy doing her chores, and earning her allowance and extra cash by helping out the rest of the people on the farm with their jobs. She had a plan to get the hell off the farm and that was what she was determined to do. She had graduated high school and wanted to go to college but even with the money she had saved from her allowance, the extra chores and the extra farm work, she couldn’t. So she had gotten a permanent job on the farm and now at the age of 22. Her parents were starting to worry about her. After she had graduated high school she had started getting tattoo’s. She even got her lip pierced twice. She tried to explain that they were called snakebites, but her mom and dad wouldn’t listen. She lived in a small house about 300 yards from the stables. She didn’t like it that way but it was the only thing better than living with her parents, and she didn’t have to pay rent. And they didn’t have to hear her music.

Median preferred hard Rock and heavy metal to country. She loved being herself, and no one in the town of Tarrant Montana wanted anything to do with her. Hell her town wasn’t even on a map for that matter. Which was another reason she hated it. She wanted to move to California or Arizona or Texas somewhere warm, and where it didn’t snow. She sighed now as she walked into her house after finishing up at the stables. Raising horses was all she knew. Her brother’s and hired hands took care of the fields for her father and she took care of the horses. She loved them, and she also raised some of the best in the state. She had raised several award winning thoroughbreds. But no one here took her seriously. She turned the lights on as she moved through her house. She walked pass the stereo and turned it on and hit the CD button on her multi-disc changer and smiled as she heard the opening of Second Heartbeat. She slowly began to relax to the sound of the song as she pulled her work boots off. She pulled her socks off next and started to strip her jeans off and head for the shower when there was a knock on the door. She didn’t bother turning the stereo down but she did re-button the button that she had undone on her multi-button jeans and walked to her door. She rolled her eyes at her mother.

“Dinner at the house tonight, are you coming?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Wear something to cover up your arms, and can you please take those things out of your lip?”

“Okay, mom, I love you but no, I’ll make something here and eat, and the snakebites stay.” At that Median closed the door in her mother’s face. She stuck her tongue out at the door and grinned as the little gold ball caught the reflection of light from the over head light she had on. She grinned as she closed her mouth. Her mom would probably freak the fuck out if she realized that there was a piercing in her mouth as well. Locking the door she walked to the stereo and turned it up some more and walked toward the bathroom in her little one bedroom house. It was one story with a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and living room. She hated it. She wanted out of Tarrant so bad. She stripped and started the shower. She enjoyed the feel of the hot water washing the stress off her body. She closed her eyes and let it wash over her. She sighed when she heard the phone ring as she stepped out. She turned the music down just as Perfect by Flyleaf began to play.

“What mom?”

“You have ten minutes to get to the house.”

“I don’t want to come to dinner.”

“I don’t care.”

“I’m not wearing long sleeves.”

“I don’t care.” and her mom hung up the phone. She looked at it and sighed. She darted into her room dropping the towel in the process and grabbing at clothes. She pulled on bra and panties even though she had planned on leaving those off and pulling on pajamas. She then pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and the first t-shirt her hand landed on. She didn’t care what it was. She jammed her unsocked feet into sneakers and forgetting to do anything with her ass length blonde and purple hair she ran the five minute walk to her parents house. When she got there she stopped when she saw the black car in the driveway. Something was wrong. She didn’t knock as she walked in she just shut the door and began running her fingers through her hair. She was shocked to see a man in a suit standing in her parents kitchen. They looked upset about something. It was the beginning of spring, and little did she know that her life was about to change drastically at that moment.

“Median, oh god, honey…”

“Mom, dad, Brian, Alex, what’s going on?” She asked her parents and brothers.

“Sweetie, this is Mr. Logan, he’s going to be buying the farm.”

“What?” Median asked not believing what she was hearing. “You sold the farm….?”

“We had no choice.”

