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Friday, October 30
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Marcus was in the middle of reading a book on Friday when his phone vibrated, and after turning it on he saw he had gotten a text from Jessie. “AHHHHHHHH” was all it read, and Marcus chuckled, wondering if her freakout was one of celebration or fear from something. Either way, if that was her first reaction, it must not be too serious. Then he got the follow up: “i just remembered that i forgot to do my laundry yesterday, but i cant do it after school cuz im going over to paris’s, but im ALSO going to a party tomorrow for halloween and i need clean clothes for my costume.”
“You’re going to a halloween party tomorrow?”
“oh yeaaaaaa 😬 forgot to tell u… but yea”
“Would’ve been nice to get a heads up.”
“why, can i not go? and yes like i honestly just forgot, i was only invited a couple days ago anyways”
“No that’s fine, you can go. Did you need a ride?”
“idk yet”
“OK, well what was your original text for? About your laundry. Did you want me to do it for you?”
“… 😊”
“Lol alright, sure I can put your stuff in the wash. But you have to remember to put them in the dryer tonight if you want it ready for tomorrow.”
“DEAL omg thank uuuu and ill see u when i get home practice is about to start cya”
Marcus sighed, knowing this was far from the first time that Jessie had asked him to do something for her while she was at school or practice or a friend’s, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last. But that was OK with him, he did those things because he loved her. Making his way to her room, he realized he wasn’t sure if she needed all of her laundry done, or just whites or colors. He pulled his phone back out to ask her, but saw her last text and realized she was in class. It’ll be at least an hour and a half before she answers anyways, and I’ll be making dinner by then so I might not see her text. Or I can just do everything. As he rounded the corner into her room, he saw that there was almost nothing on the floor, but her hamper was mostly full. Well, I guess that answers that, he mused. There were still a few socks and a discarded t-shirt lying around, so he picked those up and tossed them in with everything else. Grabbing the tops of the laundry basket, he was surprised by how heavy all her clothes were. Or rather, how heavy just a week of her clothes are. He didn’t want to haul the entire basket, which was nearly as tall as him, down outside, through the hallway and the house, and out to the garage. “Two trips it is,” he told himself with a sigh. He didn’t want to handle her delicates if he didn’t need to, so he decided he’d take out all her regular clothes and leave her underwear and bras and lighter clothes to be taken as the first wash, then come back later for a second load with her dark colored clothing. He couldn’t remember how she liked to sort her laundry - Should I put her whites in with her lights but keep them separate from her delicates? Marcus shook his head, deciding she could figure out how to finish her laundry when she got home. At the least, he knew to wash her lingerie separate from her regular clothes, and those were probably the most important.
Since he didn’t want to have to go get one of his stools from the kitchen or the garage, he grabbed an empty box from nearby and stood on it so he could reach into Jessie’s hamper easier. Rifling through the first few clothes, he pulled out some shirts, jeans, and a hoodie, tossing them on the floor for the next batch. Then he leaned in further, teetering on the edge of the box as he tried to grab at a blue halter top on the opposite side of the basket. As much as the box helped him in seeing over the edge of the hamper, he still had relatively short arms for reaching into them. He kept leaning, further and further at the waist into the basket, until he felt the box under his feet suddenly tip over, and without a foothold anymore he fell forward into his daughter’s pile of dirty clothes. Groaning, but glad that nobody had been around to see his mishap, he tried standing up. The floor of discarded clothing was uneven and easily sank beneath his feet, but he managed to get upright again. At least I’m not any smaller, he thought, looking back out at her room. If I was half my size, I probably wouldn’t be able to climb back out, and I’d just have to wait here for however many hours until Jess came home and found me. But he wasn’t that small; he could still do some things on his own.
