It was the third week of school. Some time had passed since Rock and Revy dropped off their daughter for the first day of school and Riley has grown more accustomed to it as well. Unfortunately as kind and welcoming the teachers and students she's encountered have been to her, Riley would soon learn that this doesn't apply to everyone. The school bell rang loud for all to hear.
"Okay class, that will be it for math because now it's time for recess!", the teacher announced, "Let's all go outside and take a nice big break to play!" The students cheered as they all got up from their chairs before lining up behind the teacher as he led them out the door. Riley was somewhere in the middle of this neatly arranged line and she was just as excited as the other kids, "Recess! Recess!", they all chanted. The chanting only got louder as they walked closer to the door leading to the school playground. Soon they were right outside, "Alright kids, have fun! We'll be going back inside in about an hour!", the teacher told the eager students as they ran aimlessly around the playground.
Soon other teachers arrived on the scene with their students to the playground and did the same before the whole playground was nearly full of excited children. Riley hadn't made a lot of friends in school outside of two or three classmates she spoke to from time to time, but she wasn't too discouraged from trying joining the kids from other classes. She looked around to see what there was to play on before immediately eyeing for the swings; her favorite playground attraction. There was nobody there, so it seemed to be Riley's for the taking. Without hesitation, Riley hopped on and began swinging. Normally her mother would help her reach great heights like in the park, but Riley opted to try and reach them herself.
"Hey, you!", a boy called out to Riley, stopping her in her tracks. "Who, me?", she asked. "Yes you!", a boy with neatly combed blond hair answered in a condescending tone, "Are you Riley from Mr. Bowen's class?" Riley was confused on how this boy knew who she was, but didn't think much of it at the moment. "Yeah, why?", she innocently asked. "Me and my friend wanna go on the swings.", the boy maliciously smirked. Riley was confused and looked around, but said friend couldn't be seen before suddenly a pair of arms immediately pushed her to the ground.
"Hey! I was using that!", Riley looked and saw the blond boy's friend, another boy with amber brown hair and freckles on his face as he laughed at her. The blond kid then got on the swing Riley was on with the amber haired kid sitting on the swing next to him. "No fair, I was here first! Lemme go on the swing!", Riley complained as the two boys started swinging, laughing as they heard her. "Or else what?", the amber haired kid mockingly asked, "You gonna cry?" The blonde boy even mimicked her 'crying' which rubbed further salt in the wound.
Riley got up from the ground, visibly shaking from the pair of cruel boys laughing and mocking her. "Is Riley gonna cry to her mommy?", the blonde kid further laughed as he continued swinging and laughing at Riley. Riley kept shaking even more with tears swelling in her eyes, "Awwww, little Riley's gonna cry~!", the amber brown hair kid laughed. As they continued their mockery over Riley's hurt expression, the bullies failed to notice Riley's shaky hands clenched tightly into fists as her face turned from sadness into one of boiling anger. She furrowed her brows and snarled at them. "Uh oh, looks like we made her mad~!", the blonde kid pointed at Riley, ignorant of the consequences about to come. The two bullies shared a laugh before suddenly…
Riley charged with a scream of pure rage and tackled the blonde boy from the swing. The blonde bully could only widen his eyes in terror as he was pinned to the ground before getting absolutely pummeled. Riley screamed repeatedly as she kept punching her tormentor in the face. His friend tried to get Riley off of him, but she scared him off with another infuriated yell. All the blonde boy could do was try to block Riley's flailing fists from reaching his face, but even they weren't enough to curb her wrathful assault. Eventually, Riley's teacher Mr. Bowen as well as the bullies' teacher arrived on the scene to separate the two kids from each other.
