Post by Kinalara on Jun 28, 2011 19:28:08 GMT -5
((Ok, so this little story was made for my Creative Writing 2 class as part of my final project- and I actually intended to send this off to Anthropomorphic Dreams Publishing. ..Though I'm a bit squeamish about actually, you know, doing it. I finished this like, the night before it was due, so the ending is kind of rushed and shoved out there, and parts of it are a bit contrived. I would like some feedbak before I go to actually send this off.
Anyhoo, for those of you who checked my character corner, you maye know who Tonny is. If you read her whole history, youdeserve a medal will probably understand what this is talking about a bit better. It's basically a first hand account of her history, a sort of flash back.
Please read and comment!)
She should have seen it coming when the new woman walked in the door. The second she realized she didn't hate this one.
Sasha was a tall, pretty Red Fox with no strays from the species key appearance elements. Her pelt was a bright but rusty red-orange, triangle ears tipped charcoal with a bit of the same color here and there about her face. The defining trait of a fox, the long, bushy, white tipped tail, Sasha was not devoid of, It flowed vehind her in a regal manner, loose and lazy as it would float back an forth in a refined half-wag. Her eyes were small, pretty, glimmering emeralds in her ginger and cream face. For some reason, everything about her expression, personality, and manner of speech was likeable. So it was no suprise that Tonny's father Jonah Schyuler took an automatic liking to her.
The surprise was that Tonny did as well.
Tonny had always been her father's girlfriend guard-dog, much to his ever growing chagrin. If they didn't meet the only daughter's standards, they didn't last long. Most didn't make it over a week. Tonny wasn't without her fairness. They got a whole week to impress the tomboyish striped hyena- certainly that was more than enough? And if they didn't they left.
One way or another.
But Sasha was different from the get go. An infectious manner existed in her that was void in all of the other women her father dated, (The man had absolutely no taste in women).
She spoke with an effortlessly honey-sweet tone that made you want to hang onto every word she spoke. Her eyes glittered with knowledge and experience- though not of the same manner as Jonah's They were full of excitement, of adventure, money, a lust for life that came from knowing it's every corner and turn. Her smile and good mood were contagious, and Tonny had a very hard time being angry or sour in her presence- though she certainly tried. Tonny wasn't the type to go down without a fight. But it was all in vain- even Tonny, who had always been a pro at finding any weakness in her father's catches, had a hard time pin-pointing any on this one. Finally, Tonny was defeated. She became used to having the woman around- and even went so far as to allow her father to ask the fox to move in with them. She had been staying in an apartment building on the outside of the little town the three of them shared- Blairwood. Though, Tonny and Jonah shared a small home in the middle of the quiet town, while Sasha lived just on the border of Fanfield, the lively neighboring town that could have fit two Blairwoods in it. Sasha was also unemployed for the most part, only jumping back and forth between half time jobs. Jonah himself, though not rich withing any standards, did well enough for himself as an accountant at a small firm near their home.
He was perfectly capable of taking care of his daughter as well as the newly added Sasha.
They were an odd pair, Sasha and Jonah. First was the nine year age difference, which was not obscenely large or obvious, but noticeable enough. The older male Striped wore his age well, at least. His dark brown fur had began to dull in his older age, and his near-black stripes were following suit. His reddish mane that ended mid-shoulder and dipped wispy bangs into his eyes was graying at the ends, as was his muzzle, near the rubbery, dark gray nose that had lasted in it's shade through the years his eyes were the most shocking bit about him- and one of the only things his daughter had inherited from him and not her deceased mother. They were a sharp, rigid diamond shape, and bore a startlingly saturated shade of red-orange.
His idea of exciting had also differed from Sasha's own- his being a simple sit down in his room on his bed with a good work of fiction, and Sasha's being a lively night on the town with friends. As such, Jonah had taken up going out on the town more than he has used to- which Tonny was for, as she had worried about her father being indoors so much.
In the first few weeks that followed Sasha's move in, Tonny tried once more to find anything and everything she could that she hated about Sasha. She over-analyzed everything that was said to her, everything the fox did, anything at all when she got the chance. But with every passing day, she was becoming closer to Sasha without even realizing.
