When You Were Young

"Hey, look, kid, don't hurt me. I got a wife and a couple little ones back home, all right? I don't want no trouble." He emptied the cash register, piling the cash before her. "Take this and go, all right?"

"I don't want your fucking money. Just stand there and shut the fuck up," she said. "You're worse than fucking Joseph. Men. You suck, every last fucking one of you."

She threw down another drink. "You think I'll just pack up my life and go with you across the whole fucking country because I love you so fucking much? Oh sure, I'll go get a fucking GED and go to college and get me a real education. Yes, Master, whatever you say, Master." She hurled the glass against the wall, showering Floyd with the shards. He didn't seem to notice. "I ain't your goddamned slave. I ain't his slave and I wasn't the reverend's fucking slave either. They're the same really, when you think about it. A bunch of no good bastards."

She flailed around in search of her glass before realizing she'd smashed it. She set her head on the counter and cried. "It's not fair," she moaned. "He doesn't understand. I got two kids to take care of." She reached into her pocket and took out a photograph taken last summer at a nearby lake. Molly stood next to her on one side and Becky on the other, all three of them in bathing suits. She had an arm around each girl, Molly smiling from beneath an oversized straw hat while Becky grimaced as though she'd eaten something sour. Samantha showed the picture to the bartender.

"Look at those two. Aren't they the sweetest little kids you ever saw? Poor little Molly got sunburned so bad. She was red as a lobster for two weeks. And Becky, she was miserable the whole time. She kept bitching that the suit made her look fat. Well, she is fat. There's nothing wrong with that. I think she looks cute. What do you think?"

"They're beautiful children."

"Damn right. You think I'm going to leave them to go across the country with some jerk? I raised them up myself the last three years. I'm the closest thing to a mother they have in the whole world. He thinks I'm going to give that up for him? That jerk. That fucking jerk. I'm going to find him and give him a piece of my mind and then I'm going to knee him in the balls until he cries like a little girl." She laughed hysterically and then threw whatever money she had at the bartender. "That should cover it. Thanks for the booze."