Under Tornado Warning

Ed had balked at this document in its original wording. He had only met Lionel a few times and had despised the man. Lionel Hahn was a self-serving ass, in Ed's opinion. The short, chubby man with the receding hairline had smirked when Ed disclosed that he was a truck driver. The smirk had faded when Ed smiled and said he'd been a trucker for nearly twenty years but did wonder just how many jobs Lionel had pursued in that amount of time?

Even Carole had disclosed, Cooper Hahn almost did not come to fruition. Lionel had first had the business registered as Hahn Cooper Insurance and had even had a few thousand cards and letterheads printed up with the Hahn Cooper logo.

Ed's attorney, had taken the original document and had redrafted it so that Ed and Lionel had to agree on any decisions concerning Annabelle's estate, in the case of Carole's untimely demise. Carole had actually wrinkled her face in confusion when Ed had put into the document that his own business was to be excluded.

"Like I want some smelly ass old truck?" she asked and slashed her signature onto the document.

Now, Ed and Theresa White, his attorney, did bring up the document. Carole told Lenny Rosenberg, her attorney that this was fine; she had no interest in the truck Ed was driving.

The house, Ed said, would continue to be Annabelle's domicile while she was a student at Sacred Ascension High School. Upon her graduation, though, Carole would vacate the premises; it had been Ed's home prior to their marriage.

"Unless Ms. Cooper should bring one Lionel Hahn into the home for an overnight visit," Theresa addressed Judge Howard Anderson. "In that case, Ms. Cooper will be ordered to vacate said domicile within forty eight hours."

"What?" Carole shrieked. "You ain't got no right tell me..."

"It's my house," Ed said calmly. "I got every right say I don't want that son of a bitch in my house."

"Mr. Carroll," Judge Anderson warned.

"Well, your Honor, what I'm supposed call him?" Ed asked. "Man knew she was married. Yet seduced her anyway. I don't want my daughter around that kind of man."

"She's not your daughter!" Carole screamed at Ed. "Get that through your thick skull, ass hole! She's not your daughter! She's Lionel's daughter, dumb ass."

After a long moment of silence, Ed let out his breath.

"Then all the more reason I don't want that snake in my house," Ed said. "Where was her father when she needed learn how ride a bike? Where was her father when she wanted go out for soccer? Basketball? Girl's only fourteen already got three colleges asking her commit. Where was this Lionel ass hole when Tommy Bordelon broke up with her and Annabelle just knew it was because she was fat and ugly?"

"Oh let's all applaud Edgar Carroll, the most wonderful Daddy in the whole wide world," Carole sneered.

"Please, for the love of God, shut up," Lenny begged his client.

Annabelle was heartbroken when Ed and Carole disclosed that they were getting a divorce. The girl angered her mother when she begged to go with Ed, rather than live with her mother.

Upon learning that she would have no visitation with Ed, her Daddy, Annabelle was despondent. Carole tried to be loving, supportive, but finally just slapped her impertinent daughter across her face.

"Grow up, huh?" Carole snarled. "Think this shit's easy for me either?"

Lionel did try to ingratiate himself to his daughter. Annabelle stared at the man, just stared at him as they sat in the Pizza Hut restaurant.

"I uh, hey, your mom says you like basketball," Lionel smiled.

Annabelle stared. Lionel's smarmy smile faded.

"Say something, Annabelle," Carole snapped.

"Something," Annabelle said flatly.

"I uh, that ass hole says I can't come to your house but..." Lionel said.

"My Daddy's not the ass hole here," Annabelle snapped.

"He's not your daddy; get that through your head, all right?" Carole snapped. Loud enough for people at other tables to turn and look at them. "All right? He's not your daddy; Lionel is."

"I mean, I uh, I don't expect you call me 'Daddy' or anything..." Lionel said, cringing as they were now the focus of attention.

"Good," Annabelle snapped.

Lionel showed up at a basketball game. He simmered when he saw that Ed was there. It infuriated him when Annabelle shrieked 'Daddy!' and hugged Ed tightly.

"Go get 'em, Tornado," Ed smiled.

"Hi, Mr. Carroll," Gracie simpered and blushed beet red when she too was given a hug.

Lionel, and Grace's mother recognized the schoolgirl crush Grace had on the handsome trucker. Lionel's bitterness morphed into full blown rage against Ed Carroll.

The game itself both bored and confused Lionel. A bunch of tall, gangly girls running back and forth, bouncing a bright orange ball, shrieking and yelling at each other. And if they were going to dress in tank tops and shorts, couldn't the uniforms be a little sexier? The tops did nothing to show off the charms these teenaged girls sported on top, and the shorts did not show their delectable rumps, or give any camel toes.

