Kaya stood in her room. Fear and uncertainty made her indecisive about what to do next. There were two messes that needed to be cleaned up. All of her makeup and the broken mirror on her floor, and the relationship between herself and her family. Those messes did need to be cleaned up but Kaya did not know which one to do first. The teenage girl wanted to make the right decision to make up for all the bad ones she had made today.

Alana came in to see the living statue still standing where she was when the mother left her daughter’s room. Kaya’s face matching that of a mannequin was a good sign to the mom. The emotionless stare meant that Kaya was coming to grasp how bad she had messed up with all those bad decisions. There were many of them today.

Alana was happy that Kaya now knew she was wrong for not following the rules she and her husband set when their daughter was babysitting her younger brother. That siding with her boyfriend when he was mocking Lynn was a bad choice. Not kicking that no good soon to be ex-boyfriend out of their home as soon as he laid his hands on Lynn was a horrible choice. Then the worst, Kaya acting threatening and then forcing her brother to wear that dress and makeup.

Not finding joy in her daughter’s confusion was how Alana was not making the situation worse. Thinking about why Kaya was in such a sad state of being, would have made the mom lose it on the daughter. Yelling and screaming would have felt nice, but would not have helped the situation. Getting the anger out would have been therapeutic to the mom, but not the tonic to fix the damage Kaya did.

Alana kept the pain her daughter was in when she started to assess the situation. Knowing that Kaya also hurt herself with her own actions would make sure this stayed about Alana’s daughter learning from her bad decisions. “What is your punishment?”

The question did not pull Kaya into the conversation. She was still staring at the ground when she replied. “I don’t know.”

Not looking up at her mom was taken as a sign of disrespect. That somehow Kaya was going to be defiant while getting the penalty for her transgression. “Kaya, look at me when I am talking to you. I will ask again, what is your punishment?”

The unknown is one of the most common reasons for fear. Not knowing what is happening or going to happen takes away any sort of control from a person. Kaya had no idea what the future was going to be. What was going to be the punishment or what kind of relationship she was going to have with any member of her family? Did she even have a family? Her dad gave up on her and her brother’s opinion of her being a cunt was well established. The terrified teenager looked up, her face was covered with fear, and said, “Mom, I don’t know.”

Alana saw the fear and knew she had to work the answer out of her daughter. People tend to withdraw within when they are scared. They only say the bare minimum. Wanting to make a safe place with all the kindness she could muster the mom started to walk the daughter through by asking, “What did your dad say was the punishment?”

“He said he was done with me just like Lynn is.”

“Kaya sweetie, he is not done with you. Your dad is just mad and did not want his anger to cloud his judgment. He would never give up on Jellybean.

“Lynn is just upset with what you did. He will come around. You are his older sister. He loves you.”

Hearing the pet name Kaya’s dad used for his eldest daughter was too much. Kaya was irked whenever her dad would use it lately. Now she would give anything to hear him call her that. That would mean she was still sweet in his eyes. “I am not dad’s Jellybean anymore. To Lynn, I am not his sister, but a cunt, he told me as much.”

“You will always be your dad’s Jellybean. You will see that I am right.

“As for Lynn, don’t worry about him. I will have a talking to with him. He might have been mad at you, but he had no right to call you that word. Why don’t you clean up this mess and tell me when you are done. We can talk about what trouble you are in then.”

***************

With getting off the phone so easily Troy knew he was lucky to have such understanding in-laws. His request for them to keep the twins overnight was met with an enthusiastic yes. His parents would have pried into why the change of plans. They had to know why and would not take anything less than a detailed response to their inquiry. What was happening had to stay in home and was no one else’s concern. So having his family’s privacy respected, helped immensely in dealing with the issue. Having one of the issues from today under control helped in lowering Troy’s stress.

Alana came into the dining room and noticed the vein on Troy’s forehead was not pulsing anymore. She was as relieved as a son getting his parents’ smile of approval when they first meet his girlfriend. Her husband being calmed down meant that they could have a productive talk about how to handle the crisis in their household.

Wanting to start small so they could have parts of the situation solved Alana started with Lynn using cunt. That word should have never been uttered by her son. Just thinking of the word made her cringe. It was such a dirty word. If what Kaya did was not so bad, Alana would have grounded her son for at least a week for the use of that word. He was too young to be talking like a seasoned sailor.

“Troy we need to talk with Lynn about what he called Kaya. No son of mine will think it is fine to call a woman that word.”

That resting vein pulsed right away as Troy said, “You can’t be serious. Our son was assaulted by our daughter’s douchebag of a boyfriend. Then she put him in dress and makeup and you are worried about him calling her a cunt. She was a fucking cunt to him.”

“Troy, do not call our daughter a cunt. She did wrong but you respect her.”

“Alana do not put words in my mouth! I did not call Kaya a cunt. I said she acted like one. If I was Lynn I know I would think she was a cunt and that is what I am saying.

“Also, don’t talk about me disrespecting her. She has not been doing anything to have our respect lately. In fact, our daughter has been doing so many little disrespectful things to Lynn and the twins. Not talking to them unless forced, rolling her eyes when she has to interact with them, changing the channel on them and today… what she did today, was so far out of line. How she acted with no regard to Lynn. She hurt him emotionally and psychologically. Lynn looked up to her and trusted her and that is how our daughter repaid him.

“Maybe Lynn calling her a cunt will be a wake-up call to Alana. Talking, and trying to reason with her, has not been working. Our little punishments have not been working. Maybe the pain of someone she loves hurting her will make her see how she has been behaving”

Troy’s passionate defense of their son’s use of cunt woke Alana up like a bucket of ice-cold water thrown on someone who was sleeping. The plain truth was a bad word being used in anger from being severely hurt paled in comparison to intentionally hurting and betraying someone who trusted you. Bringing up the use of cunt came off as Alana being more concerned about the aesthetics instead of the issue.

