Chapter 17: First Heartaches

Year: 1890

Age: 14 years

Month: February

February. It was the only month out of the year that Br'er Fox couldn't stand. It probably had to do with the fact that the entire month was dedicated to love. Most of the other critters would be love-struck, fall head over heels, or do other silly things. He found all of it ridiculous. There was no need to act so foolish just because one saw a pretty face. Not that he had any reason to talk; he used to act just as brainless as the others. Of course, that was before he wound up married. He didn't really see a point to it now.

At least the whole 'love-struck phase' had not appeared to hit Farryn yet. Thank the Lord. If it ever did, he might just go slink around whenever she wasn't home just to make sure no one tried any funny business with her. She probably wouldn't appreciate that, but he didn't care. She was his daughter and it was his job to ensure that she was safe, wasn't it?

He was too distracted by his own thoughts that he almost didn't hear the front door open. He didn't even need to look up from the paper to know who it was.

"Howdy, Papa!" She said cheerily, rather unusual for her, especially coming from school. She rarely ever said hi when she came home, instead usually complaining about whatever had happened that day.

"Howdy, punkin! You'se in a powerful good mood t'day! Sumthin' mighty satisfactual musta 'appened at school!" He said while glancing over to her.

"Oh, not at school. It was de same as eva'. But I stopped by de mercantile afta' school 'n' ah made a new friend!"

"New friend huh? Notha' rabbit is it?" Jest what ah needed.

"Oh no. It ain't a critter you'se kin eat."

"Well, now you'se startin' t' make sense wid yo' friends" he huffed before looking back down at that paper. If it wasn't something he could have for dinner, it was safe to assume it was another predator-type critter.

"Figgered ya might say sumthin' like dat" she muttered before speaking up again, "No, he a fox, like us!" At this, his grip on the newspaper tightened and his eyes went wide. Oh no. Was it starting already? He thought he was going to have a few more years before he was going to have to start getting his shotgun ready.

"Uh…he? As in a reynard fox?" Maybe he didn't hear her correctly.

"Yeah! Ain't dat 'xcitin'?"

"Very" he murmured, sliding down in the chair slightly with an annoyed look on his face. "I'se so 'cited."

"'Sho' don' sound like it. I thought you might be thrilled dat I has a fox friend. You always complainin' 'bout Rya!"

"Ah think I prefer de rabbit instead."

"You do?" she asked giving him a somewhat puzzled look, before narrowing her eyes at him. "Yer up t' sumthin' ain't 'cha?"

"No, I jest don' think dat you'se should 'ave friends dat is boys."

"Huh? But Junior 'n' Wolfie is boys! 'N' I has classmates dat is boys 'n' we sumtimes play games t'getha' at recess!"

"Dat's diff'ent."

"How so?" she asked, glaring at him.

"Simple. Dey ain't gunna try t' court ya."

"Lawdy me, Pa! Not dis speech agin!" she exclaimed while rolling her eyes. "I done heard it a bajillion times already!"

"'N' ya gunna hear it a bajillion mo' 'til you leave dis 'ere cave!" he said with irritation and ignoring that she called him Pa. After she turned fourteen, he noticed that she would go back and forth on either calling him 'Pa' or 'Papa', depending on her mood. It was, yet again, another sign that she was growing up, especially as she started to use 'Pa' more often. 'Papa' was something she had always called him. Hell, it was her second word, after 'Mama' of course. He was still a little sore about that, almost thirteen years later. Still, he tried not to let it get to him.

"We'se jest friends! 'Sides he jest visitin' fer a few weeks!"

"Fo' now," he muttered. "He gunna decide t' stick 'round 'n' den all dat is goin' t' change."

"You don' know dat! I mean, he kinda cute. 'N' charmin'. 'N' awfully smart. But dat don' mean nuthin'!"

Oh brother.

"Don' matta'. I done told ya dat –"

"Dat ah can't see no one 'till I'se done wid school, I know." she interjected with an annoyed sigh. When they had 'the awkward talk', as she called it, a year ago, he made a rule that there was going to be no dating while still in school. This was ok at first, until he realized that she was going to be done with school in a years' time. He was probably going to change it again once they got to that point. Maybe no seeing anyone until she was an adult. And he didn't consider someone an adult until they were eighteen –no twenty-one.