By the time Riley was properly restrained, the bully had multiple bruises across his face, his combed blonde hair was now a mess, and there was blood coming from one of his nostrils. As she struggled to remain calm with intense deep breath after intense deep breath, the bully started crying out in pain. Normally Riley would feel bad, but she kept a scowl across her face as he was taken away by his friend and teacher. Mr. Bowen then looked over at the incensed Riley with his own scornful expression, "Riley…that was not okay.", he reprimanded. Riley simply stayed quiet. He then grabbed Riley's hand but she didn't move even after tugging thrice at her arm, "You're done with recess, now. We're going to the office to have a serious talk with you and your parents." Riley simply stayed quiet, her stoic anger just unable to leave her face. Soon, she started walking with her teacher.
It took about 10 minutes to walk from the playground to the guidance counselor's office, her expression stayed in the same silent fury as she had after attacking her bully. She could hear the counselor talking on the telephone right in front of her, but she didn't care who he was calling; she just remained quiet and looked down at the floor. "Okay, I will see you soon, Mr. Okajima. Goodbye.", the guidance counselor hung up before looking down at Riley. "Riley, I just had a call with your father. He and your mother are heading here as we speak.", he warned. Riley simply blew a spiteful raspberry at him. "Now Riley while we wait…", the counselor continued, "Would you care to explain what happened with you and Jimmy Rodriguez on the playground?". Riley shook her head in defiance.
The counselor sighed, "Riley, clearly you attacked him because you were upset." Riley looked up at the middle aged man with nothing but simmering contempt in her eyes. "What happened that made you upset?", he asked. Once again, silent treatment. "Riley, I need you to answer my question. What happened that made you upset?", the counselor asked again with a slightly more demanding tone. Riley still sat still as if she were a statue. Clearly, she's not going to speak no matter how many times the counselor tries to ask. He took a deep breath and sighed at the girl's stubbornness, "We'll wait for your parents then…"
Another 15 minutes of silence passed, the guidance counselor was checking his notes while Riley continued to glare at him with silent tranquil anger. She didn't even care if her parents might reprimand her or whatever punishment she might get from them or the school itself, she simply stewed in her anger. Soon, a knock on the door was heard. "Come in!", the guidance counselor called out. The door opened, revealing Rock and Revy who were just home a while ago. Riley looked up to them with the same quiet scowl which Revy took notice with a concerned look, she's never seen her daughter this angry before.
"Mr. and Ms. Okajima, please have a seat.", the counselor said, showing off the chairs between Riley. Rock sat on the chair on Riley's right while Revy sat on the one on Riley's left. "As you know, your daughter Riley has beaten up a fellow student by the name of Jimmy Rodriguez at the playground earlier today.", the counselor started, "I tried to get answers for why she did it, but she refused to speak. Perhaps you two can get an answer." "Riley…?", Rock looked at her with a stern but concerned expression, "What happened?"
"I- I was going on the swings… and that Jimmy guy and his friend pushed me off...", Riley answered with shakiness in her body and voice, "Then they started making fun of me and laughing at me!". "So they were bein' mean to you?", Revy asked in a sympathetic tone. "Yeah, super mean!", Riley whined, "And I wanted them to stop so I started hitting Jimmy!". Revy stroked her daughter's short hair as Riley tried her best not to cry over the whole situation, but it all just happened so fast. How could she not? "Well now because of that, Jimmy had to go to the nurse's office and is going home early.", the counselor informed, "I think you should say sorry when he comes back." That immediately struck a nerve.
"What do you mean she has to say sorry?", Revy questioned with a glare and a raised eyebrow, "That little brat Jimmy started all this, didn't he?" "I-..I wouldn't call any kid a 'little brat', but yes he did start it but-", the counselor tried to explain before getting interrupted again, "Then he owes an apology then.", Revy aggressively leaned closer and planted her arms on the counselor's desk, making him move back, "Kid should've known better than to mess with my daughter." "Revy-", Rock tried to calm his wife down but got cut off, "I'm not saying Jimmy is totally innocent, but Riley needs to apologize to him.", the counselor yelped, "Look I don't know what example you two are setting up for Riley back at home but clearly it's not right!".
