Lex
The sun shined brightly through the window of a very light blue bedroom. The curtains created shadows on the wall as the sunlight slowly made its way across the room as the sun rose, until it finally landed on the face of a sleeping girl, no older than 15 years old. Quietly she sighed, and then stretched. The girl could smell the scent of eggs and bacon coming up to her nose from downstairs. It made her mouth water as she slowly climbed out of her bed. The first thing she did was went into her closet and got a pink flannel shirt, and then a pair of blue jeans from her dresser. Soon as she was dressed, she sat down at her vanity, and began to brush her long ash blonde hair. Then she put it up in a pony tail.
“Knock, knock,” her mother called as she opened her adopted daughter’s bedroom door. “You awake yet Lexy?”
“Yeah Mamma, I’m about ready to put my boots on now,” she said and smiled at her. “What’s for breakfast?” She asked it knowingly, just for the heck of it.
“You’re favorite,” she replied. “So hurry it up and get downstairs so you can eat before you do your chores. Don’t forget you do have school today.” Lexy nodded as she watched her mother leave the room. She was glad that she had been adopted by them instead of some mean couple when she was a baby. Lexy didn’t blame her birth parents for giving her up. She didn’t know the circumstances, and she was sure they had had a very good reason for doing what they did.
As soon as she had her boots on, she went downstairs and was greeted by her Daddy who smiled at her over his coffee. “How’s my lil’ Lexas Gene this morning? Sleep well?”
“Good and of course,” she grinned, and then gave him a hug as her brother walked into the room. He wasn’t adopted; he was their birth child. “Mornin’ Cletus.” Lexas was adopted by the Hogg’s as a baby.
“C’mon you guys, come and get it while it’s hot,” Mrs. Hogg smiled and started fixing everyone’s plates.
“Mamma, Daddy, could I go into town after school and get that book I’ve been wanting for a while now?”
“Of course Lexy,” Mr. Hogg replied. “Do you need any money?”
Lexy shook her head. “Nope. I paid for it a while ago. I had to wait for them to get a new shipment in though.”
“Sounds like a popular book sis.” She nodded her answer and ate.
After she was done, she walked outside and fed the chickens for her mother, spreading the feed over the ground where they were running around clucking at.
“Say Lexy, you want a ride to school today instead of taking the school bus?” Cletus asked her, walking out the door, fixin’ to feed the goats.
“Sure thing Bro,” she replied. “Could you pick me up in town later on too?” Cletus shook his head yes. “Thanks a bundle.” Lexy commented, and then gave him a big bear hug.
Cletus drove her to Hazzard High and dropped her off, and then took off for work at the Police Station. Lexy waved and smiled as he drove away, and then she went inside. The bell rang about 10 minutes later and she went to her first period class. It was a class she loved, if only because it had a cute boy in it by the name of Carl.
Carl was bad news. He hung out with a group of boys who usually came over from Capitol City. They were rough, and well known for stealing things. No one knew Carl hung out with them though, granted, he’d been caught shop lifting over in the city, but had always managed to get away.
Every couple of minutes, the girl always took a look at the tall, lanky, red headed boy. He never really seemed to notice though. It just happened to be that that day they were going to be lab partners though. Lexy blushed knowing her crush was going to be working with her. She quietly and silently hoped that he wouldn’t catch her staring at him, or she didn’t do something else that was even worse like make a mistake or spill something on him by accident. She was glad that nothing of that type happened.
After a couple more excruciating hours, the last bell of the school day rang, and Lexy hung out with her friends outside the school until all of them had been picked up. A few of them had offered her a ride, but she had wanted to be able to go for a walk and be able unwind from the long school day. The town wasn’t that far either, so it didn’t bother her at all. As she left though, Carl ran up to her.
“Wait up Lexy!,” he called. She turned and looked at him.
“Oh hey Carl,” she greeted. “It was nice working with you this morning.”
“Yeah, I liked working with you too. I didn’t notice until this morning that you were so beautiful,” he said to her. She blushed a dark red color, her tongue tied in a series of knots. He noticed. “I heard you were walkin’ into town; want someone to walk with you? I’m heading that way anyway.”
