Things Could Be Worse Ch. 01

"Nice try," I said as I pushed the folded piece of paper back over the bar.

"What, you to stuck up to take a phone number?" the man said.

"Right," I nodded as I went back to cleaning some glasses. "If I take your number, and we go back to your hotel room for some good old fucking you will go back to your friends and brag about you fucking some dumb local slut, but if I don't take it, I am either too stuck or a feminist, right?"

"Whatever, your loss," the man said.

It was like this every night during peak season. Men or women trying to get to fuck some locals then dump us by the wayside as they left to return to their regular lives.

Most of the men were married and getting away for a hunting or fishing trip; they would hide their rings somewhere and try to hide their wedding finger. But it was always easy to tell them apart.

Others wanted a quick fuck and be gone before the night was done, especially the night before they went home.

"Same," one of the locals said as he pushed his empty bottle to the bar's edge.

"Now, Andy," I said as I took it and put it in the recycle bin.

"Don't give me that shit, Claire!" Andy said. "Just pulled a double at the dock, some fuckwad tore through there and now everything's gone to shit!"

"Wake damage?" I asked.

"You name it, it's fucking toast!" Andy said as I gave him another. "The thing of it was he passed over a card like it was nothing, the contact for his accountant, said he will handle everything, then he and his buddies went to shore having a good laugh," Andy said, shaking his head. "Should sue the bastard!"

"Matt won't sue, he is spineless," I said, shaking my head. "He will get the damage assessed and then contact the accountant like a good ole boy."

"Then expect us to get it fixed for half the price and in half the time," Andy shook his head.

"Hey," a man said as he came to the bar.

"Hi yourself," I nodded. "What will it be?"

He just stood there for a few moments. I flicked my fingers in front of his face. "Up here, this talks, they don't," I said, motioning to my mouth.

Even in a dark black shirt entirely up to my neck, my boobs got all the attention. "Right," the man said as he ordered his drink.

"Your boyfriend is a lucky man," the man said as he paid for his drink.

"Jason's a lazy piece of shit," I replied.

"Lucky you didn't marry the bastard, I say," Geraldine said. She worked the other side of the bar.

"Amen to that," I said as we high-fived.

It was early in the morning before we closed the bar and called it a night. Geraldine also worked at the fish market down the road, and I had to be up for my other job at the grocery store in five hours. Peak season was the best time to get overtime. Once the off-season hit, hours were hard to find.

Being a lake town was hard on everybody. There were good times, tough times, and then there were times we all wanted to call it quits and move.

More and more people were taking the last option. More places were closing for good than there were new places opening.

Of course, that didn't stop big companies from swooping up all the real estate they could get, putting in large super stores and chain fast-food restaurants.

They were killing small businesses; we couldn't keep up with their prices or their ability to get labor from out of town.

"Fucking idiot!" I yelled as I stepped into my house.

There were still clothes on the floor. The dogs hadn't been let out, so there was piss and shit all over the place. I saw their bright eyes in the corner of the room as they hid, no doubt cringing as I yelled.

"Not your fault babies," I said, lowering my voice. "Come here," I said as my two Pitbull's ran towards me. "Not your fault at all," I said as they licked and kissed me. "Let's go."

I walked them outside. Jason hadn't let them out all day. I could tell by how they ran around and smelled everything under the moon.

I cleaned up the mess and then went to the bedroom. There was my lazy boyfriend, half-naked, fast asleep. There was no point yelling at him. I could make the most significant noise, and he wouldn't wake up, but I was in the mood to yell.

I went to his computer and instantly hit the keys on the keyboard. He shot upward. "Don't do that!" he yelled.

He turned on the screen to ensure I didn't mess anything up. He was constantly downloading or in the middle of something so-called important on his computer.

"Fuck! You nearly deleted my download; told you stop doing touching my shit!"

"Talking about shit," I said as I threw him one of the bags, I had picked up the dog's crap inside, "You can take that outside, since you didn't walk them today," I said as I went towards the bathroom.

"They are your fucking dogs!" Jason yelled back.

"And your fucking clothes, fucking everywhere!" I yelled back.

Jason shook his head at me. I knew he was getting fed up with having me around. We were constantly fighting, arguing and getting under each other's skin.

It had started as a great relationship. For the first year, we were inseparable and always wanted to be near each other, on top of each other and couldn't stand being away. Now, all we wanted was to be nowhere near each other.

My mom always said it was my fault for going against my race because Jason was mixed, half white and half black. I knew it was because he was just fucking lazy.

"Thought you were going out today," I yelled, looking around the room.

"I did!" Jason shouted back as he slumped into his game chair.

I snatched up his phone before he could get to it. "Two!" I yelled.

"They were big orders!" Jason said, snatching his phone back.

Jason was in a work accident two years ago at the fish market. He nearly lost his life. Of course, he was an idiot and settled outside of court as it was a mistake made by one of the shift managers. The market paid him a considerable lump sum, and Jason took to it hook and all.

Then the idiot bought his gaming rig, this house, a new car, designer clothes, and shoes. All of it was gone within a month. Jason couldn't work long hours without his back and knees always hurting, so he was in constant pain.

