The Hatfields and the McCoys

Yes, I was devastated. Feeling big time sorry for myself. The whole experience only lasted a little over a year. 1981, back at home, and going back to work at the nursing home that made me so sick a while back. I didn't want to work there, but I needed a job, needed my own place.

Leap moved into a furnished basement dungeon. He couldn't afford the rent on the house and had nothing, so he had to move. Sweet. It didn't take him very long at all to start calling me, he missed me, blah, blah, blah. I missed him too, but I wasn't ready to go there yet.

The posse stood by me, around me, guarding. Keeping me safe. Leroy was back in town more often. Living at my mom's kept me from doing my usual things. When Susan came over I would disappear up to my room. I couldn't stand the sight of her. Johnny was in kindergarten. Frankie was married to Donna now and out of the house. Deb is in South Dakota, out of the air force and living in Rapid City.

Leap was still seeing Thelma. I was trying to think of something to get back at his sorry ass. Seeing Thelma and calling me and missing me and all. I loved him, but I needed some revenge. It wasn't long though before I started going over there to the dungeon.
It wasn't long before we got involved again.

The nursing home sucked. I hated it. The only good thing about it was I met some new friends. Matt was one of them. His mom worked there too, and she worked there when I did before. Matt was 16, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson about messing with teenagers. With Matt it was different, he really was a good kid. He was fun to work with, a bright spot in the horrible times. And there was Richard, he was an aid on one of the units. He was pretty cool too, and his mom worked there previously as well. A whole lotta nepotism at the nursing home.

I have to explain something about the family connections while living with Leap. For personal reasons lets say that Leap was a McCoy and Leaps cousin Greg and Uncle Frank were Hatfields. It's safe to say that the only McCoy that I cared about was Leap. The Hatfields, well, I loved them all. While Leap and I were together, the Hatfields treated me like flesh and blood. The Hatfields are Leap's step-mother's family and the McCoys Leaps dads family. That's an important piece of information that you need for the rest of this life of mine. I chose the Hatfields and the McCoys for their names because, well, they were all a bunch of hillbillys. I mean no offense when I say that. I say it with love, not malice. Leap's step-mother was only a McCoy by marriage, we can't hold that against her. Her blood is Hatfield.

Leap loved his cousin Greg, they were very close. So it would kill Greg to know that Leap had banged his girlfriend Sue. Turns out, Sue was quite busy back in the day. I learned that over the years. Leap and Uncle Frank were friendly, and got along ok. Remember, I said that Uncle Frank was a handsome one....

I went the long way home from work one night and Uncle Frank was at one of his usual watering holes. I walked in, walked up to him and said hey Uncle Frank, I'm not going to call you Uncle anymore, leaned in and kissed him, kissed him hard. And so began my plan to pay old Leap McCoy back for all the wrongs he had done me.