Because of her only parent being her father, Tonny had always been very boyish and had little knowledge of all thing feminine. But now, with Sasha present, Tonny had been introduced to many more concepts and facts about being a woman. She always had difficulty talking to her father aboust such feminine topics as her wardrobe or her body and appearance. Sasha, however- invoked conversations such as this of her own accord- out of will and curiosity, it seemed. Through her time in Tonny's home, Sasha often helped the young hyena to pick a look out for herself. Just like Sasha and Jonah, Sasha and Tonny's appearance was at strong odds with Sasha's- even more so than her father.
Tonny was around 5 feet, 3 inches tall. Her pelt color, markings, mane and tail length were all abnormal for a typical striped, as was her mother's- where she had inherited said traits from. She possessed a pelt of light, dingy blue and stripes of an intense, dark indigo- her face, chest, stomach, and tail top masked with the same color with the exception of the small strip of light blue along her muzzle and dips of blue under her eyes. Her nails were black by nature. The hyena's mane stretched down to her lower back, and gradated from a sky blue to a pure white. Most typically, her head would be covered by a bandanna- altered to allow her striped ears, naturally.
Two months of life with Sasha in the Schyuler household passed seamlessly, and Tonny hardly noticed the days turn to weeks and weeks to months. The hyena had grown to fully accept the presence of the red fox. They would often shop and hang out together on the town, talk about happenings in the town and at home. Though she never accepted it fully as such, Tonny had the beginnings of a motherly relationship with Sasha.
A relationship that was doomed to crash horrifically with a single overheard conversation.
It had been a rainy day, storms ripping through many parts of the county and staying inside being the best option for most- that most including the Schyuler household. Feeling bored with her little bit of dancing in her room, writing bits and pieces of frivolous short fiction for no other reason than a fruitless attempt to escape the wet day's suffocating monotony and doodling small, silly cartoon dragons and strange creatures of the like in her notebook, she decided that a call to a friend could end her sorrows. Tonny didn't have a very large group of friends, but the small group she kept close to her was very tight- close enough to be her first choices when things went gray.
The house held three live phones, though all connected to the same line- Tonny did not have a cell phone. Without thinking anything of it, she immediately retrieved the cordless phone from out of the bathroom- (the Schyulers were infamous for leaving things lying where they otherwise did not belong), and clicking the talk button. Just as she prepared to click in her number, she heard a voice on the other end.
“You miss me, Babe?”
Tonny froze up. She knew that voice-- how couldn't she? She'd been living with it for the past two months, it was Sasha's voice. She had accidentally entered a conference call with Sasha, and with the bathroom being soundless besides Tonny's breathing- which she quickly tried to stifle as best she could manage- the fox was none the wiser. Trying to be proper, she made to click the button back off. ...But then curiosity took the reigns. Her father was at home, as far as she knew. And there was no point, even in kidding, to call her father over the phone, as none of the rooms were all that far from each other. Now, if that was the case- who the hell was she calling “Babe”? Tonny was about to get her answer as another voice on the other end picked up- a gruff, deep male voice that was tinged with an almost unhealthy natural growl.
“'Course I do.” He replied, though it didn't sound the slightest bit genuine, “I'm missin' somethin' else too- you know, what you promised me? What you owe me?” Tonny took a seat on the closed toilet, still listening in- a stone forming in her stomach for a reason unknown to her. As if her subconscious already knew what they were talking about. Sasha gave a light-hearted giggle, “Of course of course the money! You know how these things go, doll- I need to get them all into me before I go palming their cash.”
“How long?” Came the other snarl, “How long?? I miss you, babe- and I want that damn money. I want it.”
“It shouldn't be long now- I have them both wrapped around my finger. You should see the way his little daughter looks up to me- dull thing. And that is not an easy feat- I've heard she's driven hundreds of his girls off before.” She gave another giggle, at which Tonny had to fasten her teeth into her tongue to stop herself from giving a snarl, “But don't you worry, anyway. When I get the ring, you start getting that money. The old man is so trusting, he won't know what hit him.” There was a long pause, at which Tonny waited through with bated breath. Had she been caught? Another chuckle from Sasha disproved this fear, and Tonny relaxed. “He's the perfect puppet. A middle-class man, older, trusting, single father- why would he ever suspect he was being robbed? Who would want so little money, right?”
At this point, Tonny clicked the button once more to end the call on her end. She'd heard enough. More than enough. She promptly lept from her seat on the toilet, opened it, and retched sourly into the off-white bowl.