“Troy you are right. I just wanted to feel like I was in control of something. What are we going to do with Alana?”

“You make that decision, I am done with her.”

“Troy quit that. You can’t be done with her. She needs you now more than ever.”

“I know that. Until she shows me she wants my help and guidance, I am not wasting any time or effort on her. We have three other kids who need us to be their parents also.

“Plus even if I had the energy to help our daughter, I don’t know what to do. We can’t make her breakup with Rick, she will either see him behind our backs or resent us. Ground her again, like that did anything before, what will that do now?

“I will back you with how you want to deal with Kaya. I am going to go now and check up on the big guy.”

***************

Lynn was in the family room playing Madden on the big screen. The gaming session was not about honing his skills for the big game tomorrow. At first, his goal of being online was just to beat his opponent. Then the goal of the gaming session became to totally humiliate his opponent when whoever he was playing started to talk smack. That person said that Lynn played like a girl. Hearing those words caused the preteen to lash out and make sure the person who put him down was hurting as much as Lynn was. At that moment, he wanted to make someone feel smaller than he did at that moment.

The pain Lynn felt was coming from feeling as small as a luxury restaurant. His mom and dad said the right thing to him, but the boy was having a hard time believing their words. How could they still see him as a boy after they saw how well he fit in that dress. His shoulders should have been too broad for that dress. His chest should have been wider so the dress would have been tight on him. His arms should have made the sleeves bunch up.

After looking for Lynn in his room, Troy made his way into the family room. He was proud and relieved to see Lynn was playing that game. The pride came from his son working on his goal of making it to the Madden tournament finals. The relief came from his son moving on from what happened earlier today. Playing the game meant that Lynn was not needlessly dwelling on his sister putting him in a dress.

Then Troy saw that the score of the play was 49-3 in the 4th quarter and his son was running a no-huddle offense. Lynn was running up the score. Lynn was not showing good sportsmanship in the game. Games to Troy were about more than winning or losing. They also helped build character.

Lynn, having his focus intensely on making the rout even worse for his hapless opponent, did not hear his dad come into the living room. Then the boy heard in an inquisitive tone “What are you doing?”

Troy using that tone meant one of his children was doing something which they knew was not right. The answer to the question gave Troy the information he was looking for to see how he handled the situation. If answered correctly, he will only give a warning. The next time the issue will be dealt with. If they answer incorrectly, either by stating the wrong answer or using the wrong tone or words, then Troy would take measures to make sure his child would correct their behavior.

Lynn’s answer of, “Sorry I should have gotten permission,” was both correct and incorrect. Technically when his parents were home Lynn needed to ask before he played his Playstation on the big screen. Troy was giving an understanding pass about his son not following the rules. Playing a game was a way for his son to destress from his sister treating him badly. The issue he wanted Lynn to bring up was being a bully. That running up the score was not acceptable behavior.

“Lynn, you playing without asking today is fine. Your mom and I were handling bigger issues so you were right in not bothering us to ask.

“I am thinking about how you are playing the game. You are running up the score. The game is out of reach and instead of running out the clock you are trying to embarrass your opponent.”

“Yeah, he tried that with me by saying that I played like a girl.”

“Lynn, you know two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“I was proving him wrong. I am not A GIRL!”

At that moment, the talk needed to be serious. What Lynn was doing was overkill. The point was already made. Troy needed his son’s total attention to get Lynn back on the right track. “Lynn quit the game.”

There was no way Lynn was going to quit that game. Leaving the game would be a forfeit and give his opponent a victory. Also, it would back up the false assertion that Lynn played like a girl. “No, dad I cannot let him win!”

“Son, you won the game. It is over.”

“If I leave the game, it will be counted as a loss! There’s only a minute left. I will run out the clock.”

The talk those two were going to have was vital, but winning the game was even more vital. Lynn’s self-esteem was lower than Barry White’s voice. Losing a game that he should have won would only do more damage to the young boy’s fragile ego. The best way of mitigating the damage done to Lynn was Troy allowing him to finish the game. “Go ahead, Lynn.”

After the game was over Troy started having the talk by saying let’s go to the kitchen. Moving the talk to another room was making sure that the other parts of the talk were treated with as much importance as the message itself. The condition in which the talk occurred would help Troy in expressing how he felt. The father wanted it to be a conversation where his son felt free to express himself also. That meant both of them needed to be sitting down so they could look at each other eye to eye. Troy wanted the severity of Lynn’s action to still be front and center so he wanted them to be facing each other. The easiest way to do that was to sit at the kitchen table.

After getting them both a can of Coke, Troy told Lynn to take a seat. After his son was sitting Troy sat down across from him. “Son, I know you were hurt today and upset. That is still no excuse for what you did. You do not put other people down to make yourself feel better.”

“Like I said dad, I was proving him wrong. He said that I was a girl. I am not a girl.”

“Lynn that is an excuse. You got mad and took it out on some stranger on the Internet. That person has feelings.”

“He did not care about mine.”

“Lynn, how other people act does not matter. You need to rise above it. I call you Big Guy because you are going to be a great man.”

“I did not feel like a man today.”

“Come on son I taught you better. The clothes do not make a person. Your height does not make you a man. It is what is inside you that does. Your morals, how you treat others, and what you do are what makes you who you are.”

“That is easy for you to say, you do not look like a girl. I do. I look just like any other girl in my grade.”

“Lynn, you are more of a man than most of the so-called men I know. You stood up for yourself, even at the cost of getting hurt. You did the right thing and that is what being a man is about.”

“I still feel weak. I should have fought so it did not happen.”

“No, you did the right thing. Some fights only leave you bloody”

“No, now Dick sees me as a sissy that he can boss around.”

“No, he will not. You have too much fight in you. What happened today was because the odds were too much against you and you had no way out of the situation.”

