Under the Little Black Hoodie

Dad

There was a lot of fighting over the past few nights. Dannie could hear her mother and father arguing about lettingPaisleygetting the car, or Dannie getting to go to her concert. And, one night, Dannie decided she would get a little taste of what they were saying.

            “Robert, you need to stop just givingPaisleywhat she wants.”

            “I don’t see why you’re making such a big deal out of this, Lily. She’s a teenager. She’s going to want things.”

            “Oh? Well, Dannie’s a teenager, and you don’t see her wanting things.”

            “That’s because Danielle spends all the time she has in her room, listening to music that everybody’s afraid of.”

            “Have you even listened to it?! I picked her up from school one day, and I saw her listening to her iPod. I asked her to plug it in so I could listen with her. At first, I was like you, Robert; I didn’t know why she likes it. Then she explained the lyrics to me, and I understood why the music the way it is. That ‘music that everybody’s afraid of’ is real. Those lyrics are real emotions coming from real people. Yeah, the music can be loud, and sometimes, there’s some screaming, but it’s real, Robert. Why can’t you just accept that our daughter is different?”

            He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it back up.

            “You don’t need to answer, Rob. I already know what you’re going to say.” He looked at her. “You’re going to say that you’re afraid of your own daughter because she is different thanPaisley. She’s not what you would expect teenage girls to be like. Dannie’s not girly, or frilly, and she doesn’t wear a lot of colors, but that’s who she is. You need to accept that she is the way she is, that she can’t change it, and she is your daughter. Learn to accept her for who she is.”

            Lily started to turn around, so Dannie ran back to her room. Tears began to roll down her face, but no whimpering came out, like when normal people cry. She did her best to be silent. She didn’t know why she was crying, though. Was it because she was happy that her mother actually thought about her, and cared for her, and understood at least part of her? Or was it because she knew that her own father was scared of her?

The next morning, Dannie’s father didn’t come down for breakfast. Her mother said that it was because he had to start going into work earlier, but Dannie knew that he was because he couldn’t stand to look at her.

            Nobody at school could, either. It was like there was some hidden secret, that everybody but she knew about. Instead of walking closer and hurling insults at her, the student body backed away, and made room for her, as she walked down the halls. The only thing that told her it wasn’t a dream, were all of the whispers. Dannie’s instincts told her that they weren’t the usual whispers that were being said.

            “Danielle Parks to the principal’s office, please.” Again? What was up with everybody, today?

            Dannie sat in the same beige chair, in the same beige room. Dannie’s hands were shaking a bit, as to say that she was nervous for the mystery words that were about to come out of Mr. Olive’s mouth. Mr. Olive, on the other hand, looked like he was about to fall over, and have a panic attack or something.

            “Miss Parks, it has come to my attention that there have been some rumors going around. Is this true?”

            “I haven’t heard any. I just got here, sir. My sister would be the one to know, though. I don’t see why you’re not asking her.”

            “Well, the rumors aren’t about her. I guess I’ll have to be the one to tell you the rumors.” Dannie’s face dropped as she heard what supposedly happened. “You’re mother said she’d be by to pick you up, soon.”

            “Okay…”

            In the middle of English, there was a call to the classroom. Dannie turned in her story, and walked out of the door. Everything moved in a haze. She stalked down the hallway, just out of it. Everything that wasn’t right in front of her was blurred, and she had to take a hard blink, just to realize that she was outside already. There was no way that this could have happened over night. But, then again, Dannie guessed that it must have. Unfortunately, now she didn’t have a father.

A few days had passed since she learned about what happened. Dannie just sat in her room, like normal. Fortunately for her,Paisleywasn’t a senior and school was out. On the other hand, there was no school to occupy her. There was nothing to take her mind off of everything that had happened. All Dannie could do was read, and even that couldn’t keep her mind busy forever.