"Dat's right." He nodded. "You live unner mah roof so –"

"So I gotta follow yo' rules. I know Pa! You been tellin' me dat fo' as long as I could 'member!"

"'N' as long as you keep 'memberin' dat, den we'se gunna be fine. 'N' no, ya can't be friends wid 'im" he said upon seeing her open her mouth to respond.

"But dat ain't a part o' yo' rule! Nuthin' says dat I can't 'ave friends!"

"My cave, my rules." He replied bluntly before looking back down at the paper. "Ain't ya got chores o' sumthin'?" He was done with this conversation and wanted her to leave him alone.

"UGH! Yer so annoyin'!" She shouted before stomping off.

He had a feeling she wasn't going to listen to him. Not that she ever did to begin with. He could handle her getting into trouble or mischief. But, dating was a whole other situation that he'd rather not deal with. Neither should she; she was only fourteen. There was still plenty of time for that in that future. The less chances she had to meet potential 'admirers', the better.

Her mother said he was too 'overprotective'. That he was refusing to believe that she wasn't a little girl any more. Maybe she was right. Perhaps he was going a little overboard with it.

"OW!" He heard her exclaim as something broke in the other room.

Then again, maybe he wasn't.

~XXXX~

Dis woulda been a good evenin' fo' doin' a foul deed too.

Br'er Fox let out an exasperated sigh as he placed his chin on his hand. The Foul-Fellows Club had a scheme planned for tonight and he had been feeling under the weather lately. He hadn't had energy to do anything all day and felt incredibly tired. He decided to stay home, despite knowing that the other members were going to give him hell for missing it. Then again, they'd complain if they got sick because he helped out. He just couldn't win. At least he had the place to himself for a while.

Farryn had asked him earlier if she could go be with her friends. They were having a get together or something. He asked her who was going to be there and she stated a few others, but he didn't hear the name Ben, who was supposedly her new 'friend.' She was starting to get better at controlling her twitch, which was bad for him, as he could no longer tell when she was being truthful or not. In the entire month since she first brought him up, he hadn't heard her say a word about him. Either she was actually listening to him for once or she was being very sneaky about it. Probably the latter.

He was about to get up and refill his cup when he heard the door open and close. Odd, he wasn't expecting her home for a couple more hours.

"Howdy, honey! How was –"Her bedroom slammed shut before he could even finish his sentence. Well, guess that answered his question.

He was concerned now; she only slammed her door when she was upset. Something happened and he wanted to know what it was. He walked over to her door and knocked on it.

"Go away." He was just about to scold her for talking to him that way when he picked up crying from the other side of the door. Even more worried now, he opened the door and walked into her room. She was sitting on the bed with her back to him and it looked like part of her dress was covered in mud. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that it was ripped a bit at the bottom. Did she get into a fight? She hadn't gotten into a fight for a few years. But if that was the case, why was she upset? She'd lost a few fights before but she had never let it bother her.

"What 'appened? Did ya git inna fight?" She shook her head as he sat down on the bed.

"I don' wanna t-talk 'bout it."

"Might make ya feel betta'." She didn't respond and for a few minutes the only noise to be heard was her gasps. He hated seeing her like this and he wanted to help. But with her being reclusive at the moment, he couldn't do anything. He watched her shakily wipe her face with her arm.

"D-dey said dat ah w-was unattractive 'n' dat no one would eva' l-like me."

"Who said dat? Yo' friends?" He knew it. He knew that rabbit child was up to no good all these years. She was just as tricky as her father and she had to –

"No. It weren't d-dem. I wasn't e-even wid dem. I done l-lied t' ya earlier." Normally, she would have been trouble for lying to him. But with her all upset and sniveling, he didn't have the heart to punish her.

"Who was you wid den?"

"Ben. H-he said dat he l-liked me 'n' dat he wanted t' git t' k-know me. 'N' since you wasn't lettin' m-me be friends wid 'im, ah done t-told ya dat so's you wouldn't b-be 'spicous. It done turn out d-dat he Claire's c-cousin 'n' dat de whole t-thang 'bout likin' me was j-jest a ruse t' make a f-foo' outta me. I really l-liked 'im too, Pa."

