Chapter 1
Wanda takes the plastic bag of Agatha’s lavender ivory pearl brooch and a half bitten piece of a baby carrot.
“Is that all you brought?”
“Yes. What’s left of me.” Agatha snatches the personal items and holds it protectively. Thinking about her floppy-eared spotted rabbit now living with her ex-neighbor Dottie in Westview breaks her heart.
Wanda attempts to give her a smile that appears strained. She leads Harkness inside her brand new home in New Mexico.
Agatha walks into the ranch road house, looking around at the wooden oak furniture and western style art decor. The skull of an antelope hung above the brick fireplace mantlepiece stumped the brunette clearly.
“What made you choose the desert?”
“The climate. I love the sun and the dusty red sands.”
Nervous laughter spills out of Agatha, which only puts Wanda at ease. They both head towards a potted plant of a cactus with bright pink flowers hanging in front of a wide glass window.
“Schlumbergera,” Wanda declares.
“Watch your mouth,” Agatha scolds.
“The name of the plant. Or Christmas cactus, to make it less complicated.” Wanda smiles. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Sure,” Agatha agrees. She looks back at the mantlepiece at the several empty picture frames.
“Hey Wanda..?”
“Yeah.”
“I couldn’t help notice all your photographs. They’re so nice… and uh… empty…” Agatha follows the redhead into a connected room that appears to be a stone-wall kitchen. Exactly like a children’s fairy tale book. She places her baggy on top of a wooden slab table before parking her bottom on a saddle-shaped stool seat. The white slip-ons the women’s correctional facility provided her with, dangle her feet above the cement floor.
Wanda takes a minute pulling two cups out of a top cabinet above her and sets them on the counter.
Then she pours a bottle of Cheerwine into each of the cups before storing the soft drink back in the fridge.
“I couldn’t stand their smiling faces any longer. Or Vision’s. Or mine. It was time to accept the fact they are gone and that they are never coming back.”
Agatha grimaces over the dramatics. Controlling herself not to say anything ‘too crass’ from her time in prison, she toasts the Jurassic Park kiddie’s cup against Wanda’s Pokémon Gen 6 one and takes a sip to end up reeling back over the cherry flavored taste.
“What is this?! Cough medicine?!” she bellows.
She couldn’t consume any more of the sweetened Cheerwine, so Wanda gave her some water to wash it down.
“Let’s change you out of these wretched clothes,” Wanda tells Agatha the minute they’re upstairs inside the spare bedroom Agatha would sleep. Lifting up the beige color prison uniform shirt, Agatha stares at Wanda mesmerized how close they were and how gentle her touch was.
“Am I your baby now?” Harkness speaks in a breathy tone of voice.
“Arms up.”
Wanda raises Agatha’s shirt further up her belly and past her outstretched arms and then finally her head. Her dark mane of hair cascades all over her face. There’s no bra and her breasts expose Wanda a full view.
“I have another showing downstairs,” Agatha cheekily responds a second later, making Wanda blush crimson to match her hair.