Finally finding her voice, she replied, “You can walk with me. My brother Cletus is supposed to give me a ride home a little later on.” She knew it wasn’t such a secret anymore that she liked Carl. It was clear on his face.
“Yeah, you two are nothing like each other,” he commented. She nodded. Carl grabbed her hand and tugged her back, stopping her. “You’re very pretty,” he said and gave her a kiss ... her first kiss. She blushed even more and giggled.
“Thank you.” They walked the rest of the way into town holding hands.
“Lexy, could you do me a little favor?” Carl asked her, blushing a little while his friends came over. She nodded and told him she would. “Could you get my friends and I a magazine, a racing one? We don’t have any money and the store owner doesn’t like my friends much.”
“I don’t have any money. My book was preordered.” Carl looked to his friends.
“Why did you bring this goody two shoes with you?” the oldest boy asked. He was about 19 and had brown hair.
“She’s nice, that’s why,” Carl replied. “Listen Lexy, don’t mind them. All you gotta do is go inside and get our magazine, and your book. I’m sure it would be a piece of cake just to take it. You and I both know he gets enough money from everyone else. I mean, he does charge quite a bit.” Lexy bit her lip. She knew better, but she liked Carl a lot, and he had kissed her. She was head over heals for him. Maybe if she did him this little favor, he’d ask her out.
“Okay,” she said, unsure. Lexy walked into the book store and went straight to the counter. “Hi Mr. Boatman.”
“Why howdy Lexy, I got your book for you,” he smiled and handed her a bag. “If you’d like, you can browse a little bit. I know Cletus doesn’t get his late afternoon break for at least another hour.”
“Thank you,” she said. She walked over to the magazine rack and looked around, until she seen the one she knew Carl wanted. It would be easy enough to take. She looked up to the book keeper, who had his back turned. She felt bad that she was going to steal from him because he trusted her enough to turn his back on her. Silently, as though she had done this before, she slipped the magazine off of the rack and into her bag.
“Mr. Boatman?”
“Yes Lexy?”
“I’m gonna go now. I told one of my friends that I would meet them in a little while,” Lexy said. It wasn’t a lie. She had told Carl and company that she’d be right back out in a few minutes. She just didn’t want to tell anyone who she was meeting with.
“All right, I’ll see you later. Tell your parents I said hi.”
“Bye,” she sand and walked out. It took her a few minutes to notice Carl waving from the alleyway behind the Hazzard Garage. “Hey guys,” she said when she got over there, and then handed them the book they wanted.
“Thank you, Lexy I believe Carl said it was?” She nodded. “How would you like to hang out with us on the regular basis?” Her heart nearly skipped a beat. If she hung out with all of them, it would mean she would also be hanging out with Carl. She didn’t realize love was fogging her judgment.
“I’d love to!” she chirped.
“Well in that case, how would you like to be my girlfriend Lexy?”
“I’d love that a lot Carl,” she said as he gave her a hug. Then she looked at her watch. “We’ve got about forty five minutes before I have to go over to meet my brother.”
“Know anything about cars?” one of the other boys from Capitol City asked. Lexy nodded. She loved cars and hung out with Cooter Davenport on the regular basis. Sometimes she hung out with Luke Duke too (much against her cousin Jefferson Davis Hogg’s dislike). In fact, normally she’d be over at the garage right about then if she was waiting on her brother. For about a half an hour, she just sat there talking to them, then she went over to her normal hang out for the last fifteen minutes of her free time in town.
“Howdy Lexy,” Cooter greeted from under a car after hearing her footsteps. “You’re a little late,” he said pulling out and getting up.
“I know, I decided to take some time and just walk around.” Cooter nodded. She did do that sometimes.
“Cletus called a little while ago wondering if you were over here. I told him you probably decided to do that.”
“He knows I’ll be here when he’s ready to pick me up. So what’s new?”
