Mildew

Danny as Mildew

"Are you sure you don't mean your dad was banned, Deej?"

D.J. Tanner, a high school senior, had come into the Tanner home with younger sister Stephanie, thirteen. D.J.'s best friend, Kimmy Gibbler, had dropped rather useless books — Kimmy was really dumb and hated to study, anyway — off at home, then come into the Tanner home a moment later.

D.J. held up a hand, having had a few things thrown at her at once upon her arrival. "No, Kimmy, I mean he's really in a... wait. What's this about Michelle, now?"

Michelle was Danny's youngest girl, in third grade. Danny hadn't punished her till she was almost four, and had been quite inconsistent at other times, so D.J. had to step in quite a bit early, though not very much in the last year and a half, thankfully. The guys who had moved in to help — Danny's brother-in-law Jesse and best friend Joey — were great father figures, but hadn't provided discipline for Michelle, either. Jesse was a hip rock and roller who had had trouble even disciplining his own kids, nearly three-year-old Nicky and Alex — because he hadn't wanted to become like his dad, who yelled a lot. And, Joey was just a big kid at heart whose favorite thing was cartoons. Jesse — with wife Becky and their boys — and Joey still lived with the Tanners.

Danny explained that Michelle had expected Joey to do "roll on the floor laughing" fun instead of "teacher, that was so interesting!" fun when he subbed in her school today. "There was a bit of a conflict the first few minutes of class, but the PA got it all straightened out, so things were okay by lunch. Everything's fine now; I talked to her."

Stephanie could tell D.J. was flummoxed by the other bit of news she'd heard. "I'll follow up for you to make sure she understands how she should behave in school now."

"Thanks, Steph," D.J. said as Stephanie went upstairs before turning to her dad. "Now, what's this about you being in a band, Dad?"

"Hey," Danny said in a comical "hip" voice, "when your Uncle Jesse's band and I go out on tour, you can call me 'Mildew.'"

"D.J. can call you that, Mr. T. I'd just call you crazy," Kimmy spouted. "And, if you ever do go out on tour, D.J.'ll want me to call her a cab — so she can escape to Mexico."

"Kimmy, relax," D.J. replied. "I'm sure Dad remembers what happened the last time he tried to act really hip and play with Uncle Jesse's band, when we were in eighth grade."

Danny nodded. "You're right, Deej. I promise — no earrings, no leather pants. Just a few pairs of jeans and a leather jacket with mildew stains. And I'll take a good, hot shower after every performance."

Jesse came upstairs at that moment, looking a little shaken as Stephanie's best friend Gia Mahan walked in the door. "Here," Jesse told Danny, "Joey's gettin' ready, we gotta run to do our show, but here's your contract." He said the name with some hesitation. "Mildew."

"Oh, thanks, Jess." Danny happily looked it over, oblivious to Jesse's tone. D.J. told Gia where Stephanie was, but Danny stopped her from going upstairs. "Gia, you and Steph are going to be so excited. Now, your friend's got a father who's in a band!"

"Well, yeah," Gia said nonchalantly. "Stephanie says Jesse and Joey have been like fathers to her all these years."

"I mean me!" he said with a goofy grin. He glanced over a little more, then signed it, having seen it before when Jesse went over it with him downstairs.

"Yeah," Jesse said, still not quite believing it. "He means him. Look, the idea of you being in my band is just... well, I better get going." He quickly left with Joey as Joey came down the steps and went out the door.

"Mr. Tanner, Stephanie's helped me to be more respectful," Gia began. That was true — her divorced mother had said at the start of the school year that Stephanie was the reason Gia was more respectful and starting to get better grades, and had stopped smoking. "But, I can't think of a nice way to put this..."

"He's a total dork," Kimmy offered.

"That... sums it up, yeah," Gia said. "I mean, her uncle is so cool, and you're so... not cool."

Stephanie and Michelle came down smiling. "Well, I'm glad everything's okay and you're being good again now," Stephanie said happily. Michelle concurred. "Dad, Michelle's friend Denise has the chicken pox; she brought homework home for her. I'm going to run it over." Stephanie had had the chicken pox, but Michelle hadn't.

"Wait, Steph. Don't you want to hear more about the band?"

"Later, Dad!" Stephanie replied before turning to Gia. "Come on, Gia, do you want to come?" Gia left with her, since she, too, had had it, and D.J. and Kimmy went upstairs to D.J.'s room.

Well, what do you think so far? Votes and encouraging feedback are superbly appreciated, s'il vous plaît. 😊🏅