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Monday, October 26
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“Time to get up, Daddy.” Marcus’ eyes slowly drifted open as his daughter lightly shook his shoulder. He was wrapped up cozily in her blankets, having been enjoying a peaceful slumber, until Jessie had to wake him. He glanced at the clock, it was hardly even light out. 6:03. Even though he didn’t need as much sleep as Jessie or Paris, and normally went to bed later than 10 (which they all had last night), his wake-up time for the past few days that he had taken Jessie to school had been 7. Even with the extra sleep time, his body seemed to have been committed to waking up at 7, and the difference threw him off. But waking up at unfair hours was the standard for his daughter and her friend.
“I didn’t think you typically woke up this early, I’m sorry about that,” he said with a yawn, pushing her covers off of him.
“Well, me and Paris wanted to get up a little earlier since we’d need to share the bathroom when we got ready.”
“Oh, yeah. That makes sense,” he said, getting to his feet, and he looked up at his daughter, dressed in a plain t-shirt and some blue night shorts. “And it’s ‘Paris and I,’” he corrected her, to which she rolled her eyes.
“Yeah yeah, whatever,” she sighed, breaking a smile, as Marcus made his way to the open door. Heading to his own room, he turned the corner out of Jessie’s door and ran into Paris, who had been patiently waiting right next to it.
“Oh, sorry Mr. Tilden. Good morning,” she whispered, even though everyone in the house was awake.
“Morning, Paris,” he said, and stepped to the side. She nodded thankfully and hustled into Jessie’s room, quietly closing the door behind her so the two girls could change and get ready for school.
* * * * * *
Jessie slung her backpack over her shoulder, as Paris calmly waited by the door with hers. “We’re ready to go, Daddy!” Jessie called from the front door, and Marcus set his iPad back down, grabbed his keys, and hopped off his bed to take the girls to school.
“You guys look good today,” he politely told the two of them as he made his way into the entrance area of the house. “I like your sweater, Paris,” he said. It was a lavender color, and she had light blue jeans on below it.
“I’m wearing the same clothes I was on Saturday,” she replied, blushing.
“Oh. Well I think I was sleeping when you guys came home that night, so I wouldn’t know any better.”
Jessie perked up, “What about my outfit?” She was wearing a peach-colored blouse with black skinny jeans, and had her hair up in a side ponytail.
“I’m pretty sure I bought you that shirt for your birthday,” Marcus smirked, “so I obviously like it too, since I’m the reason you’re wearing it.”
“You’ve got good taste, Mr. Tilden,” Paris told him as she opened the garage door, and they made their way to his car.
“Well unfortunately I can’t take all the credit. Someone from work helped me pick it out,” he said, his smile immediately faltering as he was reminded of his old job, and one of the many coworkers he’d probably never see again.
There was an awkward silence as Marcus pulled out of the driveway, the girls having come to the same realization that Marcus did. An awkward silence that didn’t resolve itself on the trip to school, as the trio spent the ride in silence. Suddenly, once they were only a few minutes away from their school, Jessie gasped. “Wait, I just realized I forgot to make a lunch!”
“Oh no!” Paris exclaimed, genuine sorrow for her friend. “Do you have a lunch pass?”
Jessie shook her head, throwing her head back as she closed her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. “Do you have any money on you?” she asked, turning to Marcus.
He glanced over at his daughter, feeling sorry for her. “I left my wallet at home, but don’t worry about it. I can make something for you two when I get home and bring it by later, just text me when you need me to leave.”
“I can get school lunch, Mr. Tilden, so you don’t need to make any for me. But thanks for offering,” Paris politely told him as they pulled into the parking lot. “And thanks for the ride!” she added, getting out of the car as Jessie did the same.
“Yeah, thanks Daddy. I’ll see you in a couple hours,” she said with a smile before shutting the door, and ran to catch up with her friend while Marcus drove off with a new objective for when he returned home.
* * * * * *
Marcus was doing what he could to clean up around the house on Monday night. Earlier that day, he had made Jessie a sandwich, packed some chips, carrots, and an apple, and bundled it all up in a brown paper bag. He wasn’t sure if she’d like it, but quickly reminded himself it shouldn’t matter; she forgot her lunch, she’ll be grateful that I’m bringing anything to her at all. And it’ll probably taste better and be healthier than whatever the school cafeteria’s serving. And sure enough, she was grateful. When he pulled up to the school around noon, she ran outside and opened the bag, beaming at its contents, before thanking her dad and running back inside. And a few hours later, he stopped by the school for the third time that day to pick her up.
Plus he had applied to several more job openings. And now he had just finished tidying the house. So all in all, he felt pretty productive; it was a good day, especially for a Monday. He decided to go check in on Jessie and see if she was sharing his upbeat attitude. When he rounded the corner into her room, he found her standing inches away from her full-body mirror. She was barefoot, her hair in a bun, wearing gray yoga pants and had what looked like one of her new sports bras on. He assumed from what she was wearing that she had just finished doing some more yoga. Or she was about to start. But upon walking closer, he realized that she had a worrisome expression on her face, and seemed to be inspecting various areas of the skin on her face. “Hey, you look like something’s wrong,” he said softly, slowly approaching her.
She took a step back, turning to look to him, as if she had been caught. “I’m fine, I just—“
“Jess, I can tell that you’re obviously not,” he said, and she sighed, looking down.
