Tally Dukes Hi there I'm Tally Dukes and I live with my dad Fred Dukes and his good friend John Wraith. They are both mutants;John is a teleporter while Fred is invincible well he says he is and Fred's my dad. -Flashback- "Fred developed a bit of a eating disorder," explains John. "What do you mean?" I ask politely. "Well he um put on some weight. Guess we all have our ways of copping," answers John. "How much weight?" "You'll see," says John as we walk to a boxing ring. When we get there I see a large Fred boxing a much smaller boxer. The boxer was punching Fred in his big jiggly belly. Fred is a big guy as in he's hugely over weight, with big fat arms, huge legs and butt and large amounts of fat on his back and sides, and a big round belly. John always says to Fred "Come on Fred move, you wanna get back in tah shape yah gotta move." When I first met Fred and John he(Fred) wasn't this much over weight (by the way I have anorexia nervosa which is an eating disorder oh and Fred and John know about it and I also cut my arms some times but Fred and John don't know in fact nobody knows.) you see Fred used to be a pretty muscular guy I mean he had large biceps and triceps and had a six pack of muscle that made up his abs. -flashback- "So who's this new girl that's coming" said a very excited Wade Wilson. "Her name is Tally Nicole Tanker." Said Colonel William Stryker. "Pretty name." Said a shy Chris Bradley. "Says here she can fly." Says John Wraith while reading Tally's file. "Wait fly dose that mean she can fly a plane?" Laughs Wade. "No it means that I have wings!" Screams a very annoyed tough girl's voice from behind Wade. Everyone in the room turns to see a girl around 10 years old stand with her hands on her hips and a grim look on her face. -end of flashback- So any way Fred's a nice guy even though he's huge. "Tally!" Yelled a loud voice belonging to Fred. "Coming" I yelled back happily. I walked out of my room, down the stairs to the boxing ring and found My dad and John waiting for me. My dad says,"time to go to school." "Ehh. But," I say madly. "You'll do fine," Says John putting a hand on my shoulder. "Okay I'll go." I say all defeated. My dad gives me a hug and says "have fun at school." As I walked out the door. Walking to school I thought about my dad and how low his self- esteem is. In my English class we had to write essays about our parents. We had to tell them orally showing a picture. I stand up at the front of the class and I showed the class a picture of my dad. I clear my throat and say "My dad is a tough guy most of the time but can be a softy sometimes." One of the boys in the back said, "what's his name?" "Fredrick or Fred," I reply shyly. "Fred's not a very tough name."says this boy named Tony. "He looks like he could stand to lose a few pounds," says Tony's friend Lukas. "Yeah a few hundred," says Tony to get every on to laugh including the mean, popular girls in the class. "Tony thats not very polite. Please continue Tally",the teacher Miss Rowens scolds him. "Anyway he's a great dad, even though he is a little overprotective but I guess that's the way dads should be," I finish gently. Later during lunch these girls from my English class came up to me and one of them said "Well if it isn't Tally the girl with the big, fat dad." I glare at her and say "ha,ha very funny, Maggie." "Oh she's mad that we called her daddy fat," says another one of the girls. "Who cares that my dad's a little overweight anyways Carly," I say very annoyed. "Why would anyone want a fat dad," replies Carly. "Your just jealous because you don't have a strong dad like I do," I loudly say. "Your dad's too fat to be strong," says Maggie. "Then how come my dad has beaten all the other boxers he's fought," I say matter of factly with my arms crossed over my chest. "Well your dad has never fought my dad in the ring," says Maggie poking me on my right shoulder. I sit at a lunch table speechless as the bell rings and I go to class. At the end of the day I calmly walk up to my dad and John. I glance back to see the mean girls from before snickering as I hug my dad tightly around his belly. "Oh hey Tally is something wrong," says my dad with concern. "No, why," I say a little awkward. "Well because your hugging me a little too tightly," he says nicely. "Oh. I'm sorry dad," I say shyly. "You sure your okay," John questions me. "Yeah I'm sure I'm okay," I lie. I'm really not okay but I can't tell my dad or John because they