Cruel and Unusual

Em was in a mood this evening. I know, she's thirteen, she's hormonal, it's a hard age, etc. But she was being impossible.

After supper, I decided we'd head up to Celebration Park to hang out a bit. Em didn't want to go but her attitude was not making me care if she was interested. You're going, get over it. Keep up with the sourness and I'll come up with a way to make you even more miserable.

I contemplated taking a guitar along. I need to practice, and it was ridiculously nice out. The whole idea freaked Em out. I wasn't sure if I'd really bring the guitar along, not sure how well I could supervise Mo while strolling with the instrument.

I'd pretty much decided against it, and had both girls in the car. I was about to get in and asked Mo, just to see what she'd say, Should Daddy bring his guitar to the park?

Mo answers 99% of all open-ended questions in the negative, so I was impressed when she said, 'Yes.'

Then Em punched her in the face. I know she thought I couldn't see, but I saw. It was a hard punch, too, judging by the way it moved Mo's head.

So I lit into Em and she knew she was busted. Tears welling up in her eyes almost instantly.

I went and got my guitar.

I contemplated making myself even less invisible, maybe by stripping to my boxer shorts before playing the guitar, but I settled for just noodling around on the instrument.

Em has been trying to figure out the depths of how much trouble she's in, and I haven't entirely decided. While I punched my brother many times, he not only deserved it (in my mind at the time anyway), but could and did hit back and/or tell Mom. Mo could hit back if she wanted to, I guess, but that's not her way, and she doesn't really have the verbal skills to tell on her sister. And how could she 'deserve' it for answering an innocuous question?