There had never been a moment that Tonny suspected Sasha- never. She had been so good at watching herself, so good at worming her way into the family. The way she flashed that smile and savored everything she beheld with glistening emeralds, it had been too thick and appealing of a facade to look past- and who would want to? When you have something so good, you never want to think of it in a light that would otherwise tarnish your perfect view of them. No one really wants to believe an ugly truth about someone they care about. At first, this was the same for Tonny. She went a whole week with the minimum amount of contact she could possibly have with either of them- Jonah or Sasha. But during this whole time, Sasha had been no different to Tonny. Still smiling and speaking with honey-coated words, the days were the same as they had been before the revelation Tonny received through the conversation over the phone. But now she knew the game. She accepted no offers from Sasha, not even looking at her. Every time she saw her father, she felt sickening guilt. She needed to tell him. He had to know.
Monday of the following week, Tonny confronted her father with the evidence- she repeated all of it. Told him all about gold-digger Sasha and the man she had waiting on her when she got the money.
She was shot down.
Tonny stared at her father with a slack jaw and saucer eyes as Jonah shook his head in shame, his own eyes low and staring at the table- as if too ashamed to even behold his daughter in his eyes at the moment.
“...I thought you were better than this, Tonny.” He muttered, Tonny's breath catching in her throat, “You've done a lot of things to the women I've dated. You've run them off any way you could. ..But I never expected this. You two were getting along so well.” Now he looked back up at her, brows furrowed, “...Why would you lie to me about her-- and such an elaborate lie as well? What do you hate about her so much that you would do something like this?”
“I'm NOT lying!” Tonny barked desperately, “SHE'S the liar-- a liar and a dirty CHEAT! Shes SCUM, dad---”
“ENOUGH!” Her father suddenly barked, flooring Tonny back into her seat. Her father never yelled at her. Never. “......Tonny, I don't know what you've been watching or reading to help you to come up with this argument, but I know what this is really about. You've never liked me dating- never. And now that I've become very serious about a woman, you're nervous and threatened-” Tonny opened her maw to retort, but her father raised a hand and silenced her, “...If you feel this way, you need to talk to me about it. ...I'm very disappointed in you, Tonny. Go on to your room. Leave me be.”
Tonny was utterly devastated. She had never lied to her father before- even when getting rid of his girlfriends. Anything against any of them was truth- always. Jonah had always seen that for himself. So why? Why would he not listen?
She had been betrayed by the one she had always felt to be her closest ally. And it stung. She could see, then and there, he was not going to budge. And so, they fell into a mutual silence. For the next few nights, they spoke minimal to not at all- which did not go unnoticed.
Several nights after the confrontation of her father, Tonny was approached by Sasha herself. Upon entering the hyena's room, she was greeted with a stern “Out.” which went promptly ignored. She sat herself on Tonny's bed- on the opposite side, Tonny noted, and began to speak to her.
“You and your father have been very quiet.” She murmured, her voice still as sweet and appealing as ever, which made Tonny growl in hatred.
“Observant.” She snarked, “Now observe the door. Out.” She pointed with a black nailed finger and glared into the eyes of the woman she had once considered a friend. There were a few moments of silence, during which Tonny saw something dark shift in her eyes. There came a defeated sigh from the fox, finally, and she made for the door. However, as she opened it, she stopped just before she stepped outside.
“...I found out something funny the other day, Tonton.” She suddenly spoke, using the affectionate nickname she had used over the months for Tonny. Tonny's lips raised in a grimace, “Don't call me that.” She sternly hissed, but couldn't stop her curiosity from forcing her to speak, “....What?”
The fox stared out the door for a beat, before turning her head back to Tonny with one of her infectious smiles on her muzzle. “The phones in this house? They have a quirky little feature. When someone in a conference call hangs up before the whole group exits, it makes a beeping noise.” She cocked her head in a curious manner, “Isn't that neat?” She left the room without another word.
There was no change in Sasha's behavior after this statement. None at all. And it was that that successfully drove Tonny crazy- as the fox had no doubt been intending. If she knew, Tonny at LEAST wanted her to try something- anything. Then her father would know she wasn't a liar- then he would see who the real liar was! But she knew this- she knew that reacting would finish her. She was experienced and smart. Realizing that just the knowledge wasn't going to make Sasha slip up, Tonny turned to other methods. She became violent and rude towards her instead. Any time Sasha asked her anything, she received a hateful, scathing remark- any attempt to touch her or lay a hand on her shoulder resulted I a slap on the arm or hand. But none of it worked- she was still as kind and sweet as ever- of anything, she reacted as a clueless victim.. And the only thing it was ruining was the relationship between father and daughter.
