Another Night on the Road

Kat looked like she had been crying. Lewis tried her best to sound pleasant.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I got dumped!” her niece wailed. The farmer old biddy pressed her hand to her forehead.

“Oh no,” she said under her breath. “Not again.”

“Lewis!” Aisha whispered. “She’s your niece.” The farmer glared at her with a cold stare.

“So?” she asked.

“She’s upset.”

Lewis clenched her teeth. “That’s the problem.” Kat walked towards her aunt and her friends like a deer who had been shot in the leg.

“Can I stay with you for a while?” she whimpered.

“No!” Lewis shouted. Aisha nudged her in the ribs hard enough to make her stumble backwards.

“Ow!” she yelped.

“You can’t turn her away like that,” the leader said.

“Oh yes I can,” Lewis said back. Karen tilted her head.

“Is that little Kat?” she asked. Lewis sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Yes, Karen,” she groaned. “That is my niece.” The far-sighted old biddy wandered over to the younger woman and felt on her cheeks.

“Kat!” she exclaimed. “You’ve gotten so big!” The younger woman gave her a strange look.

“I’m sorry, but who are you?” she asked.

“It’s me, dear,” Karen said. “I used to baby-sit you.” It took Kat a minute for the lights to come on in her head.

“Oh,” she said in a quiet voice. The whole time, Lewis tried to sneak away. She couldn’t escape because Aisha pretty held onto her wrist. Muriel shook her head because she already saw what was coming next. Clyde stared back and forth between everyone, blinking.

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William came across Liz in the hallway. She looked up at him, smiling. He gave her a puzzled look.

“Did you and Clover get into a fight?” he asked.

“Nope,” Liz said.

“Then why are you sitting outside of her room.”

His older niece giggled. “I can’t tell you that.”

“And why is that?”

Liz lay on her back. “It’s all part of my plan.” She smiled at the ceiling.

“Do I even want to know what you are talking about?” William asked. His older niece lifted her head.

“Maybe…” she said. The old man frowned at her. Please don’t let her turn into her grandmother, he thought. Meanwhile, Clover sat in her room, frowning. She began to plan on a way to “repay” her sister. In fact, the younger sister got up and opened the door. Liz and William looked up to see her grinning.

“Yes?” the older sister asked.

“I am willing to talk to you,” Clover said. William already had a bad feeling when he saw his younger niece grinning as hard as she could.

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Meanwhile, Kat pretty much followed to old biddies around. She wouldn’t stop talking about her latest ex.

“He was one of the best guys I had,” the younger woman complained. Her aunt resisted the urge to choke her.

“You always say that about every bloke you date,” Lewis said.

“But he was different!” Kat reached up to wipe away her tears. Lewis’ friends didn’t know how much longer they had to deal with her gloomy mood.

“How long is she going to be like this?” Karen asked.

“Days and days,” Lewis said. Clyde groaned and flopped back on the grass. Aisha rubbed her forehead.

“There must be something that we can do,” she said. The farmer turned her head, frowning.

“Like what?” she asked. The leader thought about that question. She opened her mouth and then closed it again. Lewis narrowed her eyes at her.

“Well? I’m waiting,” she said. Aisha hung her head at last.

“I don’t know,” she said. “We’ll think of something.”

“We?” Muriel asked.

“Yes, we,” Aisha said, nodding. She noticed that other old bides were frowning and shaking their heads. The leader sighed and dropped her head. This isn’t going to be easy, is it? Kat broke down wailing once again.