Those words being said gave Lynn relief about having to worry about how people would treat him. The son had faith in his dad. Lying to make someone feel better was not how Troy operated. He would instead help people resolve what was making them feel bad to help build them up again. Saying something untruthful was only pushing the problem down the road. Getting rid of the issue makes it goes away.

“If Dick tries anything ever again, I will make sure he knows he can’t mess with me.”

“Good, now what are we going to do about the blowout?”

“Dad, I will message him offering to give some pointers. That will really improve his game for I am the GOAT.”

How Lynn was going to right the wrong was pleasing to Troy. He knew not giving an apology was the right course of action. Saying sorry for beating you so bad would come off as pity. Offering help was code that I went too far and it was my bad.

“Great idea, do it now son. I'll let you at it.”

Leaving the family room, Troy’s mind went back to the thought about his son needing help. He would love it if somehow he could by himself rebuild Lynn’s self-confidence. Sadly rebuilding his son's self-image to where Lynn would not need to defend who he was to others was beyond his ability. The worrisome father knew the damage was not that bad because he was able to reach his son. If the narrative which Lynn had about himself was changed too much then words would not be able to convince him. The feelings of being inadequate would win over logic.

Caution: There is physical and emotional abuse in this chapter beyond force dressing.

************************

Walking into the kitchen made the already dejected Rick Shell feel even worse. Nothing today was going his way. He spent the entire morning doing his chores before going over to his girlfriend's place. The most time consuming one was him doing a detailed cleaning of the kitchen. Now instead of being able to get an A rating from the Allenghy’s Board of Health, the room would cause any restaurant to be closed immediately.

In the sink there were dirty pots and pans, but none of them were soaking. The counters and floor had bits of ground meat, dried tomato sauce, leaves of cabbage, boiled and unboiled rice, along with crushed empty beer cans. The stove was covered with a repulsive mixture of ground meat, fat, burnt spices and egg yoke. The walls had tomato sauce and grease splatter over them like a Pollock painting. The air was stinking from the pungent smell of cooked cabbage. In short the kitchen was a perfect representation of how Rick was feeling about his life, a mess and it stinks.

As soon as the door was closed behind him, Rick’s father's big mouth opened up to make the mess of his son’s life even messier. In a jovial voice he said “Hey Little Dick why isn’t the kitchen clean?”

There was no answer. Rick told his Dad many times to call him Rick, not Dick. That in no uncertain terms he does not want to be called Little Dick. Answering his dad would just let his dad use Little Dick more often.

Rick’s Dad, also known as Big Dick, was not happy about the non-answer. For once, he was just joking about the kitchen not being clean and calling his son Little Dick. Rick has to quit being so serious. Also, if Dick was a good enough nickname for himself then it is good enough for his son. In a serious voice, “I said, Little Dick why isn’t the kitchen clean?”

Still no answer. Lynn standing up to Rick gave him courage not to back down. If that little twerp did not back down then he was not going to either. There is no way Lynn had more courage than him.

Big Dick was going to show why his nickname fit him. There was no way the father was going to let the son show any disobedience without some sort of fitting retribution. “I know why the kitchen isn’t clean. It is because you are a useless little dick, Little Dick.”

Jill had enough of her husband riding their son. Big Dick can put her down all he wants. She chose to stay. She did not see any way out. Their son, had no choice. “Dick quit it, you know that our son does not want to be called Little Dick. You can respect that.”

“Why should I respect Little Dick, he does not respect me. I asked him a question and got no answer.”

“You know he wants to be called Rick.”

“Oh, calling him Little Dick was a joke. If he would man up and take a joke then maybe I would not call him that anymore.”

Rick was not going to have his mom take the brunt of the hammer of his dad’s anger over him. “I will clean up the kitchen in a couple of minutes.”

Big Dick was a big baby so getting his way acted like a pacifier. “Good.”

Jill was not going to let her son clean up after his dad. She picked her fights with Big Dick and now was a good time to have one. The damage done to her would be minimal. She knew with a witness around she would only get berated by her husband. There would be no hitting this time. Even if there was physical danger, Jill would still have stood up to her husband. Her self esteem might have been beaten out of her by Dick and she believed that she deserved everything he did. This did not make her think that others deserved the bad treatment from her husband.

“Rick, don’t! Your dad made the mess after you did your chore so he can clean it up.”

Jill standing up to Big Dick made him cry like a baby whose ill gotten candy was taken away from him. “Jill, our son offered to clean it up. I did not tell him to.”

“Quit it Dick. I told you to clean up the kitchen after you finished making the stuffed cabbage. You know you asked that question to get him to clean it up.”

Being beyond perfect was the only way to disagree with Big Dick. When someone points out he was wrong he would always be looking for ways to twist their words to give them the worse possible meaning. Jill saying told was a major mistake. No one told Big Dick what to do in his house. It was his house, his rules. Jill’s husband used getting up from his recliner to make a show of force to put down any resistance of him getting his way. “Listen here, you do not tell me what to do in my house. If I want to make a mess in the kitchen and have my son clean it up. I will do so. Little Dick clean up the kitchen right now. That is your chore and it is not done.”

Rick could not move. He was stuck between the immovable object of his dad’s petulance and the irresistible force of his mother’s love. He knew that she was sacrificing herself to protect him from Big Dick. Not listening to his dad would be a proverbial fuck you. Rick so wanted to give that message to Big Dick. He would not because it would hurt his mom. His mom would get the retribution of him not listening to his dad.

Jill made her point and wanted peace. She gave in to Big Dick’s true desire, not having to clean up the mess he made. “Fine, I will be the adult out of us two and clean up your mess.”

Big Dick moved on from just wanting not to deal with the mess he made. Now he also wanted to make sure people did not question his authority. “Jill, you are my maid, not our son’s.”

