A Scam?

Demeter arrived back home with the truck in following behind. As they pull in, Diana comes out of the barn while rubbing grease onto a rag. She glances at the truck as she walks over to Demeter's car. Demeter gets out of the car and grabs the gas canister.

Diana shoved Demeter's shoulder playfully and exclaimed, "I didn't think you'd buy a truckload! Don't you think you overdid it?"

"I wasn't going to buy this much, but I got a good deal, so I figured why not," Demeter replies.

The two men quickly unload the truck. "Ok, it's unloaded have a nice day!" one of the men yells.

Diana looks over at the pallet filled with fertilizer with a raised eyebrow. "What kind of deal did you get?" Diana questions cautiously.

"This is top tier fertilizer that Donny guy said he had to unload it, so he gave me a great deal," Demeter responded giddily.

Diana grabs a bag and looks it over. Her face turns sour as she questioned the new farmer, "how much did you end up paying."

"Two thousand Firms..." Demeter saw the disgusted look on Diana's face and asked, "Did I pay too much?"

"Too much, my ass!" Diana scolded. She then looks at the two guys getting into their truck. "Hey, assholes, take this garbage back to your boss!"

"We just deliver. Take it back yourself," the driver spat back dismissively. They then drive away as Diana cursed them like a drunk sailor.

Diana forgot her hands were dirty in her rage and ran her hand through her hair angrily. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have let you go on your own. I shopped there all the time, and things were normal. I didn't think," Diana fades off as she grits her teeth. She then kicks the pallet.

"What's going on?" Demeter asked with a pale face.

"This is just the new design for the cheapest fertilizer," Diana informed while waving her hands over the pallet angrily.

Demeter was shattered. Her legs lost their strength, causing her to stumble. Diana caught her by the arm and comforted her, "I know it's a big blow; this is why I warned you. I should have gone with you. Just stay here, I'll get my forklift, and we'll take this back and demand your money."

Demeter clenches Diana's arm and squeaks, "I signed a contract saying no returns."

"Like I'll accept that!" Diana shouts as she pulls away from Demeter.

An hour later, as the sun was dipping into the horizon, Diana returned to a crestfallen Demeter cried on her steps. Diana clenched her fist, making her knuckles turn white. She loaded the offending pallet onto her truck and marched over to the defeated Demeter. "Come on this is the time to fight not cry," she consoled.

"Sniff, alright," Demeter mutters as she took Diana's hand. Diana leads the distressed farmer to her truck, and they drove back to the Farming Depot.

The gaudy sign now looked sinister to Demeter as she shuffled behind Diana. Diana strides into the shop and immediately identified Donny behind the counter. "Hey, rip up this garbage right now and give my friend her money back!"

Donny looks at the crying woman next to Diana and shakes his head. "Please calm down miss this is a reputable business lets talk like adults," he retorted calmly.

"You can try and play the professional, but it's obvious you ripped off my friend. How dare you take advantage of a newcomer like this! I wish I could take back all the times I bought stuff here," Diana Raged while slamming her fist into the counter.

"I'm sorry but she signed the contract herself, and I produced the product. It clearly says no return it's all above board," Donny explained to the angry woman.

Diana nearly jumped the counter to grab the slimy bastard by his the collar. "Selling this cheap fertilizer for two thousand dollars is legitimate? Who's going to believe that? This is clearly a scam," Diana screamed.

Donny puts on an indignant expression and hollers back, "That's slander miss, and I don't take kindly to that. You better watch it, or I'll be forced to press charges!"

"Please, I don't want a fight. Can you please not cash the check," Demeter squeaks. Her eyes bloodshot from crying too much and disheveled look gave her a sorrowful look.

"You're an adult you should know what it means to sign a contract," Donny scoffed.

A voice then carried over from the entrance behind Demeter and Diana, "Is there a problem, Donny?"

Donny gives the man an awkward smile, "Hey Jim, these women just came into my business and started making a fuss; it's a real headache."

"And who are you?" Diana asked as she spun around. In front of her was the local sheriff.

"I'm the sheriff around these parts, and we don't take kindly to rabble-rousers," The greying sheriff responded coldly.

"This guy stole thousands of dollars from my friend with this bogus contract. How are we the problem?" Diana talks back while slapping the contract.

Donny puts on a pained expression and jumps in, "See this is what I'm talking about. Defaming my name right in front of me is unreasonable."

"It's not unreasonable, and you know it!" Diana shouts as she spins to confront Donny again. Before she can continue to argue, however, a hand firmly grabs her shoulder. Diana looked over her shoulder at the sheriff with defiant eyes.

"I've known Donny my whole life, and he's always been an upstanding citizen. I'm sure you two don't want to spend the night in a cell. So drop this," Jim said with a stern voice.

Demeter pulled on Diana's shirt and said, "Come on."

"But," Diana protested but seeing her defeated friend shrivel up stopped her. "Fine."

As the two women walked out they heard Donny curse them, "This is why I hate city slickers coming out here. All they do is cause trouble."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure they go home and don't cause any more trouble," Jim reassured Donny. He then left and got into his police car.

"That bastard is following us?!" Diana screamed and smashed her steering weal with her palm.

"I'm sorry I'm so stupid," Demeter said while curling into a ball in the passenger seat.

"This isn't your fault. We'll just have to make up for it by growing great crops, alright!" Diana encouraged.

Diana drove by Demeter's place and parked at her own home with fiery eyes. She jumps out of the truck and slams the door behind her. At the same time, Jim opens his door as well.

Diana spat at him and asked, "What do you want? Stop stalking us!"

"I just want to make sure you settle down and don't cause trouble," Jim responded as he stepped towards the truck.

Diana didn't stop to listen and ran into her house. There she grabbed her shotgun from her umbrella holder. She kicked her door open with the shotgun upon her shoulder. "You better get out of here. I'm not a timid little girl. I don't know what you had planned, but you better forget it!" She screamed while she pumped the shotgun, preparing it to shoot if she had to.

Jim pales and puts his hands up. "Now listen to me, girl. Threatening law enforcement can get you into big trouble," he stated soothingly as he backed up.

"If you want an investigation I'd be happy to have one. I'll tell them all about how you are a creep that preys on women!" Diana countered.

In the car, Demeter is shaking in fear. Her life had suddenly become so extreme. "What happened to my happy farm life?" she whimpered.

"Alright, I'm leaving. Don't you do anything you'll regret now!" Jim gave in and left in his squad car.

Demeter leaves the truck and runs over to Diana. The brave woman was now leaning against the railing on her porch shaking. Demeter hugged her and muttered, "Sorry." They both stood there hugging each other well into the night.

The two women were exhausted. Once the adrenaline wore off, neither of them could move a muscle. Eventually, Demeter asked, "Hey, I don't want to stay alone tonight. Can I stay over?"

"Sure, I'm not too confident today, either," Diana responded.

The two entered the house and took turns taking a shower. Diana borrowed Demeter some pajamas, and they slept together while clutching each other's hands.