Ed and Cheryl were loud, vocal participants from their perch in the bleachers. Lionel ground his teeth as Ed yelled encouragements to Grace and Annabelle. The flame jumped higher when the two girls, along with a few of their teammates turned and smiled up at Ed.

That was his daughter. He was her father. Annabelle Cooper should be smiling, beaming at him. The sullen little cunt hadn't even acknowledged that he'd taken time out of his busy life to come watch this unbelievably boring, noisy dumb game.

A buzzer sounded and Lionel was relieved. Finally, this boring shit was over. He stood up.

"So, who won?" he asked the attractive pair of boobs next to him.

"No one yet; half time," the owner of the tits said. "But Ascension's ahead by twelve."

"Jesus! How long's this shit go on?" he sputtered.

"Uh, language, huh? There's kids around," the tits snapped.

"Oh whatever," Lionel said and stomped away.

A few months later, the decree of divorce showed up at the one room apartment Ed was living in. He owned the building, owned the whole complex. And owned the truck stop, truck wash and repair depot in front. Nine of the thirty two apartments were rented by fellow truckers.

And none of the people that rented from him, or were employed by him knew who Edgar Carroll was. He was just another trucker, an anonymous face that ate a few nights a week at the truck stop. Another tucker that fueled his rig at the depot.

He was just another lonely man that sat and drank ice cold beers at Gear Box, a Country-Western bar that catered to truckers. The beers were cold, the hamburgers good and greasy, served by attractive young ladies with gear shaped pasties covering their nipples and short shorts covering their pussies, but showing off a good portion of their backsides.

Ed felt a loneliness, a weariness wash over him as he read the cold, impersonal legal document. Just a few sheets of paper stapled together, some fancy sounding words strung together and a judge's signature.

Ed decided to go to the Gear Box and drown his sorrows with an ice cold draft and a greasy cheeseburger. He had intended to go to Levi's, a gym that was run by Levi Baylor, a former middle-heavy weight boxer, go pump some iron, go take out some bitterness on a heavy bag.

But right now, curling a few frosty mugs sounded more productive. Clogging his arteries with some ill-advised cholesterol sounded more conducive to his frame of mind.

"Hi, Sugar, what you thirsty for?" a cute brunette with magnificent mammary chirped when Ed selected a table away from the juke box.

She was cute, with a round face, with a pug nose and pouting lips. A few of her white teeth were slightly twisted; Ed guessed, just like him, she had parents that either couldn't afford orthodontic braces, or didn't care enough to spend that kind of money on their child's smile.

"Draft, cold as you can get it," Ed smiled, trying to maintain eye contact with her eyes.

Her hair was long, thick and parted on her right side. There were some blonde highlights combed into the deep brown luster. Most of her hair was tied back in a ponytail, but some of it kept falling into her warm brown eyes and she kept having to push it away. This movement caused her impressive chest to wobble and Ed kept shifting his gaze from her plump lips to her plump mounds. Ed noticed that she also had a pierced navel, a hoop with a dangling heart that kept twisting and twirling as she stood, waiting on him to complete his order.

"And, what the hell, give me the blue cheese bacon cheeseburger and an order of them onion rings; I ain't got nobody kiss," Ed smiled.

"Aw Sugar, I'll kiss you," the girl smiled and paused. "If you're nice to me."

"How nice I got to be?" Ed smiled; the girl's cheeky behavior buoying his spirits.

"You know, you the first one ever asked me that," she admitted. "Let me think about it."

When she turned, she had a cute backside. The frayed denim shorts framed each buttock well, displayed that each cheek was lightly tanned, like her slim tapered legs.

When she brought him his bill for the burger and onion rings and the two beers, she declared that a twenty percent tip would be nice enough. Ed gave her two twenties and told her to keep the change.

"Hell, I was going give you a kiss on the cheek," she said. "But for this?"

She wrapped her slim arms around his neck and gave him a pretty steamy kiss, massaging his tongue with her small, soft sugar free mint tinged tongue. When she pulled away, Ed could feel his erection tenting his jeans.

"Lisette, damn, huh? I don't care that's your Daddy or not; don't be doing that kind of shit in here, huh?" Jimbo, the short, rotund bartender bellowed over the catcalls and whistles of the other patrons.

"Jesus, Jimbo, like I'd kiss my daddy like that?" Lisette Davis barked in reply.

"Damn, girl, what'd you done I given you a hundred?" Ed asked the attractive girl.

"Don't know," Lisette giggled. "Give me a hundred and we'll find out."