Rick was not going to back down today. “Mom is not anyone’s maid. You always talk about taking responsibility for what you do. You take responsibility for making that mess and clean it up yourself Big Dick.”

Big Dick was a little amused, mostly pissed off, but he found it funny that his son thought he could stand up to him. Little Dick did not have the fight in him. “Oh how cute, Little Dick is trying to get all hard like a Big Dick. I do what I want because I am the Big Dick. Now maid after cleaning the kitchen you get the rest of the house spotless.”

To Jill, cleaning the house was worth the cost of getting her husband’s negative attention away from their son. Wanting the situation to defuse she said “I will hun.”

Rick was not going to be a twerp and let his mom have to work hard on her day off. “No. You will not mom. I am not cleaning the kitchen either. Dad is.”

The little entertainment Big was getting from his son trying to be a man was destroyed when Rick started to give orders to him. The man who thought he ruled his home had to put a stop to his son being uppity. He blamed his wife for the disrespect he was getting from his son. “Bitch, look at what you did. You saying that you told me to do something, has our son thinking he can order us around.”

Rick ran into the living room and got right into his dad’s face. “You will never call my mom a bitch again.”

Big Dick was now a little happy. He was going to put his son in his place. “Listen here. You don’t tell me what to do. You can’t even keep your word so why should I listen to you. You are now my maid and you will be doing what I told that bitch to do.”

“Not doing what I said. That is funny from you. You said that we clean up after ourselves and you don’t. You said you will not drink anymore, but you still get drunk. If anyone is a bitch around here it is you.”

Big Dick clenched his fist and cocked back his arm to punch his son. Even though the abusive father has done this countless times before, this time was different. He was going to do so in front of his wife. Until this moment Jill was under the delusion that she was protecting her son from Big Dick’s wrath by taking the punishment herself. The protective mother screamed “Don’t you dare” to her husband.

Her standing up to Big Dick was too little and too late for her son to stop her husband. This was in a way a replay of earlier today between Rick and Lynn, except this time Rick was the smaller one who was getting punched. The blow hit Rick in his solar plexus. The replay stayed the same, the little one did nothing back. Rick felt just like a twerp.

Right then was not too little or too late for Jill to do the right thing. She charged her husband. There was no way he would hit her in front of their son. Even if he would, taking that chance was worth it. Protecting her son was Jill’s most important priority in life.

Big Dick was not who Jill thought he was. She was not married to a man who was a little rough around the edges. She was married to a narcissist. He cannot be wrong and people who challenged him needed to be put in his place. He hit her. Again being a coward it was in the gut. The bruising would not be visible. No one other than who he deemed needed to know would. He would still be seen as a great man to the people outside of these walls.

Seeing his mom get punched made Rick put the scared twerp inside him to sleep. Now was the time for him to prove to his mom and dad and more importantly to himself, he was not a child anymore. His dad would respect him and not call him Little Dick anymore. His mom would know all the sacrifices she made staying with Big Dick were not futile. Her positive influence was paying off with her son doing the right thing.

Getting hit this time was different to Jill. The loving mom was not going to go down without swinging. Taking the abuse before was to spare her son from Big Dick’s anger. Now she did not have to worry about that, Big Dick already showed his true self to his son in front of her. At this moment she was going to at least not fail at setting a good example to her son. She punched Big Dick right in the face.

A little bit of blood was trickling from Big Dick’s face as he started to smile. That was her best shot and it did not phase him. Now in his demented self serving mind he was going to feel justified hitting her with his full force. All the times he hit his wife before, Big Dick’s rationaliztion was it was not to hurt her but to put her in her place. Now he was going to strike back in self defense.

As Big Dick was winding up to land the hardest bitch slap he could muster, a stinging pain came to his skull base. Rick was standing up for himself and his mom by hitting his dad with a rabbit punch. Some people would have called that a sucker punch and Rick would have agreed. He just punched a sucker. Big Dick was a sucker for he could not see how good he could have had life. Instead of wanting everything his way, Big Dick should have been happy with having a good job, a good wife, a nice home and son who admired him when he was not being abusive.

Rick was being merciful by not attacking his stunned dad. He was hoping and praying that punch knocked some sense into Big Dick. Instead Rick’s dad took his son easing off of the attack as a sign of weakness. As soon as the little bit of sense Big Rick had returned to him he turned both his body and attention to his son and then unleashed his full force on him.

There was a furious flurry of blows thrown by Big Dick. The pain from each of the blows was both physical and emotional. Rick’s heart broke by how easy it was for his dad to hurt those closest to him and that he claimed to love. One does not show caring by hitting. The pain from who the punches came from was what made Rick too weary to fight back. If a person who was supposed to be there for you could hurt you this bad then fighting for survival was not worth it. There was nothing worth being around for in his life.

Then as quick as the onslaught started it ended. Rick sighed in relief, he could now catch his breath before figuring out his next course of action. This time to regroup was short. Rick was being called into action when he heard his dad say “Bitch, you could not wait your turn so I am going to give you the rest of the beating your son was going to get then give you what was coming to you.”

Those words gave the tired and weary man the second wind he needed. There was no time to rest or wallow in his sorrow. The time to act was now. He knew how much those Big Dick’s punches hurt and damage a person. The black eyes, broken nose along with the other bruising would heal quickly. The wounds from knowing who gave the beating would last long in his soul and if not treated immediately would leave painful scars.

The young buck might not have been able to beat the old stag in a fight yet. He did know how to hurt him the most. Rick bull rushed his dad, lifted him up and drove his namesake towards the 60” flat screen TV. Using his dad's body as the way to destroy what brought Big Dick’s so much joy would hurt him. Tackling Big Dick’s through the television also had the added bonus of knocking him out for a moment.