Rock and Revy were taken back by the counselor's words and not in a good way. Now he's done it.
"Example at home? Really?", Rock raised his voice, "You think we don't know how to raise our kid?". The counselor backpedaled, "No! No! That's not what I'm trying to say, I just want to know if there's anything she's been dealing with that might- ". "Oh, what she's been dealing with?!", Revy scoffed, "Oh I'll tell ya what she's been dealing with!". Before Revy could continue, she quickly turned to her daughter and said, "Riley, leave the room and cover your ears. The grownups are talkin' now." "Okay.", Riley quickly got up and walked out of the guidance counselor's office before covering her ears. Now the counselor backed away even further as the now angry parents stared down at him.
"Uhh….Ri-…Riley isn't supposed to leave until she serves detention - !" , the counselor yelped before Revy grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him into the wall. "Listen and listen closely, ya balding snivelin' piece of shit.", Revy snarled, "Our daughter just had the worst fuckin' day today because some little brat and his friend kept pickin' on her. Y'think just cuz you have a nice little office and some fancy piece of paper on the wall means you get to guilt trip her for standin' up for herself and accuse us of bad parenting?! The fuck do you know about how we raise her, huh?!"
"I'm not accusing anyone of bad parenting and I'm not trying to make Riley feel bad-", the counselor pleaded before he was interrupted. "Really?", Rock chimed in, "Because that's not what it sounded like." "Mr. and Ms. Okajima, you need to calm down…", the counselor gulped as Rock looked deep into his eyes. "You may think Riley overreacted, but consider that Jimmy had his friend shoved her off the swing. Clearly they physically attacked her first.", Rock pointed out, "Imagine if it didn't stop there and they started kicking her while she's down. Would you want that to happen?"
The counselor shook his head, "Of course not, but-", Rock interrupted again, "Then you seem to have a problem with Riley acting in self defense." "No, I-", the counselor was interrupted once more, "And who is to say Jimmy is guaranteed to apologize for his behavior if he and Riley swapped places? I know Riley would apologize to anyone she's wronged, but what about this kid we have no idea about? What if he didn't actually feel remorse for it?". "That's-", the counselor tried responding, but Rock kept biting back, "And what if his parents aren't setting up a good example? Are you going to go around and accuse them too or is it just us because Riley acts differently to some kids? Because it would be very hypocritical if you don't."
By this point, the guidance counselor couldn't even muster an answer as he, Rock, and Revy silently watched each other. Rock disgustedly sighed, "You can put him down now, Revy." Revy responded by throwing the counselor onto the floor who had tears silently flowing down his eyes. "Quit your fuckin' crying and get up.", Revy scorned, "Don't wanna piss yourself in front of the other kids…" The counselor quietly got up from the floor as the Okajimas started leaving the room. To say this meeting had escalated and has shaken him would be a severe understatement.
Riley saw her parents exit the office and uncovered her ears, "What did you talk about?", she asked. "Like we said…grownup stuff.", Revy deeply sighed. "We're still gonna have a serious talk about this when we get home.", Rock warned with the same frown he had in the office. Riley didn't like the sound of that as she followed them with her head down. First things first though, Rock signed the early dismissal form and handed it over to the school staff then it was off to the car. Riley sat herself in the backseat while her parents got in the front. Riley was still looking down until she noticed a familiar bruised up blonde boy walking with his parents to their car, "Hey! That's the boy that was being mean to me!", she angrily pointed.
Revy took a glance, "Huh…so that's Jimmy.", she frowned. Revy clenched her fists and gritted her teeth in fury before stepping out of the car, Rock immediately noticed and followed her, "Revy, wait!", he called out. "Nah, maybe we should give the little brat's parents a little talk too.", she coldly replied.
