Goodbye Earl: Afterwards
Mary Anne woke to the sound of the rooster crowing, blinking away the
last remnants of sleep from her eyes. The tall, redheaded woman smiled
as she took in Wanda laying there beside her, the little blonde looking
so innocent as she slept. Slipping out of the bed Mary Anne padded
barefoot from the master bedroom to the kitchen, starting up the coffee
then pouring herself one once it was done.
'Wonder how long it'll take for Wanda to wake this morning?' Mary Anne
mused as she looked out the window at their farm, the chickens
tentatively moving out into the yaed, the pigs out in their pen in the
back. A few years ago this would have seemed impossible to her, but a
lot of things had changed since then.
Mary Anne had known Wanda for years, all through their high school days.
Both had been in the same clubs, they hung out together, they were the
best of friends. Of course Mary Anne never told her best friend some
things, like how her heart would skip a beat when Wanda smiled, looking
up at her so tenderly.
Wanda had been stunned when Mary Anne had told her she was leaving on
graduation, but she didn't feel she had any choice. The small town had
been closing in on her more and more, and she also felt more and more
drawn to Wanda in ways she knew were... wrong. So after telling Wanda
that she needed to look for a bright new world she left, in truth trying
to find others like her.
Atlanta had been a revelation to Mary Anne in more ways than one. She
found a job, found a place to live... and found the bar. After a night
or two of hesitating in the little café across the street Mary Anne went
inside, and entered a new world. Men dancing with men, women swaying
close together, dressed as they chose and doing what they wanted to. The
first time Mary Anne got asked to dance she thought she was going to
faint, but in time she got used to the racing of her heart, the sweet
excitement.
Still, Mary Anne never seemed to find a girlfriend or really settle
down, all the dates seemed to be lacking something. She told a few
friends about Wanda, not specifics but enough for them to understand,
and the nodded sagely. Most had had a first crush like that, but few of
those worked out in the long term. They told her to put it behind her,
to move on and give her love to someone else.
Then Mary Anne heard about Wanda being hurt.
Booking the first redeye out of Atlanta Mary Anne hurried to Wanda's
side, speeding her rental car along 109 and luckily avoiding any radar
traps. Wanda was a mess, battered and bloody and Mary Anne was stabbed
with guilt over leaving her side, especially after hearing about how
Wanda had taken up with Earl after she had left. Both of them talked
long through the night, and in the end they made up their minds: Earl
had to die.
It was all remarkably easy, actually. Earl, as arrogant as hell was
unsurprised when Wanda took him back, and while he DID notice the odd
flavor of the peas it was far too late by then. Wrapping him in a tarp
they went out to the lake and gave him the old heave ho into the water,
weighed down so he'd sink like a rock.
There had been a scary moment when the police came by the house the next
morning, but they had been coming to take Earl in for assaulting Wanda.
Both of them knew the good-ole-boy network would protect a friend like
Earl, and both felt a degree of satisfaction on ridding the world of a
piece of filth like that.
Without really thinking about it Mary Anne agreed to stay with Wanda
after that, regretfully saying goodbye to her friends back in Atlanta
and doing her computer job from their new home. Wanda, needing something
to do, bought a space at the roadside stand on highway 108 selling the
ham they raised along with strawberry jam made from her mother's recipe.
"What are you doing?" a familiar voice asked, arms circling her waist as
Wanda hugged her from behind.
"Just thinking," Mary Anne smiled down at her.
Wanda moved on tip toe to kiss Mary Anne, "I missed you when I woke up."
It was a lingering kiss, one of a lover and like always Mary Anne just
melted into it. "I wish we had done this years ago," she murmured
softly.
"You might have told me," Wanda moved to stand by Mary Anne's side.
Mary Anne reached out to put a arm around Wanda's waist, drawing her
close. "When you told me to stop using the couch and get in bed with
you, I knew I was in trouble," Mary Anne murmured.
"I lay in bed beside you that night longing for something," Wanda lay
her head against Mary Anne's arm, "I barely slept."
"Join the club," Mary Anne laughed, "if you hadn't made the first move I
thought I was going to burst into flames or something."
"Me, too," Wanda laughed. She looked up at Mary Anne, "The first time I
touched you it felt so right... I wasn't even scared."
"It was right," Mary Anne hugged her, "for us."
"I still want you to take me out to that bar in Atlanta," Wanda added
after a moment, recalling a earlier conversation.
"It's a pretty rough place," Mary Anne warned.
"It's part of the new world that you found," Wanda said, "a new world
you helped me discover." A grin, "Besides, I thought we could dress up
to the nines and have some fun."
"We haven't had a night out in while," Mary Anne conceded the point,
"what do you have in mind?"
Wanda reached up to tidy the men's pajamas that Mary Anne always wore to
bed, "I was thinking a slow dance to start, me in that slinky dress and
you in your suit..."
"Yes," Mary Anne croaked as she felt Wanda press up to her.
"And maybe go back to the hotel then and," Wanda fluttered her eyes
suggestively, "rest."
"We tend to do a lot of," Mary Anne grinned, "resting."
"You can never have too much rest," Wanda made circles on Mary Anne's
chest wither her pinky finger. Suddenly Mary Anne bodily picked her up,
bringing a squeal of surprise from Wanda, "What are you doing?"
"I suddenly feel very tired," Mary Anne winked, "we're going back to
bed."
"Whatever you say, dear," Wanda sighed happily.
End
Notes: I always got a sort of 'Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop
Café' feel from Goodbye Earl, so writing a story around it wasn't hard.
Not sure if it was intended by the Dixie Chicks, but heh. They never do
explain why Mary Anne left town on graduation, so I went with her being
a closeted lesbian and the plot just flowed from there.
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