Jonah would not have Tonny's hateful manner towards Sasha- he began to punish her and yell at her more often- something that began to turn her against her father as well. In typical 17 year old manner, Tonny began to feel that she wanted to punish him. Punish him for not believing in the daughter he had known for 17 years over the fox gold-digger he had known for under 1. She began to steal- from him, from stores- she discovered she was very good at it. She let her room fall to shambles, refused to do chores or help as a part of the family.
After another month passed, she finally confronted him again. This ended similar to the first attempt, but with more yelling and crying. Both of them were at their wits end at each other for different reasons that were perfectly connected. At this point, anything she had to say was coming from a moody, rebellious teenager- not his daughter. A view he had only started to have after Sasha entered his life. Again he would not listen, refused everything that Tonny spoke as lies. He grounded her. This was the last time she would ever attempt to convince him.
Their lives became a shell of the happy life they had once had- and much more separate. Jonah had Sasha, and Tonny had no one. At this point, Tonny had been pushed so far, she no longer felt guilt or worry. Only a bitter sting from where she had been betrayed. A sting that would only grow in the next month. Two days before her father's birthday.
When he revealed the wedding.
“I know you don't like her.” He spoke softly with with a struggled, gruff undertone- one he only adopted when he spoke to Tonny now, as if speaking to her was painful. “...But I think we can look past that. We have to-- you have to. I love her. She's never done me any wrong-” Like you have. She could hear it even though it was unspoken. She was soundless through the entire conversation, only allowing him to talk. When it was finally time for her opinion, she merely stared at him with no words, blinking with cold eyes. After what seemed like hours of neither of them speaking, Tonny stood and made for her room for the night.
The next day was spent packing in her locked room. The last time she ever saw her father was a glimpse of his soundless form on the couch with a neglected work of fiction in his lap- staring out the window with dull eyes as she walked into the room in search of the phone. The train ride to Westwood would be a long one, thankfully. Robintree wasn't the best line of apartments, but once she got a hold of a job, she would be able to pay for stay there easily. Once she was finished packing, she started unloading her bags into the taxi she'd hailed to get to the station in Blackdon.
Anyhoo, for those of you who checked my character corner, you maye know who Tonny is. If you read her whole history, you
Please read and comment!)
Tonny should have known.
She should have seen it coming when the new woman walked in the door. The second she realized she didn't hate this one.
Sasha was a tall, pretty Red Fox with no strays from the species key appearance elements. Her pelt was a bright but rusty red-orange, triangle ears tipped charcoal with a bit of the same color here and there about her face. The defining trait of a fox, the long, bushy, white tipped tail, Sasha was not devoid of, It flowed vehind her in a regal manner, loose and lazy as it would float back an forth in a refined half-wag. Her eyes were small, pretty, glimmering emeralds in her ginger and cream face. For some reason, everything about her expression, personality, and manner of speech was likeable. So it was no suprise that Tonny's father Jonah Schyuler took an automatic liking to her.
The surprise was that Tonny did as well.
Tonny had always been her father's girlfriend guard-dog, much to his ever growing chagrin. If they didn't meet the only daughter's standards, they didn't last long. Most didn't make it over a week. Tonny wasn't without her fairness. They got a whole week to impress the tomboyish striped hyena- certainly that was more than enough? And if they didn't they left.
One way or another.
But Sasha was different from the get go. An infectious manner existed in her that was void in all of the other women her father dated, (The man had absolutely no taste in women).
She spoke with an effortlessly honey-sweet tone that made you want to hang onto every word she spoke. Her eyes glittered with knowledge and experience- though not of the same manner as Jonah's They were full of excitement, of adventure, money, a lust for life that came from knowing it's every corner and turn. Her smile and good mood were contagious, and Tonny had a very hard time being angry or sour in her presence- though she certainly tried. Tonny wasn't the type to go down without a fight. But it was all in vain- even Tonny, who had always been a pro at finding any weakness in her father's catches, had a hard time pin-pointing any on this one. Finally, Tonny was defeated. She became used to having the woman around- and even went so far as to allow her father to ask the fox to move in with them. She had been staying in an apartment building on the outside of the little town the three of them shared- Blairwood. Though, Tonny and Jonah shared a small home in the middle of the quiet town, while Sasha lived just on the border of Fanfield, the lively neighboring town that could have fit two Blairwoods in it. Sasha was also unemployed for the most part, only jumping back and forth between half time jobs. Jonah himself, though not rich withing any standards, did well enough for himself as an accountant at a small firm near their home.