Revy approached what appeared to be a seemingly wealthy couple as they put their son in the car, "Hey assholes!", she yelled, "I believe your little brat owes my daughter an apology!" "That Riley kid? He doesn't owe her jack shit!", the mom replied, "And who are you calling a little brat?!" "Ya know damn well who I'm referring to!", Revy barked, "Lil Jimmy here thinks he gets to just pick on people with his lackey to get whatever he wants."
Jimmy's dad chimed in, "Uhh, let's try to discuss this in a civil man-", "DID I SAY YOU COULD FUCKIN' TALK?!", Revy interrupted. "Don't you talk to my husband like that!", Jimmy's mom shouted, "How about you teach your daughter to be less of a savage then maybe I'll consider having him apologize!" First the counselor questions her and Rock's parenting skills, now her? And she insulted Riley. Something within Revy snapped and she couldn't hold back anymore.
"Oh, you want savage?", she asked with boiling rage ready to explode, "I'LL SHOW YOU FUCKING SAVAGE!", Revy screamed ready to lay a smackdown only for Rock to hold her back. "HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT MY DAUGHTER LIKE THAT!", Revy screamed trying to get free from her husband's strong grip, "DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH?!" Rock struggled to hold his rapidly fighting and flailing wife as he tried to drag her back to the car before she could actually hurt or even outright kill Jimmy's parents. "L-LET GO OF ME!", Revy tried pulling Rock's arms off her as she was dragged away but was unsuccessful. "FUCK YOU!", Revy shouted giving off both middle fingers, "FUCK YOU, YA PREVILGED PIECES OF SHIT, FUCK YOU!".
"Y'know something to consider…", Rock strained as he kept holding onto Revy flailing about, "Maybe teach your kid some better manners and we'll consider giving an apology.". Jimmy's parents just stayed flabbergasted at the whole situation as they and the Okajimas went their separate ways. Riley quietly watched as her parents got back in the car, now they're just as upset as her if not more so. The car ride home was a rather quiet one as they simply stewed in anger; Rock kept his focus on the road ahead with a frown on his face, Revy simply rested her head on her hand as she looked out the window, and Riley's eyes just looked downward, upset over everything's happened at this point.
Eventually, they made it back home. Before Riley could go to her room, Rock called her over. "Riley!", he firmly called as he sat on the couch. Riley flinched but unquestionably went back downstairs to sit on the edge of the coffee table. Revy walked in after hanging up her jacket and taking off her shoes before Rock eyed her to sit down as well, she obliged and sat next to him looking over their daughter. Rock sighed, "Clearly today has been a bad day for…all of us." "Yeah, no shi- kidding .", Revy commented. Rock continued, "Riley got bullied and got in trouble and we had to deal with the school counselor and said bully's parents. With that said though…", he looked over to Riley who tried looking away from her father but ultimately couldn't.
Rock sighed, "Riley, I'm very disappointed in you." Riley felt those words hit her like a truck and Revy immediately turned her head to him with a stunned expression, "I know you were just trying to defend yourself but you didn't have to beat Jimmy to a pulp. Maybe a punch or two, but that's it." "But he and his friend pushed me off the swing and made fun of me!", Riley whined, "And the teacher and the guy in the office said it was all my fault!" "Yes I know that", Rock replied, "We even talked to the guy in the office and Jimmy's parents about it but it doesn't change that beating someone up like that is wrong."
"No TV for the rest of the week.", Rock declared. "But-!", Riley stammered, "I mean it.", Rock interrupted. Riley got up and whimpered before frowning at him, "You sound just like them!", she suddenly shouted with a mix of anger and sadness in her voice, "I DON'T WANNA WATCH TV OR DO ANYTHING WITH YOU EVER AGAIN!". Rock tried to stand his ground but was genuinely hurt by her words, "Riley, I'm not-!", he tried to reach out to her, "GO AWAY!", Riley screamed at Rock before running up the stairs and into her room, slamming the door.