"Two!" I yelled again.

I had gotten him a job with the local supermarket. He would deliver orders and get paid a good amount doing it. Something to help with the number of bills that were piling up.

Sure, we didn't have rent, but the house's upkeep was weighing on us. Things always needed to be fixed or replaced. Then there was the electricity bill and all the other bills.

"Like I said," Jason shook his head. "They were very large orders."

"Right," I nodded. "How long were you playing on your games?"

"You're not my mom!" Jason yelled back.

"That's good, because your mom would've kicked you out!" I yelled.

"This is my house! You can fucking leave anytime!" Jason shouted as he stood up.

Jason couldn't intimidate a house fly. He was tall but skinny. He had no muscles because he hardly did anything.

"Say it again," I said, looking at him daring him to repeat it.

Jason knew I could leave. I had a few places to go. I only liked it here because it was away from the lake; everywhere else was close to it, and I hated it.

Jason shook his head and slumped back into his chair. He knew if I left, he would be up shits creek. I paid the bills and kept everything going; he would be lost without me.

I stared down at him. "You say that one more time, and I will be out that door, do you understand me?"

Jason nodded his head. "Good, now clean up this fucking room!" I said as I went out to the living room.

I looked at the time. There was no point in even trying to sleep. I had to be at my other job in less than three hours.

'Fuck me,' I thought as I sat on the couch.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"You can always move in with me," Leslie said as we unloaded the dairy truck.

"And hear you and Dawson argue, the two of you are worse than us," I said as I pulled a pallet off the truck.

"At least Dawson works," Leslie retaliated.

I had to give her that. Her husband worked down at the boat yard. I tried getting Jason a job there; Dawson even said it would be light work, carrying tools around and driving customers around the large space.

Jason lasted three hours and quit, saying his back was causing problems.

The problem with Leslie and Dawson was that Leslie also worked at the strip club on the weekends. Dawson hated it, but that's how they met. She never said she would quit once the ring went on her finger.

"Does Kelly still turn tricks at the Lake Inn?" I asked.

Kelly used to work with us at the supermarket but got all high and mighty once she started an online page and got in with some of the higher-ups that ran this area. Now she thought she was too good for us.

"What do you think?" Leslie said as we shut the truck up and waved to the driver that he could go.

"Good, I need to talk to her," I said.

"What? You going to join her?" Leslie asked.

"Fuck no!" I shook my head. "Her brother, what's his fucking name?"

"Craig? Or Adrian?" Leslie asked.

"Adrian!" I said as the squirrel boy picture came into my head. "He said he would get me a new washer/dryer, he isn't answering my calls."

"That's because he can't find one," Kevin, our grocery manager said. "Or should I say one hasn't fallen off the back of a truck yet."

"Eavesdropping again," I said, shaking my head.

"Wondering why my two associates are on the back dock talking and not putting stock on the shelves," Kevin said. "Or do they magically jump onto the shelves by themselves?"

"Fine," I said as I walked back inside.

Kevin was an asshole; he thought he ran this place single-handedly. All of us were here to make his job more manageable.

"Dawson should have broken more than his fucking nose," I smiled.

"Don't tempt him, he might do it again," Leslie laughed.

The rest of the day went just like every other day, and by the time I left, I was beat, but I had to see Kelly. I hated taking the large bags to the laundry mat.

I went down to the Lake Inn and wandered around looking for Kelly. Then I saw one of her lookouts outside one of the rooms.

"Hey slut!" Jamie said as I walked up.

"I am not the one with a random stranger fucking her," I said as I looked through the window.

"At least she didn't take another woman's man," Jamie said, staring back at me.

"You can have him back," I said, shaking my head. "And I didn't take him from you," I said, looking back at the trailer park trash sitting on top of her brother's truck. "Your meth addiction did that for me."

Jamie held up a finger and then went back to smoking her cigarette.

I twisted the door handle, and the door popped open.

"Jesus!" I said as a pale white ass greeted me.

"What the fuck!" a large man said.

"Keep going or she will charge you for stopping," I said as I walked past them.

The large man was humping Kelly, and as usual, Kelly was just under him, taking it like the whore she was. The look on her face told it all. She wasn't enjoying it one bit.

"Where's your brother?" I asked as I sat on the other bed.

"Which one?" Kelly replied, chewing gum while the big oaf fucked his fat life away.

"Adrian," I said, staring at her face covered in make-up.

"What time is it? I can't see from here," Kelly said.

"Nearly six," I said.

"Easy, Dreggs, he always goes there to see if he can hustle some out of towner," Kelly said.

"Thanks," I said as I stood up.

The fat guy pushed his fat ass forward. No doubt he was finished.

"How much do you charge these bastards?" I asked as I got close to the door.

"Enough," Kelly said as the guy dumped a stack of bills on the counter.

"Why are you thinking of joining, Jamie's fucking pregnant again so I need someone to cover for her." Kelly said as she stood up.

Kelly used to have a great figure a few years ago, but now she looks like the rest of her crew. Tattooed up and skinny.

