Mr. Sir took a handful of sunflower seeds out of the burlap sack and popped them into his mouth. He chewed them slowly, sitting back in his chair with his hands resting on his stomach. The radio was playing Miss Ashley's favourite country station and she was moving her head side to side, silently mouthing the words to the song that was sounding out through the speaker. She did this all through the chorus, then put her hands up and waved them around in a rhythmic motion when the acoustic solo came on. Her father watched with a warm expression.
"You've loved this song since you were a little girl," he said. His daughter smiled a sweet smile at him, remembering her early childhood. "It came out before you were even born, you know."
She nodded, trying her best not to ignore him, although she just wanted to listen to the music without interruption. Mr. Sir caught on and waited until the song had finished to speak again.
"It was your mother's favourite, too," he claimed.
Miss Ashley's eyes glinted when she heard him mention her mother. It was true, what she had told Squid; he didn't talk about her often. When he did however, she was all ears. She loved hearing his stories about their past relationship. The way he put it made it sound so perfect, that she had to wonder how it ever ended.
"Really?" she asked, leaning forward and resting her chin on her hands.
Her father nodded. "I remember how she used to dance around the kitchen whenever it came on. She'd stand on the table and twirl around, kick her legs and all."
Miss Ashley giggled, picturing what he had described in her mind. Mr. Sir smirked.
"You have her laugh," he said. "She was always laughing at something."
"Were you happy with her?" Miss Ashley asked him, pleasantly gazing at his face. It was times like these that she loved him the most.
"I was," he replied.
"And she wasn't?" she asked, beginning to feel confused.
She had never bothered to ask what had happened between her parents before, as she thought she might upset her father by forcing him to talk about it, and that was the last thing she wanted. Now though, she had become far too curious and she didn't see any harm in it anymore. She was getting too old not to know.
"Your mother was a free spirit. She got bored easily," he explained. "She was always looking for danger. That's how she ended up with a criminal like me. She was happy at first, I think, but after a couple years, it was time for her to move on."
"I was already born then, right?"
The more Miss Ashley learned about her, the more intrigued she became.
"Yeah, we had you during the first year of being together. She was holding out longer because of you. She loved you, but she loved her freedom more. She told me she was leaving one morning and by that same afternoon, she was gone."
Miss Ashley wasn't as shocked, or sad as she had expected to be. "Why didn't you leave me?"
Mr. Sir's eyes widened, like abandoning his daughter was the craziest thing he had ever heard. "Why would I? You were my baby girl. I never planned on having kids, but when you came along I never even dared to go in another room without bringing you with me. Even if your mother had wanted to take you wherever she went, I don't think I could've let her."
A huge smile grew on Miss Ashley's face. She had never heard her father say anything like that before. He was always endearing towards her, but the endearment usually came with a feeling of overpowerment. His words made her heart stop beating temporarily and she didn't quite know how to react.
"That's why I raised you to be more grounded," Mr. Sir continued. "You don't wanna be like your mother. Life ain't all fun and games like she thinks it is. I know this camp ain't the best home for a girl, but you turned out pretty good so far. And I don't expect you to stay here forever - when I die you can go find yourself a man and live however you want to. But don't ever forget; I was the first man to ever take care of you."
Miss Ashley chuckled lovingly at her father. Then she looked at him with the kindest eyes he had ever seen.
"I'll never forget that, daddy."
The boys turned around, as they could hear the grumble of the water truck's rusty engine getting closer. They wiped the sweat off their foreheads as they walked towards it. They felt like it should have been the end of the day, because they were already exhausted, but it was only lunchtime. Their high energy had long disappeared. Twitch tapped Squid on the back just as they were reaching where Mr. Sir had parked the truck. He nodded in the truck's direction, then winked at him, referring to the conversation the group had had the day before. Squid took the toothpick he always carried out of his pocket and put it in his mouth. He began twirling it around with his tongue.
"You keep your mouth shut," he told him, grinning.
It was necessary to warn Twitch, because he was always saying things that he shouldn't have been, unable to keep quiet for too long.
They got in line with the others and watched Miss Ashley step out of the truck. She put her hand on top of her hat and looked up at the sun, then turned her gaze straight to Squid. She smiled adorably, being in an especially good mood and he did one back. She ran her hand along the side of the vehicle as she made her way around to the other side and waited patiently for the boys to get fresh water before collecting their food. X-ray was first as usual. He said his thanks, then quickly went to eat, as did the others.
When Squid's turn came to let Mr. Sir fill his canteen, he remembered what Miss Ashley had told him when they were talking in the tent. He thought about the respect it had made him feel for him when he first found out about his past with his daughter and decided to apologize for his recent behaviour. He still resented the man, but he thought apologizing was the right thing to do. He had criticized the way he disciplined Miss Ashley, but now all he could think about him was that he was a better father than his own. He handed him the plastic bottle.
"Uh, Mr. Sir," he began.
The man turned around and glared at him, thinking he was going to cause more trouble. "What now, boy?"
"About the other day," Squid said nervously. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry."
Mr. Sir looked at him strangely, thinking his apology wasn't sincere. "Ashley, did you put him up to this?" he called out to his daughter.
Miss Ashley walked up to them."I didn't say nothing," she told him. "What are you going on about?"
Mr. Sir turned back to Squid without bothering to answer her. "You're sorry?"
Squid nodded. "I shouldn't've badmouthed the way you chose to punish Miss Ashley. I think. . . I think you're a pretty good dad."
Mr. Sir looked at his daughter with a funny expression and she smiled at him.
"Well then, no harm done," he said to Squid.
He proceeded to fill his canteen, then gave it back to him and nodded at Caveman, who was next in line, to come forward. He knew the polite thing to do would be to apologise to Squid for pushing him down a hole that day, but he felt too big a sense of entitlement to do that. Squid took his lunch from Miss Ashley.
"You didn't have to do that, you know," she said to him.
"Nah, I meant it," he replied.
He looked at her glowing green eyes that were glittering in the sunlight, feeling the impulse to kiss her again, but he knew it would be a stupid thing to do in the presence of everyone else.
"Are the bruises gone now?" she asked, referring to the marks her father had inflicted on him.
"Yeah, I think so," he answered. He touched her face lightly without thinking. Luckily, Mr. Sir didn't notice. "I'm glad to see yours have disappeared."
The swelling of Miss Ashley's face had gone down by now and it was no longer black and blue. She smiled at the feeling of his skin on hers. "Yeah," she said in a sweet, shy tone. She glanced at Caveman, who was watching them as he waited for his food. "You better go eat while you have the chance."
Squid nodded as a goodbye, then went to sit down to eat. Zigzag and X-ray had been waiting for him to join them.
"Took you long enough," scoffed X-ray.
Squid shook his head. He dismissed his friend's comment and started on his lunch.
Beside the truck, Miss Ashley gave Caveman his snacks, then put her finger to her lips and winked at him, knowing he had seen what Squid had done. He saluted her, letting her know he wouldn't tell and made his way back to his hole.