Dixie and Tia Have a Chat

This is part two of a Tuesday WE collaborative effort of myself and Barb Carlson. In the previous installment, Dixie arrived at her Uncle's farm house, just in time to see a bear trying to climb in the backseat of Tia's car, where an injured Launa lay. If you missed part one of this tale, please go back and read it HERE. ( I have used Barb's last post as the link, as mine was split into two posts, so this is easier to navigate)Both Barb and I have index' to our tales of Launa and Dixie, so if you have missed the back story of either, please go check them out.

Tia came back wearing a faded blue robe two sizes too big, and a pair of baggy jeans, rolled up at the cuff. She was carrying her own wet clothes. "Dixie, do you know if they have a washer or a dryer here? I need to wash my clothes." She pulled the robe tighter around her. "I was hoping there might be a hot water heater, too. There's water, but definitely no hot water. A hot bath would be really nice."


Dixie chuckled at the sight of the petite woman dressed in her Aunt's old robe, and obviously a pair of Uncle David's jeans. The scene would have ordinarily brought a sarcastic remark to Dixie's lips, but seeing how frightened Tia remained, and how utterly exhausted she looked, she stilled her tongue.

"I think the water heater is in the mud room behind the kitchen, and unless they upgraded in the past few years, the washer is an old wringer washer. Aunt Deb always hung the laundry out back on the line. Tell ya what, kiddo, give me your clothes, and I'll deal with them, and see if I can get the water heater lit. Why don't you curl up on the couch, have some of those yummy peaches, and chill out for a little while. No offense, darlin', but you look like you could drop where you stand."

Dixie took the clothes and headed to the back of the house. She was relieved to find a fully operational set of Maytags in the mudroom, as well as an electric water heater. "Hot Damn!" she exclaimed as she pushed the "on" switch of the water heater and heard it sputter to life.

Throwing Tia's clothing, as well as her own muddy slacks into the washer, Dixie realized there was no laundry detergent to be found anywhere. Returning to the parlor, Tia watched, puzzled, as Dixie pulled a few small boxes from her medical supplies and returned to the mud room.

Emerging a few minutes later, clad in only a shirt and panties, Dixie grinned, " It's going to take the water about an hour to heat up, and I kind of had to improvise on the laundry soap. I'll bet this is the first time either of us had our laundry washed in soap suds enema solution. Now, why don't you tell me what happened with your friend, and how you ended up here?"

"What?!" Tia's eyes widened in surprise. "You're washing our clothes in .. an enema? Ewwwww...." She started laughing, and continuing laughing until she had to set the jar of peaches on the table or risk dropping them. She sat down at the kitchen table, still laughing, and suddenly her laughter turned into sobs. She put her head down on her arms and cried just as hard as she'd been laughing.

Dixie rounded the table, and wrapped her arms around Tia, "Its ok, baby, let it out, let it all out."

Finally cried out, Tia lifted her head and wiped her eyes with the arm of the robe. "I'm sorry," she said. "It's just been ... a really hard day." She hiccoughed a few times and sighed deeply. She started eating the sweet, sticky peaches. "These are better than the ones in the can," she said.

"Yeah, Aunt Deb had a knack with canning. Her peaches won first prize at the county fair for years, as well as her strawberry preserves. Remind me to dig for some of that later. Why don't you just tell me what happened?" Dixie urged.

Tia finished a peach, and took a deep breath. "Well," she said, "it's really hard to believe, but today -- heck the last whole week or so -- has been insane." She wrapped her arms around herself tightly. "Today, I was visiting Launa in the hospital, and she had some vision or something. I didn't really believe her until I saw the guard was gone."

" A guard? Um, what did she do to need guarding? Let's start with that, and get to the whole "vision thing" later."

"Well," Tia continued, "The police had a guard outside the door because the gang members tried to kill Launa." She sighed in frustration. "I know I'm not making much sense." She shifted a little in her seat. "Some gang was robbing stores, and they came in to rob our store. Problem is, they were killing people. Launa saved me but got shot and the police came and shot the guy."

"Wait a minute, I didn't see any gunshot wound when I was cleaning her up. I stitched up an obvious stab wound. She was in the hospital because she got shot?" Dixie looked puzzled. 

"No, not this time."

"This time? How many times has this gal been in the hospital?" Dixie asked, suddenly wondering what she had gotten herself into.

"Well, she was there for a few days and was getting better, but she saw a gang member trying to get in to see her, so she left early." Tia sipped some peach juice. "She was staying at my house, but ... but ..." Tears began to run down her face again. She paused and started again, "But here my brother told the gang and he kidnapped her and took her to them and they ... they raped her and beat her something awful and even stabbed her," she finished in a rush. She started sobbing again and said, "I can't believe my brother did that. He said he didn't know they would try to kill her. He said ..." Tia put her head down and started sobbing again.

"Oh, honey. It has been a rough week for you, not to mention poor Launa. I wondered how she got the bruises. I figured it had something to do with a man, just not like that.  Now, now, you're safe for the time being." Dixie said with a tired smile.

Tia yawned. "I'm really tired. I think I better to go sleep. I feel all loopy." She looked up at Dixie, "Oh, but I don't want to stick you with the laundry. I'm sure you're tired, too."


"Yeah, I'm pretty wiped out myself. OK, kid, you can tell me how you ended up here in the morning. There are two bedrooms upstairs, take your pick. I think I'll just throw the clothes in the dryer, and sack out on the couch. That way, I can hear Launa should she wake up. The last thing she needs is to wake up in a strange place, freak out and pop a stitch."

Dixie watched as Tia made her way slowly up the stairs. As exhausted as she was, she couldn't help but wonder if fate had brought them all together here. As she drifted off to sleep, her mind turned to Tia's recounting of the events that led them here. "Visions...gonna have to ask about that one"

Here is a link to Barb's post of this ongoing saga. Her intro is different, so be a sweetie and go read: Launa Collaboration #2