“Just tryin’ to get Boss’s Cadillac workin’ again.” Lexy nodded. She sat there the rest of the time like an angel, giving no signs of what she had done before coming over. Cletus picked her up a short time later and took her home before heading back out for patrol.
Over the next 5 months, a barely 16 year old Lexy’s behavior began to change. Her parents didn’t know what to make of it, and neither did her brother. Boss tried blaming it on her hanging out with the Luke and Cooter. They didn’t know she was hanging out with Carl or his gang. Finally though, Lexy’s father suggested his daughter was just responding to stress because of high school, which was rough with all the homework and social pressures. That was, until she was in a fight with a girl up at her school over a box of cigarettes in the beginning of the school year. They didn’t even know Lexy had taken up smoking at all. She was expelled for it because the girl she had attacked had needed stitches for Lexy had used a piece of glass to cut her arm.
Lexy’s brother picked her up from the sheriff’s department. Her parents were too disappointed and angry to pick her up. The girl Lexy had attacked decided not to press charges, mostly because she was going out with Carl too. She knew Lexy didn’t mean beans to him and the gang was just using her.
When Cletus got her home, she was greeted by her father pacing, and her mother sitting quietly in a chair, trying to calm him before their daughter got home. He turned and looked at her as she walked in through the door.
“LEXAS GENE HOGG!! WOULD YOU MIND EXPLAINING YOURSELF!?” Lexy just shrugged at her father. “PERHAPS YOU DIDN’T HEAR ME YOUNG LADY! GET YOUR TAIL END OUTSIDE NOW AND GET YOURSELF A SWITCH!”
“NO!” Lexy retorted. Her parents couldn’t believe their ears. “YOU CANNOT TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT DO!”
“Yes we can,” her mother said quietly. “We have rules because we love you. Rules are for your safety. Please tell us why you did what you did.”
“I AIN’T GOTTA,” Lexy yelled angrily. Her father took his belt off and beat her with it. That was the first time he had ever had to even lay a hand on her for discipline. When he was finished, she ran up to her room. About a week later they found out Lexy was getting expelled. They loved their daughter though and had her home schooled for the rest of that school year so she wouldn’t be held back.
Again Lexy got into another fight, this time a little further into the school year, about two months after her 17th birthday. A teacher had been injured in the fight when Lexy threw a chair at another student. The teacher too didn’t press charges, but was quite disappointed. She decided that it would be easier just to make a few suggestions to her parents. They had done a wonderful job with Cletus, but the truth was that they had never had to deal with a child who was behaving as badly as Lexy. Again Lexy got expelled and wound up home schooled. Her parents had requested she be expelled, as had the teacher.
Ms. Moss had suggested that if Lexy got into any more trouble like that, for them to consider boot camp, and to keep a close eye on who their daughter associated herself with ... and had told them about how she was hanging out with, as well as dating Carl. By then everyone had found out Carl was bad news. They had found that out a long while before, around the time that Lexy had gotten expelled the first time. Her mother and father were shocked. Lexy had never mentioned a boyfriend, but they knew why with the boys reputation.
They day after the meeting, Lexy snuck out before anyone woke up, if for nothing more than to meet up with Carl. She had been told the new rules and objected to them, but her parents didn’t care. They were tired of her actions. They didn’t want her to go to jail.
“Carl?” she called, walking up to his family’s property, and gently tossed a few stones at his window.
“Who’s out there?” he asked, opening his window.
“It’s me, Lexy,” she responded. “My parents are sayin’ we can’t hang out or date anymore,” she told him as he slipped out.
“I was wondering when they were gonna find out about us. Cigarette?” he offered. She gladly took one. “You wanna get into some trouble and have some fun?”
“What you got in mind?”
“Robbin’ the General Store? The guys and I have been talkin’ bout doing that for a while. Sound good? I’ll even buy you that necklace you’ve been likin’ in the jewelry shop.” Lexy nodded. She was still head over heals over him. The thought of him giving her something like that made her feel like she loved him even more. “Well let’s go catch up to them. We can get this done before anyone’s really up and about to catch us.” he said and then gave her a small kiss.