Marcus knew he wouldn’t be able to hop over because the laundry flooring wasn’t firm enough, but the hamper itself was also made out of too bendy and stretchy of a material for him to firmly grab onto. So he hoped momentum would be enough for him, and leaned his body slowly further and further outwards, hoping to fall back out from his daughter’s laundry prison just as he had fallen in. He grinned as he felt his body start to gravitate towards his torso instead of his legs, and eventually his body tipped back out of the basket, but not before his foot snagged on the handle of the hamper. Successfully, the man fell out of the basket and onto the floor, but his foot dragged the top of the basket with it, which in turn yanked the entire hamper to its side. He couldn’t stop it from tipping over in his direction. It followed him in falling all the way down on its side, on top of his legs, and Jessie’s dirty clothes spilled out on top of him. God, I cannot catch a break! He pulled various articles of clothing off of him as he stood up, not quite disgusted, but still frustrated by how needlessly long this whole ordeal was. Just to wash some clothes. With almost everything off of him, he felt one last thing still around his neck, hanging down behind him. He pulled it up over his head and out in front of him. Surprised at what it was, he gasped slightly and quickly let go.
It was a thong.
If he wasn’t grossed out before, he definitely was now, realizing a pair of his young daughter’s skimpy underwear had just been hanging around him like a necklace. It wasn’t a g-string, but it was still considerably skimpier than the boyshorts and briefs she typically wore for underwear. Was she hiding this from me? Is this her only one? After Jessie’s fiasco with sneaking drinks of wine the other night, was this a secret she had been holding onto for much longer? She must’ve bought it for herself, because I certainly never got it for her. Is this normal? Did she buy it for a boy? He had so many questions, but he knew he couldn’t ask her any of them right now. He recognized as a single father to a young daughter, there were bound to be instances that were outside his realm of knowledge. He had done his best to educate himself on women’s issues as he raised Jessie, but there were inevitable circumstances that he simply could not prepare for. And wondering whether or not it’s OK for my 13-year-old to be wearing thongs is one of those unforeseen circumstances. With a reluctant sigh, he picked it up and tossed it back into the hamper, along with her other delicates that needed to be washed. I’ll just wait til she’s home to talk to her about it, he concluded, and grabbed the laundry basket handles to haul it out towards the washing machine.
* * * * * *
The front door opened while Marcus was seated at the table eating dinner, and in came Jessie, her backpack and sports bag slung over her shoulders. “Paris’ mom had another meeting thing tonight,” she explained, “so she couldn’t hang out tonight.” She slung her things off by the door since it was now officially the weekend, and went to the kitchen to grab a plate. “You’re eating pretty early,” she commented; it wasn’t even 5:30 yet.
“I figured I’d be eating alone, and I got hungry so there was no need for me to wait. Who brought you home?” he asked, watching as she scooped some mashed potatoes, pot roast, and green beans onto her plate.
“Harper's dad,” she replied, bringing her dinner to the table opposite her dad. “I didn’t text you that Paris had to cancel, right? This is a pretty big dinner for someone who was gonna eat alone,” she noticed. “But I’m not complaining,” she said gleefully, and kicked her feet up onto the table.
“Jessie,” her dad scoffed, amazed at her brazenly casual attitude. “No feet on the dinner table, I shouldn’t even need to tell you that.”
“But I just got back from practice,” she whined, thinking that that would help her case.
“Exactly, so they probably stink,” he laughed. “It’s basic manners, Jess.” She rolled her eyes, but did as her dad said and took them off anyways.
The two of them continued to eat, with Marcus occasionally asking about how things were going at school. Jessie had just finished up her plate when she remembered her texts from earlier that afternoon. “Oh, were you able to do my laundry?” she asked.
Marcus nodded, unfondly remembering his ordeal from a few hours ago. “Yeah, your underwear and bras should be in the wash,” he said. “I didn’t start a second load since you came home earlier when I was expecting.”
“Oh, that’s OK. Thanks for starting on them though, at least I’ll be able to dry them so I have something clean to wear tomorrow.” Her mood brightened upon hearing about the favor he’d done for her. But that wasn’t all.
“Also…” he began, thinking how best to bring up the topic, “when I was doing your laundry earlier, I noticed you have a… a thong?”