Jill knew it was time for her and her son to leave. That was too much damage done today to the fiction which was her life. She saw that she was not able to protect her son from her abusive husband. The fact was in trying to do the best for her son she ended up hurting both of them. She desperately needed to disappear. She knew that if Big Dick got her alone again, that would be the last time she would be alone with anyone.

She called her son to follow as she was running out the door. She knew she had to keep on running to safety. She was running to stand still. On the path to get as far away as possible from the anchor in her life which other people called her husband an idea came to her head. She knew where her safe harbor would be. The only place she would find sanctuary was the one place she would not go. Big Dick would never look for her where he knew she would dare not go. Swallowing her pride Jill said to her son as they got into the car “Drive.”

Rick was already starting the engine. He did not need to be told to get away from the upcoming chaos and destruction which Big Dick wanted to give to his own family. Rick did need to know a destination. Jill answered her son’s one word question by uttering where she imposed a self-exile “My parents house.”

***************

Many miles away from the mess in the Shell and Stallworth’s home, Dara Wanger got a message from on his UnforgettableFly EASport account. It was from IronCityTurner, the Madden player that just whooped him a couple of minutes ago. The final score was 49-3 but he knew it could have been worse. The score was only 14-3 at halftime. Then right before the end of the second quarter something changed. IronCityTurner was taking a knee to end the half then said the last words he uttered in the match “I am the G.O.A.T.”

Dara had no idea why his opponent made such a brash claim. If he thought about what he said without thinking before the bravado filled declaration he would have known the answer. Joking around he called out IronCityTurner for running out the clock by saying he played like a girl. It was just banter about the conserative play calling from the other player. He was just letting off some steam about the playing style. That IronCityTurner was balling a slow ball control game. He was chewing up all the clock and Dara was always playing defense instead of offense.

The second half Dara sadly got what he wanted. IronCityTurner became more daring with his play calling. He scored 5 out of the 6 possessions he had. It would have been all six but at the very end of the game the old playcalling of his foe came back and he kneeled to kill the clock.

Dara was going to open this unsolicited message. He was too curious to see what was in it. He was soon about to be wishing that he did not. Reading the message made the loser of the match feel like a loser in life. He found out why his opponent changed so much. It was from Dara picking on him. What he said was not harmless banter. That there was another person, a stranger, playing against him and his words could hurt them.

Dara got new found respect for IronCityTurner reading the message. First he apologized for taking out his anger on Dara and said that was unsportsmanlike. Then he explained why he was angry. It took a big man to admit that he was forced by his sister and her boyfriend to wear a dress and makeup. That had to suck and Dara made it worse by questioning his manhood. Then IronCityTurner wrote, “I am telling you this for a man says what is bothering him.” Followed by a last part, offering to give Dara some pointers and stating he was working on never humiliating an opponent again.

Dara wrote a quick acceptance of the apology, apologized for hitting a sore subject and stated that the tips were not needed. Everything was good. That finally IronCityTurner was not boasting when he said he was the G.O.A.T..

Thinking that the little incident between him and IronCityTurner was clear, Dara was shocked when he got another message. It was little but contained so much about the writer’s character. It said that the offering of helping Dara to be better was not done for it was needed. IronCityTurner offered because he wanted to help.

That impromptu Madden training session between UnforgettableFly and Iron City improved more than Dara’s game. The time spent helping also improved Lynn's feelings about himself. They also found they shared more than a love for anything football. They both had unisex names. Instead of getting mad, Lynn laughed when Dara brought up how annoying it was when someone made a joke about it being a girly name. How could that person think it was so witty and original to make that stale joke.

The most important part of the training to Lynn was that he felt better about his name. He got it to honor a great man, his grandfather, and should not let other people think less of him because of it. Knowing that someone else had to deal with the same crap made him feel less alone. He knew that other men had to deal with the same small minded mindset about names. Helping Dara and gaining him as a friend helped Lynn believe that a name played no part in the making of a person.

Having that impromptu Madden training session with the UnforgettableFly helped with the healing process with Lynn. Being able to help someone be better would always be a way for someone to feel better about themselves.

The little ways in which technology made everyday life easier were what caught the public's attention the most. That is the reason why having the ability to see who was at the front door was the best thing since sliced bread to Mike Noll. After hearing the doorbell he took full advantage of the future being now. Neither he nor his wife Anna were expecting visitors so why waste the time and effort walking to the door. He could just see who it was and find out what they wanted while staying in his favorite spot, next to the love of his life, in their loveseat.

Mike used the remote to change the feed on his smart TV to his doorbell camera. The new image on his screen was that of a nervous disheveled lady rocking back and forth with her face out of view and a teenage boy who looked beaten but not defeated. The anxious lady did not want to be there and the stoic boy stood close to her offering his protection and support.

These strangers needed help but Mike wondered why they picked his home. His wife was just as perplexed as him. Their home was in the middle of a large generic housing estate, lost in a sea of mass-produced waves of ranch, cottage and contemporary homes. There was no way that two people adrift should have gone to their home for a lifesaver to grab onto.

Mike coming off as neutral as 7 on the pH scale asked how he could help them. The tone and wording of his inquiry were so he did not scare or encourage the visitors. His standoffish demeanor changed when the mystery lady turned around and he could see her face. The visitors were no strangers but their estranged daughter and her son. The teenager had to be her son. Mike and Anna have seen those two together before from afar in their travel around town for him to be anyone else other than their flesh and blood.

Before Jill could start giving her response, the sound of two of the most welcoming voices she ever heard was coming over the intercom. One was inviting her to come in and the other was saying I will get the door for you.

**********
Troy was sitting at the dining room table drinking tea while looking at his phone. Every action he was taking was to form a protective barrier to hide his anxiety attack from the world, mainly his family. His wife did not need the added stress of having to coax him back to calmness. The Big Guy, his son, needed him to be strong. Finally, his daughter should not be able to see cracks in his resolve. Kaya would use his feeling of anxiety as doubt about how he reacted to her forcing Lynn to wear a dress.