might make it worse. "Eh r okay," says my dad and John glancing at each other. "I'm fine can we just go now please," I say pleadingly to my dad. He looks into my blue eyes and says "Okay we can go." Both my dad and John look at me and I say "what," a little annoyed. "Nothing," they both say at the same time. When we get home; I go into my room and finish my homework before dinner. After I finish the last of my homework my dad knocks on my bedroom door. "Come in," I yell tiredly. He opens the door and sits on my bed with a creak after closing the door. "John and I were talking about how you acted earlier and were concerned that maybe something happened at school today," he says shakily but with concern. "School was fine," I lie a little fast. "Come on Tally what's going on," he questions with kindness. "Nothing. I just I'm just a little tired today that's all," I snap back at him. He looks at me all dumbfounded and says "Tally are you being bullied because if yah are, you know I can do something about it?" He places a hand on his huge chest as I say "I ah I." He looks at me and says "you are actually being bullied." "I didn't say I was," I defend myself loudly. He crosses his arms over his chest and staring me in the eyes his says,"Tell me are you being bullied?" "Why should I tell you it's not like you understand," I yell standing up and I step in front of him. He slowly brings his arms off his chest and says "because I know what it's like to be bullied and I don't want you to be big and fat like me." "Okay but I'm not getting bullied about myself I'm getting bullied about you being my dad," I say starting to cry. "Come here Tally," he says patting the spot on the bed next to him. So I sit down next to him and he places his large arm around me. He says "what do you mean?" "What I mean is they say that I'll turn out just like you," I say sadly. He squeezes me up against his side with his arm and says "listen to me you're not going to turn out or be the exact same size as me, besides you have your mom's brains." "Really," I question with a smile. "Really. Now come on its time for dinner," he says standing up. "Ugh. Okay," I say looking at his belly. "Oh and one more thing," he says walking to the door but turns around to look back at me. I look at him and ask "yeah." "Give your daddy a big hug," he says putting his arms out. "Okay dad," I say walking up to him and tightly squeezing his sides. "That's my girl," he says raping his huge arms around me. "I love you dad," I say snuggling up against his giant chest. "I love you too Tally," he says rubbing my back with his hands. Soon he walks out the door to the kitchen with me following. During dinner I just move me food around my plate with the fork. My dad watches me play with my food and says, "Come on Tally eat your food don't play with it." "I ate some," I say reaching for my glass of water. As I take a sip John says, "yeah one tiny bite." I ask", may I be excused?" "Only after you eat a few more bites," my dad says leaning back in his chair crossing his arms over his chest. "Okay fine I'll eat some more," I say taking two more bites. "There now you can go do whatever you want," says John waving a hand towards me. "Yeah. Thank you," I say running off to go puke the food back up and go for a jog around the block. Fred's Point of View(POV) "You know John I think Tally may need to see a doctor sometime soon," I say standing up. "Yeah you're right she does and maybe you too Fred," John says walking past me patting me on the shoulder. "Your just saying that because of my size," I say with a sort of laugh. "I wasn't talking about your weight," John says crossing his arms over his chest. "Yes you were," I say. "No I wasn't. I was talking about maybe getting evaluation for a mental issue," John says rolling his eyes as he turns around and go's to his room. "Hm," I say going to the living room. Sitting down on the couch in front of the TV. Soon I fell asleep with the TV still on. Tally's POV I walk back home and I unlock the door and walk in. I walk by the living room and see my dad laying on the couch with his belly sticking up. His shirt wasn't covering his belly. He scratched his belly with his hand. I smile and quietly walk up to him and I pull his shirt down to cover his belly mostly. I walk to the hall closet and I take a spare blanket out and I lay it over my dad. I give my dad a kiss on his left cheek and turn of the TV. Then I walk up the stairs to my bedroom. The