Girl Gone Woman
By: Cheshyre
Title: Girl Gone Woman (1/1)
Fandom: LAS
Pairing: None
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I don't make money off of it. I just use it to make other people happy. Suing me will only get you action figures.
Notes: Part of the Dad Universe.
Warnings: People are freakin' weird.
"Stop glaring."
"I'm not glaring."
"Yes ya are."
Squiggy sat in his chair, staring at the door, waiting for Punky to come home from her date. Lenny busied himself cleaning up the small apartment while Squiggy brooded and glared at the door.
Squiggy hadn't been exactly happy that his sixteen year old daughter wanted to date. It was just too young for his daughter. But, Punky had never been one to whine or be sneaky. She just kept at Squiggy, presenting a logical, intellectual argument every time the subject came up and eventually Squiggy had no choice but to relent.
Squiggy was definitely not happy that Punky had been out with this same boy several times now and he'd never met him. Punky always had a logical excuse as to why, but Squiggy just knew this louse was attempting to take advantage of his little girl.
Squiggy's mood was further darkened by his MS. It had been a "bad day" for three days running now. He found himself leaning heavily on his cane and his bad leg seemed to drag more. As a result, he'd been rendered practically useless in the daily routine, leaving Lenny and Punky to pick up the slack, which he hated.
He was grumpy, useless, hurting, and somewhere, some bum was probably pawing his daughter.
Squiggy made an attempt to stand up, but he just couldn't make it.
The heavy squeak of the chair springs sent Lenny rushing to his side and easing him to his feet without a word.
"Thanks," Squiggy muttered.
"You don't hafta worry, ya know," Lenny said, drifting off to the kitchen. "Punky's a smart girl. She's not gonna get in trouble."
Squiggy glowered at the door before limping into the kitchen after Lenny.
"I know how guys can be," he said darkly. "I was one once ya know. It's all they think about. He's probably trying to get her in the backseat right now."
"Squiggy!" Lenny snapped, nearly dropping the plate he was putting in the cabinet. "Don't go sayin' things like that! Punky's a good girl."
"Yeah, Punky is," Squiggy agreed, leaning heavily on his cane. "But guys ain't! And bad guys get good girls in trouble!"
"Hello!"
Both men turned at Punky's nasal greeting as she entered the apartment, dutifully locking the door behind her.
"It's about time you got home!" Squiggy snapped, hobbling out of the kitchen. "Out until all hours! Ya had me worried!"
"Dad, it's barely nine o'clock," Punky soothed as she took off her coat and hung it in the closet next to the front door.
"That's no excuse! It ain't right being out with some bum that ya haven't had the nerve to introduce me to yet!"
"I talked to Jack tonight," Punky informed him. "I asked him to dinner tomorrow night and he accepted."
"I don't want that daughter-toucher in my house!" Squiggy yelled.
"You just said you wanted to meet him!" Punky yelled back.
"WOMAN!" Squiggy roared. "Don't talk back to me! I am your father!"
He swayed slightly, balance shifting as he yelled while leaning on his cane.
"Daddy, maybe you should sit down," Punky said, rushing over to him. "Calm down a minute."
Squiggy jerked away from Punky's grasp and nearly toppled himself. Quickly finding his balance once again, he started hobbling for the hallway to his bedroom.
"Don't touch me! I don't know where ya been!"
Lenny's eyes widened in horror.
"Squiggy!"
Squiggy said nothing and disappeared as quickly as he could down the hallway.
Lenny looked at Punky, who'd dropped like a stone to the couch. Hands in her lap, eyes staring at the floor, Lenny heard her sniffle.
"Punky," Lenny said softly, sitting next to her and putting his hand on her shoulder.
She shook her head and sighed shakily.
"I'll call Jack tomorrow and tell him not to come over," Punky said with a severe tremor in her voice. "I'll tell him I can't see him anymore, too."
"No, Punky, ya don't have to do that," Lenny said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.
"Lenny," she said sharply, looking at him with red, tear stung eyes, "my dad thinks I'm a whore."
Lenny jerked at the harshness of her words.