He was perfectly capable of taking care of his daughter as well as the newly added Sasha.
They were an odd pair, Sasha and Jonah. First was the nine year age difference, which was not obscenely large or obvious, but noticeable enough. The older male Striped wore his age well, at least. His dark brown fur had began to dull in his older age, and his near-black stripes were following suit. His reddish mane that ended mid-shoulder and dipped wispy bangs into his eyes was graying at the ends, as was his muzzle, near the rubbery, dark gray nose that had lasted in it's shade through the years his eyes were the most shocking bit about him- and one of the only things his daughter had inherited from him and not her deceased mother. They were a sharp, rigid diamond shape, and bore a startlingly saturated shade of red-orange.
His idea of exciting had also differed from Sasha's own- his being a simple sit down in his room on his bed with a good work of fiction, and Sasha's being a lively night on the town with friends. As such, Jonah had taken up going out on the town more than he has used to- which Tonny was for, as she had worried about her father being indoors so much.
In the first few weeks that followed Sasha's move in, Tonny tried once more to find anything and everything she could that she hated about Sasha. She over-analyzed everything that was said to her, everything the fox did, anything at all when she got the chance. But with every passing day, she was becoming closer to Sasha without even realizing.
Because of her only parent being her father, Tonny had always been very boyish and had little knowledge of all thing feminine. But now, with Sasha present, Tonny had been introduced to many more concepts and facts about being a woman. She always had difficulty talking to her father aboust such feminine topics as her wardrobe or her body and appearance. Sasha, however- invoked conversations such as this of her own accord- out of will and curiosity, it seemed. Through her time in Tonny's home, Sasha often helped the young hyena to pick a look out for herself. Just like Sasha and Jonah, Sasha and Tonny's appearance was at strong odds with Sasha's- even more so than her father.
Tonny was around 5 feet, 3 inches tall. Her pelt color, markings, mane and tail length were all abnormal for a typical striped, as was her mother's- where she had inherited said traits from. She possessed a pelt of light, dingy blue and stripes of an intense, dark indigo- her face, chest, stomach, and tail top masked with the same color with the exception of the small strip of light blue along her muzzle and dips of blue under her eyes. Her nails were black by nature. The hyena's mane stretched down to her lower back, and gradated from a sky blue to a pure white. Most typically, her head would be covered by a bandanna- altered to allow her striped ears, naturally.
Two months of life with Sasha in the Schyuler household passed seamlessly, and Tonny hardly noticed the days turn to weeks and weeks to months. The hyena had grown to fully accept the presence of the red fox. They would often shop and hang out together on the town, talk about happenings in the town and at home. Though she never accepted it fully as such, Tonny had the beginnings of a motherly relationship with Sasha.
A relationship that was doomed to crash horrifically with a single overheard conversation.
It had been a rainy day, storms ripping through many parts of the county and staying inside being the best option for most- that most including the Schyuler household. Feeling bored with her little bit of dancing in her room, writing bits and pieces of frivolous short fiction for no other reason than a fruitless attempt to escape the wet day's suffocating monotony and doodling small, silly cartoon dragons and strange creatures of the like in her notebook, she decided that a call to a friend could end her sorrows. Tonny didn't have a very large group of friends, but the small group she kept close to her was very tight- close enough to be her first choices when things went gray.
The house held three live phones, though all connected to the same line- Tonny did not have a cell phone. Without thinking anything of it, she immediately retrieved the cordless phone from out of the bathroom- (the Schyulers were infamous for leaving things lying where they otherwise did not belong), and clicking the talk button. Just as she prepared to click in her number, she heard a voice on the other end.
“You miss me, Babe?”
