Chapter 2

The door chime sounded and a silky voice spat out “good morning Louisiana peaches” MJ blushed and shot upright. She looked at Lou, half horrified, and another voice rang out, just as deep as the first one but not as smooth to the ears. “I think that’s Georgia peaches bro, but I get what you mean”. MJ could not believe her ears, “were they talking about her ass right now?” She spun around on one heel to face the taunters and perched her hands on her hips. “Excuse the fuck out of you!” she hissed with as much disgust as she could muster.

The man standing in front of her was about a foot taller than she was and had beautiful deep lagoon green eyes. His hair was a dusty gold blond with darker highlights dancing underneath the top layer, revealing how thick and elegant it really was. His build was athletic and firm, his skin looked weather touched with different shades of neutral cream and olive tones. He was standing so close to her she could swear she felt the air move around her when the corners of his mouth turned upward into a small wry smile but did not expose his teeth.

He leaned forward and almost whispered in her face, “I said good morning”. This man stood so close she could smell him, he smelled musky but sweet and MJ caught herself inhaling a little deeper to savor the scent. She was seething with annoyance not only had this jackass taken advantage of an unfortunate situation now he was insulting her intelligence.

MJ wasn't sure if it was instinct or just poor choices, but she hauled back and head-butted the beautiful man standing in front of her, pushed past his stunned companion and out the front door ignoring an angry Lou hollering behind her.

She raced around the corner and jumped into the ancient beat up farm truck Lou used, started the primitive beast and yanked her into gear, before the sequel of bitter cold belts hauled her down the road toward the slaughterhouse and away from the problem MJ had just unnecessarily created for herself.

MJ drove a little ways down the road and pulled over. She hit the steering wheel with her palms and cursed herself. “What the actual fuck is wrong with you!” She reflected, “you are a grown ass woman, can't you fucking act like one? You could have just walked away, but no, you had to perform like a child and headbutt him.” She smirked a little as she remembered the satisfaction of cracking her skull against the soft cartilage of that jackass’s face. “Serves him right” she thought as she made her way back onto the roadway and toward the slaughterhouse.

It only took about 25 minutes for her to get to the slaughterhouse. MJ pulled the pickup off the main highway and into the dirt drive up that led to the slaughterhouse primary office and loading dock. She backed the truck in next to the loading port so that she wouldn't have to walk too far, in case Lou went overboard and ordered a pallet or something like that.

MJ made her way up the stairs of the office and walked inside. She was met at the front desk by a woman in her early 50s, she had a bubbly and happy little voice all the time. She was nearly 5 feet tall and so when she was sitting at the desk you could almost see a small tuff of her overly curled and teased black bob hair cut. MJ slapped her hands up on the desk and made the small woman jump.

“Morning Beth” MJ said with a start “Jesus H fucking Christ MJ you little shit! What is wrong with you for fuck’ sake? I'm an old woman, and you could have killed me just now!” her voice was happy and high-pitched but not shrill. “Sorry Beth”, MJ chuckled “I just thought you could use a little pick me up”. The woman behind the desk stood up and smoothed her shirt, almost like trying to brush off the goosebumps that just shot up her spine.

“That's what coffee is for sweetie” Beth replied with a smile, as she rounded the side of the desk and walked to Mjs side.

“What the hell happened to your head MJ?” Beth said in an accusing tone “you piss off Lou again and get hit in the skull with another flying plate or what?”

“No” MJ said shyly, trying not to make eye contact with the woman in front of her. “Hay, do you think Lou would ever fire me?” MJ asked, still not making eye contact with Beth, which was hard to do considering she was an inch shorter than MJ. Beth started laughing “what in the world happened this morning”.

Beth was Lou’s sister and MJ had met Lou through Beth 3 years ago when she mentioned she was looking at picking up more work, so she could save money to get the hell out of this insignificant town and maybe do something with her life. Sure MJ had lived in Lowder since she was young, but she kept to herself mostly because she was just kind of cast aside by everyone. Not on purpose, but people had their own lives. MJ met Beth when she was about 12, Beth volunteered at the youth center in town and MJ was a ward of the state due to the fact nobody came forward to claim her after the flood, and they had to do something with her. The State wouldn't take her as they already had too many children in the foster system as it was. So, the township of Lowder became her home by default, and MJ ended up aging out of the foster system. It's not that she didn't want a family, it's just that she had a knack for getting into trouble with other children, and nobody wanted to adopt someone who was always fighting with other kids.