As a child, Ruby was a one
ponytail tomboy. In contrast, Pearl and Opal were girly-girls wearing two or
more ponytails in their hair and lots of colorful ribbons. Sadly, those basic
differences kept them from getting as close as she desired back then. Over the
years they all stopped trying. As a result, she seldom felt her sisters’ love,
only their tolerance.
Things were slightly different
with her parents. Ruby could feel their love through the things they did for
her. Yet she also felt their disappointment. Not just because of the shameful
things she’d done lately, but simply for the fact that she wasn’t born a
boy.
Ruby was Mama Hudson’s last
attempt to have a son. She had a miscarriage at the beginning of her marriage
and then two children by C-section after that. Each child had been a
girl.
When Mama Hudson became
pregnant a fourth time, the doctors advised her to stop there. Back then three
C-sections were the recommended number for any woman to ensure the safety of both
mother and child. Which meant no more children for Mama and Papa Hudson. Which
also meant that Ruby was the end of the road for them when it came to bearing
children.
Realizing early on in life
that the only way to win her parents’ love was to be what they wanted her to
be, Ruby went out of her way to behave like a boy. She found it pretty easy to
do considering the fact that she felt more comfortable in jeans than she did a
skirt, enjoyed all kinds of sports, and actually liked working on cars.
Ruby became so good with cars
that her father gave her a job at his tire and repair shop at the age of
sixteen. While other girls were busy dating and going on hay rides with their
fellas, she was busy under the hood of a car. Over time she became better than
any mechanic Papa Hudson had at the shop.
Moreover, Ruby could change a
tire faster than any man in town. That was proven every year at the spring
fair. Hudson Tire & Repair’s booth came with a challenge entitled ‘Change a tire faster than my daughter and
get four new tires free’. They hadn’t given away a free set of tires yet.
Each year business at the shop
increased directly after the fair. Most of the post-fair customers were new men
to the area who were trying to get another look at the beautiful mechanic phenomenon
known as Ruby Dee Hudson. Others were women who admired her spunk and wanted to
applaud her success by having their oils changed or their cars tuned up by
her.
Though Ruby still went out of
her way to please her family, they couldn’t seem to get over that one thing she
did in college. If that wasn’t enough, some people in town, most of the male
persuasion, refused to let her live down that DVD. Even now she often heard the
phrase ‘country gal gone wild’, whenever
she passed certain men on the street.
Ruby was able to cope for the
most part because of her friendship with Dior Thompson. Dior had been very
accepting of her no matter what she did and vice versa. Unfortunately, Dior had
also been in the military and wasn’t able to remain in Blue-eyed Hollow for
very long. When he died last year in a combat situation overseas, she was
devastated all over again, yet in a different way.
If anything positive came out
of Dior’s death it was Ruby’s decision to start living her life the way she
wanted to. It had become extremely tiresome trying to redeem herself in
everybody’s eyes anyway, so she just stopped. However, out of respect for her
family, she stayed out of any real trouble and only let her wild side loose
when she was outside of hometown city limits. Out of respect for herself, she
kept her drinking to a minimum and chose her men more wisely.
Through her frequent trips to
neighboring nightclubs, Ruby eventually paired up with two other Blue-eyed
Hollow rejects – Peggy Lee and Nancy. They were known for being on the wild
side themselves, so it was easy to assimilate among them. The fact that they
were also deemed non-marriage material by many in their hometown made them prime
pickings as friends in her book.
Though Ruby hadn’t been around
the block nearly as much as Peggy Lee and Nancy, she saw no reason to inform
them or anyone else otherwise. She liked having her friends think that she was
on their same level in every way. It made for smoother friendships with them
and gave her a sense of belongingness.
As for that promiscuous
reputation she garnered from her past actions, it served its purpose, as well.
It kept eligible bachelors from trying to hitch up with her. All except for one
– Logan. But Ruby wasn’t about to marry him no matter how many brownie points
he’d earned with her father over the years.
Thinking about Peggy Lee and
Nancy now caused Ruby to look down at her watch. Ten more minutes had passed. They
would be calling to check on her soon. What am I going to tell them? She
had to think of a good lie.
I know. I’ll tell them that
Gavin turned out to be another dud, Ruby decided, reminded of the
first guy she ever dared to have a one-night-stand with. His name was Larry.
She called him Lame Larry.
Lame Larry climaxed within a
minute of intercourse, leaving her dissatisfied and lacking fulfillment. When
it took too long for him to recharge his battery, she made up some excuse and
went home. Lame Larry was never called again. Neither were any of his calls
answered.
Yeah, telling them that Gavin
was a dud, too, will keep Nancy from going after him again, Ruby
mused, suddenly feeling very territorial over the good doctor.
Smiling at her genius, she proceeded
to start up her red jeep.
Just then, someone knocked on
the driver’s side window.
“Sheesh!” Ruby exclaimed in
fright. She instantly pressed down hard on the gas, causing her toes to ache in
protest as she made a fast getaway. She left her gun at home and wasn’t in the
mood to fight an attacker, so she had to flee.
As the car surged forward,
Ruby looked back in her rearview mirror to get a good look at her would-be
assailant. When she recognized who’d been knocking at her window, she pressed
the brake pedal just as hard as she had the gas. Again, her bare toes
protested. The front tires screeched to a halt in their own form of
protest.
Ruby rolled down the window
and looked out. “Gavin?”
“In the flesh.” He grinned.
Ruby’s heart leaped in her
chest at that gorgeous smile. She quickly put the car in reverse and backed up
in a smooth straight line that only those with certain vehicular skills could
attain at such speed. Everything in her wanted to get back to that
delicious-looking brown sugar man posthaste.
(c) 2014 by Mi'Chelle Dodson/Suprina Frazier
(c) 2014 by Mi'Chelle Dodson/Suprina Frazier
Photo Credits:
No comments:
Post a Comment