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Sheila hummed happily. She'd convinced Jesse, her future daughter in law, to go to the mall with her. She might've been seventy years old, but the mall was fun. Sue her. She was thrilled Jesse was equally as excited, pointing out stores she had worked at or stole from when she was younger. That got a laugh out of the older woman.
Hopefully she'll never have to scrape by again. Not as long as I'm still breathing.
They had just come out of a JCPenny's (how it was still around, Sheila had no clue) with a couple plastic bags filled with clothes. She and Jesse chatted, almost animated, as they walked. People were around them, obviously, but Sheila wasn't expecting her.
Oh no...
Coming out of a corner jewelry store was one of their neighbors, Juanita Fuqphase. (Yes, that is her real name). She was an absolutely nasty person all around. Ugly on the inside, harsh, a bully. She was very vocal with her distaste for the Pope's in every way possible, including Sheila and Karen's relationship, their daughter, their appearances, everything. Regardless, neither family refused to move to get away. Sheila built her family here, raised Emily in the same house they still live in; she'd be caught dead before leaving it. Plus, Juanita had only lived next door for three years. She could always leave.
But she never will.
It looked like Juanita was with her tired looking boyfriend. "Let's go this way." Sheila whispered to Jesse, who was confused. She tried to pull her back, wanting to get away before they were spotted.
"Sheila!"
Too late.
Juanita waved, grinning. It wasn't genuine. "Funny running into you here."
"Yes, well," The blonde frowned as the rude woman approached. "I was just taking my daughter in law shopping."
"Daughter in law?" The other woman repeated, her grin growing wider. "So that blonde daughter of yours is following in your footsteps, hmm? Keeping the dykes all together."
Sheila's face went red as she stared at the ground. Yet another thing Juanita used against her: her sexuality. No matter how much she ignored it, or tried to push back, Juanita just kept going. "Bitch." Sheila muttered. Jesse gripped her arm, frowning.
"What did you just call me, you stupid slut?" Juanita growled. Her boyfriend looked entirely uncomfortable.
"Hey!" Jesse stood in front of the blonde, eyes a blue fire. "Don't you talk to my Momma that way!"
"Or what?" Juanita sneered. "You gonna cry? Typical queers-"
Jesse had enough. With the flick of her wrist, her Service Weapon appeared in her palm. It vibrated much more than usual, and Sheila wondered just how much the redhead was holding herself back. Juanita widened her eyes while her boyfriend backed away, hands up. "I can just shoot you."
"What the fuck, Sheila?!" Juanita screamed. "Your dyke in law has a gun?!"
"Jesse." Sheila hissed, gripping her shoulder. "It's not worth it."
The last thing I want is to lose her to a prison like we lost Emily to the lockdown.
Jesse's nostrils flared. She was pissed. Still, one look into the blonde's desperate eyes made her sigh and will the gun away. "Sorry, Momma."
"All bark and no bite." Juanita laughed, though she was obviously shaken. "Like usual."
"Just fuck off, fuckface." The redhead snarled, turning with Sheila.
"That is not how you say my last name!" She shouted. Huffing, she turned to her boyfriend. "See how they almost shot me baby?! What awful people!"
Bitch.
Sheila sniffed, knowing there was nothing she could do. Their day out had been ruined by the worst person in the world. "I'm sorry, Jess-"
"Nope. None of that." She cut her off as they walked away. "That asshole isn't allowed to make my Momma unhappy. C'mon, let's stop at Spencer's then go get ice cream. Ooh, we can stop at Hot Topic too! Get stuff for Mom, if that's fine."
Sheila smiled at her, tuning out Juanita's argument with her probably-ex-boyfriend behind them. "Sure. Let's go, Jess." Together, the two of them walked on, determined for the rest of their trip to be good.