Chapter 12

“Barbie, I think you may have been too overzealous this time,” Joe was shaking his head. “I appreciate the enthusiasm, but you’ve created a quite pickle for us that I didn’t anticipate,” he said.

Barbie was a little confused by his reaction. She thought he’d be overjoyed that she was willing to essentially burn her old clothes as a sign of her sincerity.

Joe was very pleased that Barbie had made such a bold statement with what she’d done, but he also knew their parents hadn’t shared with them any of the family’s fragile financial situation he knew they were in the midst of. To hear his mom talk, there WAS no situation, but Joe knew better. He’d heard his dad’s tone of voice when he’d pleaded with their mom not to go on a spending spree to decorate their new house.

“Mom bought that dress you are going to wear for Homecoming back in Chicago. I know for a fact it is worth about six hundred dollars. It has never been worn, and now it is a pink tie-dyed mess. What do you think she is going to do once she finds out you ruined that the day before the dance?” he asked rhetorically.

His sister became apologetic and even offered to let him punish her for being so presumptuous.

She was just so excited to get started on this new adventure that she hadn’t thought about the repercussions of her actions like Joe would. It only cemented in her mind that she was right to ask him to control her now.

“Oh, I will, but for now we have to be strategic and on the same page about how we handle mom and dad. I am going to need you to help me avoid the monumental tidal wave of motherly drama you might have unleashed.”

Joe was always looking out for her, and this was another prime example to Barbie. She was completely willing to do whatever he suggested without question, to fix this.

“I am going to handle Dad. All you have to do is agree with me and seem a little reluctant to accept my suggestions. I need to talk to him first and get him on our side,” Joe pontificated out loud as he made his plan known to her. His sister nodded and agreed.

“I am going to suggest to them that they let me put you on restriction,” he was interrupted by his sister’s laughter before he could finish.

“I am sorry but as convenient as that would be to your training efforts, our parents will never let you put me on restriction, Sir,” she said.

Joe smacked her tits through her shirt and reminded her NEVER to interrupt him. “That includes when you are in general mode! That’s another punishment coming your way!” Then he continued, “you’re right that mom wouldn’t agree to let me put you on restriction UNLESS I approach things the right way. That means we both have to be on the same page when we talk to them. I am going to suggest it, and the best way to get mom to agree with me is if you don’t immediately capitulate and agree to everything I suggest,” he said.

Joe’s sister was a rule-follower by nature, and he knew that. She rarely got in trouble, but when she did, she was inclined to accept whatever judgment was passed on her by her parents without question. “I am going to need you to whine and pout when I make these suggestions,” he insisted.

“So you want me to basically act like Ariel when she doesn’t get her way, Sir?” she asked.

“Yes, that is a good way of looking at it. You can even throw in a little stubborn refusal at first, but ultimately you are going to accept what I plan for you in front of mom.”

Barbie wasn’t confident she could pull off lying, but Joe made it sound like role-playing, and she liked that. She wanted to practice some of what they would say but there wasn’t time. They heard the garage door and knew their dad was making a surprisingly early entrance home. It was now or never if they wanted to engage their parents one at a time.

Joe had a plan on how to appeal to their dad that he felt confident would work. He’d heard his dad argue that they didn’t need a new living room suite and that he wanted them to live like the locals, but Joe was convinced his dad didn’t even know how the locals lived. Joe’s epiphany was that maybe his dad hadn’t even shared everything about their finances with his own wife.

They met him in the living room. Barbie was still wearing his old Stetson shirt and smiling. Their father looked totally worn out as if he hadn’t merely sat in a big chair in an air conditioned office barking orders to plebs all day. Gerald could tell his kids wanted to bring a new issue to him to solve, and he would always make time for them.

“Tough day, dad? You look beat! Barbie, get dad a drink. He looks like he needs it,” Joe told his sister.

“Yes, Sir,” Barbie said, then took off before her dad could comment on her once again wearing a shirt around the house or that she jumped into action with just a word from her brother. His father thought nothing of her calling him Sir.

One thing Gerald Chipman wasn’t surprised at, was Barbara calling him, or maybe this time her brother, Sir. If there was one thing he thought his daughter was especially good at, it was her manners. It might have been playful sarcasm as well, he assumed. One thing he could tell was that whatever happened between them, it seemed that Barbara was the one who’d done something wrong, because she had her head down.

Long before they’d ever moved to Florida, he’d already begun to see a future for his little Barbara in the customer services field if she could ever get past her own shyness. Seeing her flitting around in a shirt with her long legs completely bare like Pinkerbell always did, was an indication that she was FINALLY breaking out of her shell. In his mind, it was about time. He saw nothing sexual about it. To him, it was perfectly natural for a teenager her age to go through a phase where she stopped acting like such a priss.

