Overreacting
4247 Maplewood Dr.
Tuesday, February 6, 2001
5:30 PM
"You boys take care," Amanda said, hugging first Phillip and then Jamie. "Both
of you call me when you get home, all right?"
"We will, Mom." Phillip said as he returned the hug. "Even wormbrain will."
"Phillip, I don't think you're in any position to tell me what to do when I had
to load all of the luggage by myself." Jamie hugged his mother. "Bye Mom--give
Jenna our love and tell her we’re pulling for her."
"I will, Jamie--thank you." Amanda's eyes were slightly misty as she hugged her
younger son.
"Bye, Lee--bye, Grandma." Both young men called out. Lee, Dotty and Amanda
waved goodbye, watching as the SUV pulled away, heading towards the airport.
As they walked towards the house Lee glanced at his watch. "Speaking of Jenna,
shouldn't she be home by now?"
"They'll probably be home soon, Lee--I wouldn't worry."
"Who’s worrying?" Lee said as they went in the front door.
"You are," Amanda and Dotty spoke in unison. Lee felt the heat rising in his
face.
"I'll just go and see to the fish," Dotty said. "Leave you two to talk." She
went into the kitchen. Amanda turned to face Lee.
"I'm sure that Jenna's safe," she said. "Not only is Francine very good with
Jenna--she's also very capable of protecting her if she has to."
Lee ran both hands through his hair. "Amanda, I know that--but this is--"
"--the first time she's been away from us since the kidnapping?"
Lee nodded.
"I know how you feel--I feel it too," Amanda said. "But we can't keep Jenna
home forever and we can't wrap her in a bubble--she needed a day of fun."
"I know," Lee said. "I just hope that everything turns out all right--what if
she has a flashback and we're not there to help her through it? We still don't
know exactly what might trigger one."
"Well I don't think we have to worry but if it makes you feel any better,
Francine does know about the flashbacks."
"Knowing about them is one thing--"
"Lee--if something bad had happened we'd know about it by now," Amanda told
him. "I'm sure Jenna's having a wonderful time."
Just then the doorbell rang. Practically running, Lee went to the door and
opened it. Jenna and Francine came inside, Jenna holding a couple of shopping
bags. Lee was about to ask his daughter what kind of day she'd had, but when he
saw her face he froze. Her cheeks and lips were lightly tinted pink and her
eyes--was that purple eye shadow?
'Francine,' Lee thought to himself. 'I'll kill her!'
"Did you have a good time, sweetheart?" Amanda gave Jenna a hug.
"We had a great time," Jenna said. "I got my ears pierced, my hair fixed--a
manicure--we had a great dinner and I got a new outfit and shoes and then after
that we went window shopping--it was awesome."
"That’s great, munchkin," Dad said. "Why don't you take your bags
upstairs--dinner's going to be ready very soon."
"Sure--thanks again, Francine.” She gave the woman a hug. "It was a
wonderful day."
"I'm glad, Jenna." Francine hugged her back. Jenna ran upstairs and Lee turned
to Francine.
"Makeup?" he said. "Just what were you thinking, Francine?"
"Personally, I was thinking that she looked very nice," Francine said. "It's
only a little makeup--I don't see what the problem is."
"She's only twelve--any makeup is too much--and besides that she doesn't need
it--" Lee kept his voice low--he didn't want Jenna to overhear--but he couldn't
hide his growing agitation. "I really don't appreciate--"
"Lee--Francine--"Amanda said.
"Well I really don't appreciate this either, Lee." Color suffused Francine's
cheeks. "If it helps her to feel better about herself--"
"She's too young," Lee said. "And I don't see how gunk on her face makes her
feel better."
"Have you ever been a twelve-year-old girl, Lee?" Francine asked.
"Have I--" Lee stared at Francine. "What the hell kind of question is that?"
"Because honestly, I think you still must see her as being five." Francine
shook her head. "She's growing up--when are you going to accept it?"
Lee jabbed his finger in Francine's direction--they were standing nearly nose to
nose. "Don't you tell me what I haven't accepted--" Lee broke off as the
piercing sound of Amanda's whistle filled the room. He and Francine both turned
to look at her.
"Thank you," she said. "Lee--I have to say that Francine has a point."
"A-man-da, I-" Lee began to say but Amanda held up a warning hand.
