Disclaimer: I do not own The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.

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"Idiot!"

The young, yellow-haired girl kicked furiously at the ground as she went.

"Idiot, Idiot, Idiot!"

"What's wrong, Mandy?

Mandy stopped kicking the sidewalk and looked up. Billy was standing in front of her.

"Oh. Billy."

"Are you mad at yourself, Mandy?" the large-nosed boy put a grubby hand on her shoulder.

"Not at myself. At him!" she gave the gravely sidewalk a good whack with her black shoe. "And get your paws off me."

"Who's 'him'?"

She let out a huff.

"My stupid dad. I can't stand him and his messed-up... idiot self!"

"What happened?" Billy asked.

"We got in another stupid fight today. I caught him whining to Mom about, 'Oh, why doesn't she respect us? She's our daughter!'. So I stepped in and told him to shut up and stop fussing, and then we argued, and then he started crying at me!"

She made a noise of disgust.

"Grown men aren't supposed to cry," she said. "It's despicable."

"Well...," Billy said, "why don't you show him respect?"

"What?"

"I mean, you know," Billy began to twiddle his thumbs. "He is your dad..."

For a minute, Mandy looked like she was going to hit him for even suggesting she do that. Then, she calmed down and sighed.

"Listen, Billy," she said. "There's more to being respected than just being old. You have to be wise, too. Wisdom is like being mentally old, and it doesn't go by time. Being physically old, like my father, gets you instant respect from some people. But the respect you get for being mentally old is the kind you have to earn. To work for."

She and Billy began to walk down the sidewalk together.

"Now," said Mandy. "My dad, mentally, is nothing but a big, fat baby. Babies are ignorant and love to cry. Babies always need someone to manage their lives for them. If there's a challenge, babies don't know what to do, so they wait for someone to carry them through it. When someone is as old as my dad is, there's no reason why they should still act like that. You're asking me why I don't respect him, Billy? Well, I just don't give respect to a baby that age."

They walked to Billy's house and sat down next to each other on the front step.

"Mandy," Billy said, finally. "How can you talk so badly about someone you love?"

Mandy grimaced. "I don't love him."

"What...?" Billy looked stunned. "What do you mean?"

"I hate his guts," she said simply. "That's all. He's stupid, and he's a coward, and he wouldn't know authority if it smashed a hole in his dumb head."

Now she seemed to be thinking about something. In an almost hesitant way, she leaned closer to him.

"I'll tell you a secret, though," she whispered. "He's not my real father."

Billy's eyes widened. "He's not?"

"Nope. I found out when I was very little. My real dad and my mom got divorced when I was still too young to remember, and he moved five states away. But I still found out. His name is John Corin."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and you know what else?" she said. She seemed so excited just talking about it. "I've been writing him letters. For years, now. I... I don't know where he lives, yet, but I'm gonna find out. And when I do, I'm gonna send all my letters to him!"

Her eyes lit up, almost like she was happy. Really happy.

"Someday, I'm gonna meet him. Then, I can get away from this messed-up family for good. I'll move to where he is and forget all about my life here."

Billy looked sad. "Aww. Will you come back for visits?"

"Well, okay. Sometimes. But I'm never talking to my mom and dad again as soon as I get away from them."

She leaned back on the porch step.

"Let's see how those two babies do when they've got no one to cry at but each other."