"What time you get off?" Ed asked.

She didn't answer, just giggled and flounced away. Ed smiled and, red faced as his cock was still tenting his jeans, got up and left the Gear Box.

But when Ed returned to the small apartment, the papers were still on the small table. That wilted both erection and good mood.

Carole also received the papers. She didn't bother reading them, just casually flipped them onto the counter, along with that month's utility bill and the bill for her latest repair on her Lexus.

Then she thought, now that she was divorced, Ed's stupid little edict of Lionel not spending the night was rescinded. After dinner, after sending Annabelle to her room to do her homework, Carole called Lionel.

For Lionel, this was sweet revenge; fucking Carole Cooper on the bed that Ed had paid for, in the house that Ed owned. It would also be sweet, to see the look of defeat on his smug bitch daughter's face when Annabelle saw him in her house and finally came to terms with his existence. He was her father; there would be no more denying him.

"Oh woman, just how stupid are you?" Myrtle Owens, the retired school administrator that lived across the street asked.

Myrtle watched the dumpy looking man with the obvious comb over as the man parked in the Carroll driveway. She shook her head at the sight of his small suitcase. She almost laughed as Carole Cooper opened the door, saw her on her porch and shot her an ugly look.

"Can give me all the nasty looks want to, Carole Cooper," Myrtle clucked. "I'm not the one throwing away a beautiful home. And for THAT? THAT, over Ed Carroll?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Owens," Ed sighed when Myrtle called him on his cell phone.

The next morning, Lionel was sitting at the breakfast table, enjoying the sullen glare of his daughter when a hammering at the door jerked Carole away from the stove. She and Lionel looked at each other, stricken.

"Get that?" Carole asked.

Lionel was about to refuse. Annabelle's delighted smirk prompted him toward the door.

"Oh good, glad it's you," Theresa White, Ed's attorney smiled falsely. "Pursuant to the divorce decree, you are to leave immediately. Carole Cooper?"

"What on, oh it's you," Carole snarled at Ed's attorney.

"Yes it's me," Theresa smiled and indicated the two police officers with her. "Carole Cooper, you are to vacate eighteen twelve Roberts Drive within forty eight hours. Should you fail to do so, these two will escort you off the premises and all of your property will be brought out to the sidewalk. Do you understand?"

"You can't, you're not serious; Ed and I are, we're divorced now," Carole sputtered, shocked.

"It was clearly spelled out in the decree of divorce, Ms. Cooper. Lionel Hahn is not to remain overnight in Eighteen twelve Roberts Drive," Theresa said. "Remember, forty eight hours."

"Thanks a lot, Mom," Annabelle screamed at her mother.

With the police accompanying her, Theresa photographed the interior of the home, recording the condition of the interior. Then, with another reminder that the clock was ticking, the attorney left the domicile.

"I'm going kill him," Lionel promised.

"And I'll be a witness that I heard you say that, dummy," Annabelle promised.

Annabelle finished her breakfast, then dressed for her day at school. Carole and Lionel glumly dressed for another day at Cooper Hahn Insurance. At the office, Carole brought up her and Annabelle moving in with Lionel.

"I uh, well, I mean, see..." Lionel sputtered.

"Oh, Jesus, really, Lionel? You're still living with your mom, aren't you?" Carole realized.

"Hey, it's paid for; doesn't cost me anything live there," Lionel snapped.

Rose reluctantly agreed that Carole and Annabelle could come live with her, for a week. After a week, Carole should have found her own place.

"And uh, I uh, I'm seeing Lionel," Carole broached the subject.

"And I see that fat ass snake anywhere near my house? Blow his balls off," Rose Cooper promised.

"With what, Mother?" Carole laughed, a bitter laugh.

"Your father's twelve gauge, that's with what," Rose snapped.

Ed was in Little Rock, Arkansas when his attorney called with the news that Carole Cooper had been informed that she must vacate the premises. He listlessly thanked her.

"Hey, what you pay me the big Rupees for, right?" Theresa joked.

Tom Mills was the next to call Ed. The man offered his friend heartfelt sympathy and reminded him that he too had been right where Ed was.

"Shit, Emily? About cleaned me out. And decided she needed take my heart with her too," Tom said.

"Thanks, Tom," Ed said. "Oh, by the way, thinking about buying Levi's gym."

"God, liability on that place? Forget it, please," Tom begged. "He's still training fighters, right? Brother, buy a Planet Fitness or anything else but that place, please."

"Candy ass," Ed laughed.

"Fine, I'm a candy ass, just don't, all right? Loan him the money he's that bad off," Tom suggested.

