Rebecca's Bad Day

Pierce

10:30 AM Malibu.

-...And then, I told Alison B that Alison P, Summer and Alison H were saying she was too fat and she started crying so I went to sleep... Daddy are you listening?-

Mallory has been talking since we left the Whole Foods twenty minutes ago. No, I haven't heard a single word, but her lisp brought me back to reality. Knowing her it's something about girls being mean to other girls.

-Of course daddy is listening bunny. You shouldn't pay attention to what those mean girls say about you or your friends. You are beautiful.-

Who the fuck is Alison B? Who knows, but I am a good father. A good father cares about his children.

Mallory turns to look at me confused.

-But Alison B is obese, her mom is sending her to fat camp.-

-Well...- I had no idea she had a classmate who was obese - How does that make you feel?-

Mallory looks at me a little disgusted. Her nose wrinkles and her upper lips reveal her braces.

-Ewww, you sound like a stepdad.-

-Like my name is Roy and I have no authority?-

Mallory giggles nodding, and I take a moment to rejoice in that giggle.

She is the only one who hasn't reached puberty yet. She's the only one who still likes me enough to share a joke with me. And the only one who picks up when I call.

Rebecca's phone is off.

I have been calling her since I left the house because Kim has been on edge. She's probably angry at me, understandable.

She is at that age.

I park the car inside the garage and take the grocery bags to the kitchen, it was a quick run so it's just juice and some snacks.

And my mind stays with Rebecca. I am worried. I am worried about her.

The next couple of years are going to be hard, all the changes, the nightmares. She sleeps less and less and has weeks of extreme exercising and poor eating.

Mornings have become a game of Russian roulette.

Some mornings she is so happy and full of energy, it's hard to help her contain it and some mornings she wakes up sobbing afraid of what she might have done the night before.

I've started to stay behind her bedroom door, just to make sure she is still there.

I started sneaking out at her age, I can't afford Rebecca doing something like I did at that age.

Hunter is playing on his Gameboy when I get to the kitchen, lost in some trashy Japanese team game.

Anthony is reading, some British fantasy author most likely.

They are sitting opposite each other on the counter, the large screen window we have in the kitchen shows the horrible view that is Malibu on a rainy summer day.

The sea looks angry, washing dirt to shore. The sand looks grey and lifeless, everything is cold and humid. I hate the beach.

If Hunter were reading or drawing like his sister, they would look like characters from one of those Edwardian novels.

-Boys.- I greet them smiling.

-Hey dad.- Anthony looks up to greet me. -Coffee?-

The moment he sees the bags I am carrying he gets up to help.