next morning I wake up in a better mood, I put on a red t-shirt that says junior boxing with a pair of boxing gloves as a logo on it, and a pair of black skinny jeans and my good old combat boots, I'm also wearing a black hoodie(unzipped). I walk downstairs for breakfast. Walking towards the kitchen I hear my dad and John talking. I walk in the kitchen and I hug my dad around his neck saying,"good morning daddy." "Hey, sweet pea," my dad says pulling me against his large belly. He lets me go sit in the chair next to him as I ask, "Did you sleep well dad?" "Yeah I did," my dad says sighing happily. "Good. What about you John did you sleep well?" John yawns and says,"who me? Yeah," I look at him with concern and I ask"John you feeling alright?" He rolls his eyes a little and sighs taking a deep breath and saying, "I haven't been getting sleep lately because I have this fear that I might have teleported some where while I was sleeping and wake up there." I stand up and give him a hug as I say,"it'll be okay." He hugs me back and says, "Thanks Tally I needed that." "Your welcome. And are you sure you're gonna be okay," I say stepping back from him. "I'm sure," he says nodding his head. Okay. Anyways I got to go to school. Bye dad. Bye John," I say standing up and walking towards the front door. I walk out the door and I walk to school. At school those mean girls are waiting for me. The one girl Maggie who's the leader of the girls says,"well if it isn't Tally. How much dose your dad eat to get to the weight he is?" I don't answer them instead I try to walk away from the girls, but they block my path. "We weren't finished with you yet," says Carly grabbing my sleeve. "Humph. But I gotta go to class," I say jerking my arm to get away from Carly's grip. Of course I could probably get away with my brute strength(get it from my dad) but I didn't want to hurt her too badly. "Oh look everyone Tally Dukes is such a wimp. She can't even get away from Carly," says Maggie in a manner of speaking that suggested that Carly wasn't as strong as her. Carly slams me into the lockers and punches me in the face making a black eye form and then as I slide down towards the ground she kicks me in the stomach. I walk to class in pain. The science teacher Mr. Leeks asks me, "Tally what happened to your eye?" "Oh I just...um..tripped and feel into the lockers," I say glancing at Maggie and the other popular girls. "Oh..Kay," he says looking all dumfounded. I walk to lunch a little tired and I don't even bother eating. I walk into the cafeteria and sit at a table by myself in the corner drawing in my sketchbook. I hear a girly squeal and I glance up to see Tony and Maggie kissing each other. I say to myself,"have fun getting an SDT or pregnant." I walk home feeling a little weak and frail. I walk in the door to see my dad sitting on the couch watching TV. He looks up and says, "Hey sweetie. How was school?" "It was fine," I say sitting down next to him. He looks down at me and sees my eye and says,"Tally what happened to your eye?" "I tripped and fell into the lockers," I say shrugging my shoulders. He looks down at his belly and places a hand on it saying, "Hmm. Are you sure someone didn't hurt you?" I roll my eyes and stand up abruptly and stand in front of my dad to say,"why on earth would you think that?" "Hey sweetie calm down I was just asking," he says standing up with a huff. John walks in the room and says,"what's going on in here and Tally are you okay?" I look at John and I yell,"I'm fine don't worry about me!" "I'm sorry Tally but it's a little hard to do that when you don't eat much,you exercise all lot of the time,and you have a black eye Tally, a black eye. And don't tell me you fell into the lockers because it's easy to tell that someone punched you," John says waving his hands towards me. I put my hands on my hips and I yell,"you're treating me like I'm on trial or like I'm four!" "Tally please just listen to what we're saying," John says in a calming tone. I obviously don't listen because I storm out of the room to the stairs. Halfway up the stairs I hear my dad say,"Tally come on we please just talk?" I stomp up the rest of the stairs towards my room and I hear my dad say,"Tally. Whoa... Hmm." Fred's POV "Well that didn't go well," John says taking a deep breath. I huff and say,"you're telling me. She was this close from socking you in the jaw." "Yeah," he says sitting down on the couch. I sit down next to him and