"Fuck no!" I said as I opened the door.

"Bye Slut," Jamie said, still on top of the truck.

"Stop getting fucking pregnant!" I yelled as I got in my car.

"Fuck you!" Jamie yelled.

Dreggs was the local bar, some of the residents avoided it like the plague, but sometimes the out-of-towners would wander in there for a drink or two. The place was a shit hole. The beer sucked, the food was poison, and the owner was a big-time meth dealer.

"Adrian!" I yelled as I saw him outside.

"Fuck!" Adrian said as I walked up to him. "I will get you the fucking washer next week," he said as some of his friends walked away.

"If you don't, you're going to give me my money back," I said.

"Or what? You going to get your crippled boyfriend to beat me up?" Adrian laughed.

His friends laughed along with him.

I quickly kneed him in the nuts, and he doubled over. "Since when have I ever needed a guy to do my dirty work?" I said as I looked at the others.

Adrian doubled over and knelt on the floor. "Next week, I promise," he said.

"You better or next time I will use a bat," I said as I walked back to my car.

This was my life. I hated this place. Most of us that lived here hated it. It was the same bullshit every day. It was worse when the season ended. At least I had the bar to go to at the end of the day. When the season was over, that would go away. And then, hours would get cut at the supermarket, and I would struggle to get work for the rest of the time. Rinse and repeat every year.

"Here's your smokes," I said as I got into my mom's trailer.

"About fucking time, where did you go to get them, fucking Alaska?" my mom said.

"You don't like my timing you can go fucking get them yourself," I said.

"Fucking funny, aren't you?" mom said.

Mom lost her legs a few years ago to diabetes. Now she was on her last leg as cancer had taken root in her lungs, but she still loved her cancer sticks.

At least she wasn't running to the hospital and asking them to save her life. She said her smoking got her here, and it will take her the rest of the way.

"How's that fucking colored boyfriend?" Mom asked.

"Still a lazy fucking prick," I said, sitting on the only chair available. The others were covered with magazines or other shit.

"That's what you get," Mom said.

"Oh right, like you got Mom of the year awards," I shook my head. "Where is Dad again?"

"Fuck you, Claire," Mom said as she coughed up the rest of her lungs.

Our Dad one day up and left. He said he was going fishing and never came back. I found him a couple of years later. He was shacked up with another woman and begged me not to tell Mom. He wanted to get as far away from her as possible.

"Okay, what about Sebastian?" I asked as I mentioned my younger brother. "You keep saying how the colored boys always knock up us white girls then leave us. I heard Jamie's pregnant again!"

"Fuck!" Mom spat. "Is it his, that slut fucks anyone."

"Most likely, Sebastian lives with her now. What's that now? Six kids, five women?"

Mom said nothing after that; this was our usual conversation every Thursday when I brought her the carton of cigarettes.

I made sure she had food for the week and then left. I knew one day I would pop by and find her dead on the couch or in her bed. No one else came around to see her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~

"Fucking prude!" one of the men said as I turned him down.

"Prude?" Geraldine laughed. "This bitch has probably fucked more women than you, and most likely did a better job."

I laughed at that and nodded. "It's probably true," I nodded.

I had a wild streak after high school. It lasted for three years. Then it died entirely down. After that, it had only been Rick and then Jason. But I would have given Kelly a run for her money for those three years.

I fucked anybody that gave me the time of day. Especially married men, I loved the thrill of it. Now, if I got laid once a month, it would be a miracle.

Jason used to fuck me like I was his play toy now, a few humps, and he was crawling away like it was the end of the world.

I remembered when sex lost its magic for me. I always thought it was magical, something two people who loved each other would do.

I had just graduated and was at a lake party. I was wasted, and one of the wealthy out-of-towners was coming on strong. I wasn't a virgin, but I wanted the next time to be with someone I was going to marry and have kids with, like those old movies my mom watched on the television.

He took me onto his large boat and took me out onto the lake.

We talked for hours into the night, and then he made love to me until the morning. He made me think I was the only one in the world that mattered. He kept telling me he would marry me and show me the world.

I rushed home that morning, packed my clothes, and told my mom that I was leaving and never coming back. She didn't say a word but just nodded.

When I got to the dock, I waited for hours. He said he would pick me up there and then take me away from this place.

That's how I met Andy for the first time. He told me he was closing the gate, and I told him I was waiting for someone. Andy laughed and took me back inside. He showed me the man's large boat up in storage for the season.

"He left, this morning," Andy said.

"No, he told me," I started crying.

"They always do," Andy shrugged.

I returned home, and Mom was already waiting with my favorite dinner.

"Welcome to lake life," she said as she hugged me.

That's why I hated the lake; I hated this town. The first time I got a car of my own. I drove out of town. Mom said just pick one. That's all she said as I drove away. My two oldest brothers left and never came back. We never heard from them again.

I drove through all the connecting towns and headed straight for the highway. When I got there, it was a jumbled mess of connecting highways with large numbers and thousands of cars beeping and honking. All I had to do was pick one and go. That was it.

"Welcome to lake life," my mom said again as I pulled up the driveway.