Tonny froze up. She knew that voice-- how couldn't she? She'd been living with it for the past two months, it was Sasha's voice. She had accidentally entered a conference call with Sasha, and with the bathroom being soundless besides Tonny's breathing- which she quickly tried to stifle as best she could manage- the fox was none the wiser. Trying to be proper, she made to click the button back off. ...But then curiosity took the reigns. Her father was at home, as far as she knew. And there was no point, even in kidding, to call her father over the phone, as none of the rooms were all that far from each other. Now, if that was the case- who the hell was she calling “Babe”? Tonny was about to get her answer as another voice on the other end picked up- a gruff, deep male voice that was tinged with an almost unhealthy natural growl.
“'Course I do.” He replied, though it didn't sound the slightest bit genuine, “I'm missin' somethin' else too- you know, what you promised me? What you owe me?” Tonny took a seat on the closed toilet, still listening in- a stone forming in her stomach for a reason unknown to her. As if her subconscious already knew what they were talking about. Sasha gave a light-hearted giggle, “Of course of course the money! You know how these things go, doll- I need to get them all into me before I go palming their cash.”
“How long?” Came the other snarl, “How long?? I miss you, babe- and I want that damn money. I want it.”
“It shouldn't be long now- I have them both wrapped around my finger. You should see the way his little daughter looks up to me- dull thing. And that is not an easy feat- I've heard she's driven hundreds of his girls off before.” She gave another giggle, at which Tonny had to fasten her teeth into her tongue to stop herself from giving a snarl, “But don't you worry, anyway. When I get the ring, you start getting that money. The old man is so trusting, he won't know what hit him.” There was a long pause, at which Tonny waited through with bated breath. Had she been caught? Another chuckle from Sasha disproved this fear, and Tonny relaxed. “He's the perfect puppet. A middle-class man, older, trusting, single father- why would he ever suspect he was being robbed? Who would want so little money, right?”
At this point, Tonny clicked the button once more to end the call on her end. She'd heard enough. More than enough. She promptly lept from her seat on the toilet, opened it, and retched sourly into the off-white bowl.
There had never been a moment that Tonny suspected Sasha- never. She had been so good at watching herself, so good at worming her way into the family. The way she flashed that smile and savored everything she beheld with glistening emeralds, it had been too thick and appealing of a facade to look past- and who would want to? When you have something so good, you never want to think of it in a light that would otherwise tarnish your perfect view of them. No one really wants to believe an ugly truth about someone they care about. At first, this was the same for Tonny. She went a whole week with the minimum amount of contact she could possibly have with either of them- Jonah or Sasha. But during this whole time, Sasha had been no different to Tonny. Still smiling and speaking with honey-coated words, the days were the same as they had been before the revelation Tonny received through the conversation over the phone. But now she knew the game. She accepted no offers from Sasha, not even looking at her. Every time she saw her father, she felt sickening guilt. She needed to tell him. He had to know.
Monday of the following week, Tonny confronted her father with the evidence- she repeated all of it. Told him all about gold-digger Sasha and the man she had waiting on her when she got the money.
She was shot down.
Tonny stared at her father with a slack jaw and saucer eyes as Jonah shook his head in shame, his own eyes low and staring at the table- as if too ashamed to even behold his daughter in his eyes at the moment.
“...I thought you were better than this, Tonny.” He muttered, Tonny's breath catching in her throat, “You've done a lot of things to the women I've dated. You've run them off any way you could. ..But I never expected this. You two were getting along so well.” Now he looked back up at her, brows furrowed, “...Why would you lie to me about her-- and such an elaborate lie as well? What do you hate about her so much that you would do something like this?”
“I'm NOT lying!” Tonny barked desperately, “SHE'S the liar-- a liar and a dirty CHEAT! Shes SCUM, dad---”
“ENOUGH!” Her father suddenly barked, flooring Tonny back into her seat. Her father never yelled at her. Never. “......Tonny, I don't know what you've been watching or reading to help you to come up with this argument, but I know what this is really about. You've never liked me dating- never. And now that I've become very serious about a woman, you're nervous and threatened-” Tonny opened her maw to retort, but her father raised a hand and silenced her, “...If you feel this way, you need to talk to me about it. ...I'm very disappointed in you, Tonny. Go on to your room. Leave me be.”
Tonny was utterly devastated. She had never lied to her father before- even when getting rid of his girlfriends. Anything against any of them was truth- always. Jonah had always seen that for himself. So why? Why would he not listen?