Carl drove them over to town, taking his time, scouting the area, looking for the best parking spot. His beat-up white Chevette stuck out like a sore thumb so he wanted to park it as far away from the scene as he could. Then he took some things out of the glove box and the two of them walked toward the alley way by the General Store to meet up with their friends.
“All right now, you guys go get the junk food and stuff, and Lexy and I will take the register. Sound good?” Carl asked. Everyone agreed, and Carl handed out gloves and ski masks. Then they went inside. “This is a store robbery. Open the register,” Carl told Mr. Rhuebottom, holding a squirt gun on him. It looked real. He looked at Carl, and then to Lexy.
“Now,” Lexy told him. He did as he was told. Right then, Cletus walked in with Rosco and Enos. Boss had wanted a couple of jars of candy, and a few boxes of cigars.
“Judas Priest on a pony!” Rosco yelled when he noticed what was happening. Carl turned with the gun, and pointed it at the sheriff and other law men.
“Over there, now!” Lexy was going to keep her mouth shut now. She knew her brother would recognize her voice.
“Possum on a gumbush!” Enos exclaimed. Cletus was as quiet as Lexy, fearing it was his sister. They had woke this morning with her gone. It took a few minutes of Rosco looking at the gun to realize something. It wasn’t real. Suddenly he started to grin.
“You see, I would oblige y’all if that gun were real. Khee Khee.” Carl frowned behind his mask.
“C’mon, let’s get out of here!” he hollered and threw Lexy into them, not caring about what became of her. He only carried her for insurance. Lexy landed on Cletus as Rosco and Enos ran after them. Cletus pulled Lexy up and pulled her mask off.
“I was hoping it wasn’t you sis,” he said quietly. Mr. Rhuebottom looked at her, and just shook his head. He’d been told what was going on.
“Cletus, just take her home. I’m not going to press charges against her. I know how Carl’s been using her.”
“Flap Jacks on a ferris wheel. Thanks,” Cletus said surprised, and pulled his sister out of the building as Rosco and Enos came running back.
“They got away .... Lexy?” Rosco said, only mildly shocked.
“Yeah it’s me, what you gonna do about it?” she asked, feeling quite hurt. She had thought Carl loved her and would never let her be caught or arrested. She had thought wrong. She took out a box of cigarettes and started to smoke one right there, trying to settle her nerves. Cletus pulled it right out of her mouth.
“You know better Lexas,” he warned her and threw it on the ground, stomping it out. She muttered something under her breath at him and it was something he had never thought he’d hear out of her mouth. Cletus grabbed her and gave her a good shaking. “What is wrong with you?” he asked. She frowned and hit him. Enos grabbed her before she could run though.
“Cletus, take her home, if you have to, cuff her to you.” Rosco suggested. This was a family matter for the Hoggs, and he offered some advice because first he was the sheriff, and second, his brother in law was a Hogg. He did as he was told, and Lexy’s mother and father weren’t happy. They sadly made the choice to send their daughter away somewhere where she would learn discipline and be punished for her wrongs: Boot Camp, just as her teacher had suggested. The day after they told their daughter, they woke up and found her and some of her belongings gone. She had run away. None of them could believe she could do such a thing, but then again, over the last two years, they had been surprised by her quite a bit.
Lexas thumbed a ride to Atlanta as soon as she got outside of Hazzard. She found a gang of kids who were runaways and lived with them in a condemned apartment building. It was awful and sucked, as well as was dangerous, but it was a place to live. When she first introduced herself, she called herself Lex, deliberately leaving out the y. Lex sounded tougher than Lexy, and it had a guyish quality to it. A few days later, she cut her waist length hair so it was so short, it was hard to grab onto. She also started to lean toward blue and black clothes from her old pink flannel.
Finally when Lex turned 18, she found herself a job, and an apartment. Waitressing wasn’t quite her thing though and it was boring, but it did give her some money, albeit not much. It was just barely enough to get by. Many a time since she had run away, she had wanted to give up and go home, but that wasn’t an option. She couldn’t forget what Carl had done to her. He had ruined who she was, and there was no way she could ever go back to being the child she was so long ago before she started hanging out with him and his friends.