Jessie sat looking at him, her face unchanging. She doesn’t look ‘caught’ like when she was drinking wine. Although she’s also not drunk this time around. “OK. Was it… dirty? Like did you not want to touch it or anything cuz there was something on it?” She didn’t really like talking about her underwear with her dad, but she failed to see the issue.
“No, it was clean. I mean, it was in the laundry, so it was dirty, I’m assuming, but it wasn’t like…” he paused, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “That’s not why I brought it up. The issue was what it was. It’s a thong, Jess, you’re 13. I… know you’re growing up, but I think you’re too young to be wearing stuff like that.”
His daughter bit her lip and tilted her head, understanding what he was saying but both surprised and confused that he was taking an issue with it. She didn’t think he was that conservative-minded. “Daddy… it’s just a thong. It’s not like, one of those really tiny little string ones, I forget what they're called, but like it’s just a bit shorter than my other stuff. I…” She trailed off, slightly uncomfortable with bringing up this next bit. “I know you might think they’re sexual, like, I get it, a girl in a thong is like, a thing or whatever. But a lot of other girls in my class wear one, and we’re not, like, showing it off. It’s underwear, it’s always under my clothes, right? So it shouldn’t make a difference.” Marcus had a hard time arguing with that last point she made. At the least, she seemed too genuine to have been caught.
“That’s true, but…” He couldn’t explain it, but it still felt wrong to him.
Jessie reached out her arm and settled her hand on his own, looking into his eyes to reassure him. “There’s nothing wrong with me wearing a two-piece bikini when I go swimming, right?” She already knew his answer for this one. Some parents might still say yes, but Marcus had never taken issue with her choice of swimwear before. “It’s just like that,” she stated matter-of-factly, withdrawing her hand and smiling. “Except it’s under my clothes, so people can’t even tell what I’m wearing. But I can, since I’m the one wearing it, and sometimes it just feels more comfortable than my other stuff.” She shrugged, “I just got it a couple weeks ago, only one, cuz I wasn’t sure if I’d like it or not. But hopefully I’ll be able to get more with my allowance in the future.” Marcus looked down and sighed; she could tell he was still uneasy. “You can look it up on Google if you want, I’m sure there’s a lot of like, blogs and articles that agree with me. I get that it might’ve been, like, weird or taboo for someone my age to wear one when you were growing up, but luckily women’s rights have progressed a lot more since the 80’s.”
He looked up at her and smiled. “No no, that’s OK. You’ve convinced me,” he chuckled. “Hey, how about we watch another movie tonight?”
“That sounds cool, but maybe in a couple hours,” she countered politely, and stood up so she could head to her room and change while Marcus finished his dinner.
* * * * * *
Marcus was sound asleep in his bed later that night when his bedroom door slowly creaked open, the silhouette of a young girl standing meekly at the entrance. Jessie tiptoed inside, carefully shaking her dad awake so as not to scared him. “Daddy…” she whispered as she saw his eyes flutter open and eventually focus on her solemn, scared face. “I had a really bad nightmare…” she whispered, and her father frowned and reached out to console her.
“Awww, I’m sorry sweetie. Do you feel better now?”
She nodded her head a couple times, before lightly shrugging and tilting it back and forth, unsure if she really was. “I don’t really know. I just… can I stay in your bed for tonight?”
It had been at least a year, maybe two since Jessie had asked to sleep in her dad’s bed after a bad dream, but it had happened so much when she was a child that Marcus had gotten used to it, even if it had been a little while. Maybe it’s learned behavior, he sleepily wondered, but he scooted his body over on the queen size mattress that was much too large for him at this size anyways. “Of course,” he whispered, and she faintly smiled gratefully as she peeled the covers back and quietly slipped underneath. “Let me know if you feel bad again, OK?” he said softly, turning his back to her and readjusting himself on one of his other pillows. “Goodnight.”
She turned her back to him too, but felt safe and warm beneath his big, heavy covers. “‘Night, Daddy,” she cooed, and the two of them slowly drifted back to sleep.