A bus pulls off into town. First the white women and men alike step off into the late morning sunshine. Alpha, beta and omega make their way down to the dirt paved road. Sweetly tailored clothes and not so worn shoes. Finally, the coloured folk whose only difference is the shade that God made them, made their way too off said bus. One in particular, dressed in army brown and a crisp hat on his head, made his own way off the bus. Ronsel Jackson lets his eyes wander around the familiar dirt town. His chest heaves as he takes a deep breath of home. Four long, tireless years being this country's toy tanker. Finally, he is home to see his family once again.

Ronsel walked the dirt streets of his home town. The streets were nothing like those paved and cobbled streets of Europe. No, these were dirtier. These streets spoke loudly of the people who inhabited it.  Men and women who are one with the earth.

Mudbound.

As he walked through the familiar streets, Ronsel's mind wandered as he looked. He could feel the almost forgotten sting of the eyes watching him. They stung with many emotions. Hate, disgust, lust to name a few.

"Home again, home again. Jiggety -jig. Coon, spade, darky, nigger.  Went off to fight for my country and came back to find it hadn’t changed a bit." Ronsel's mind said.

He shrugged the heavy bag further on his shoulder. He did his best not to look those white alpha men in the eye. If he did, he would best believe that would be a one way ticket to either being hanged in a tree or fucked and thrown in a ditch. Ronsel thought the army uniform would deter that. But, he had come to a quick realization that lust knew no color. As long as there was the sweet smell of an omega near their nose, they were willing to fuck anything.

There was a general store not too far into town. Pushing open the wooden door, he was greeted with the familiar surroundings of the old store. Shelves stock with everything a small family in rural Mississippi with not much cash would need. The lady behind the counter, Mrs. Rose Tricklebank, looked up to the door chime. Rose was a back-country-tough alpha woman who ran the shop with a tight grip. A small smile comes to her lips when she spots the familiar omega. 

"Howdy, Miz Tricklebank." Ronsel greeted with a bright smile.

"Ronsel, is that you?" Rose asked. Her eyes followed the young man as he walked around her store. She never had much issue with the colored folk around these parts. Their money was good just as anyone else's and,might she say, a much more pleasant patron.

"Yes, ma’am, last time I looked." Ronsel laughed. He walked around the small store collecting a few items. He is sure his family would appreciate a little necessity as well as a treat to brighten up their day. 

"Well, I declare. Aren’t you grown up? How are you?" Rose asked.

"Can’t complain. How you been?" Ronsel responded. He plucks a few canned goods off the shelf before he brings them around by Rose. 

"Getting along fine. You seen your folks yet?" Rose questions. Rose herself saw his mother ,Florence, around a couple of days ago. She bought some alcohol and gauze for her husband's broken leg. She dare not mention that to Ronsel though. It wasn't her place.

"No, I just got in. I wanted to stop and buy a few things for ‘em first." He replied. He flashed her his signature dashing smile as he grouped his purchase together. A few canned items, two bags of sugar and a little candy for his siblings would do the trick. Rose had just begun to ring up his items when a new voice came into sound.

"Hello, Ronsel. I’m Mrs. McAllan. Your parents work on our farm." the lady, Laura McAllan said. The petite brunette omega woman smiled pleasantly at the young black male. Her nose quickly picked up the distinct smell of omega coming from man. Yet, she keeps that to herself. "Do Hap and Florence know you’re coming home?" She questioned.

"No, I wanted to surprise ‘em." He smiled. 

"Your mother talks about you all the time. I know they’ll be mighty 

glad to see you." Laura continued. 

"Likewise." Ronsel said and brought his attention back to Rose who had finished ringing up his total. 

"Sugar and candy too?" Rose jokes.

Ronsel laughed. "Sugar’s for my momma. Candy’s for Marlon, Ruel and Lilly May. Figured I’d spoil ‘em a little." His hands went to the stripes that adored his army uniform. "Sergeant’s pay."

This caught Laura's attention. "My brother served in the Pacific. And my husband’s brother was a bomber pilot. Both of them are fine, thank God. Jamie came in just a few days ago. Nice to see you boys finally coming home." She rambled on. "I didn't know they allowed omegas to be drafted in the army." She commented. It was as if she could barely hold it back.

Ronsel though found no ill will by it. "When it comes to omegas who look like me, it is no issue. All men are fighting men under Uncle Sam." Ronsel replied. ' Uncle Sam cares very little for a colored omega. Better off blowing us up than send their own white male omegas to fight.' he wanted to add but Laura didn't need to hear that. 

Laura nods. "Well, for what it's worth, thank you for protecting our country sergeant." she smiled. 

Ronsel gives her a short wave in thanks before turning around to leave the building. It seems that the goodwill of luck has run out for him when he is stopped by big back and belly Orris Stokes. The man took up nearly the entire doorway and still wore the same bigoted smile Ronsel remembered him having. 

"Well looky what we got here. A jig in a uniform." Stokes sneered at the man. His twisted smile didn't waver as he looked the man up and down a few. "Wonder how it looks underneath it." he smiled.

Ronsel ignored the comment. How he wished for the days in the army when he had access to suppressants. When he wore those, no one could tell what his nature was. He liked it quite a bit that way. Made it only one issue he had to deal with when it came to the white GI's.

Ronsel kept it nice and formal. "Beg pardon, suh. Just trying to get home to see my folks." 

An older man, about his late sixties or early seventies comes up behind Stokes. "Not that way you ain’t." The older man snapped.

Ronsel never missed this when he was off fighting. He fought long and hard, only to be treated like a smiling puppet for the white man's ego. 

"Pappy, this is Hap and Florence’s son, Ronsel. He just returned from overseas." Laura explained.

Pappy gave a fake look of amusement. "Well, that explains why you’re trying to leave by the front door. You must be confused as to your whereabouts."

Ronsel had to will his lip from curling in anger. "I ain’t confused at all, suh."

"Oh, I think you are, boy. I don’t know what they let you do over there, but you’re in Mississippi now, nigger. You use the back door.", Pappy said condescendingly. Another male, younger than the older man but older than young twenty two year old Ronsel, came behind Pappy. 

"Go on now. We don’t want any trouble. Go on." The male said.

The tension was thick inside of the general store. Ronsel was anchored where he stands, head high and defiant as he squarely meets the gaze of each man in the room.  Laura’s eyes plead with him to just go. Then Ronsel looked at Pappy. Four years of fighting did not make him some elderly old Alpha's sock monkey. 

"You know, suh, you’re right. We didn’t go in the back over there. General Patton put us right up on the front lines. Yessuh, he took us when nobody else thought we were worth a damn. And you know we did? We kicked the hell outta Hitler and then Jerries. All while every one of you was back here safe and sound at home." Ronsel looked that old bigot in the eye. "No need to thank me." He almost smirked.

Ronsel turned on his heels. He raised a hand to Laura and Rose before walking away from the agape white men. He strided out the backdoor with a soft shake in his step. Ronsel was no white man's fool.

"Home again, Home again…"