Susan
Alma tried her best to ignore Shady's theatrics as she knelt at her Mama's side in the patch of dirt Shady had cleaned earlier. Granted, the apron over her skirts would likely be enough to keep her knees from getting tore up, but there was no use in invitin the devil. She gently poured the cool water over her Mama's hands and set about washing them nice and clean while she left her mama to do the talking. 

Mrs. Cooper was *Delighted* By Shady's tall tales, even if she didn't believe a single word of it. "Why do I got a feelin' you could talk a squirrel out of its own nuts right before a blizzard?" She laughed through Alma's washing, not even wincing when the soap hit the cuts. But the laughter had her moving around an awful lot, which earned her an exasperated "Mama, *Please*!" From Alma. 

Although Alma was doing her best to focus on the task at hand, Shady's wording had her ears burning. Her? Charmin' city folks outta their britches? Unthinkable! Darlene's advice came bubbling into the back of her mind unbidden. *"You just... Gotta put yourself out there. Kick your shoes off, get a little crazy! It's fun!"* Alma pressed her lips into a thin, nervous line and tried not to look at him. "Don't talk like I'm goin' *Out there*," She made it a point not to look at him as she fetched the gauze from his kit and went right back to tendin' to her mama. "I gotta feed the chickens in the mornin' and I got some sourdough that'll be ready for bakin' by the time I'm done with the chores and then I got my daily meeting with the search—" Alma cut herself off before she could do any more damage, but the seemingly permanent smile that had been on her Mama's face since Shady arrived finally fell.

*Shit.*

"We'll find him, Mama," She reassured her, but her Mama notably said *Nothing*. Alma finished her wrappings quick and stood up, gathering up the mason jar and soap to return them to their rightful places. "Shady's right. The sun'll be up soon, so we best let him get on his way. We only got a handful of crates left to load, and I can manage the books. I can walk you home af-"

"That's alright," Mrs. Cooper interjected as she got to her feet with a soft groan. "I'll head on home now. I ain't much use to neither of y'all like this. I best get Dog his food before he decides the dinner table's a snack again."

"You sure, Mama? I know the moon'll be full n' bright tonight, but I don't—" Her mama interrupted her again by pressing a small kiss to the top of her head. 

"Quit worryin' so! I'll be fine. You be safe on those roads now, Shady!"
Avis
Sometimes, Shady imagined he'd pursued the wrong calling. He liked to think of himself as a professional *Distraction,* And while poor Alma tried to capture the various bits of glass embedded in her mother, he chased his apparent life's purpose.



His deliberation was interrupted by Alma's accidental addressing of the elephant in the room.

He ought to have said, *We'll keep an eye out, Missus Cooper.* He ought to have said, *All these roads is alike. He's jest turnt around.*

Instead, he said *Nothing,* Too.

Not until they'd agreed Mrs. Cooper would walk herself home, and she bid he take care with her daughter.

"Yes'm. Don't y'all worry none; I been drivin' these roads since I were yay high." He didn't demonstrate how high that was — but he'd driven 'em high, alright.

Shady let Mrs. Cooper demonstrate that she could walk, watching after her a beat. Then he passed by Alma so he could open the passenger side door for her. It was already open, of course, so it was just more theatrics on his part.

*I'm sorry yer pa's missin.* He couldn't say it. He couldn't say, *We kin keep a look out. Or, I know another way we might take. It's longer, but maybe we'll see somethin'. *None of it; he couldn't acknowledge the matter of her father to her at all. What he said was,

"I'm gonna haveta drive awful fast, huh? We got a ways to go, an' all kindsa catchin' up to do."
Susan
As much as Alma was desperate to press the matter of walking her Mama home, part of her knew that she wanted - no, *Needed* Her space. That was why her mama had been out here working the still so much. It gave her space to mourn her husband without prying eyes getting in the way. Her Mama also knew these woods like the back of her hand, so she didn't really *Need* To be worried, but she chewed on her lower lip and furrowed her brows all the same. 

That is until Shady passed in front of her, breaking her trance. 

Alma scowled as she pulled her notebook from her apron pocket to balance the book just like she'd promised her mama she would. "I'm gonna need you to stop sayin' *We*. I ain't comin' with you, Shady!" Now that her Mama was out of earshot and out of view, Alma's stubborn look had returned twofold. "Like I already said, I got heaps'a chores to do when the sun comes up. I can't be bothered to frollic in the city with you when I got work to do!" 

If Shady looked close enough, he might realize that the stubbornness was actually hiding her *Fear*. She scribbled something furiously to keep her hands from shaking before she grabbed the last crate to unceremoniously plop it into his car: right onto the seat where he seemed to want her.

God, did she want to sit though! Not go! Just sit! She'd never been inside a car before! She didn't let herself linger for a second longer than she had to for fear that Shady might get the wrong idea. 

"There! Now you're all set!"
Avis
"You gotta *Play* Sometimes," Shady argued for the sake of being contentious. But even as he spoke she wrote something nervously — *Writing;* Wasn't she all high and mighty? — and he thought bringing her father up must have ruined her nerves. It was about enough to ruin his, but he didn't let it show. Pushed it to the back of his mind.

He watched her drop the last heavy crate into the passenger seat and slouched his shoulders in a put-on show of defeat. "All set," He echoed after her, then started to shut the passenger door. And didn't.

"If y'all won't ride in the truck tonight, you oughta come with me some other time. Once yer pa's back an' all. Hell, I could lend yins a hand, I wager." This whole run tonight was supposed to be Shady 'lending a hand,' but it was business, too. "We ain't gotta do no frolickin' — jest kick our shoes off, let y'all see the world a little bit."

After unintentionally paraphrasing Alma's friend, Shady stepped around to the driver's side of the truck and laid his wrists on the hood, his chin on the back of his hand. "'Cause you an' me — we used to be *Friends,* Wasn't we?"

Not at all. And not much had changed, because he was still needling her at every turn. Feigning scandalized hurt, he asked her, "Is you afeared to be seen with me, Miss Alma?"