Levi admitted to Ed that it was the cost of insurance that had prompted his need for cash. Tom cursed Edgar Carroll under his breath, but wrote up a policy for the hulking muscle bound man.

"Damn!" Levi smiled. "That's nearly a thousand less than that Cooper Hahn place wanted."

"But I didn't buy it," Ed smiled when Tom called to complain.

"You ass hole," Tom laughed. "Oh, and Carole's out of your house."

Theresa White walked around the interior. She nodded with satisfaction; Carole and Lionel had not done any noticeable damage to the domicile.

She peered into what had been Annabelle's room. The bed was neatly made, but Annabelle's two pillows and the mountain of stuffed animals was gone. The closet was also bare. The attorney gently closed the door to the girl's room.

The breakfast nook's table and chairs was the only thing Ed had to remember his mom by, so it remained. Carole never had invaded Ed's den, so it too remained unchanged. Annabelle's room had two new goose down pillows, just like Annabelle's goose down pillows placed on the bed. Ed kept the door wide open, for the day when his daughter would return. Through Lenny Rosenberg, Carole's attorney, Ed offered any furniture that Carole may want was hers for the taking.

"Tell that fucking ass hole I don't want shit from him," Carole retorted angrily.

"That mahogany desk? In his den?" Lionel suggested hopefully.

Even with new furniture, the house depressed Ed. He drove to Levi's and pounded on a heavy bag for a while. Then he showered, dressed in clean jeans and pullover and drove to the Gear Box to replace the calories he'd burned off.

"Nuh uh, bitch, he's mine," Lisette demanded when she spotted Ed sitting in Tiffany's section.

"Aw no, itch, nuh uh, steal him it is on, feel me?" Tiffany warned.

"Hey, Sugar, need come sit over here, this table's got a much better view," Lisette said.

"Much better view of what?" Ed asked, genuinely puzzled.

Where he'd been sitting, he was looking at the highlights from the past fifty one Super Bowls. The table Lisette was pulling him toward had a hockey game on one screen and a baseball game on the other screen.

"Much better view of my ass," the girl smiled.

"Oh, well, then, you're right," Ed smiled.

He ordered his usual; ice cold draft and a blue cheese bacon cheeseburger with onion rings. Lisette flirted shamelessly with him, displaying her rounded backside as much as possible, thrusting out her chest as much as possible.

"Here you go, Sugar. Going give me a big old tip again?" Lisette cooed when she put his bill in front of him.

Ed put a twenty down to cover the cost of his meal and the two beers. Then he placed a hundred dollar bill on top of that.

"Keep the change," he said, staring at her large brown eyes.

Lisette looked at the Ben Franklin, then at his handsome face.

"I get off at eleven," she said.

"Going need a ride home?" Ed asked.

"Uh huh," she said, pocketing the hundred dollar bill.

Twice that night, Tiffany lured customers from Lisette's section. Before it escalated into a hair pulling face scratching fight, Jimbo threatened to can both girls.

"Don't care who started it, who did what, I'm ending it, and it ends here," he snarled. "Got a stack of girls willing take your place right now, hear?"

"Yes sir, the two nineteen year old girls sullenly agreed.

"Mean it; bounce both your asses right now any more shit goes on," he snapped.

Ed pulled up in his fully restored 1951 Ford F150 truck. Lisette, now dressed in long tee shirt over her denim shorts gave the truck a quizzical look. Ed opened the passenger door for her and she crawled up into the truck.

"This one of them Sanford and son trucks?" she asked when Ed got into the truck.

"Yeah," he admitted.

"Oh," she said, unimpressed.

"Now, where I'm taking you?" Ed asked.

"Ain't shit open huh? I'm hungry," Lisette said.

"Oakleaf Truck Stop," Ed pointed out.

"You like omelets?" Lisette asked.

"Yeah, I uh, don't think they got omelets but..." Ed said.

"Stop by Burns, unless you already got all the stuff at your place," Lisette ordered.

Ed mulled it over in his mind. He had not even looked in the refrigerator or pantry, so he had no idea what he had at home.

In Burns & Burns Grocery Store, Lisette leaned against Ed as they pushed their cart up and down the aisles. She made sure to rub against him, showing him that she wore no bra underneath the long tee shirt.

She also kissed him frequently, lip to lip.

"By the way, how old are you?" she asked as they started putting the buggy's contents onto the conveyor belt.

"Forty one, be forty two next month," Ed smiled. "You?"

"Damn, you old enough be my daddy. Be twenty in about three months," she admitted.

Lisette might not have been too impressed with his truck, but when he turned on Roberts Drive, she did perk up.