Trailer Trashed (dg, WG, smoking, intox)

[Robyn H]

So now it's just minimum wage job - plus tips

The slide down is getting steeper. It'll be interesting when she meets her former colleagues in a few episodes time.

thanks

[syconerd]

WOW, I guess Tay now, has completely begun her transformation! And on the side note, she is now the stereotypical writer by her early bird drink and smoking, and never really being able to write anything. From my calculations, my Geiger counter is reading that she has eaten/drunk upward to 5'000 calories in one day! With her new addictions to alcohol, cigarettes', and food, what else is going to bring poor Tay down now? Most likely she will begin to indulge with her soon to be boyfriend at the Walmart, but will she begin to allow herself be taken pictures by Earl? Or if she really wants to be dirt poor, why not put everything to rent-to-own/layaway? I know she will begin to gamble and she already has started to buy large amounts of cheap snacks that are expensive (along with the beer and cigarettes').
I would love to see the reactions of her editor later down the line once she is obese. Maybe she might like : /. Who knows

[cmccoyr2]

A very enjoyable story with so many possibilities. You wonder how long until Taylor starts introducing herself as Tay. Will she start to date the boy from Walmart, or will she end up with the Biker from the bar? Of course the Biker just happens to be a tattoo artist. In any case an excellent job, and thank you so much for the frequent updates.

[Matt L.]

Enjoyable chapter indeed!

You have Carleigh’s dialogue down pat, her vocabulary and the manner in which she speaks positively reflects the indigent trailer park culture. The amount of beer Taylor drinks, and before noon, does imply her behavior is under a major overhaul. The shopping excursion and Taylor’s purchases fit the narrative accurately. Two packages of smokes? Taylor appears to be picking up the habit.

The beauty salon scene nicely done but what stands out to me the most, what I think is very profound writing is when Taylor returns home to her trailer. Taylor’s surveying her appearance in the mirror, and then your line about telling herself she’s such a good writer. A very subtle yet brilliant method of illustrating that this truly a life changing experience.

Btw; love how Tay finishes off the casserole, and the food baby.
I look forward to when Taylor thinks there’s nothing abnormal about drinking early in the day, enjoys greasy / fattening food, and bums change from a friend to buy cigarettes!

Cheers, Matt

[syconerd]

That would be a great idea Robyn, to have Taylor later on be fat and have to work at Walmart for her writing. I guess there she can be more involved and create a relationship from the Walmart clerk

[syconerd]

Matt~ I think it's also her reassuring herself that she is good, even though she probably is not.

[Matt L.]

Syconerd, I took it as a professional writer would remark 'she writes well" but I think you're correct, thanks.

I have no idea what Ideafactory has in store for Taylor / Tay but I very much agree with you about a fat Tay working at Walmart, and living from paycheck to paycheck. Would be especially cool if Tay was heaviest among her friends including Betty.

Cheers, Matt

[dagolfer]

I'm really enjoying this story and Taylor's slow transformation. I know there has been discussions in earlier posts about her accent and understand the difficulty trying to get that across to the reader, but I am surprised there hasn't been any change in her vocabulary. Taylor seems to be speaking as articulately as when she arrived and hasn't picked up any words more common with the lower socio-economic status of the inhabitants of a trailer park.
Perhaps this will change in future chapters.

[brightsun21]

Love the story

[ideafactory]

Chapter 9

Taylor stuffed another slice of Pizza Hut pizza into her mouth as she furiously typed away on her keyboard. Another couple of weeks had passed and her second writing update was nearly due to her editor back in New York. She had meant to make steady progress on her writing throughout the month but she had spent too many days drunk or hungover or in a food coma. Sometimes all of the above. So now she was stress eating as she tried to crank out the copy by the deadline.

She cringed as she felt the gas build-up in her stomach. She knew this much cheese was doing a number to her digestive system but continued to munch away regardless. Taylor put her hand on her midsection to try and relieve the pain. Then she cringed again. She felt how soft her stomach had become. She knew all this horrible food and the lack of exercise had caused her to gain some weight. But she tried to view it as part of the job to get to know the neighbors and earn their trust.

