East Highland Hills Proper
Yollie smiled as her mom came out from under the timber porch awning that her father had built when she was still just a girl. After the time of steel and fire, there had been tons - literal tons - of scrap left in heaps and piles. Those who remained alive after the raids with the skills to build were immediately put to work reconstructing the town. They were paid in food and water and free reign at whatever scrap they wanted to reconstruct their own homes.
Needless to say, among the adobe and bricks, Yollie's father - a burly man named Grant that everyone simply referred to as "Biggun" - had found a way to put as much woodwork into the house as possible. From the animal pens to the porch to the furniture inside, he had made the Guevara domecile as homely as he could under the circumstances.
"It's OK, momma. Everything is OK. There was this guy who came into the T-Stop in a panic. I was pettin' Dog and overheard him say his wife was in trouble and needed help. So, naturally I-"
"You decide to throw away everything we taught you about safety and cautiousness to run out onto the Slow Ride for some story that may not even have been true? Girl have you lost your damn mind?"
"No, momma. Wasn't like that. He said his wife got hit by bandits and was stoved up in his car. I couldn't just-"
"You couldn't just what? What if there'd been no wife, Yollie? What if he was playin' you to get you and whoever else was foolhardy enough to go out there in a pickle just like he was sayin' he had got in? Huh? What if-"
"Well he wasn't, momma!" Yollie said louder than she intended. The words came out of her in an uncharacteristic show of frustration. It didn't phase her mother at all. In fact, she looked calmer now that her daughter and talked back to her in such a manner... which could only mean a backhand was being primed.
"Look, momma, I'm sorry, OK? I wasn't bein' stupid. That's why I got Remmy here," She said tapping the 12-guarge Remington on her back.
"And the man wasn't lying. We saved his wife... for the time being at least. You're always tellin' me about all the bad in the world, momma. That's why I had to go. I had to make some good in the world..."
Yollie looked as though she might be on the verge of tears, and if there was any anger left in her momma, it flew out of her sails as quickly as Yollie's bottom lip began to pout.
"Come here, baby." Her mother Maria said while pulling her into a hug for a moment before looking into her eyes. "I know you did good. You always do good. You got the best heart out of anyone I have seen and that's a fact. You just gotta stay aware of the bad that is out there. You gotta be smart, Yollie-girl. Who did you go with?"
"Lucas and the weird guy he runs with. Crow was there to patch the woman up. I helped him... umandchristmas." She knew that last name would draw a strong look from her mother and perhaps even a scolding.
Maria's eyes got wide and then she spoke very evenly. "Well, then I will make a bowl of stew for everyone who helped look out for you. And Yollie-girl, I don't want you hangin' around Christmas. She is bad news as there ever was."
With that, Maria released her daughter and walked inside, muttering about needing help with dinner. Yollie stayed outside for a moment, thinking on everything that had transpired. She knew why her mother didn't want her spending time with Christmas. Christmas was from the Road and with that came a reputation. And yeah, maybe she wasn't the most clean cut girl this side of the Slow Ride, but who was? Yollie knew there was more to her than her gruff exterior. Christmas was... her friend?
Yollie sighed and walked inside into the bear hug embrace of her father... which inevitably led to hear having to repeat the same story she had just told her mother.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 06:35, Mon 01 Aug 2016.