Chapter 20: Not-So-Little-Anymore

Year: 1893

Month: September

Age: 17

'New film will be shown tonight near the riverbank. $1 per person. Free food and drink for entry.'

Br'er Fox raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the headline of the days' newspaper. He had seen it almost every day in the paper this week. He'd shown no interest of going until he read the word 'free'. It was the first time he'd seen it attached to the announcement; must have been a last minute decision he supposed. Plus, it would now give him a reason to go to this movie.

After spending three days in jail for last year's fiasco of a bank robbery, he grounded her for an indefinite amount of time. The more time she was home, the less chance of her trying to see her 'friend'. She ended up being grounded a month; she started giving him that pathetic look again and after trying his best to ignore it for several days, he finally caved. She still wasn't allowed to see him, but he knew that wouldn't stop her. Never had before, it wouldn't stop her now. He was running out of ways to keep her home. If he was stressed before, then he was even more so now.

He knew that whenever she went out with her friends, she was meeting up with him. However, he'd never actually seen her with him; every time he saw her, she was with her friends, that boy being nowhere in sight. At first he thought that maybe he was overreacting, that she was telling the truth. But then he would remember how adamant she was and how she had simply walked away when their conversation wasn't over the night of the foiled heist. Whenever he'd bring it up, she would get mad, exclaiming that he was spying on her and couldn't trust her. Well, she wasn't completely wrong. He had reasons not to trust her, she had lied to him several times before, and he wasn't spying. He just so happened to be in the area at the same time she was. Couldn't she see that he was trying to keep her safe?

She had mentioned about her group of friends going to this show and he wanted to see how truthful she was actually being about just being with her friends. He could kill two birds with one stone this way; he could enjoy some free food and see if she was truly being honest with him. Plus, she couldn't claim that he was spying. Most-if not everyone-in town would be there. It would make sense that he would be there as well. He noticed the time and glanced at the paper, deciding that if he was going to go stake this thing out, he needed to get going.

Putting the paper down in his chair, he stood up, grabbed his hat, and headed out the door.

~XXXX~

What a waste o' one dolla'.

The food spread at this feature was hardly what Br'er Fox would consider worthwhile. It was mostly snack-type foods; popcorn, pretzels, crackers, and something he couldn't quite identify. There was no meat, no desserts, not even any fruits! None of this was very filling. Hell, he would've preferred to have vegetables instead of any of this. The drinks weren't much better; just water and plain old punch. Shouldn't have expected much when it was free. At least the free food at parties and dances was actually cooked and prepared by other critters.

The place had filled up rather quickly. Most of the seats were taken by the time he got there. Not that he planned on sitting and watching it anyways. He'd already been there for about twenty minutes and there was no sign of her or her friends. He was starting to think that he'd been lied to once again, when he caught a glimpse of a couple of her friends. But not her. He'd wait a little longer before doing something. Maybe she was coming along behind them. Or maybe she was in the washroom. Surely, she'd be here, right?

Maybe he'd get an answer; the young rabbit was heading to the food table while Junior sat on one of the benches. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw him, but continued in the direction towards the table.

"Oh, how do ya do, Br'er Fox?" She asked when she reached the table.

He sneered down at the rabbit. She had become practically fearless around him over the years, no doubt from him not being able to snatch her. It was almost like she was mocking him about it.

"Not fine," he responded, ignoring the usual way the greeting went. "Where's Farryn?"

"Oh, uh, she in de washroom," she said with a questionable tone.

"Sho' has been in dere a long time."

"Well, uh, she said dat she didn' feel ver' good so –"

"Funny, she didn' mention dat t' me when she was 'ome. Where she really at?"

"I'se already tol' ya. She in de washroom."

He narrowed his eyes and got down to her level, putting his face rather close to hers. She shuffled uneasily at him being so close to her with an angry expression upon his face.

"Lissen 'ere ya big-eared, lil' miscreant. Ah knows dat you'se jest tryin' t' cova' fo' 'er. If you don' tell me where she at, I'se gunna make some rabbit stew outta you, promise or not!" He snarled at her, baring his teeth. It was bad enough the two were still friends after all these years; he was sure she would've changed her mind by now. But getting the female rabbit to lie and trick him was an entirely different situation that he wasn't going to let happen.

It worked; he saw her gulp and start to shiver at the very thought of that possibility. She pointed in the direction of the riverbank, just off to the right of where the set-up for the film was.

