Dash: Insert Foot - Quickly
"Mom and dad seem powerless, that leaves Buddy and me." Violet said thoughtfully.
"Well, like you can do anything, you're totally useless."
The reply stung hard. Yesterday's failure battling the technidroid rendered Violet unconscious for about an hour, but no physical damage was done; however, psychologically she was still in ICU. Violet felt that her shame was being waved prominently in her face. With a verbal knife in her chest and tears welling up, Violet did the only thing her hormonally chaotic mind could think of at the time, disappear -and run.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Dash knew that what he wanted to say isn't what came out.
"Violet?" Dash said apologetically, "I didn't mean it…that…way." his sentence trailed off with a sigh, he knew Vi had left.
'I screw everything up.' he thought with contempt.
"Dashell Parr-what possessed you to say that?!" Helen blurted out, still disbelieving what she heard.
"That's not what I meant mom…I didn't mean she was useless, I…I meant she's as useless as we are…that's not it. Ah...um…we're all use…that is…" Dash decided not to dig deeper and cut his losses, "Oh, I don't know what I meant."
"We hafta' find her." said Bob, not knowing what he would do if he did.
"She'll be OK. Some things just have to…she just trying to work things out."
"What's wrong with her anyway. She's gotten really touchy, like no matter what I say it 'hurts her feelings'. I think she's an over-reactionary." Dash observed.
"She's just growing up Dash." sighed Helen.
"Yeah, well I'm growing up too, but I act normal."
"I don't think that's the kind of growing up your mom meant."
"What then?"
"Adolescents."
Dash just stared at his dad.
"Could you be a little more ambiguous please?" he asked finally.
Bob thought for a bit; adolescents is a concept hard to describe anyway, but complicated by the fact that the audience is a twelve-year-old and that you yourself don't fully understand it.
"It's her body….ah…changing inside, well outside too. And…ah…well, something to do with, ah…hormones…ah…chemical things, that…well, effect emotions and like her, ah…thinking…and…ah…well, other things too, you know…understand? Sort of?"
Dash stood there staring blankly at his dad.
"Ohhh Kayy…yeah…I think I do." Dash responded honestly, knowing that he understood that his dad was totally clueless.
"You'll be there soon enough." his mom told him.
"Will I act as stupid as Violet?"
Bob and Helen looked at each other with a knowing look, then simultaneously…
"Worse."
