Blay:To love your daughters. To care for them. To honor them—
Xcor:To take them to bed.
*loud sounds of growling* *click of a safety being taken off a gun*
Blay:*throws up hands* Oh, come on. You all have good intentions with your own females. You are all in healthy relationships. Why wouldn’t you want that for your daughters?
Rhage:We’re the exceptions that prove the rule.
Blay: But look how you changed. You met your Mary and bonded with her, and now you’re a different person.
Rhage:Yeah, and what were the chances of that. And do you know how much chaos and pain I caused some of the females I was with? I don’t want my daughter going through that. I was a manwhore and I did a lot of collateral damage.
Qhuinn:Preach. *fist bumps Rhage*
Blay:You cannot avoid pain in this life. And sometimes you have to go through a lot of it before destiny gives you what youwant. *glances at Qhuinn* The bottom line is, you can’t protect them from getting their hearts broken or from experiencing sex.
*blank stares all around*
Blay:*leaning forward* Um, you guys realize that Nalla, Lyric and Bitty are going to have s—
Rhage:*plugs ears* Lalalalalalalalalalala not hearing that—
Xcor:No, they will not—
Qhuinn:Never in my lifetime—
Z:*shaking head like he’s having a seizure*
Blay:*sitting back* Wow. This is really going to get interesting after their transitions.
Rhage:You wantmybottom line? You want me to answer the question for real? Fine, here’s my very non-PC answer. If some male wants to date my daughter, he is going to have to come to me and ask me and hermahmenproperly. Then he’s going to meet my brothers and my bros and Ruhn. And finally, I’m going to introduce him to good ol’ Uncle Wrath, who hassucha great way with people. Then, if the miserable f*cker hasn’t shat himself after all of that, and he’s still in for it? Maybe—just maybe—I will allow him to take my Bitty into the kitchen downstairs and have a cup of hot cocoa with her. Maybe.
Qhuinn:*nodding* Sounds about right. V can do the security monitoring.
Rhage:Exactly. And I’ll be under the table. With the b*stard’s ankle in my mouth.
Blay:Are you saying your daughters are not smart enough to see through the douches? That you aren’t going to raisethem so they have self-confidence, self-esteem and plenty of self-worth? That you have so little respect and regard for their autonomy and ability to run their own lives that you are going to stand behind them like warlords protecting them from a weakness that only you perceive they have? For their entire lives?
Rhage:*leans forward* No, I’m saying that Bitty is my beating heart outside of my f*cking body and the world is full of f*ckboys and freaks who do not value her like I do. I watch over me and mine and I am not going toeverapologize for that or pretend that violence against females is not a reality in this world. I love my daughter, and I trust her with herself—what I do not trust, what I willnevertrust, is a stranger who enters her life with a cock in his pants and a bright idea in his head. Right now, everyone and their uncle is all about empowerment and that is great. I fully support it. But if you f*ck around with my daughter, you are taking your life into your hands, and no amount of society’s “self-actualization” is going to change the fact that if you hurt her, I’m going to put you in a MOTHERF*CKING COFFIN.
Blay:*leans forward* I’m telling you this right here and now, and I mean it with all due respect, please know that—there is going to come a moment when you are going to have to step off and let Bitty live her own life. Or you are going to lose her. I get the protection thing. But you need to ask yourself, are you protecting her…or are you trying to save yourself from acknowledging that she is not just your daughter, but a mature female who has a right to make her own choices? You can’t keep her a little girl forever, Rhage. And she can’t be yours exclusively, like Mary is. She is not something that you can lock in a basement just because you can’t handle seeing her grow up and mature—
Rhage:*jumps to his feet* *bares fangs* F*ck you—
Xcor:*gets in between them and holds back Rhage* Easy there—
Qhuinn:*protects Blay* Rhage, you gotta chill—
Rhage:*jabs finger at Blay* *voice booms* You try that sh*t out withyourdaughter, okay? You try to imagine her raped and dumped at the side of the road because she went out with a male she thought was a good guy and you relied on the “she can take care of herself” sh*t and he f*cked her up! I’m tellingyouthis right here and now, there is going to come a moment when someone does something shitty to Lyric and you’re going to want to f*ck him up until he bleeds from the ass and needs a goddamn liver transplant ’cuz you went after him with a crowbar! Clothe yourself in self-esteem rhetoric all you want, but just wait for when Lyric’s out alone all night and see how you f*cking feel then—
Beth:Enough! This has gone way too far! *lowers voice as Rhage goes quiet* I think we need to just relax here. Boy, do we…wow. Okay, so that happened.
*silence* *heavy breathing all around*
Blay:Oh, my God.
Rhage:What. *eyes flash* Just say it. Just f*cking say—