When she turned 21, she quit, tired of barely being able to make ends meet. She went to a bar late that night to hang out, and have a few drinks to relax. A fight broke out, and there weren’t any bouncers on duty. Lex couldn’t quite stand the fact that one of them had been thrown into her. She kicked both of their butts and tossed them out into the cool night. The owner walked toward her clapping. Not many other people had been there.
“Nice job. You need one?” he asked her. He was tall and had his head shaved. His eyes a very dark blue color.
“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do,” she grunted her reply as he told the bartender to get her another drink.
“Smoke?” he offered. She took one. “Listen, I’ve never met a woman who could do that, but lemme tell you something baby. If you can fight like that all the time. you got yourself a good payin’ job. I could use someone like you around here.”
“Well I could use a good job. I’m tired of walkin’ everywhere. Never could afford one. Waitressing doesn’t pay much. By the way, my name is Lex Hogg.”
“Just call me Eagle. That’s what my friends call me.” Lex raised her eye brows. “I got a tattoo of one on my back.” he explained.
Over the next two years, Lex’s life got better and uneventful. She had eventually bought a 1970 Buick Skylark. It was cherry red with a black top. The car was her pride and joy. She named it Rose Bud, the color reminding her of a dark red rose. But every rose comes with something: Thorns. The car came with a few technical problems when she bought it which she had had to repair. She thanked her stars for being friends with Cooter when she was younger. Slowly the car went from barely being able to move to being able to fly. She also was glad that she was friends with Eagle, for he had helped her a great deal.
One night when she was 23, while she was driving through the back roads of Atlanta, testing her car, and drag racing with folks she could hook up with, having a good time, when she came across an elderly couple. Lexas had pulled over and shut her car off and was walking down the side walk when she seen them being robbed, a man was holding a gun on them. Lex ran back to Rose Bud, parked only a few feet away and pulled out a small hand gun. She never left home without it or her permit. She knew how perilous the streets of the city could be, having been a run away and robbed a few times herself.
“Drop the gun,” Lex said, looking at the man, and recognized him. He had robbed her several times, always with a loaded gun. He had nearly shot her before. He was also one of the reasons why Lex had started carrying the hand gun. He was an enemy of another one of her friends who had been a runaway at the same time as she. That friend had subsiquently become a loan shark, but it didn’t change their friendship.
“Oh hey gorgeous,” he said, holding the gun trained on the elderly woman. “Afraid I can’t do that, ya see, I need the money, why don’t you and me go out to dinner later on though?” Lex wanted to puke at that. He was ugly as heck.
“No thank you, and I said drop the gun.” she warned again. He fired a shot, and the woman was barely missed. Lex didn’t spare any time and fired a bullet at him. It hit him in the chest, and it killed him almost immediately. “Are you okay?” she asked the couple.
“Thank you ma’am, you probably saved our lives,” the man said. Lex nodded.
“Are you okay?” the elderly lady nodded. “Listen, Ma’am, Sir, I’ll be right back, I’m going to call the police.” Lexas knew she had killed the man, but in a way, it didn’t bother her much because it had been to save another’s life. She hated the man anyway and had wanted him dead for making her life a living he**, forcing her to watch her back around every turn. No charges were pressed against her when the police investigated, and she wasn’t arrested because the mans death had been in the defense of another person.
Time had gone by well for Lexas for the next four years. Sure, she had a bunch of broken bones that needed to be mended due to her line of work, but it didn’t bother her. It was an outlet for her stress.
One night, when her shift was about to end and the bar was to close, Lex sat drinking a beer and smoking a menthol cigarette. Sometimes she could kick herself for even starting to smoke, but it didn’t matter anymore to her. She was addicted, but she didn’t smoke more than three or four of them a day unlike many people who she knew. They were a pack a day smokers.
“Lex, something bothering you?” Eagle asked her, sitting down next to her. He had become a good friend to the young woman.
“Yeah. the fact that you are closing this place and sellin’ it. How many other folks do you know who would hire a woman as a bouncer?” she replied.