Troy’s line of protection did the job of forming a comfortable pocket of protection around him. The table hid Troy bouncing his right leg. The cell phone having his attention did the dual job of stopping anyone from interacting with him and not letting his family see the tears of frustration in his eyes. Even sitting was helping to hide his true feelings. Standing up and walking would give away his weak knees. Troy’s stomach tossing and turning more than an old unbalanced washer was being calmed down by his tea.

Troy’s only regret about his fortress was the tea. Puking his guts out would help get rid of his anxiety. That was how he would be able to regain focus and control from his feeling of doubt before a big game. The expulsion of everything in his stomach would also somehow be expelling all the distraction which came from him not having faith he could meet the challenge at hand. Keeping his fragmented family together was the biggest challenge Troy ever had.

As soon as Alana saw her husband sitting at the table she knew what he was doing. There was no way she was going to let him retreat from having to face the family crisis they were in. The time to act was now. Kaya needed to know that her dad still had faith in her. That her mistake of putting Lynn in a dress did not lessen his love and care for her, and that him thinking the best solution to her acting up was giving up on her would only be making the situation worse. Their eldest child needed their support now more than ever. Plus, the best time to act and fix an issue is as soon as possible and Alana was not going to let this issue get stronger making it harder for the entire family to overcome it.

Kaya started the conversation to get Troy away from pulling himself away from his responsibilities as a parent. “Hun, you need to go up and tell Kaya you need a little time to think of the right way to discipline her. That she is not going to get away with her actions today.”

Troy closed his eyes to get rid of tears forming in them before he looked up to engage his wife. “If you don’t want Kaya to get away with her actions today then you punish her.”

“We don’t punish our children. We do not hurt our children and that is what a punishment does. We discipline them so they learn from their mistakes.”

Having to confront the issue got rid of the jitters and anxiety Troy was feeling. The concerned father had to be game ready and being inactive when one needed to take action only led to negative outcomes. “Discipline has not been working on Kaya. I am done disciplining her. She has caused way too much damage to our other kids. I need to look out for them. I cannot spend all my time dealing with her antics.”

“I can’t believe you are giving up on our daughter. She needs you now the most and you are just turning your back on her.”

“She gave up on our family a long time ago. I have had many talks with her about treating her younger siblings with respect. That she needs to treat them how she wants to be treated. I have taken away her privileges too many times when she did not listen to what I said. I do not have enough energy to deal with her and also be a good father to Lynn, John, and Lindsey.”

“She did not give up on her family. She is a teenager and is just trying to find out who she is. She has been messing up lately, but she is a good person. You know that, and even if she did give up on her family, that doesn’t make it right for you to give up on her.”

Troy was trying to not have to admit defeat again, but had to. With something as important as raising your child, defeat was nothing more than a total failure. One could not acknowledge the failure and throw in the towel until it was way too late. A parent needed to always keep on having the hope, strength, and determination to keep up the good fight and come out victorious towards their goal.

“I am not giving up on Kaya. I failed her and I cannot do anything to make it right. That is why I am done. I failed her. I was not a good parent to her. She needed the right guidance and I was not able to give it. I will only make the situation worse.”

Alana’s heartache was intensified by hearing her husband’s surrender. She knew he was a fighter and not one to easily lay down. For him to say that he failed meant at this moment he was broken. That he somehow needed to regroup before he dusted himself off and got back up on his feet. The best course of action was in giving him a reprieve from dealing with Kaya for a short while. She was not going to be nice about it. At this moment he needed some tough love, tough enough to see the truth. That he did not fail Kaya; he needed to understand that she was going to mess up and learn from her mistakes. “Fine, be that way. I am not going to discipline Kaya. I think you turning your back on her is enough for her to see how bad she messed up.”

*******************
Jill’s nerves were getting the best of her. After ringing her parent’s doorbell she became as jumpy as an overexcited kangaroo. While waiting for them to answer the door she took another drag from her cigarette to try to organize her scattered thoughts and feelings. This was going to be the last hit of her smoke because the last thing she needed was to have another thing for her parents to be disappointed about.

Jill felt like she let them down by picking her husband over them. All the bad ramifications from that decision were just more ways she let them down. The first one after Jill left home was her having to get a GED instead of a high school diploma. She had to drop out of school to take care of her son. Her not going to get a higher education was second. Her mom and dad stressed that they wanted her to have a good education that would add to all aspects of her life. The worst way she let them down was today with her mom and dad seeing their grandson for the first time.

After leaving home to become a teenage mom, Jill never went back until today. At first, it was because she felt like they did not support her decision to keep her son and stay with the father. Then when she saw how bad of a choice she made, Jill could not confront having to admit to them she was wrong.

Instead of hearing the door open, she heard her parents’ voices from the intercom. Hearing the verbal hug from them welcoming her back home took away any doubt she was wrong in this homecoming. How they talked to each other brought back sweet memories of how they bumbled and stumbled over each other, both trying to do the same thing. They were always eager to do whatever they could for each other and their family.

Mike opened the door but Anna was the one who greeted Jill and Richard. She said, “Come in, come in.”

Jill responded “OK mom and dad. Don’t worry, I know the rules of your home, and I will be putting out my cigarette before you open the door.”

Then why Mike and Anna stepping on each other’s feet when doing the dance we call life was so sweet happened. They showed their world-class step of being a true couple as in unison they said “Don’t be silly, you are an adult now. You can smoke in your home.”

Anna then hugged her daughter first. Jill started to cry and said, “You were right. He hit my son.”

Anna pulled back from the hug to look her daughter in the eyes. She then said, “No, we were not.”