"I don't mean that I want Jenna to wear lots of makeup either, Lee--I think she
is a little young for that. But what I saw wasn't a whole lot of makeup.
Besides--I think you’re missing the big picture here."
"What big picture?" Lee asked.
"That Jenna had a really good day--probably the best day that she's had since
the kidnapping," Amanda told him. "And I think that if a little makeup is part
of that it's all right."
Lee was silent for a few moments, remembering Jenna's smile, her excited chatter
as she came through the door--and all he had focused on was the makeup--
"You're right--" he said. "I--uh--I guess I did overreact a little
bit--Francine--I--I'm sorry."
"No problem," Francine said. "After all, you were just being yourself--"
Lee gave her a look. "Don't push it."
Francine's only response was a big smile.
SMK SMK SMK SMK
"Jenna, you look fantastic," Dotty said. "That hairstyle really flatters you and
the makeup looks great."
"Thanks, Grandma." Jenna's cheeks turned even pinker. "Francine helped me with
the makeup--she helped me to pick the right colors and told me how to apply
it--she said that less is more."
"That's very true, sweetheart," Amanda said. "But you're still a little young to
wear makeup to school except for lip gloss--so I think for now we'll save that
for home and maybe special occasions. All right?"
Jenna sighed. "Somehow I had a feeling about that," she said. "All
right--that's fine."
Lee breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"The outfit I got looks really nice, mom--" Jenna cut the fish with her fork,
speaking in between mouthfuls. "I got a sweater--it's lavender and we got a pair
of black slacks to go with it."
"That sounds great--you can model it for us later if you want," Amanda said.
"What kind of shoes did you buy?"
"Well I thought about high heels--" Jenna said.
Lee nearly choked on his fish. "High heels?" he managed to gasp out while
Amanda patted him on the back.
"Dad, relax--I only said I thought about it," Jenna said. "But Francine said
that I was too young so we got some ankle boots with really low heels instead."
"Good for Francine," Lee said.
"She's absolutely right, darling." Dotty said. "I dated a podiatrist a few
times--he told me all about what high heels can do to your feet."
"Yeah," Jenna said. "I was a little nervous about getting my ears pierced but
it really wasn't that bad--the earrings don't even hurt. And the manicure was
cool--the guy told me that he could put designs on my nails but I decided I
just wanted them to be light pink--after that we had dinner and then we just
window--shopped and talked a lot."
"What kind of things did you talk about?" Lee asked.
"Just stuff, mostly--clothes, friends--oh and Francine told me that she's seen
Dr. Pfaff before and that he really helped her--she says that he can help me
too--"stop me from being scared."
"Yes he can, sweetheart--all you have to do is trust him." Amanda patted
Jenna's shoulder as she rose from the table. She took the brownies from the oven
and retrieved the large platter down from the cabinet.
"I'm definitely going to try," Jenna said.
He had to send Francine a gift, Lee thought--not only as a thank you but an
apology as well. She really had helped Jenna--and if a little makeup helped to
accomplish that goal--he certainly wasn't going to complain about it. Hopefully
Pfaff would be able to help her more--help to bring her fears out in the open
rather than hiding them inside.
'Sure, Stetson--you're one to talk about keeping things inside,' the inner voice
told him.
Lee's mind went back to the dream he'd had last night--and how close Jenna had
come to hearing the horrible details of that dream. Something like that could
set her back, Lee realized--and hurt her again--that was something he just
couldn't risk. He had to see Pfaff himself.
"Mom did you ever have a saltena?" Jenna’s voice broke into Lee’s reverie.
Amanda was cutting the brownies,putting them on the platter. "I don't think so,
sweetheart--what are they like?"
"They're like these little pastries and they have meat and veggies inside them
and Francine says they're Bulgarian--no, sorry-- Bolivian-- so I don't know what
they're doing in an Italian restaurant but they were really good."
Amanda handed Jenna a brownie and a napkin. "It sounds like you two had a really
good day."
Jenna grinned. "It was a great day, Mom."
'She's glowing,' Lee thought as he watched Jenna from across the table--she
chattered on animatedly--the smile lighting up her entire face. He hadn't seen
Jenna this happy in a while--it felt like it had been forever--
For the first time in a while Lee began to feel a stirring of hope--that maybe
it really would be okay.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.