“But…”

“I’m sorry honey.”

xoxox

Two months later Median stood in the middle of an apartment in Long Beach California. She sighed as she looked around at it. It was a flat, with a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and what could pass for a living room. Which was small like the rest of the rooms in the apartment, but it was all she could afford. She had no idea what the hell she was gonna do. She knew how to do two things, serve food and drinks, and work with horses on a farm. She looked at the land lady and nodded her head. She would take it. She had no choice. She had sold most of her stuff to move here, she wasn’t moving in with her brother Brian and his wife Alana and their bratty little two year old Aslyn. She had until Friday to get the first months rent and a two hundred dollar deposit. That wouldn’t be a problem. In fact the first six months rent she was paying up front so that she would be able to find a job. She walked out of the apartment and down the two flights of steps. The land lady took the elevator back down. Maybe when she started moving her shit in would she use the elevator, but for now she preferred the steps. She walked out of the apartment building and pulled her keys out of her pocket and walked to her pick up truck. It was obvious that she need to wash it, but she would wait until after she got back from hauling her shit from Montana.

A week and a half later Median was hugging her brother Alex for the last time as he helped her unload the last of her stuff. She carried box after box inside and she had hugged him before she grabbed the last box out of the back of her truck. She watched him leave and walked inside. She took the elevator and setting the box down unlocked her door and walked in setting the box down and sighing as she slumped against the door after closing it. She looked around at the mess and turned to slide the chain lock in place. She began the long process of unpacking her things. She started in the bedroom so that would be finished before anything else and was thankful that she didn’t like dealing with bed frames so her bed just needed made. Which she did and she began unpacking her clothes and putting them away. It was when she unpacking a box of photographs she came across one of her and her brothers from high school and smiled a little. She set it on the kitchen table and picked up the next one. This was one of her favorite photo’s. She had talked one of the guys in the tattoo parlor into taking it because it was when she had gotten her first tattoo. The wings on her back. In the picture the guy was finishing the color in it. She had paid a pretty penny for all of the tattoos she had but they had given her a discount on everyone of them when they found out that she was going to eventually have both arms covered. And she had actually gotten the last one on her left arm only two days before her mother had told her they sold the farm. She had taken the picture back after getting it printed out and he had signed it for her and written her a message on the back. It read the first of many. Looking at a clock on the wall she decided that it was time to go to bed she had a couple of interviews the following day.

She was headed out to celebrate the next afternoon when she remembered that she needed to wash her truck. She remembered where the car wash was because she had passed it a million times since moving to Long Beach. She smiled when she handed the keys over to the guy and went and sat inside out of the heat. She was for once glad that not everyone looked at her weird when she walked into a room. Here she could wear her tank tops and no one said a word about the sleeves on her arms. Thirty minutes later after paying for the whole car wash deal she was on her way. She got to a diner down the street from her apartment and parked before making her way into the place. She glanced around and saw that the counter wasn’t full and made her way over. She sat and the waitress a girl named Lacey smiled at her.

“Afternoon Median, how the interviews go?”

“Apparently the summer I spent as a barmaid at the pub in my hometown was enough to get me a job working tables at the new bar on 10th street.”

“I hear it’s supposed to be a great place.”

“Yeah, I hope so.”

“So what’ll it be today?”

“Same”

“Alright, chef salad comin’ up.” and Lacey turned to place the order. She smiled. She liked the girl and considered her to be a friend.

“So, what are you doing tonight to celebrate your new job?” Lacey asked as she slid the salad toward Median five minutes later.

“I don’t know, sleeping?”

“Wow, that’s kinda boring. I’m going to this party, I’m sure I could give my boyfriend a call and see if it’s okay if a I brought a friend. You might have fun.”

“I don’t wanna intrude on your life Lacey.”

“Median, you’re gonna have to make friends sometime.”

“Lacey take your lunch!” the manager called from the back. Lacey grinned and walked around the counter and motioned for Median to grab her salad and drink and follow her to a table.

“So, you have to come if Johnny says it’s okay.”

“I guess.”

“You do have party clothes right?”

“What’s wrong with what I have on?”

“Nothing, but normally the party ends up moving to a club.”

“I have a few things…”

“Great.” And when Lacey got off the phone ten minutes later she was grinning and Median found herself giving Lacey direction’s to her apartment and saying she’d see her at six.

“Don’t forget, be ready to go.”

“Anything else?”

“Uhm, no see ya then.” and the two women parted. Median rolled her eyes as she left the diner.