Both Anna and Mike now had to face how they disappointed their daughter and all the bad ramifications which came along with it. They forbade her from seeing the man who got her pregnant. Their non-negotiable ultimatum made it so they could not be there for her when she made the decision of choosing him over them. Jill had to drop out of school to take care of her son, she did not have the support to get a higher education and they were not able to help her with raising their grandson. Mike and Anna made the wrong calculation that an education would be more important than what their daughter had mistaken as love.

Mike explained his wife's honest answer, “Jill we let you down. We gave up on you. We forced you to make a decision that you should not have had to make. We were not there for you. If we were you would have never stayed with that man for so long. We tried to force you to live how we wanted you to.”

Richard stayed silent. How foreign this interaction between a child and parents was captured his curiosity. The observant teenager was seeing how a functional family worked. This was the first time he saw a father admit to his child he was wrong. A man also letting his wife take in the lead was virgin territory to him. It was like they were working together. He swore that they had the same goals and both were willing to put what was best for the couple above their personal wants. What his grandparents were doing seemed right yet felt like a fantasy.

Before this moment, the real world to him, was the man trying to be the dictator of his home and working so hard to make his wife subservient. The wife was always having to pick and choose where, when and how to defy any edict or orders. She had to somehow figure out how to get the most from the crumbs which were left on the husband’s plate after he gorged himself.

How much his mom was able to get from such a greedy ruler made Richard a momma’s boy. Some of the wrong lessons from his dad might have stuck, but there was no way he was going to disrespect his mom by being like his dad in a relationship. It might be the stuff of a fantasy but Richard the dreamer was going to treat his girl like the queen she was. That was why he went overboard on Lynn today. His queen wanted some alone time with her king so Lynn should have just quit playing for a while. She was his sister and should not have been put in charge of Lynn and not be able to have her own privacy. If her parents trusted Kaya enough to watch Lynn then they should have trusted her enough to be alone in a room with her boyfriend.

As his wife welcomed their daughter back home, Mike went and introduced himself to his grandson. Richard saw his granddad come toward him so he put his hand out to offer a handshake. Mike grabbed Richard’s hand and pulled his grandson in for a warm hug. Mike said, “My name is Mike, and I am your grandfather. Please call me Bampi.”

This was the first time Richard was shown physical affection by a man. Instead of fighting the hug and saying to himself not homo, Ricard embraced the feeling of being embraced by someone who cared for him. Accepting this hug made him feel stronger and better about himself than if he would have rejected it. Somehow Richard knew just from that hug that his Bampi would always have his back.

“I will Bampi.”

“Now what should I call you? Richard, Dick, Rich, or Ric?”

Wanting to keep being accepted by his Bampi, Richard responded, “Whatever you like.”

Mike saw his grandson’s Pearl Jam shirt and was hoping that their shared love of music would be common ground. “OK Dick, I see you like Pearl Jam. I saw them a couple of times. The first time was when they opened for the Stones. That was back in ‘97.”

Jill heard her dad call her son Dick. That was the goto nickname for Richard in the area Mike grew up. She did not want her son to show how he had too much of his dad, dick, in him by showing anger at being called a name he did not like. “Dad, he goes by Richard. He does not like being called Dick.”

Mike asked if what his daughter said was true. Richard did not want to offend his Bampi. He only knew of rejection if he did not go along with what a male family member wanted. “It is fine if you call me Dick.”

Mike's voice went from being jovial to comforting and firm as he said. “Richard, it is not fine if I call you something you don’t like. You are welcome here and you are my grandson. I want to call you by what you go by and what makes you comfortable. Like I want you to call me by what you are comfortable calling me. If you are not ready to call me Bampi don’t.”

Being given respect gave people strength. It let them take down all the barriers they had to protect themselves. Now knowing that hugging his Bampi was so not homo, Richard hugged him. This was so his actions backed up his words of embracing and welcoming his Bampi into his life. “Bampi, please call me Richard.”

Gesturing to the lady his daughter was standing next to Mike finished the formal introduction by saying “Richard, this is Anna, she is your Mamgu.”

Anna wanted to make sure that her grandson knew she did not have to accept her as his Mamgu right away. That he only had to use that term of affection when he was ready to. She could tell he wanted to be accepted by them so he was willing to do whatever it took to appease them. Those two learned their lesson about others needing to appease them, so the only thing Richard had to do to be a part of this family was to be himself. “Richard, you know you can call me Anna, right?”

Once again Richard used his actions to back up his words. He went over to hug Anna and said, “I know Mamgu.”

******************

Kaya Stallworth stayed in her room after she was done cleaning up the mess on the floor which came from her making a mess of her life. She did not know what to do next. She wanted to go to the door to get out of the scene where she humiliated her brother, yet could not find the motivation to start moving. Thinking of having to face Lynn and her parents, made the girl start to realize the damage she had done. The naturally rebellious nature of a teenager had left her. She was in too much pain from her dad telling her he had given up on her. The added knowledge that he felt that he let her down was just adding salt in the wound and hastening her becoming the prodigal daughter.

The absence of sound was what greeted Alana as she was approaching Kaya’s room. Unless her daughter was sleeping this was wrong. A teenager’s room is usually alive with the sound of their emotions unless they were sleeping. Laughter and other joyous sounds if they were in high spirits, sighs or grumbles and somber sounds if their spirits were low. This uncommon silence made the mother who was already on high alert even more careful of making sure she handled the upcoming interaction right.

The cautious mother lightly knocked on her daughter’s door. Alana knew her daughter needed her, but she did not want to take the chance of waking her up if she was sleeping. Her support and being there for her daughter could wait if Kaya was getting rest. Her daughter was going to need all the strength she could muster to face the upcoming hard work ahead of her. Kaya had to get back in Lynn’s good graces and somehow show her dad he did not let her down.

