Ultra-Clutch

Penny Pingleton looked down at the dirty streets of Baltimore as she walked, hand in hand with Seaweed J. Stubbs. It wasn't that she was ashamed of her new boyfriend; on the contrary, she was excited to be dating him—it was just that if her mother caught them…Penny didn't even want to think about that.

"What's the matter?" Seaweed asked, staring at Penny's nervous expression.

Penny shook her head. "Nothing. It's just…my mother. She's…"

"Yeah, I know," he said, trailing off. "Listen; if you wanna come down to my mom's house, we're havin' a party and everything for Inez, so—"

"No, it's okay," Penny interrupted. "I have to face my mom sometime…and if I stay out any later, she'll break out the Psalms record."

Seaweed gave her a puzzled look, and Penny rolled her eyes.

"Don't ask," she said, and Seaweed grinned.

"Wasn't going to," Seaweed answered. When they turned the corner and neared her house, Penny let go of Seaweed's hand.

"It's…probably for the best she doesn't know right now," she explained, and although Seaweed looked hurt, he said, "Yeah, I guess so."

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" she asked, and Seaweed nodded.

"You're sure you don't want to come down to the party?" Seaweed checked, staring at her front door. Penny could hear her mom ranting, and a few neighbors had gathered on the sidewalk to see what the commotion was about.

Penny nodded. "Yes, I think I'm in enough trouble already," she said, starting to walk towards her front steps. After a few moments, she froze.

"Seaweed?" she called. He turned around mid-step.

"Yeah, baby?" he said smoothly, straightening out his sweater. He was hoping she would change her mind and come with him.

"You don't think my mom saw the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant on TV, do you?"

Seaweed shook his head. "Nah, I wouldn't worry about it."

"Okay," Penny breathed, and looked visibly relieved. "Thanks. Good night!"

He nodded, and turned to walk home. Penny sighed, walked up to her door, and turned the doorknob.

…

"And that scoundrel! You kissed him on TV! I don't want to hear another peep out of you, do you understand?"

Penny was tied down to her mattress for the second time that night. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, mother."

"Don't take that tone with me," Prudy said tersely, and she shut Penny's bedroom door behind her.

Penny glared after her for a few moments, and then turned her attention onto the phonograph on her end table, which was currently belting some prayers of forgiveness and mercy.

"I wish Seaweed were here to save me," she whispered, and hoping that somehow he would sense she was trapped and come to rescue her.

But after an hour of waiting, Penny finally realized that wasn't going to happen. She was beginning to grow tired, but she couldn't sleep due to the jump rope cutting into her arm. And she knew she couldn't just wriggle herself free; her mother was an experienced discipliner, and had learned to tie her knots so tightly that even a master knots-man would be impressed.

Penny turned to face the window and eyed everyone outside with envy. She hoped maybe someone would see her tied to her bed and ring the doorbell, or something. But she realized with a sigh that she was used to this; it wasn't so bad. Her mom usually only did this for two or three hours, but that was before. Penny's mother had seen the pageant, and she was outraged to find that her daughter was, as Penny put it, a 'checkerboard chick'.

She heard footsteps outside of her door and braced herself for another round of her mother's tirades. The door opened slowly, and Penny looked down at the floor. But instead of seeing her mother's loafers, she saw a pair of cherry red bowling shoes.

"Seaweed!" she exclaimed, and then mentally scolded herself for being so loud. Seaweed walked over to her.

"Hey, baby," he said smoothly, apparently unfazed by the sight of his girlfriend tied to her bed.

Penny grinned. "Seaweed," she whispered, "you shouldn't have come here! My mom will probably be coming in to check on me in a few minutes."

Seaweed just shook his head. "Hey, baby. I'm your knight in shinin' armor, and all that. Just let me untie you and we'll go ridin' off into the sunset on my white horse." He nodded his head in the direction of his beat-up car.

Penny laughed softly as Seaweed pulled out his switchblade. "You know, it's kinda funny. I've never used this thing before in all the years I lived in the ghetto, and now that I'm hangin' around a bunch of white people, I've already pulled this baby out more times than I can count."

Penny stayed silent for a few moments and scowled.

"Is something wrong?" Seaweed asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Penny's eyes widened and she slammed her hand over Seaweed's mouth.

"Mmph?" he mumbled against her palm, and she sent him a look that instantly silenced him. She raised her finger to her lips, signaling for him to stay quiet as she got up and headed for the door. Opening it slowly, she stuck her head into the hallway. Seaweed watched her immediately tense and rush over to him.

"Mother," she mouthed, and his eyes widened along with hers. He gave her a look of questioning and she gestured toward the window. Seaweed nodded and quickly hopped out and crawled down her trellis, Penny right behind him. When the reached the bottom, Seaweed grabbed her hand and they ran down the street, laughing hysterically. As the rounded corner, Seaweed stopped and rested against a fire hydrant.

"So," Seaweed started, as soon as he caught his breath. "Wanna go to my mom's after all?"

…

Thanks so much for reading! The next chapter is going to be a little more focused on Tracy. Reviews make me happy. :)