Once the initial shock had worn off, Revy scornfully looked at her husband, "Nice talkin' ya did there.", she sarcastically remarked. "Revy…", Rock replied, "Riley needed to face some consequences for her actions.", "And your idea is to ground her and make her shitty day even shittier?", Revy questioned. "That's not-", Rock tried to explain, "What else was I supposed to do? She can't just-", "We literally gaslighted and threatened that fuckin' old geezer and almost fought with the kid's parents to defend her.", Revy interrupted, "Now you do a 180 and-", "Okay yeah, we did do that with the school counselor after he questioned our parenting but the fight with the kid's parents was all you!", Rock snapped back, " I had to hold you back from actually hitting them!"
Revy gritted her teeth as she further furrowed her brows. She wanted to snap back at that response, but knew Rock was very much correct. The two shared a brief moment of intense silence before they calmed down. "Listen…", Rock sighed out, "We both had shitty childhoods-", "That is a big understatement.", Revy snapped back at him. Rock continued, " But…we-…we can't overcorrect what went wrong with us and coddle her all the time. Sometimes, we have to…put our foot down even when we don't want to. You think I like making Riley upset?"
"It's not like I don't ever call her out on shit she shouldn't be doing either…", Revy responded, "I just-", "Grounding for not even a whole week with no TV isn't going to fundamentally change or affect her life.", Rock assured. "She's still gonna be upset at you for the rest of the night, y'know.", Revy replied. "I know.", Rock nodded, "I want to try talking to her again though." "Go make some dinner first, don't think she's exactly ready to talk again yet.", Revy pointed at the upstairs hallway. "Yeah, I'll start cooking. If you want, you can try speaking with her on your own too.", Rock suggested as he walked off to the kitchen. Revy looked up again and propped herself off the couch before slumping back down, Riley needed some alone time.
Riley spent the next hour or so laying down on the side of her bed. The lights were off and she simply looked down at the floor with sadness in her gaze, she didn't so much as move an inch. Suddenly, her stomach grumbled but she didn't care; that's how upset she was. A knock was heard from the bedroom door but Riley ignored it. "Riley, ya in here?", Revy asked, "It's Mommy. Dinner's ready." "I'm not hungry…", Riley answered her mother only for the grumble in her stomach to prove otherwise.
Revy looked at her daughter's door with a concerned saddened look before grabbing the door handle and opening it. Riley didn't even bother moving before Revy sat next to her on the bed. She tried to ignore her, but ultimately sat back up. Revy's arm tenderly pulled Riley closer to her, making the frowning child look up at her. Revy looked back down at her with a small smile in an attempt to comfort her, but it wasn't enough.
"You had a really bad day, huh?", Revy asked. "….Yeah…", Riley muttered, "And Daddy made it worse by grounding me with no TV!". Revy nodded, "It's until the end of the week at least, that's five more days.". Riley huffed and looked away, "Daddy's a big meanie! I don't wanna see him ever again!". "C'mon, ya don't mean it.", Revy replied. "Yes I do!", Riley snapped back. Revy stayed silent on that remark before she sighed, "You're just mad that he punished you, but what about all the times before it? Was he a big meanie?" "No…", Riley reluctantly answered.
"You're really lucky to have a dad like him.", Revy added, "Some kids, not so much. Some dads can get… very mean and some don't even show up." Riley tilted her head but still frowned. "The point I'm tryin' to make is…your dad loves you and cares a whole lot about you, but today he had to let ya know there's…some things that you can't do even if he didn't really want to."
"What about you, Mommy?", Riley asked, "What do you think about me beating the mean boy up?". "Well…", Revy started, "I'm proud that you know how to defend yourself. Taught ya very well. If ya asked me, the kid had it coming… I do have to say though, maybe full-on beating him up was a bit too far. Kid would've ran away cryin' with just a good punch to the face." Riley looked down with a somewhat softer expression.