with a sigh I say,"you know I worry about her. I mean, I've been eating a little more to cope." "I worry about her too and I bet she worries about you too Fred," John says. "Maybe that's why she's not eating much," I say. "Eh maybe, but I think it could also be because she might be getting bullied," he says shrugging his shoulders. "Hmm you're probably right about her be bullied because you and I both know that she didn't full in the lockers," I say rubbing my belly with one hand. "Yeah." "John what's up?" "I don't know maybe she could have fell in the lockers but it looks like she got hit straight on in the eye to get that black eye." "Isn't that a tall tail sign that someone punched?" "Yeah yes it is and that means she may have been beat up." I stand up abruptly with my arms in the air to say, "I'm gonna pound who ever did this to her!" "Easy Fred calm down. We don't know who did this to her. I guess maybe this is why she doesn't want to tell us," John says pulling my arms down to place a hand on my blubbery left shoulder. "Why's that?" "Fred I think you might make it worse." "Hmm do you think that the girls from before that teased her about having a dad like me?" "It could be but we'll never get it out of her." "I could try talking to her if you want.I mean maybe she needs a break from talking to you," says John patting my shoulder. "It's worth a shot," I say slumping back on the couch. Tally's POV I walk to my room and take a small razor blade from my dresser drawler and I cut a little on my upper arm. I put the blade back in the top drawler just as someone knocks on my door. I yell,"who is it?" "It's John," John says with a slight sigh. "What do you want?" "I just want to talk." I don't say a word so he says, "Tally come on I'm not mad at you I just want to talk to you." I sigh and say,"you can come in if you want." He opens the door and sits on my bed and says,"look Tally I know you might not want to tell Fred what's going on at school,but you can't keep it bottled up inside." "But I," I say a little shocked. "Tally don't be like that." "Humph." "Tally why aren't you tell us what happened at school. I mean who are you trying to protect?" "I'm just scared. Alright." "Scared of what?" "It's just these mean girls." "What did they do to you?" "They stopped me as I was walking into school and one of the girls named Maggie asked me how much my dad ate to get to the size he is. I tried to walk away but another one of the girls named Carly grabbed my arm. I try to get away from her but I was going to hurt her bad to get away so I had to let she punched me in the eye and as I was falling down she kicked me in the stomach." "Why couldn't you tell Fred?" "Because I knew he would go after them and those girls would make fun of his size." "Oh and bet if that happened he'd get upset and pound them to a pulp." "Yeah and it might make him eat a little more." "Hm I see but you still have to tell him though." "I know but I'm still scared." "Really your scared to talk to Fred." "A little." "But you give him hugs." "I know but I'm scared he might get mad at me." "Who. you, he loves you." "Hm." "And that's why it pains him to see you not eat and get hurt by other people." "I still find it hard." "Tally come on we'll go and have a talk with Fred together," John says standing up and waving his hand for me to follow him. I follow hesitantly down the stairs to the living room. My dad stands up and puts his arms out. I walk up to him and I put my arms around him saying,"I'm sorry for getting so mad at you. Dad." He squeezes me against his huge belly and chest saying,"it's okay sweetie." "Ow," I wince. My dad looks down at me and say,"Tally are you okay?" I think for a second and I say,"of course I am." "Tally. Tell him what happened at school," John says tilting his head and glaring at me. I yell glaring at John and yell,"No!" John looks at me and asks"Tally what are you afraid of?" I look down at the floor as my dad says,"Tally you know you can tell me anything." "I know," I say looking up for a second and then putting my gaze back to the floor. "Tally just tell me what happened. I promise I won't get mad," my dad says putting his hands on my shoulders. "I was walking in to school and this girls stopped me and one of them her name was Maggie and she asked me how much you ate to get to the size you are. I tried to walk away but another one of the girls her name was Carly she grabbed my arm and said that they weren't finished