After all, her neighbor Betty had really warmed up to Taylor ever since Taylor had gotten her skunky blonde highlights and overly waxed eyebrows. Taylor hated her new hair style at first but she saw how it made Betty comfortable. Since then, Betty had regularly been inviting her over for dinner. Betty had even given Taylor an ashtray. Not that Taylor had used it very often. She was usually only smoking around Carleigh. She wasn’t a real smoker, she told herself. Okay, maybe she had a cigarette after a meal but that was it.

Betty’s new kindness reminded Taylor that this was all worth it, just some temporary changes that she would reverse with some spin classes and a trip to a real salon.

Taylor had also grown closer to the salon girls. The three of them had asked her to come on a trip to the nearest Indian casino with them. While Taylor knew that it wouldn’t match the excitement of Vegas or even Atlantic City, she was eager to get away from this sad town. She also reminded herself that this was another good opportunity for research but fun was the primary motivator. Even better, they were leaving right after Taylor’s update deadline. Now she just had to finish this copy and she could celebrate.

She still had a lot of gas so she let out a loud, booming fart and laughed.

“Goddamn, I should not eat pizza,” said Taylor.

She proceeded to get back to writing. And she also ate some more pizza.

The next morning, Taylor woke up, feeling proud that she had managed to meet her writing benchmark. She felt less proud that she had managed to eat most of a large pizza. She reminded herself that she was going to have to eat healthier once she got back from the casino trip. Just because she was letting loose with her friends didn’t mean that she had to eat like crap in her own home.

Taylor felt even more resolved to eat better as she tried on some clothes she hadn’t worn since moving to Sanders. The girls had told her to “dress up” for the casino. Taylor had only brought two dresses with her from New York, as she had accurately surmised that she wouldn’t get many opportunities to dress up here.

The first dress, a simple black number, looked like a maternity dress now. While Taylor was not yet fat, the dress had been designed for a very skinny girl. The results of two months of trailer park living showed in the dress that magnified Taylor’s still relatively small tummy bulge. That dress was definitely not going on the trip.

Meanwhile, the other dress had been Taylor’s favorite. A beautiful red garment, it made Taylor look sleek and elegant, even a little regal. She had worn it to fancy political dinners and charity galas.

But the weight she had gained had changed the way the dress fit on her. It was now just a little too tight, clinging to every curve just a little too much. In fact, she kinda thought she looked sexier in it than she had before. But not necessarily a good kind of sexy. Combined with her hair and her nails, she looked tawdry and cheap. Not unlike the salon girls. Maybe this was the dress to wear this weekend. Really get into their heads.

The only thing she was missing was a good pair of trashy heels. Oh well, close enough, she thought. She finished off the rest of the pizza and then walked over to Carleigh’s to take a shower and shave her legs before leaving for the casino.

Carleigh let out a cat call as she saw Taylor approach.

“Damn, girl, you look so good. Glad to see you finally show off your body,” said Carleigh, “But we’ve got to do something about your shoes. Hey, I think I have a pair that will be perfect.”

Carleigh’s red shoes were just about half a size too big for Taylor but they worked. Now Taylor had the pumps to match.

Vicki arrived in her small, beat up car and picked up Carleigh and Taylor. Carleigh called shotgun, which meant Taylor had to sit in the back. She didn’t initially mind this until she realized she was going to have to sit next to the massively obese Stevie for the entire hour and a half drive to the casino.

Stevie, the lumbering stylist that had wrecked Taylor’s hair and eyebrows, was giving her mom the final babysitting directions when the car pulled up.

“Whew, I really needed a night off from the kids,” said the single mother as she exerted tremendous effort to heave her body into the car. Taylor watched as the corpulent redhead oozed out of her seat, encroaching into Taylor’s side of the car. Taylor couldn’t understand how anyone could let themselves get so far. Carleigh was fat, sure, but she still had a human shape. Stevie was a blob.

Stevie had a plastic bag in her lap, from which she pulled out a large bag of chips and multiple bottles of soda. Of course, Taylor thought, she can’t even go on a 90-minute car ride without greasy food and corn syrup.

