Page 51 of Trucker
She died at eighteen from cancer.
Esther was a horrible child, with equally disgusting parents who never called her out on anything. They had money too and held it over people’s head like the hammer of God. When they lost it all, people in town were happy.
I was young but even I knew that if they were on fire no one would even piss on them to put it out. The made everyone miserable.
I had to admit, I was happy to see her fall—her father wound up in federal prison for fraud and the last we heard, her mother was still on the run on one of those no extradition islands.
The only thing that saved Esther, as that she was a minor.
But she still acted as if the world was her oyster and whatever she wanted was hers.
The women whispered behind their hands as I paid for my groceries. They talked as I wandered in and out of other stores, picking up a few other things. And by the time I stopped at the bakery, they weren’t even trying to hide it anymore.
I didn’t try hiding my disdain for them.
Don’t let them see you cry—ever.
Trucker’s husky voice came back to her.
You can cry when they’re dead.
Show them you’re a bad-ass bitch.
His encouragement gave me strength and I lifted my chin.
As I walked by them, I swung my hips as fiercely as I could, showing them I didn’t give a damn what they thought.
But at the post office, I was beyond being the bigger person.
“How much weight did she gain?” Marigold Johnson asked Theresa Chambers, the mayor’s wife. “Do you see how sexy that man is? He deserves a woman who is in shape, who will look good on his arm. I can’t imagine a fit fireman like that would want her this way.”
I cleared my throat from behind them.
“Excuse me.”
When they faced me, I smiled.
“Am I sitting on your face?” I demanded.
“What?” Marigold gasped.
“Am I—sitting on your—face?” I repeated.
“Well, no.” She replied.
“Then my weight is none of your business.” I snapped. “I repeat. My weight—is none of—your business. Did you get that?”
Theresa gasped. “How dare you?”
“How dare I?” I stepped forward.
They backed up.
“How dare I.” I scoffed. “Un-fucking-believable.”
Leaving them, I went home, packed away the groceries and climbed into bed.
I curled my body into a ball and pulled the sheets over my head.
