Conversations Continued
"Amanda I can't believe this," Lee said, looking at his wife as she
bustled around the kitchen. He'd ordered Jenna to her bedroom,
telling her to think about what she'd done and that they'd be up there
to talk to her shortly. "I can't believe you're taking this so lightly."
"Lee I'm not taking it lightly," Amanda said as she took the cookies
out of the oven and placed the cookie sheet on the counter top to
cool. "I just think that you might be overreacting a little, that's
all."
"Overreacting? I'm overreacting? Amanda I was standing right there,"
Lee said. "I saw my little-my daughter- walk right over to that boy
and say-"
"-hey, Romeo, you forgot to zip your fly," Amanda said, finishing his
sentence. "And Jenna says that Terri Morgan dared her to say that or
she'd call her a gimpy chicken."
"Yes, but that's not the point," Lee said.
"Well you know how sensitive Jenna is about her leg," Amanda said.
"She doesn't even like to wear shorts now because she's afraid of the
scar showing."
"Amanda that still doesn't excuse what she did," Lee said. "We have to
do stop this now, before this gets any worse."
Amanda pulled some milk out of the fridge and poured a glass, putting
some cookies on a small desert plate. "Well what do you recommend?"
She said. "Grounding her for a month? Clapping her in irons? Putting
her in an Agency Holding Cell until she reaches eighteen? "
"A-man-da!" Lee said. "Now you're just being silly."
"I know you don't want to hear this, Lee," Amanda said. "Because I
know that in your mind she's still an innocent little girl. But
Jenna's growing up. This incident is far from the worst thing she's
ever going to do. Just wait until she starts dating."
Lee sank down into a kitchen chair, his head in his hands. "No! I
don't even want to think about it," he said, raking his fingers back
through his hair. "Isn't there some way to stop Jenna from growing
until I can adjust to this?"
"Lee, no one has that much time," Amanda said, a hint of laughter in
her voice as she rubbed his back. "Come on, Stetson. Let's go talk to
her together."
SMK SMK SMK SMK
Through the half-open door Lee could see that Jenna was curled up on
her bed, holding her Scarecrow doll. When she heard their footsteps
she put the doll down and sat up.
"Hi," she said, wiping at her eyes, which were slightly red and
puffy-looking.
"Hi sweetheart," Amanda said, handing Jenna the milk and cookies, "We
thought you might like some of these."
"Thanks," Jenna said, putting the plate on her lap and taking a sip of
the milk. "Am I in trouble?" She asked.
"Not exactly," Amanda said, giving Lee a warning look when he tried to
interject. "We just want to talk to you about what you said."
"What I said was stupid," Jenna said. "I certainly felt stupid after I
said it, Mom- I couldn't even look Romeo in the face and Terri and her
friends all laughed at me. And then when dad overheard that was the
worst thing of all."
Amanda sat beside Jenna and pulled her daughter against her side,
kissing the top of Jenna's head.
"Sweetheart I know," she said. "But you also know that you can't take
a dare because someone pressures you or threatens to tease you, right?"
"I know," Jenna said. "I'll try not to, I promise." She looked up at
Lee and then back over to Amanda. "Is Dad still mad at me?"
"`Dad' is right here," Lee said, sitting on the bed on the other side
of Jenna. "And no, I'm not mad at you, munchkin. I just want you to
be careful about what you say to boys, okay? They might get the wrong
idea about-" he struggled for the right words. "-about what kind of
girl you are."
"You mean they might think I'm cheap or easy?" Jenna said.
"Where on earth did you pick up a phrase like that?" Lee said.
"From Francine," Jenna said.
"Well, Francine could've worded it a little better," Lee said, forcing
himself to breathe normally as he spoke. "But yeah, that's basically
it. They might think that you maybe want to kiss them, or-" there was
no good way to finish this sentence and Amanda was looking at him
curiously. "They just might get the wrong idea about you, that's all,"
Lee finished lamely. "Do you understand?"
"I understand," Jenna said, "And Romeo is definitely not a guy I would
ever want to kiss. I hear that he has chapped lips."
"Well that's good to know, sweetheart," Amanda said, giving Jenna a
hug. "Why don't you do your homework up here and dinner will be ready
in about an hour, okay?"
"Okay," Jenna said. "Thanks Mom. And dad-thank you too."
"Hey, don't mention it," Lee said, ruffling Jenna's hair and making
her smile. He stood up as he and Amanda left the room and closed the
door behind him. And what Jenna had said about Romeo's lips didn't hit
him until he reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Amanda?" he said. "You don't think that Jenna has ever-you
know-kissed a boy-do you?"
His wife's laughter was the only response.
The End
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