“You wanna smoke?” asked Vicki.

“Sounds good,” said Carleigh.

Taylor grabbed her cigarettes only to pause when she realized that Vicki and Carleigh weren’t talking about tobacco. Vicki took one hand off the wheel as she opened the glove compartment. Carleigh pulled out a pipe and a small plastic bag filled with weed. Carleigh hit the bowl and passed it to Vicki who took a hit of her own. She passed it to Stevie who took a large hit. Stevie held the pipe with her sausage-like fingers as she offered it up to Taylor.

“Here you go, Tay,” said Stevie with a cough.

Taylor hadn’t smoked weed since college. Still, she didn’t want to be left out. And it could make the car ride more fun. She decided to take the pipe and light up. The car filled up with the acrid smoke of marjiuana as the pipe was passed around several more times, with the occasional pause for Carleigh to pack another bowl.

Taylor was getting very high. And, with that, she started to feel the dry mouth that she had hated when she was in college. After a few minutes, she was desperate for something to drink.

“Does anybody have any water?” asked Taylor through her cotton mouth.

“Sorry, girl,” said Carleigh.

“You can have one of my sodas if you want,” offered Stevie.

“Oh, thank you,” said Taylor as she grabbed a Mountain Dew out of the bag and started guzzling it down.

“I’m getting the munchies so bad,” said Stevie as she opened up her chips, “You want some?”

“Just a couple,” said Taylor.

Soon, she was munching them by the handful.

Taylor and Stevie had just finished off the giant bag of chips when they pulled up to the casino. Taylor was disappointed. It looked more like a Country Inn and Suites than a lavish palace. They parked and walked through the bus loads of seniors all headed to the bingo hall.

The four of them entered the lobby.

“So what should we do first?” asked Vicki.

“Let’s hit up the slots,” said Carleigh.

They found their way to a row of slot machines. The game was set for a ridiculously cheap amount, 10 cents per game. But Taylor realized that’s what people here could afford. It was too loud, too noisy but somehow it was still was dreadfully boring, she thought, she hoped they would move onto something else soon. The others all pulled out their cigarettes and Taylor remembered that you could still smoke inside a casino. She pulled out her own cigarette and lit up. That would help pass the time.

Shortly, a waitress came up and asked them for their drink orders. At least this rundown place still offered comp alcohol, Taylor thought.

“You’d better order a double because it takes a while before you get more service,” said Carleigh.

Taylor ordered a double vodka soda as she wanted to cut back on calories after the chip and Dew binge on the way there. The waitress brought her vodka with Coke. Taylor realized she would have to be more specific next time and explicitly say ‘soda water.’

They continued to play the slots and all of them immediately started in on a new cigarette as soon as they were done with the first, including Taylor.

“You want another one of these?” asked the waitress.

“Huh, yeah,” said Taylor, who was still a little high and zoning out on her mindnumbing game, hitting the button over and over again. By the time she realized what had happened, the waitress was already gone.

Taylor lit up her third cigarette of the night as she got her next drink.

“You guys want to go out to the parking lot and smoke another bowl?” asked Vicki.

“Let’s do it,” said Carleigh.

“Yes,” said Taylor, who was desperate to get away from these slots and eager to have chemical help to make this casino more exciting.

“I’ll stay and play, you girls have fun,” said Stevie.

She just doesn’t want to do the work of walking all the way to the parking lot, Taylor thought.

They lit up in the closed windows of the beater car and Taylor felt like she was in high school. In fact, that’s what hanging out with these women felt like. High school. They didn’t have careers, not really, they weren’t headed on a path to become high-end stylists. They had jobs, they cut hair. They didn’t have the pressures of careers, of trying to make it in some competitive field. They partied and then they worked enough to support their partying. Taylor still felt that they were living very empty lives but she could understand that they were also having a lot of fun. Or, at least, they thought they were having fun. They didn’t realize how fulfilling it was to push yourself to be the best, to do something that gets nationally recognized. That’s what she wanted. That’s what she knew was best. She was best.

Taylor was snapped out of her very high and mildly drunk train of thought by Carleigh.

