Grasping at straws. That’s exactly what Annie Williams was doing, and often did when things didn’t go her way. And how did her father know this? Well… this wasn’t the first time he had seen her pull this trick. However, nothing had been quite as big as accidentally burning down part of a forest with her only excuse being that because nobody got hurt, she shouldn’t be held accountable. Jordan’s eyes closed, frustration apparent within his being which he was trying to control for her sake. A promise he made that he would never treat his kids like he was once treated - a brief memory of the screaming his dad had done after a heavy night of drinking flashing through his mind. He knew she was young - that Mariana didn’t necessarily understand the implications of her actions. Though, Jordan could still recall a young Ruby Danvers likely had never expected that her fire would hurt and kill not only Aline Ribero… but others as well. No one expected it… but if Jordan was being honest, today Annie got lucky. This moment could have gone wrong in so many ways and for some reason, that concept wasn’t getting through to her. Currently she was scraping by luck alone. If anything had happened, he understood that she wouldn’t be acting this way. Death, after all, does that to people… and being the person responsible for death and injury of another… well that’s a feat he never wants Annie to experience. The reason: he knew it would break her… even if she didn’t understand that herself. However, if she kept going down this path she was headed… only danger loomed. “And what if there was someone in that forest, Annie? What if a family was camping? What if something had happened and your only excuse was that you didn’t mean for it to happen? What then? Do you not understand that there are consequences to your actions, Annie. This isn’t okay,” Jordan stated in a calm voice - after mentally calming himself down. It had gone too far at this point. Perhaps Sadie and Jordan did go easier on Annie but this was truly unacceptable and neither him nor his ex wife could let this pass anymore.
Though the issue became only more apparent when the reason of the fire’s start turned out to be weed. Upset couldn’t even begin to describe how Jordan Williams was feeling. It’s not that his daughter was taking a legal substance in her off time… it was the fact that Jordan knew gateway drugs when he saw it. His entire childhood was filled watching people start a substance and simply fall deeper into the rabbit hole - one of which they couldn’t control. The memory of a man who started off with a simple sample his father had given him at the age of 5 and the reoccurrence throughout his childhood as the man came back over and over again. A man who sold everything simply for the high. Though his past was something he never shared with his kids… he never wanted to know what a truly terrible man their grandfather was or how awful and experience he had been through compared to their own. But this… he couldn’t excuse this. Folding his arms across his chest, the disappointed in the mans eyes couldn’t be ceased after the disappearance of Officer Montoya and the continuance of his daughter’s words that were going nowhere. Perhaps it was anger… but at this point… Jordan was truly upset beyond compare “Stop… Mariana just stop. God… I’ve never been this disappointed in you in my entire life. You truly have nothing to say for yourself… not even an ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘I’ll do better’ and honestly, I don’t even think you are sorry. Is this just a game to you Annie? You could have gotten hurt out there… god… someone else could have gotten hurt out there. I just… I can’t believe a daughter of mine would act like this.” He looked at her with his eyes showing how broken his heart felt at that moment… at her actions. “You’re grounded, Mariana. I’m going to have a talk with your mom about this but… we’re not letting this slide again,” A soft sigh left his lips. “Come on. We’re going home - we’ll have a talk about this in the morning when you’ve gotten cleaned up and slept.”
Mentioned:
@unsungcheerio - Aline
@Ouijaloveletters - Ruby