Re: [Jack & Clem: family reunion]
He wasn't wrong 'bout who Clementine gave a damn over. Wasn't a whole lot of people in that category, but they got more from her than most people would think. Wasn't deliberate, her giving more leeway to folks she cared 'bout, but it was plenty true. Penny and Shane and Graham, they were proof she wasn't always a real bitter pill. But, and she wasn't apologetic 'bout it any, she was a real bitch to most folks.
Which included her damn husband, because deserting someone was real wrong, no matter how you painted it. But Jack kept being real difficult 'bout it, and she stood as he dug for pills. "If you don't turn your attitude 'round, I'm going, and you'll be left all alone in this real dreadful office, and I won't feel sorry for you even one damn bit." And she'd do it, too. Storming on out, it wasn't a thing she'd feel bad for. Some folks might sit out a visit, just on account of it being rude to flounce on out the door, but not Clementine.
She didn't give a fig 'bout descending on the masses, and the grocery store clerk wasn't a bit as important as him treating her right. She got enough familial torment from Alexander, and she didn't need repeating. She was already making for the door, heels clacking louder than they had when coming in, and she stopped at the entryway and turned. It was real dramatic, a turn made for daytime soaps, and her momma would have been real proud. "If you must know, I was in the hospital days. I almost died, and he just took off. I got out, and the man wasn't nowhere. Daddy died, and he didn't even come 'round then." Clementine and her daddy, they were always as inseparable as could be, and no little girl ever loved her daddy more.