The faint noise of a knock coming from Kaya’s door, made Kaya know it was her mom. Her brother would not be coming anywhere near her, and her dad’s knock would be louder. Thinking of the outcomes of all her bad decisions was still weighing Kaya down so instead of getting up from the corner of her bed she told her mom to come in.

The outcomes of all her bad decisions also made Kaya know she was doing the right thing by inviting her mom in. She was not doing what she wanted. Kaya would love nothing more than to stay alone. All the bad decisions came from her doing what she wanted instead of also taking into account doing what was right.

Alana accepted the weak invite into her daughter’s room. She went over and joined her daughter by sitting on the bed next to her. The mom knew that the weight of what happened today was too much for her daughter to carry. She wanted to be like Hercules and take the weight of the world off of her daughter’s shoulders. Instead, all she could do was watch and give guidance to Kaya on how to carry her burden.

Kaya needed some certainty about the labors ahead of her and asked her mom what was her punishment.

Alana said, “Nothing. Your dad giving up is punishment enough. You are just going to have to do the right thing and hope that helps quicken him to find faith in himself.”

“You mean me.”

“No dear. Your dad thinks that he is the cause of what happened between you and Lynn today. That his guidance was what led you to your actions.”

“They were not! Dad did nothing wrong. I was just frustrated that Richard and I could not have any time alone. I overreacted to Lynn standing up to me. I should have followed your rules. Now, when are you going to make Lynn talk to me so I can tell him I am sorry and this will never happen again?”

“Kaya honey. I cannot make Lynn talk to you. He needs to come around on his own. You are also going to have to just do the right thing and wait for him to come around. I know he will.”

“I am going to break up with Richard. He caused this trouble.”

Alana went from comforting to stern. She stayed calm to make sure her daughter knew the words which were coming out of her mouth were not caused by emotions but by facts. “You can break up with Richard if you think he is a bad influence on you. Do not blame him for what you did. You were the one who thought of putting your brother in makeup and a dress. You did that after Richard was gone.

“I know you feel bad and want things back to how they were. Not taking responsibility for your actions might make you not feel bad, but they will hamper things getting back to normal. You have to accept what you did before you can ask for forgiveness.”

“Mom treating my brother that badly is not who I am.”

Alana went back to comforting her daughter. “I know that. You made a huge mistake but you have to see you made it.”

“I did, I did not think before it got so out of hand.”

*****************

Richard knew it was an hour early but was heading to pick up his girlfriend. His mom, grandmom and grandad needed time to catch up and more importantly talk about the future. His Bampi and Mangu wanted to do what was best for their daughter. They gave up on her once, and now they can make amends. The best way of righting the wrong was in making sure they supported their daughter as she started her new life.

Standing at the front door of his car, Richard put on his sunglasses. Before, he wore them as a layer of protection to keep the outside world as far away from him as possible. There would have been the added bonus of somewhat covering the bruises on his face from standing up to his father. Now he saw the skin discolorations from the blood getting out of broken blood vessels as badges of honor, rewards to be proud of having. If someone asked he would get a deep pleasure from telling them he got them from his dad for doing the right thing.

Now the reason Richard donned the sunglasses was with how bright the sun was. The only thing brighter in his life right now was his future. Richard did not know why he had so much faith that today was a turn for the better in his life, but he knew that the sense of control he had was what was making it so. Before standing up for his mom and himself and finding the support of his Bampi and Mangu, Richard felt his life was spinning like a ballerina out of control. He never had any agency. He had to always follow the rules because others said so.

After arriving and parking at Kaya's, Richard got out of his car. Walking towards the front door he took off his sunglasses. The shield to protect him from the outside world was not wanted or needed. The teenage boy who was gaining confidence was not worrying about if the black eye made other people think he was weak. He knew the truth. He knew it was a sign of him not being pushed around by other people anymore.

Richard rang the doorbell. The boy who was becoming a man was looking straight at the door. He was going to greet everything in life face to face from now on.

Kaya’s dad, Troy, was the welcoming committee. To tell the truth, the look of angst and anger on his Troy's face made him more part of an unwelcoming committee. The look might have been more intense, but Richard was used to Troy's passive-aggressive behavior toward him. This did not bother or phase Richard one bit. Richard knew that he was not high on Troy’s list of his favorite things.

Richard said, “Mr. Stallworth, I am here to pick up Kaya, is she ready?”

Richard was not expecting to be invited into the home. Even before Troy’s edict of Richard being permanently banned from the house, he never invited Kaya’s boyfriend in. He wanted that boy out of his presence as soon as possible. There was no way Troy was going to try to forge a relationship with Richard. He might not be able to ban Kaya from seeing him, but that does not mean he has to be friendly with someone he felt was a bad influence on his daughter.

Instead of getting the normal response of “Wait here, I will get her,” Troy said, “Looks like Dick finally messed with someone his size instead of picking on someone smaller.”

Troy was feeling so proud of himself. He loved being able to rub into that boy’s face that he got what he deserved. This moment of feeling good was fleeting as soon as he heard Richard’s response.

Instead of trying to be cool and blow off those hurtful words Richard stood up for himself. Pointing to his black eye Richard made the strong statement, “Yeah, I got this from my dad. He tried to hit my mom in front of me for the first and last time.”

Troy’s feeling of pride was suddenly destroyed by Richard’s verbal missile. Now Troy was feeling like a small man at this moment. Physical size has nothing to do with how big of a man someone is. Being a big man is about being mature and always doing the right thing. Troy knew what he had to do. He had to be there for Richard also. This boy was being abused by his father and he needed guidance and support, not being looked down upon like Troy was doing.

Feeling and actual being, are two different things. Troy was a big man and was going to start to act like one. His first course of action was opening both the screen door and himself to let Richard in. Then Troy said “Son, I am sorry about that. I should have never gloated about you being hit. Come in, we need to talk."