"Punky! Don't be sayin' things like that!" he admonished. "He don't think yer a...well...he don't think yer that. He loves ya. And, ya know when he's havin' a bad day he don't think right."
Punky wiped her cheeks.
"He's just worried about ya," Lenny continued. "He doesn't know this guy. He knows yer a good girl, but he knows how guys can be. Bad guys get good girls in trouble, ya know."
"Yeah, the dumb good girls," Punky snapped, standing up so quickly it made Lenny reel. "I ain't dumb, Len. And, Jack ain't a bad guy. That's why I waited so long to bring him home. I wanted to make sure he was worth meetin' you and Dad."
Lenny smiled weakly as he got up off the couch and hugged Punky tightly.
"I know yer a smart girl. And, Squig knows it, too. I think the real trouble is yer not a girl anymore. Yer a young lady. A smart young lady. Yer growin' up real fast, Punky. Squiggy's havin' trouble dealin' with that."
"Yeah," Punky agreed faintly somewhere from Lenny's crushing embrace.
Lenny released her and kissed her on the forehead.
"Go talk to yer dad."
Squiggy heard the soft knock on the door, but he didn't answer.
Quiet creaking, hushed footsteps, and a dip in the mattress where he was lying let him know that it didn't matter.
"Daddy?"
The dead weight of his bum leg made it too hard to roll over effectively, so Squiggy settled for turning his head away from his daughter in silence.
Punky sighed.
"Dad, look at me," she said, touching his arm.
He jerked away from her and reached for his cane.
Punky grabbed it first and tossed it across the room. It landed on the floor with a clatter.
"There. Now you can't run away," she said.
"That was a dirty thing to do, Pearl," Squiggy said gloomily, looking away from her once again.
"So's callin' me names," Punky said defiantly.
Squiggy turned his head so fast to look at his daughter that he thought he gave himself whiplash.
"I didn't call ya names," he defended. "Pearl's the name on yer birth certificate!"
"In the other room you implied 'em. You all but said I was a whore."
Squiggy jerked his hand up making Punky sit back quickly.
"Don't you talk like that!" Squiggy snapped, pointing a finger at her. "I raised you better than that. You ain't nothin' like that. What would your mother think if she heard you use language like that?"
"Well, I would imagine she wouldn't care seein' how she ran out on us in the first place," Punky said sarcastically.
Squiggy dropped his hand, pained by the truth.
"I'm sorry, Daddy," Punky said quickly. "This wasn't supposed to turn into such a slug fest."
A moment of silence passed between them. Squiggy stared at Punky while Punky stared at the bed, fingering the frayed spread.
"Look, Dad," she said finally, "I know ya love me and I know ya worry about me. But, ya gotta know that you don't have to worry about me so much. At least not about this. You and Lenny both have raised me real well. I know I can come to you about anything. I know the difference between right and wrong. And, I know how to take care of myself."
"I know ya do," Squiggy said. "But this is just happenin' so fast. Wearin' make-up, datin'...next thing I know you'll be...havin'...vo dee oh doe."
"I'll be what?" Punky asked, then smiled. "Dad, you can say sex."
"Not to you, I can't!" Squiggy exclaimed, pulling a pillow over his face.
Punky laughed and pulled it away.
"Dad, it's okay," she assured him. "You taught me to wait until I was married and that's what I'm gonna do."
Squiggy sighed in relief.
"I'm sorry I haven't brought Jack around," she continued. "I'm sorry if that hurt your feelings. But, like I told Lenny, I just wanted to make sure he was good enough to meet ya first."
"Good enough to meet me?" Squiggy asked in disbelief.
"Well, yeah. You're my dad. You and Lenny are who the guys I date have to measure up to." Squiggy winced. "And, lemme tell ya...a lot of them don't even come close."
Squiggy smiled and pulled his daughter down for a hug. When they broke apart, they were both wiping their eyes and noses.
"It's getting late," Punky observed as she stood up. "I'll get your last pill."
As she left the room, Lenny walked in.
He picked up Squiggy's discarded cane and set it by Squiggy's bed.
Smiling down on his relieved best friend, he said, "I told ya she was a good girl."
Waterworks
Very Gently