“It’s just… body issues, and insecurity. I sorta, like… I don’t know,” she said, rubbing her stomach now as she looked at it. “I just wish I wasn’t so pale, I feel like all my friends are hot or tan, or both. Like, I’m the whitest girl in my class I’m pretty sure.” She chuckled uneasily at how open she was being, and Marcus both grimaced and smiled at the same time.
“Well, I have no idea what it’s like to be a girl, especially nowadays with the internet and social media. I’m sure body positivity is probably a lot harder on girls your age now compared to when I grew up. But Jessie… you shouldn’t worry about what you look like. The color of your skin doesn’t have any effect on how beautiful you are. I know that I’ve told you that a hundred times before, but that’s because it’s true. I’ve met plenty of women who have light skin complexions like yours, and I never thought any less of them because of it. And if you happen to have a friend who does think that, then they’re not a real friend anyways.” Jessie’s lips turned slightly upwards, a faint sign of hope, as she continued looking at her body in the mirror. “And besides, you’ve got my genes, so you shouldn’t have to worry about the looks department,” he smirked, and she giggled in response. “You should treasure these years too, you can probably eat whatever you want and your metabolism will keep you skinny,” he joked. “I have to actually be careful about what I eat so I don’t end up with a beer belly.”
Jessie laughed at her dad’s jokes. “OK, OK, I get it. I guess we all just have random bad days, and today was one of them for me. I guess I normally agree with you, I don’t think I’m ugly or anything,” she said turning her body at an angle as she checked herself out. Even despite her light colored skin, she actually thought she was quite a bit better looking than simply “not ugly,” but she wasn’t about to be so brazen in front of her dad.
“Well then good. People will always wish for something they don’t have, or want to improve something about themselves, no matter how good they are. If your worst problem is just that you’re not very tan, then I’d say you’re pretty lucky.”
“Yeah, although, I mean like, it’s not just the tan I guess. Like, I think there’s a couple guys at school that like me, but none of them have actually said anything to me. I mean like, about if they like me or anything.”
Marcus sighed and shook his head, “Well I can’t control what goes on at school, but you don’t need to start dating until high school.”
Jessie rolled her eyes, “You’re right, you can’t control what I do at school. And I didn’t even say anything about dating, I’d be content if one of them could just tell me they like me. Like, I know they already do,” she said, blushing. “I just wish they could come out and say it.”
“I’m a guy!” Marcus exclaimed with a smirk. “And I like you!”
Jessie groaned loudly, causing Marcus to only grin even harder at his successfully bad joke. “Yeah, I know, but I don’t wanna make out with you Daddy, so it doesn’t count.
“You shouldn’t be making out with anyone yet,” he chided, reminding her of his restrictive view on dating.
“Too late for that,” she muttered under her breath, and started giggling again as Marcus playfully punched her leg.
“Really? And you didn’t tell me about it?”
“Well look how you’re reacting, it seems I made the right call not to tell you.”
Marcus was quiet. She’d got him. “I guess that’s fair.” He didn’t want to be the kind of parent that she didn’t feel like she could talk to openly about things. “I’m sorry, you’re right Jess. I shouldn’t have reacted like that.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine, let’s just move on.”
“So you feel better then? No more worrying?”
“Yeah,” she said, checking herself out once last time in the mirror. Just to make sure.
“Can I get a hug then?” he asked, lifting his arms up, prepared to either wrap them around her thigh like he normally did, or for her to squat down like when he picked her up from her match the other day.
“Of course you can, Daddy,” she said, but turned to face him, still standing. And right in front him, in the middle of her yoga pants, and staring right back at him, was his young daughter’s camel toe. Surprised, but being careful not to show it, he wondered if he should mention it to her. But Marcus realized that that would be seen as rude, as it obviously wasn’t intentional. Before he could think any further on what to say or do, her hand pressed gently against the back of her head, and he found himself being pulled closer to her body. He only had enough time to turn his head to the side before colliding with her crotch, his arms now wrapped around her hips in his shrunken embrace. He couldn’t quite feel anything (not that he wanted to, obviously), but just the knowledge of it being right there was enough to unnerve him as she held him to her, unaware of any problem.
Jessie removed her hands from his head, and he immediately recoiled, glancing anxiously at the sign on her crotch that reminded Marcus of his daughter’s sexuality, no matter how natural it was. “OK, so uh…” he started, trying to figure out how to move along.
Now she was the one who could tell something was off, and looked down at him concerned. “Are you OK, Daddy?” She frowned, her hands on her hips while he cowered nervously beneath her gaze.
“So, did you do your yoga today?” he asked, blatantly ignoring her question as he tried to change subjects. He hoped she wouldn’t press him any further.
“No, actually, I just got changed before you came in here because I was about to.” She looked down and lifted the strap of her sports bra off her shoulder, “See? This is one of the new bras you bought for me.” She let go of the strap, and it snapped back against her skin.
“Oh, right, I kinda thought it looked familiar when I came in.”
“Well anyways, if our lil heart-to-heart is done, can I go do my session in the living room again?”
“Yeah of course, yeah, I’m not using it,” he told her, shrugging it off like it was no big deal, but still feeling residual awkwardness from moments ago.
“Great, thanks!” she chimed, and picked up her yoga mat, brushing her way past her dad while he quietly watched her leave.