Chapter Text
It was in the Autumn of 1982, Mississippi, when the leaves were just turning brown and the air gained a slight chill when you received a letter.
It had been brown, a coffee stain on the edge of it and barely legible writing; but it was made out to you all the same. Your mom was quiet when you had taken it from her, you didn't blame her, mostly because the sender had been from your Aunt.
And the last you heard from her, it had been a nasty fight between her and your dad.
Still, it hurt when you looked at her name. She had been kind, a bit off sometimes, but kind. As you brushed a thumb against the letter, you shoot a questioning glance to your mom.
"It was found in her desk." Your mom answers quickly, sitting down next to you as you finally opened it.
"She died three months ago." You find yourself saying, voice dry. "Shouldn't this have been in the will?"
And you knew what your mom was going to say, a small bit of anger wilding up in your chest.
Oh, you know damn well much your dad had hated your Aunt; but you didn't expect him to keep something so small from you.
At your expression, your mom gives a soft sigh.
"You know how he is. Stubborn." She says, eyebrows knitting together as she watched you take out the letter and open it up.
It takes reading the words, then re-reading them to register what they said. She had left you the house, her house. Out in the bayou of South Carolina.
You silently hand it over to your mom, her mouth opening a tiny bit as she slowly takes in the words as well.
Then she smiled, and gave the smallest laugh.
"She really did love messing with your dad." Is all your mom says, folding up the letter again.
"Is this serious?" You breath out, as you take the letter back from her.
Your mom nods, breathing out another sigh.
"I know it wasn't easy for you, to lose her like that." She begins, and you can feel yourself tense.
It had been.
Your Aunt was a safe place, out in the wilderness of South Carolina, in her small cabin in the woods. With her pine-tree smell and warm hugs that easily took away everything bad.
Smiling at the memory of her soft voice and strong arms, you give a smile to your mom.
"It was. But." You pause, biting your lower lip.
"I want to go. If she left the house to me, I want to go."
This gets your mom's attention, as she raised a brow at that. "Are you sure? It's a long ways from home…" she grumbled, a pout that has you smile grow a bit.
"I want to go, momma. I know it's a long trip, but. I want to go, just stay there for a while."
Your mom seems to think it over, giving you a long look, before nodding.
"As long as you call every week. Or whenever. I don't wanna know you got eaten by somethin' on the news like your friend in Florida." Now, that had you laughing.
"Momma, I'll be fine, and I'll call you too." You say, getting up from the chair.
Your mom nods, a sad look in her eyes as she helps you find a suitcase.
"You be mindful of the things that live out there, little one." She says, "You respect them, and-" "They respect you. I know, I know." You finish, pressing a kiss to her cheek as you tug the suitcase from the closet and go up the stairs to your room.
You knew your mom understood why you wanted to go, why you were so ready to get away from home.
But it wasn't her, wasn't her you were running from.
She helped you fold your clothes up, taking a pair of mud boots and a scarf. "Take the taser with you as well." Your mom added, pressing it into one of your free hands.
You give a nod, as she wraps the scarf around your neck and pressed a kiss to your forehead.
"Make sure to tell Dad after I'm gone." You say, your mom nodding as she helps you load up your car.
"You could always tell him yourself… " she says, but you didn't want to get into the reasons of why you didn't want to.
"It'd be better if you did it." You say, leaving out a few choice things before you went back inside the house to grab your purse.
As you put it in the passenger side, your mom takes you up in a hug.
"It'll get better." She says, pressing the letter into your hand as she lets go. Pressing one last kiss to your forehead, you nod and get into the car.
"I love you." You say, starting it up. The engine purrs happily, and you hear your mom say the same as you pull out of the drive and head East.
It was a soddy plan, you knew this, but as you watched your mother fade into the distance, you knew it was the right choice.
No matter who you left, getting to the house was the plan. You'd think about the rest when you got there.