“I’m fuckin’ starving, let’s hit up the buffet,” said Carleigh.

“Yeah, let’s do it,” said Vicki, ‘I’ll text Stevie. You think she’ll want to join?”

“Of course that bitch wants to go to the buffet, she’s fatter than me,” said Carleigh.

“Is it good?” asked Taylor.

“Oh, it’s the best,” said Vicki, “Just as good as Vegas buffets.”

They started to walk back to the casino as Taylor hit a small crack in the asphalt and turned her ankle just a little too far in one of Carleigh’s slightly too big shoes.

“Ah, damnit,” said Taylor.

Carleigh and Vicki helped her hobble to the buffet where she put her foot up.

“Here, take this, it will help with the pain,” said Vicki giving Taylor a nondescript pill.

Taylor swallowed it with too little hesitation.

“Oh shit, what happened?” asked Stevie who had already loaded up her first plate.

“Why don’t you rest and I make you a plate?” asked Carleigh, “What do you want?”

Taylor looked at the buffet. Vicki liked, that didn’t look as good as Vegas. It didn’t even look as good as Golden Corral. Still, as Taylor stood in line staring at the rows of fried foods and carbs spreading out in front of her, the munchies started to hit again. She was getting desperately hungry.

“Whatever you get,” said Taylor.

Carleigh set Taylor down a heaping pile of greasy fried chicken, mashed potatoes soaked in gravy, fried cocktail shrimp and a slice of pepperoni pizza. Even with her relaxed eating standards since moving to the trailer park, Taylor would have still scoffed at this plate. But she was really high and this looked really good. She dove in and finished her plate at just about the same time Stevie had finished hers.

“Fuck, that was good,” said Taylor.

“You want more?” asked Carleigh.

“Sure, but a smaller plate this time,” said Taylor.

The second plate with prime rib, cheesy hashbrowns and some sort of boneless buffalo wings was no smaller than the first. Taylor cleaned her second plate anyway. Vicki tapped out after the second plate. But Taylor joined Carleigh and Stevie with the third plate featuring some fried fish and more of the cheesy hashbrowns.

By this point, Taylor was absolutely stuffed and her belly was stretching out her red dress even further, making it ride up dreadfully high on her thighs. That still didn’t stop her from picking through the dessert plates that Carleigh and Stevie brought back from the buffet.

She was beyond stuffed when the other girls decided to help her back to the casino floor where they decided to park themselves in front of something other than slot machines - video poker machines!

This time, Taylor didn’t mind so much. She was high, drunk and way too full. Zoning out felt pleasant. She pulled out a cigarette and let herself get lost in the loud sounds and bright lights. She sat there for quite a while, chain smoking and parking in complimentary beverages. Eventually, she and Carleigh moved to new machines but kept right on the pattern. Before Taylor knew, she was smoking the last cigarette out of her pack. She should have been alarmed that she had smoked most of a pack of cigarettes in a single night but she was too dazed to have that fully sink in.

After some time, Vicki tapped them on the shoulder.

“We should hit up the smoke shop before we head back,” said Vicki.

“The smoke shop?” asked Taylor.

“Cheapest cigarettes around, Indians don’t have to pay state taxes,” said Carleigh.

They went to the smoke shop where Taylor was prepared to buy a single pack.

“Oh, sweetie, you gotta buy a carton,” said Stevie, “They are so cheap here. Saves you a lot of money versus buying them at the convenience store.”

Taylor bought her first carton of cigarettes.

The four loaded up into Vicki’s car where Taylor promptly passed out in the backseat. On the way back, the car started to smell like rotten eggs.

“Ew, you dropping ass back there, Stevie?” asked Carleigh.

“Don’t look at me, it’s sleeping girl who is tooting over here,” said Stevie, pointing at the drooling Taylor.

“Ha, she had a good time tonight,” said Vicki.

“See, I told you she would fit in with us girls,” said Carleigh.

They woke up Taylor once they got back to the trailer park. Taylor stumbled into her trailer where she quickly fell asleep on the used mattress she still hadn’t gotten around to replacing.

In the morning, Taylor woke up with a terrible hangover and the slightest craving for a cigarette.