She had been betrayed by the one she had always felt to be her closest ally. And it stung. She could see, then and there, he was not going to budge. And so, they fell into a mutual silence. For the next few nights, they spoke minimal to not at all- which did not go unnoticed.
Several nights after the confrontation of her father, Tonny was approached by Sasha herself. Upon entering the hyena's room, she was greeted with a stern “Out.” which went promptly ignored. She sat herself on Tonny's bed- on the opposite side, Tonny noted, and began to speak to her.
“You and your father have been very quiet.” She murmured, her voice still as sweet and appealing as ever, which made Tonny growl in hatred.
“Observant.” She snarked, “Now observe the door. Out.” She pointed with a black nailed finger and glared into the eyes of the woman she had once considered a friend. There were a few moments of silence, during which Tonny saw something dark shift in her eyes. There came a defeated sigh from the fox, finally, and she made for the door. However, as she opened it, she stopped just before she stepped outside.
“...I found out something funny the other day, Tonton.” She suddenly spoke, using the affectionate nickname she had used over the months for Tonny. Tonny's lips raised in a grimace, “Don't call me that.” She sternly hissed, but couldn't stop her curiosity from forcing her to speak, “....What?”
The fox stared out the door for a beat, before turning her head back to Tonny with one of her infectious smiles on her muzzle. “The phones in this house? They have a quirky little feature. When someone in a conference call hangs up before the whole group exits, it makes a beeping noise.” She cocked her head in a curious manner, “Isn't that neat?” She left the room without another word.
There was no change in Sasha's behavior after this statement. None at all. And it was that that successfully drove Tonny crazy- as the fox had no doubt been intending. If she knew, Tonny at LEAST wanted her to try something- anything. Then her father would know she wasn't a liar- then he would see who the real liar was! But she knew this- she knew that reacting would finish her. She was experienced and smart. Realizing that just the knowledge wasn't going to make Sasha slip up, Tonny turned to other methods. She became violent and rude towards her instead. Any time Sasha asked her anything, she received a hateful, scathing remark- any attempt to touch her or lay a hand on her shoulder resulted I a slap on the arm or hand. But none of it worked- she was still as kind and sweet as ever- of anything, she reacted as a clueless victim.. And the only thing it was ruining was the relationship between father and daughter.
Jonah would not have Tonny's hateful manner towards Sasha- he began to punish her and yell at her more often- something that began to turn her against her father as well. In typical 17 year old manner, Tonny began to feel that she wanted to punish him. Punish him for not believing in the daughter he had known for 17 years over the fox gold-digger he had known for under 1. She began to steal- from him, from stores- she discovered she was very good at it. She let her room fall to shambles, refused to do chores or help as a part of the family.
After another month passed, she finally confronted him again. This ended similar to the first attempt, but with more yelling and crying. Both of them were at their wits end at each other for different reasons that were perfectly connected. At this point, anything she had to say was coming from a moody, rebellious teenager- not his daughter. A view he had only started to have after Sasha entered his life. Again he would not listen, refused everything that Tonny spoke as lies. He grounded her. This was the last time she would ever attempt to convince him.
Their lives became a shell of the happy life they had once had- and much more separate. Jonah had Sasha, and Tonny had no one. At this point, Tonny had been pushed so far, she no longer felt guilt or worry. Only a bitter sting from where she had been betrayed. A sting that would only grow in the next month. Two days before her father's birthday.
When he revealed the wedding.
“I know you don't like her.” He spoke softly with with a struggled, gruff undertone- one he only adopted when he spoke to Tonny now, as if speaking to her was painful. “...But I think we can look past that. We have to-- you have to. I love her. She's never done me any wrong-” Like you have. She could hear it even though it was unspoken. She was soundless through the entire conversation, only allowing him to talk. When it was finally time for her opinion, she merely stared at him with no words, blinking with cold eyes. After what seemed like hours of neither of them speaking, Tonny stood and made for her room for the night.
The next day was spent packing in her locked room. The last time she ever saw her father was a glimpse of his soundless form on the couch with a neglected work of fiction in his lap- staring out the window with dull eyes as she walked into the room in search of the phone. The train ride to Westwood would be a long one, thankfully. Robintree wasn't the best line of apartments, but once she got a hold of a job, she would be able to pay for stay there easily. Once she was finished packing, she started unloading her bags into the taxi she'd hailed to get to the station in Blackdon.