“Good point. Shame tomorrow will be the last time this place will be open. I’ll to my best though to help you find another job.” He grinned.
“Thanks, need a ride home?” she offered. His apartment was right across the highway from her own. He nodded. He had sold his own car off to try to pay the lease to the bar, business having slipped quite badly since that new bar had opened up not that far away where the beer was cheaper.
Lex took him home, and then went to her own building, and went to bed. She fell into a restless sleep, dreaming of home and her past. She woke up crying, then went into work around three that afternoon. Eagle noticed immediately she hadn’t’ slept well.
“Hey Lex, you look like h***. Bad night?”
“Yeah Eag. I can’t even remember what I dreamed about last night though. I don’t know what to make of it, but after I woke up, I couldn’t go back to sleep.”
“It’ll probably come back to you if it were important.” She nodded, and sat down at the bar to drink a glass of beer, and watch the door. Around 4ish, 2 men walked into the building. She thought she recognized them, so she decided to keep an eye on them. The dark haired one wasn’t that bad looking. She watched them look around and then walk over to a table of girls. It was clear they were flirting their heads off. She walked over carrying the group their order. She doubled as a waitress when they were short handed, and were.
“Hello, anythin’ I can get you two boys?” she asked as she handed out the drinks.
“Yeah, could we get a couple of beers?” the blonde inquired. Lex nodded.
The dark haired boy looked at her and figured she looked familiar. The blonde agreed, the look on his face saying so. “Say, you look familiar.” The dark haired one said.
“You too,” she told him. “Both of you.”
“Well the name’s Luke, and this is my cousin Bo.” Lexas wasn’t ready to go back just yet, and she didn’t feel like bringing up the past.
“I don’t think I know you after all,” she lied, and then went back to the bar to get their orders. She brought them over and then went back to finish her own. They left about an hour later. It was obvious they were tomcattin’ around and looking for girls to flirt with. She knew they were going to be going to the rival bar that was putting them out of business.
That dream kept coming back for the next two months and each time she couldn’t remember it. It was fraying her nerves though. She had started sleeping in her car having lost her apartment. Lex woke up from the rough sleep and started her car, hoping to go for a drive. Eagle had insisted she stayed with him, but she didn’t want to intrude, so he gave up. He understood and wasn’t going to pressure her. It was her own choice. The only reason he had kept the place was because he had another job as a mechanic somewhere.
Lexas drove around aimlessly until dawn when she went to visit her friend. She had to get the fact the dream was bothering her off her chest.
“Hey Lex,” he greeted her, opening his door. He had already been awake for a couple of hours. “Not sleep well again?” he asked. She bit her lip and nodded.
“It’s this dream I keep having. But I can never remember it.” she told him. “I don’t even know anything else other than that. I keep waking up upset, and then I can’t go back to sleep.” she explained.
“Well get some sleep. You can spend the day napping on the sofa,” he told her. He had adopted her as a little sister almost. Lex nodded gratefully, and was out within a few minutes. She woke up in the late afternoon, and looked much better. Eagle brought over a cup of coffee for her when he noticed she was up. “Sleep well?”
“Much better than I have in a while, probably because I was exhausted,” she said. He nodded.
“Lex, those dreams, they might have to do with your past. I know your mind has been back there for the last few days.” She shook her head yes. She knew it very well could be that. “Listen, I have an idea. Why don’t you go drivin’ for a while, and let your heart lead you. Don’t try to pick the destination consciously.”
“All right Eagle. I’ll do that,” Lex smiled.
“Good, now get, I got a date with a hot girl in about an hour,” he said and swatted at her playfully.
“Have fun Eag,” she told him and left. She walked back down to Rose Bud, and climbed in. Just for fun, she squealed the wheels when she went to take off. It left a long black trail on the pavement.
Lexas did just as Eagle had suggested. She drove around aimlessly for a while until she realized where her heart was taking her. She noticed it about two miles from her parents’ old farm house.
