It was almost 3am before John McClane unlocked the front door and let himself into the house. Holly had left the kitchen light on for him, and the bulb's dim glow provided enough light for him to notice the small, blanket-wrapped lump on the couch.
He bent down to pick up Lucy and carry her back upstairs to bed, but as soon as he touched her, she sat up, yawned sleepily, stretched and gave him a reproachful look. "You're late."
John had to bite the inside of his mouth to keep from laughing at that. Despite the fact that she was only 8, Lucy had sounded just like her mother. Pursing his lips, he carefully considered his options before responding, "Crime doesn't sleep. I had to catch up on some paperwork, and lost track of time."
Lucy didn't seem to be appeased by his explanation, and crossed her arms. "Mommy's mad at you again."
John winced, nodding. "Yeah, I kinda figured that out when she hung up on me earlier when I called." He rocked back on his heels and picked up the blanket, tossing it over the back of the sofa. "Come on, you have school tomorrow. Back to bed."
"But Daddy, I need to talk to you. That's why I stayed up to wait for you," Lucy informed him very seriously. "It's about this boy in my class, Caleb."
Every fatherly protective instinct John McClane possessed surged to the forefront at that. If anyone had been messing with his daughter, he didn't care how old the kid was, there was going to be hell to pay. "What boy? What'd he do?" He sat beside her on the couch.
"Well…." Lucy looked down at her hands and shrugged, suddenly nervous. "He keeps pulling my hair, when we're in line to go to lunch or to recess or PE. I tried to get him to stop, but he won't stop." She worriedly peeked up at him from behind long lashes and dark bangs.
"Did you punch the little jerkweed in the nose?" John asked with a scowl.
Lucy giggled at his suggestion. "Mommy said you'd tell me to do that. She said I should ignore him, or tell Mrs. Hutchins. I tried doing telling on him, but she said she couldn't do anything if she didn't see him doing it. And then Caleb started calling me a tattle-tale. And he still keeps doing it, pulling on my hair, I mean. Only now he pulls even harder and only when Mrs. Hutchins isn't looking."
"That little…" John's frown grew as he considered her words for a moment. "Wait, you told your mother, but you didn't tell me? How long has this been going on?"
Lucy shrugged again, her brow furrowing as she tried to remember. "I dunno, a long time. Like a week." Her dark eyes met his, "I wanted to tell you but you keep coming home after my bed time." Her tone wasn't accusing, but matter of fact.
John sighed guiltily at that. It was true, he had been working late an awful lot recently. He knew it was just another way he had been avoiding Holly, and the increasing number of arguments they'd been having. But by avoiding her, he'd ignored his kids by default. "I'm sorry, baby. I'll try to be home before your bedtime from now on, ok?"
She sniffled and nodded. "Anyway, I can't punch him, cause Mommy and Mrs. Hutchins say I will get in trouble for starting a fight. Mommy says he's just being a boy, and this is what little boys do."
Her father shook his head, "Yeah, well, that's a lousy excuse to be a little punk." He wrapped his arm around her small thin shoulders, hugging her to his chest as he spoke, "You're a pretty smart girl. Take it from me, the easiest way of dealing with jerks like that is knowing what they're going to do, and then trying to surprise them by doing something unexpected. You know? Like, when he tries to pull your hair, do something he doesn't think you're going to do. Like stomp on his foot. Or elbow him in the stomach. Cause when he's pulling your hair, he's pulling you back, right? I bet you try to get away from him by moving forward? He won't be expecting you to do anything but try to get away from him, and that's when you can get him." That was actually a pretty good plan, John thought to himself and warmed up to the idea even more. "That way, if you do hit him, it looks more accidental than on purpose. Even if you're doing it on purpose. I mean, after all, he's the one who pulled you back into him by pulling on your hair, it's not your fault if you 'accidently' hit him when you fall back," he added with a sly grin.
Lucy's expression was dubious, but she nodded comprehension. "Ok. Do something unexpected," she repeated and smiled up at her father. "I can do that."'
John winked playfully at her and tweaked her nose. "Trust me, it works every time."
The next day, Lucy was standing in line with the rest of the kids, and Caleb was right behind her, fidgeting, eyeing the teacher, trying to pick the perfect opportunity to torture the little girl in front of him and get away with it yet again.
As Mrs. Hutchins turned away from the kids to chat with the music teacher, Caleb reached out and yanked on Lucy's ponytail. HARD.
This time however, Lucy anticipated his action, and instead of leaning forward and away, the way she'd done all the other times, she relaxed and let her head snap back, catching the boy right on the nose with a loud crack of sound. Then she stumbled backward as well, her sharp bony elbow digging deep into his ribs as she fell back on top of him.
Caleb was so shocked by Lucy's incredibly quick reaction that even as he started making a gasping, squealing sound and blood spurted from his nose, he still forgot to let go of her hair. Thus, when Mrs. Hutchins and the music teacher both turned around at that sudden crack, it was quite obvious to them what had happened. The boy had pulled so hard on the girl's hair, he almost pulled her backward off her feet and back into him.
Little Lucy McClane was expressionless as she watched Mrs. Hutchins tend to the sobbing, bloody-nosed boy, while the music teacher turned and asked if she was alright. She rubbed the back of her head, solemnly looking up at the man. "I tried to tell Mrs. Hutchins that he'd been pulling on my hair, but she didn't believe me. I guess she believes me now."