with me. I know I would hurt her bad if I fought out of her grip so I had to let her punch me in the eye. As I was sliding to the ground she kicked me in the stomach and walked away," I say starting to cry. My dad raps his arms around me and pulls me close to his large chest saying,"Come here sweet pea." He gently squeezes me which makes me wince a little. He hears me hiss in pain and says,"I'm sorry sweetie and don't worry I'll do something about the bulling." I look at his belly and say,"Dad no there's nothing you can do." "Tally those girls hurt you," John says with concern. "Which means we should probably tell the school," My dad says taking a step away from me and placing a hand on his large chest. "But that'll make it worse," I say slumping down onto the couch. "Tally listen to me if it dose make it worse then come and tell me right away okay," my dad says placing two hands on my shoulders. "But I don't want you to go after them," I say looking up into his blue eyes. He looks down at me and says,"why not." "Because those girls will end poking you in the stomach saying look at Tally's dad's big belly or they might say look how fat he is," I say shrugging off his hands and hug him tightly around his belly starting to cry. He looks down at me all confused and he asks,"Tally why are worried about that?" "Because it will ruin your self-esteem and you will end up hurting them and you might get locked up and I won't have you to comfort me when I'm scared or sad," I say crying into his chest. "But we still should do something about it. I mean bulling is wrong and we can't let those girls get away with it," says John slapping the back of one of his hands against the palm of the other. "Tally it'll be okay," my dad says pulling me up against him. "I need you dad," I say crying into his chest. "I'm right here sweetie," my dad says placing a hand on the back of my head. "Tally we won't tell the school now but if it gets worse you have to tell me or Fred okay," John says putting his hand out with his palm down and fingers spread apart. "John's right Tally," my dad says smoothing my hair. I sigh and say, "Okay I will. Can I go to bed now?" "Yes you can," John says sighing. "Thank you," I say turning to walk out of the room. "Good night sweet heart," my dad says gently placing his right hand on my back. "Night dad, night John," I say waving at them and walking to my room. I walk through my door and I change into black sweat pants with two bright pink stripes down the sides. I put on a light grey shirt of my dad's that he gave me,course it's a really kind of big on me,with a black long-sleeve underneath. I slide into my bed under the nice warm covers and I fall asleep. I wake up to a beautiful Saturday morning. I slip on a pair of black and hot pink tennis shoes. I walk downstairs to the kitchen with my diary.I got up kind of early so my dad and John weren't up yet. I get a glass with my name in bold colorful letters around the sides. I walk to to the water dispenser on the fridge and pore water into my glass. I pull out a chair and sit down and open my diary. I hear my dad's heavy creaks on the stairs as I write the date on the page. My dad walks into the kitchen yawning and stretching his huge arms into the air with his shirt coming up a little. "Good morning dad," I say stopping my pencil from moving. He walks to the table and sits adjacent from me to say,"Good morning sweetheart. Have you eaten anything yet today?" "Yeah I had an apple," I lie standing up and putting my glass on the counter next to the sink. I hear a voice yell from the hall say,"really Tally you really ate an apple." John walks in the kitchen with his arms crossed and glaring at me. I look at him and ask,"what?" "I think your lying. you really didn't eat anything you just drank water," he says putting his hands on the back of the chair opposite the one I was sitting in. "Tally, how could you...,," my dad says leaning back in his chair. "How could I what," I ask putting my hands on my hips. "Lie to your father," John says with a stern look on his face. "I... You know what I'm outa here," I yell running out of the kitchen and back up to my room. John's POV I slump into the chair that I had my hands on the back of and ask,"What's her problem with eating?" "I don't know John," says Fred looking down at the table. I look at Fred it looked like he was going to start crying so I say,"Fred you okay?" "I don't want to lose her," he says getting misty eyes.