Suddenly though, her heart liked to have stopped. A patrol car had come out from hiding and had the sirens on. Then she grinned and looked in the rear view window. It was her brother, Cletus, and the other deputy, Enos Strate. Lex would have stopped if she hadn’t become such a bad girl so long ago. It had been ten years since she had been home in Hazzard.
She stuck a hand out the window and waved, then she hit the gas. The Buick kicked up a big orange cloud of dust in the sunset light. The Plymouth Fury sped up, keeping pace, the sirens still going. Lex put the pedal down further. All the time she put into Rose Bud was paying off. The car’s speedometer’s needle climbed, passing 60, 70, and 80. She didn’t want to go too fast. She wanted to have some fun. She could easily get the car up to 140 if she wanted to; possibly higher.
Lex grinned when she seen the old spot where she remembered the Dukes would run her brother and company into the Hazzard Pond. Lexas pulled off to the side just in time for her brother and Enos to go flying. Laughing, she watched as they climbed out of the Patrol car, shaking their fists at her. *Thank God for tinted windows,* she thought to herself. When they started climbing out of the window, she turned the car around quickly, and then took off down the road.
The sun was completely set, and it was dark when she pulled into her mother and father’s driveway. She sat in her car for several long minutes, thinking. She could see her parents looking through the blinds at her. Lex couldn’t believe she was home at all. Finally, she held her breath, and climbed out. She walked straight up to the door and knocked.
“Come on in, what can we do you for?” Mr. Hogg asked her in greeting.
Her mother walked in with a tray of cookies ... and they just happened to have been Lex’s favorite. “Cookie?” Lex’s stomach grumbled. She hadn’t eaten at all that day.
“Yes, thank you.” She said and ate it, and downed a whole glass of milk with it. Then she cleared her throat. “You probably don’t recognize me,” she said, very awkwardly.
“You do look familiar,” her father admitted as her brother came into the room through the door.
“You own that car out there lady?” Cletus asked, soaked. Lex nodded. “Don’t go anywhere,” he grumbled and went upstairs to get changed. Cooter was taking Enos home for a change just as he had Cletus. Lex couldn’t help but to laugh.
Lex was still there, eating more cookies when her brother came back downstairs. “Now then, this young lady was just about to tell us why she was here and who she was,” her mother said.
“Like I said, you probably don’t recognize me. It’s been ten years.” she confessed. Everyone exchanged glances. “It’s me, it’s Lexas, Mamma, Daddy, Cletus,” she said quietly. It took a minute for the information to sink in, and then she was in a group hug with her parents.
“My God, Lexy!” her mother cried. None of them could believe it.
“Please, I prefer Lex now,” she told them.
“We’ve been so worried. We have feared every day since you ran away that we’d never see you again!” her father said, and began to look her up and down. “What did you do to your hair?” he asked her.
“I cut it after I left ... I like it short,” she confessed.
“Buzzards on a buzz saw!” Cletus exclaimed when the shock had passed. He scooped her up into another hug.
“I’ve missed you too Cletus,” she said grinning and returning it.
“Lex,” her mother said, keeping in mind what her daughter had said. “Why don’t you tell us about what your life was like when you left,” her mother said, worried that her daughter had committed other crimes and had possibly spent time in jail. Lexas sat down with her parents and brother and told them everything. The following day, they held a welcome home party for her. They invited everyone, the Duke’s, Cooter, Boss and Lulu, Rosco, Enos, and several others. Lex wasn’t surprised when she learned Carl was serving a prison term for attempted murder and a bank robbery. She was glad that she was rid of him. She had realized how he had used her and hurt her after she had run away, and had come to despise him. Lex had called Eagle that night and told him about the party, and he came. She was glad her parents liked him, mostly because he was nice. They didn’t judge him for how he dressed or looked, but for who he was, and what their daughter had told them about him.
Lexas Gene Hogg was so glad to be home finally, and that everyone had forgiven her for the terror she had been back then. They knew from what she told them that she still had her rough spots from back then, but they didn’t care. They figured she wouldn’t do anything like steal anymore, or at least, they hoped. There was no guarantee there. But everyone was just so happy to have her home.
