“Daria! It’s great to see yall again!” her Aunt Victoria gushed as Daria hoisted her duffle bag over one shoulder and picked up a small leather tote she had carried with her on the bus. Her Aunt Victoria slowly lumbered to the step up onto the bus platform but stopped short of stepping up to meet her. Instead she decided to wait for Daria to reach the edge before trying to offer up an unwelcome hug. Daria leaned away but the thick arms of her Aunt caught her pulling her into the fleshy grip. Daria’s Aunt had certainly changed, gone was the gaunt fashion diva, what was pulling Daria into a soft sweaty press was a round tank top and stretch pants wearing pig. As Daria was released from the grip she could see faded stains in the white fabric of the top her aunt wore and trashy makeup with too much eyeliner.
“Aw it’s good to see you again darlin’” her aunt smiled putting chunky hands on her wide dimpled hips letting them sink in a ways. Daria struggled to pick her duffle bag back up after losing it in the hug assault. Victoria turned her back to Daria as she lifted the 30 pound duffle bag, Daria could detect a noticeable lag time between her aunt’s turn and the rest of her ass catching up with her.
Upon reaching her car Victoria happily dove in making the shocks squeak in response as the car tilted to one side slightly. Inside she roared the engine to life and turned on the AC. Only after returning to her air cooled haven did she acknowledge Daria once more, motioning for her to toss her bag in the trunk and hop in.
“So you got yourself in a bit of trouble I hear” Daria found her aunt grinning at her as she slid into the passenger seat. “Raised a bit ah hell an got yourself kicked out of the stuffy school you were goin’ to” Victoria threw the car into reverse and turned the car around.
“Yeah, I’m a real lost cause” Daria exaggerated gloomily “They couldn’t find a book big enough to throw at me so they just threw me out” Daria propped her head onto one arm and stared out the window at the seemingly endless cycle of trailer parks and strip malls.
Her aunt erupted with laughter “Thata girl!” She paused to take a sip of an oversized food mart soda cup “I didn’t like schoolin very much myself, Got the heck outta there when I was still 16 and hot, then again I suppose I’m still doin’ pretty good in the looks department” Victoria tried to strike a pose but had to put her hands back on the steering wheel when the car suddenly drifted into the dirt shoulder.
Breathing a sigh of relief she was still alive Daria had to raise a question to her aunt’s claim. “I thought grandma and grandpa sent you to some private boarding school, some really pretentious one they didn’t even send dad to. You only left early because you got pregnant and they didn’t want to deal with the embarrassment.”
Victoria was silent for a moment, the car started to drift again “I… well…” Victoria’s brow creased and she looked down puzzled. Daria reached over quickly to steady the steering wheel, she was sure this was the first time since she’d gotten off the bus her aunt was actually processing thoughts. “I’m sure I…” Victoria chimed again “Yeah yeah that’s right!” She said at last “I got pregnant and then I…” she trailed off again.
“You had Richard, you tried to be one of the first teen pregnant girls to get a reality TV show but it was the 80s so those didn’t exist yet remember?” Daria led her while driving from the passenger seat.
“Yeah I did…ugh this is givin’ me a head ache” She winced and reached for her extra-large soda. She took a long sip and gulped down several mouthfuls before stopping for air. She seemed much calmer afterwards, the pained expression relaxed and she took control of the wheel again.
Daria waited a moment for her aunt to try to resume the conversation but it seemed she had dropped the matter entirely “So what exactly do you re-“
“Oh look there’s the Little Missy sign!” Victoria abruptly burst out.
The Little Missy snack cake corporation sign was larger than a bus and hung on the side of a tall glass building that loomed over the highway. Behind it a brick building that served as the distribution hub with a line of trucks being loaded up that must have stretched almost a quarter of a mile long. Still further back was a large facility where presumably the many cakes were being made.
“Big place huh?” Victoria smiled back to being in good spirits “They say it’s their hub for this side of the country. They built that place a few years ago and I got transferred here to be a part of some new customer adaptation thing. We gave jobs to everyone in town. Mostly consultant titles which just means I get them to try new products and we talk for a while about what they think of them.” Victoria waved a hand to the messy back seat crowded with empty fast foot bags and crumpled up soda cups. Tucked between them were some large cardboard boxes with the Little Missy logo on them. “It’s a lot more fun than that boring stuff they had me doing before like uh… umm” Victoria’s smile faded, her face bunching up tightly in thought again.
Daria watched the glass tower disappear behind the trees as her Aunt took another big sip of soda. “So what do people do around here for fun?” She tried to find a subject more topical her Aunt might manage to answer.
“Oh lottsa stuff!” She snorted putting the cup back down “We got a big mall nearby, plenty of shopping there, and there’s a bowling alley you can go bowling at”
“Drat I wanted to go to the bowling alley to swim a few laps” Daria quipped in a monotone voice
“What?” Victoria was confused “No you go swimming at the swimming pool stupid” she shook her head “we have that too, it’s by the laundromat, you know what a laundromat is for right?
Daria held her quip in this time but judging by her aunt’s current state of dress she could be asking her the same question. The car took a right onto a gravel road leading into another trailer park. Daria’s stomach tied itself into that familiar knot again when she realized one of these must have been her aunt’s, and now hers, home.
Daria grew even more hopeless as they passed a sign intended as a serious reminder to residents that shooting their fire arms into the air for celebration was against the law. Daria’s face soured as she saw dried dead grass, broken down rusted cars in yards, and make shift grills made from oil drums and other trash that could be found likely dumped in the river. Daria started wondering if she could get a reduced sentence for good behavior, she’d actually help Li with one of her plans at this point if it meant going home right now.
“Here we are! My home sweet home!” Victoria proudly sang. It was a double wide trailer and had an actual patio made of wood on the back with non-broken lawn chairs to sit in. A refreshing change of pace Daria thought to herself lowering her standards already. “Come on and lets find Ginger, I bet she’s dying to show you around”
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