"S-she o'er dere, 'long de riva," she said, never taking her eyes off of him in case she needed to make a run for it should he decide to grab her anyways. He straightened up and stomped off in the direction she was indicating.

"Betta' not be lyin' or else," he muttered as he walked off, not bothering to look back at the young doe.

The area she had indicated was surrounded by a small area of trees. The further away he got from the crowd, the less light there was. Luckily, it was a clear evening. The light from the moon would help him see from where it would occasionally peak through the tree tops. Other than the sounds behind him from the movie and the river flowing on the opposite side, it was a pretty quiet night. He watched his footing to ensure that, if she really was in here, he wouldn't be heard coming up from behind.

As he got closer to the edge of the river, he caught a glimpse of two dark figures, just sitting in the sandbar, just out of reach of the slow moving water. He was very tempted to sneak up behind them and push the taller of the two into the river, but thought better of it. Unless he wanted her angry at him for a while, he needed a reason to intervene. He didn't need a reason, really; just being around her was enough of a reason. But if something happened, it was easier to have some kind of support for his reasoning for the ensuing argument.

He hid himself behind a bush, close enough to hear what was being said, but hopefully not close enough that they would hear him, should he accidently make some kind of sound. He wasn't sure what they were doing, but it looked as if they were looking up and watching the stars. One of them would occasionally point and say how some cluster looked like a certain object or some critter or something. He never saw the fun in that, personally. He struggled to stifle a low growl when he saw her lean her head against his shoulder.

He watched as the boy stood up and, offering her his hand, helped her up. He expected that to be the end of that, but noticed that they hadn't started walking back yet. Squinting his eyes to get a better look from his hiding spot, he noticed that their hands were still interlocked. His eyes widened slightly when a sudden thought struck him. Were they going to… No, surely not. Yet, it seemed more likely as he could see that she was looking up at him with a shy smile. And the fact that the male was starting to lean in towards her.

He froze and was about stomp over there when one of them appeared to lean too far over, causing them to lose their balance, and fall into the shallow part of the river. He flinched slightly, but didn't give himself away just yet. He watched the boy stand up out of the water first. He was just able to hear what they were saying from where he was.

"Are you alright?" He asked, holding her arm and helping her out of the water.

"I'se a'ight," she giggled, while standing up. He could just make out something dangling from her ear, most likely a piece of algae.

"I'm so sorry. I leaned too far over." He said while pulling the algae off of her.

"Dat's ok," she said, giggling again and looking back up at him. "W-what was you leanin' in fo'?"

"Well, f-for this." He responded before leaning towards her again, kissing her. And, much to his dismay, she didn't push him back or hit him like he would've wanted.

Still frozen where he was with widened eyes, he shook his head to pull him out of his current state. He'd been watching long enough now. It was time to do something. He stomped out from the bushes, eyes narrowed and fists clenched.

"FARRYN FOX!" He yelled stopping just short of the water and crossing his arms. This startled them, as they pulled back and looked over at him.

"Pa! Wh-what are you –"

"GIT YO' TAIL BACK ON DIS 'ERE LAND. NOW!"

She was looking at him with a worried face before looking back at Sam once more. She turned back towards her father and, picking up the soaking edge of her skirt, started walking back to shore. He watched her the whole time, his angry expression never once faltering. When she made it back, she turned towards him again.

"Pa, I kin 'splain, –"

"Git yerself 'ome dis ver' minute! We'se gonna 'ave a talk when I gits 'ome!" He shouted, pointing in the direction of Chick-A-Pin-Hill.

"But Pa I –"

"But Pa nuthin! Go on 'ome! 'N' you betta' be dere when ah gits back!"

"But –"

"NOW YOUNG LADY!"

Her expression changed to a glare, but she said nothing more as she began to walk back to the cave. He turned to watch her go, ensuring that she wouldn't try to take off.

"Um, excuse me, Mr. Fox, sir, it was –"

"'N' you!" He shouted, turning back to face the male, muzzle to muzzle, and grabbing the collar of his shirt. He was more than ready to give him a piece of his mind. "Ya betta' lissen 'ere boy. If'n I eva' see you anywhere near my daughter agin, ah ain't 'gunna hesitate t' use any o' my weapons on you. I ain't 'fraid t' go back t' jail!" He snarled, putting on the worst glare he could muster. When the young man didn't respond, he let out a sharp exhale, let go of his shirt, and stormed off back home.