At least his two eldest weren’t cause for concern, he thought to himself, then rapped the wooden door frame with his knuckles automatically touching wood. As if he needed more on his plate, he added to himself. He was very proud of both of them. He had never known two more mature young adults, although to be fair, they were really the only two young adults he knew, period.

“Hey, dad? Got a minute?” Joe asked as if wanting to say something before his sister came back.

“Sure, Joe. What’s your sister done this time?” Gerald asked, picking up on Joe’s apparent urgency. He was joking, of course. Barbara was the model child and rarely caused a problem for him and his wife. She got straight A’s in school and had only recently said she wanted to help set the table for dinner.

“Mom’s going to get mad with Barbie soon, but I wanted you to know ahead of time that I have it handled. The last thing any of us need is mom throwing one of her shit fits. Barbie ruined all her own clothes today.”

“Hey, language, son,” his dad reminded him. “What exactly do you mean she ruined her clothes? Which ones? Something her mom especially likes to see her in?” Gerald asked, not particularly interested in the silly dramas of women, although grateful Joe had given him a heads up. Helen could definitely be trying when he had a headache. Like now.

“All of them, dad. Long story short, she over-bleached everything she owns, then she tried to get the bleach out using the dryer and now everything’s tie-dyed and Tonka-sized now. Every item of clothing Barbie owns is toast. Sorry, Dad!”

The implications of Barbara needing a completely new wardrobe suddenly struck like a knife to the gut. “You’re joking, right? Everything? How’s that even possible!” Gerald thought there had to be a mistake. Joe had to be exaggerating, surely.

“I think Barbie thought she could make her clothes look more hip if she washed them all together or something. Her closet and drawers are bare, Dad.”

Joe decided his dad wasn’t shocked enough. “Dad, you realize these aren’t doll clothes we’re talking about here. That was probably about $5,000 worth of premium clothes mom has forked out for her. Even her $600 homecoming dress was ruined,” he added for good measure.

The dress may have been purchased on sale, but it was worth $600, and hearing that much money mentioned at once genuinely caused one of Gerald’s many ulcers to start dancing inside his belly.

Joe had been keeping an eye on the kitchen, and when Barbie reappeared carrying a drink for her dad, Joe subtly shook his head. Barbie got the message and shrank back before her dad noticed her.

Gerald probably wouldn’t have noticed if Barbie had walked in naked to hand him his drink. He was too dumbfounded, and already the repercussions of Helen finding out were too much to consider. His head began to really pound now. Helen might get upset, but then she’d be happier than ever. She’d be able to take Barbara shopping for EVERYTHING!

“Please tell me you’re joking, Joe? Your mom will bankrupt us if she takes Barbara on a shopping expedition to replace all that!” Gerald was suffering acute sticker shock. “What costs a buck, your mom will turn down unless she can find the same thing for ten!”

Joe’s dad looked crestfallen, and although Joe hated to see the panic and fear vying for dominance in his dad’s features, he was also pleased he’d broached the subject with him instead of his mother. He needed the backup his dad could provide.

“I’ve already talked to Barbie about it, and I’ve told her that SHE is going to replace her own stuff. I told her until she’s learned her lesson, I’m putting her on restriction, if that’s okay with you, I mean. I figured you’re too tied up with your new job, and mom will just congratulate her or something. I know mom likes to shop, so I figured I could help out by making sure Barbie learns her lesson the hard way, like you made me when I destroyed my bike in Chicago.”

Gerald had been handed a lifeline, and he clutched it with all his might without wanting to seem desperate. “That sounds like a very good plan, young man! I’ll back you a hundred percent. You don’t need to worry about Helen, son. Have I told you lately how proud of you I am?”

Joe grinned and nodded his head. Barbie accepted that as her signal to bring her dad’s drink in.

“I hear Joe put you on restriction?” He asked Barbie if she was willing to accept her brother’s punishment as if it were his own. Barbie tried not to grin, but she couldn’t help the edges of her mouth rising into a slight smile.

“I’m really sorry, daddy. I just thought_” she started, but Joe cut her off. Barbie shrugged like an unapologetic dumb bimbo. She was basically imitating Candy Simmons’s reaction when Harlan called her a lazy mother and slut.

“Your problems started by you NOT thinking, Barbie. Now you’re going to pay the price. If you accept your restriction, tell dad,” Joe instructed her sister. “Mom and Dad don’t have time to watch over you every minute of the day. Dad works hard, Mom works hard. I am willing to step up and help out. They will be the ones to set your restriction! I am just going to make sure you actually follow through with it!”