"What about you and Jimmy's parents?", Riley asked. "Okay, that was on me.", Revy admitted, "I was too angry from talking to that old guy in the office and acted without thinking. Ya can't do that, it'll land you into more trouble. Learned that the hard way…like a lot.". Riley nodded, "Do I have to say sorry to him too?", she asked. "Unless that mean kid says sorry to ya first, I don't think so.", Revy shakes her head, "He wanted to act like a total… jerk to you, he should've known something oughta be coming to him." "Okay…", Riley nodded.
Her head looked back up as Revy rubbed her shoulder. Suddenly, another growl in Riley's stomach came about and Revy playfully smirked. "C'mon, let's go eat.", she said, getting up. Riley followed suit and grabbed her mother's hand as they went down the stairs. When they reached the kitchen, Rock was sitting down and had three plates set up with freshly cooked steak, a side of green beans, rice, and three glasses of water. "Dinner is served," he announced. Revy and Riley quietly sat down to begin eating their food.
Rock started eating as well, but was ultimately more focused on his daughter. At some point though, Riley noticed his glances and decided to break the silence between the three. "Hey Daddy…", Riley called and brought her father's attention, "I'm sorry for yelling at you." "It's okay, sweetie.", Rock calmly replied, " I'm sorry for making you so upset earlier." Before Riley could utter a word, Rock added, "You're still grounded though.". Riley slightly looked down, but continued eating her food. Rock goes back to eating his as well, but now turns his eyes to the pantry and he starts getting an idea.
"Y'know Riley, there's still plenty of those cookies you like.", Rock informed her, "You want some of those?". Riley smiled at the sound of that, "Yeah.", she answered with a hint of enthusiasm. Rock chuckled, "Okay kid, finish your dinner and we'll have some together.". "Okay!", Riley nodded before she began finishing her food. Revy remained silent as she was eating but gave a soft smile hearing the banter between Rock and Riley, things seem to have lightened up between them.
Eventually, all three Okajimas were done with dinner. They rinsed their plates and cups before putting them in the dishwasher and Rock went to grab the bag of cookies. He then went and put a few on two paper plates before putting them on the table; Riley couldn't stop eyeing the cookies as her father went and sat back down with them in hand. Before she could snatch one, Rock gestured to her to stop before turning to his wife. "You want some?", he offered Revy. "I'm good.", she answered, "I'll leave ya two alone." Revy got up from her chair and walked away from the kitchen, leaving Rock and Riley at the dining table.
Father and daughter then started eating cookies. "Daddy?", Riley started asking, "What do I do if I see Jimmy tomorrow?". "If you see him, just ignore him. Unless he apologizes of course.", Rock answered, "Then you should say sorry." "Mommy said the same thing.", Riley replied, "What about the guy in the office?". Rock thought for a second before revealing his answer, "No, I don't think so. He should say sorry to you if anything." Riley nodded before continuing her cookie eating.
"You know I didn't mean it when I said those things to you?", Riley asked. "I know, you were mad and didn't mean it.", Rock assured, "Even if it hurt my feelings a little, I forgive you." "Are you sure you don't hate me?", she further asked. "I will never hate you.", Rock affirmed, "Just sometimes, you do things I don't like. But never hate. Same with your mother." Soon, they were finished with the cookies but right when Rock was about to throw the plates away, Riley suddenly clamped onto his leg.
"I love you, Daddy…", Riley cuddled up to him, making Rock smile. "I love you too, Riley.", he replied before hearing a small yawn out of her. "Someone's getting sleepy…", Rock commented. Riley yawned again and rubbed her eyes, "I'm tired…". Rock slightly chuckled at that, "Alright then, but first it's bath time."
Riley yawned again, "I don't wanna take a bath…". "Well you gotta do that before-", Rock gently explained before his daughter dramatically fell to the floor in front of him in her semi sleepy state. He rolled his eyes but kept a smile on his face as he picked her up.
"Okay fine…", Rock sighed, "Let's get you to bed."