~XXXX~

"You'se in a hell o' alotta trouble fer dat,"

These were the first words out of Br'er Fox's mouth, as soon as he got back to the hill and slammed the door shut. He already knew before he even made it home that this was going to be a rather heated argument, but he was prepared for it. He angrily walked over to her room, where she was sitting on her bed, head in her hands, and shoulders shaking from anger. When she heard him, she looked up with the most intense glare he'd ever seen from her.

"Why was ya spyin' on me? Can't ya trust me fo' once?!"

"No, ah can't! You'se neva' been able t' tell me de truth!"

"Well, who'se fault is dat?! You de one who done taught me how t' lie!"

"Not t' me I didn'!" He growled at her. "You betta' 'ave a damn good reason fo' sneakin' off like dat."

"You wanna good reason?! How 'bout de fact dat I love 'im!" She shouted at him before a look of realization hit her face. He wasn't sure if it was possible for him to become any angrier, but he certainly felt like it.

"Love?! Ya can't love 'im! How does you e'en now dat he like you back?"

"How does ah know? How 'bout de fact dat he was still willin' t' see me e'en wid all yo' threats! But now he pro'ly don' like me no mo' 'n' it's all yer fault!"

"Mah fault?! I'se jest tryin' t' pertect ya 'n' –"

"Pertect me? Pertect me frum what? Growin' up?" The words hung in the air and repeated themselves in his head. It was the truth of the matter; he was trying to protect her from becoming an adult simply because he wasn't willing to admit that she was one yet. He kept his glare on her, but, for once, he couldn't think of anything to retaliate with.

"You treat me like a lil' kid still! I ain't a lil' girl no mo'! Why can't you jest 'cept dat?!"

"Cause ya ain't grown up! You'se still live 'ere wid me 'n' dat means dat ya still gotta do as I says!" She glanced down at the floor, brows furrowed, clearly thinking about something.

"Den dat means…dat as long as I live unner yer roof….you ain't neva' gunna treat me as an adult…" she muttered quietly before turning and walking over to her dresser.

"Don' you turn yer back t' me when I's talkin' t' ya! Whatya think yer doin'?!"

"Sumthin' I shoulda done three years ago! I'se leavin'!"

"W-what? Leavin'?" He asked, with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"Yes! I'se goin' t' live wid Ma! Ya know why? Cause she supportive o' me! She was glad when ah became friends' wid Rya! But yo' wasn't! It took fer me almost dyin' fo' you t' change yer mind! You ain't neva' been supportive o' anythin' I do! Or e'en willin' t' try! Yo' jest tryin' t' hol' me back! She lettin' me grow 'n' learn! Lettin' me do what I want! You'se want me t' do what you wants! 'N' as long as I live 'ere, you ain't neva' gunna let me be an adult!" She cried with tears streaming down her face as she started throwing clothes into a bag.

"You can't do dat!"

"Yes ah can! You tol' me when I'se thirteen dat when I'se ready t' be a grown-up, dat I could start bein' one! Well, I'se been ready now 'n' you still ain't 'ceptin' dat!"

"I'se ferbidden you frum leavin'!"

"Dis MY decision as an ADULT! Not yers! 'N' ah don' need yo' 'pproval fer e'erythin' I do!" She stood back up, stomped over to the door, and placed her hand behind it. "I'se leavin' furst thang in de mo'ning! 'N' I don' care if ah eva' see you agin!" She yelled, slamming the door shut, barely giving him any time to get out of the way as the door closed.

"Farryn!" He called, trying the doorknob only to find it locked. Never in the last seventeen years, has she EVER locked her door. And they had had some pretty bad arguments before. "Farryn, you open dis door! Ya hear me?!"

"Shit," he muttered, slamming his fist on the door. He just messed up. Big time. That bad feeling in his stomach, the one he hadn't felt in years, was coming back. She couldn't be serious….could she? If she left, even to her mothers, there was a chance he wouldn't see her again. She was an adult, technically. She wouldn't be forced to see him; it would be her decision, ultimately. With the way things were right now, he had no doubt that she wouldn't want to see him, even if he tried.

Things would be better in the morning. He was sure of it. She'd be fine and the whole thing would be past them. She was bluffing. She had to be. She wouldn't leave. She wouldn't go through with it. But what if she did? He'd never heard such a serious and angry tone of voice from her before. He always knew she would leave. It was inevitable; she was going to eventually, even if he was still refusing to believe it.

He just never thought that he would be the reason she would leave.