Friday night was hectic. I had to work late. Then, when I got home, the house was a mess. I'd been so busy over the last few weeks that I just didn't have time to keep everything organized at the house. I'd asked Jenna if she could help with some of the laundry and general house cleaning, but she didn't seem to have done a single thing. I looked around the living room in disgust at the trashcan in the corner overflowing with candy wrappers and coke cans. More half-empty cans littered the table at the end of the couch. I felt frustrated as I wandered through the rest of the house. Jenna wasn't a little kid anymore, but she sure was acting like one. I worried that I had been spoiling her. Things had been so hard since her mother left, I just wanted Jenna to have a happy childhood. It was starting to become clear, though, that I may have let her have a little too much freedom - if she didn't learn responsibility, she would have a lot of problems in the real world. By the time I dumped the last batch of empty cans into the recycling bin out back, I had made my decision.
Saturday afternoon I was laying on the couch watching TV when Jenna walked into the room wearing sweats and a t-shirt. She looked like she'd just woken up. She looked around the room for a while and then asked me if I knew where her car keys were. She said she thought she'd left them in the bathroom last night, but they weren't there when she woke up. I told her we needed to talk. She plopped down on the floor in front of the couch and looked at me curiously.
"You haven't been carrying your weight around the house, Jenna." I said, as I pulled the keys to her car out of my pocket and showed them to her.
"I'm sorry, daddy, I've just had a lot of stuff to do and sometimes I forget." She whined.
I sighed, "We've had this discussion so many times. Here's what we're going to do, when the house is clean, and the laundry is done, you can have the keys to your car back. If you work hard at it, you should be able to get it all done before tomorrow night, so you can drive your car to school on Monday. If not, I can give you a ride there and you can find a ride home."
Jenna looked like she was going to cry. "No, no, no…I have plans tonight. I need the car. I have to have it tonight. I'll clean up tomorrow, please…."
I felt horrible. Tears were welling in my baby girl's eyes. I wanted to give in. I wanted to let her go, to give her one more chance. But I knew I couldn't. I needed to take a stand now, before this got any worse. "No. I'm sorry, dear, I've made my decision." She watched me closely as I put the keys back into my pocket.
Jenna started sobbing. "It's really important, daddy, really. I, I, can't believe this." Jenna sat there with her face in her hands sniffling.
I looked back at the TV. I didn't want her pouting to sway me. I was a sucker and she knew it. This time, though, I would be strong. After a while she got up and marched back to her room, obviously angry at me. I walked to her room and knocked on the door. "Go away!" she demanded.
I answered, "You'd better get busy if you want to get your car back anytime soon." She didn't respond so I headed back for the couch. It was a rare day off for me, and I wasn't going to waste it fighting with her, she would come around.
An hour or so later, still laying on the couch, I heard Jenna get in the shower. I knew that she was up to something, a shower could only mean she was still hoping to go out. I sighed and turned back toward the couch, wondering what the girl was up to. I patted the pocket of my shorts to make sure her car keys were still there. They were. I turned the volume down a bit on the television and began to nod off.
I woke up with a start. I was laying flat on my back on the couch and something was on top of me. I was confused at first, but then, as my eyes began to focus, I realized that it was Jenna. She had climbed on top of me while I was sleeping and she was trying to reach into my shorts pocket to get the keys. "What the hell are you doing?" I demanded, still groggy from my nap.
"I'm getting the keys to my car." She said sweetly. "Don't worry, daddy, I'm willing to work for them."
Jenna was sitting on my chest, straddling me, facing away from me. I could see from the back that she was wearing a skimpy tank top and some really short jeans shorts. Her ass was practically wiggling in my face as she tugged at my pocket. "Stop it. Get off of me" I said. She stopped for a second and then started something new.