He wasn't really sure what to say. He didn't have any experience with this type of thing. Someone told him that adolescent girls were pretty emotional about a lot of things. He didn't think it would apply to her–she was never too emotional as a child. And even in the past year he had never seen her be so sensitive about something. This was going to be a brand new experience for him.

"How kin ya like some'un afta' only knowin' 'im fer a month? It don' werk like dat."

"What do you know 'bout love. You 'n' Ma don' e'en like each otha'" she said with a rather bitter tone.

"Dat ain't true. We like each otha'. We jest had a…diff'ent sitiation dan otha' folks…"

"Cause o' me. Ah know. I done heard dis story befo'" she replied with a soft tone before putting her face in her hands.

Shit. He was making things worse. Better think of something quick.

"A'ight. Mebbe ah don' knows much 'bout all dat 'romance' stuff. But I tell ya what I dose got; Respect. Yo' Ma 'n' I don' always git 'long, but I dose 'spect 'er; she gave me you afta' all. E'ery male gotta 'spect dere family. E'en dose dat is foul. 'N' if he couldn' respect ya, den mebbe it t'wernt meant t' be."

She didn't say anything, her head still in her hands and shoulders occasionally shaking. That didn't work. Going to have to try something else. She did mention that they said some things to her…

"All dat stuff dat dey done tol' ya earlier? Dat some o' de worst lyin' I'se eva' 'eard. Unattractive? You startin' t' take afta' Mama 'n' she jest 'bout de purtiest thang I eva' did see." Did he just admit that? Maybe this stupid month was getting to him after all. "'N' dat quip 'bout no one likin' ya? Dat ain't truthful neither. Yo' Ma 'n' I love ya ver' much. 'N' what 'bout all yer lil' friends? Dey like you'se if'n dey 's still wanting t' mingle wid ya."

She still wasn't saying anything. He wasn't even sure if she was still listening to him at this point. Unsure if he was doing the right thing, he reached out and tried to put his hand on her shoulder. She jerked her arm away from his grasp and he was able to catch a quick glimpse of her face before she covered it with her hand again. Her fur was wet and there were tear streaks under her eyes. He hadn't seen her cry this much since she was a toddler. At least at that age, he could figure out what to do. But he didn't know what to do here. His words didn't seem to be helping at all.

"Farryn?"

"Kin ya jest leave me alone, please" she mumbled into her hands.

"No. I'se tryin' t' make ya feel betta'."

"Well, you ain't doin' a good job. Please, leave."

"Look, I'se tryin' t' halp 'ere 'n' you ain't werkin' wid me."

"Leave me alone! I don' wanna talk no mo'!"

Her outburst startled him slightly. Seeing that nothing was helping, he thought it might be best to leave, like she asked. He stood up from the bed and walked to the door, turning back to look at her, seeing if maybe she would change her mind and not want him to leave. But her back was still to him and her face was still in her hands. Sighing, he left her room and closed the door, hearing her sob again almost as soon as the door clicked shut. He felt bad leaving her like that, but she clearly wasn't in the mood to talk to him.

Rubbing his hair, Br'er Fox walked over and sat in his chair. Pulling out a cigar, he lit it and started thinking. Would things have been easier if she was a boy? Maybe. At least then, he would be able to relate to her better. He couldn't relate at all with this and apparently his ideas of fixing it didn't do anything. Was it something that would get better with time? Hopefully. He hoped that this was something that would pass and she would be back to her old self relatively quickly. But what if she didn't? What was he supposed to do then? Despite her stubbornness getting on his nerves relatively easily, at least he could cope with it. He wasn't sure if he could handle her being mopey all the time; that wasn't his happy, yet ornery girl.

He hated books. A Foul-Fellow would never be caught dead with one. Reading from a book was grounds for termination from the club.

But right now, he really wished there was a book on parenting girls.

A/N: Sorry if he's OOC in the second half. I just don't imagine him knowing how to handle a teens emotions. I know I said I was going to write a chapter for every year, but I honestly couldn't think of anything for 13. And she was practically there anyways. So don't hate me too much for that please :)