Sweet Thing
Warnings: Ableist Language, Franco somehow managed to breed, Not completely historically accurate, Child Abuse, Hurt/Comfort and Franco calls you a whore like once
You hadn’t expected much of anything when you first accepted this position. You were well renowned in your field of work due to your expertise in teaching and child development, many schools dreamed of getting their hands on you. You moved to New Orleans for better job opportunities and just a fresh start away from your troubled past.
Nothing good awaited you in that shabby villa, only constant verbal abuse. It felt good to step foot out of your small town, exhilarating even. Things only got better when you were able to enter your dream job. To be greeted with smiling young faces and even brighter minds was an absolute treat. The school was certainly upper scaled than most in the area but modest.
You never liked going into the city much, there was this certain kind of air that reeked of something insidious. Especially at night, you could swear that you heard gunshots. Other than that, your life was going quite smoothly. Until that one faithful Monday.It was dismissal when you were busy cleaning our classroom, idly humming as you erased the last lesson off from the chalkboard. Lost in your mind, you didn’t hear the frantic footsteps of your coworker stomping down the hallway.
“My goodness Bethany! What happened to you?” You queried, rushing to her side as she brushed off your attempt at assistance. She opened her mouth, her hand up before balling into a fist as she shook it.
“Listen [Name], I need a favor from you.” She abruptly stated, you blinked before looking up at the clock. You gestured for her to continue, fearing subconsciously about what this was about. “You’re good with children, yes?” You nodded in confirmation. Even the most troubled pupils ended up being the sweetest little angels after a few days in your care.
“I certainly like to think so, why do you ask?” You queried, Bethany gestured you to come along with her as you reluctantly followed. “May I ask what’s going on? Does this involve one of my students?” You asked. She shook her head, picking up the pace as you tried to keep up.
“Thank goodness it’s not, you’re honestly the luckiest out of the rest of us. No, unfortunately someone else had the unfortunate burden of being saddled with this… child. If you can even call it that.” She scornfully remarked. You got a sickening pit in your stomach.
“Now, now Bethany. Let’s not be like that, we’re dealing with a child here! Not a criminal.” You defended, Bethany bitterly laughed. What was her problem? What? Did this school have a secret monster in the basement or something?
“Oh, you haven’t been here long enough to know about il monstra.” She said, looking at you like you were a newly born fetus. You tilted your head in confusion, Bethany sighed. “Let me guess, you don’t know much about Il Bambino either?” She asked.
“Well maybe if you stopped being so cryptic, I might get a clue.” You snarked back. Frankly you didn’t have time for such foolish games, your students got straight to the point half the time. Bethany began to bore you with the details.
“Il Bambino is the son of the local mafia don, it's pretty hard to miss him when he looks like a tumor from a better man’s asshole. Ugh, disgusting freak. Ya know, it’s a miracle that his father didn’t immediately smother him when he popped out! A father’s love, am I right?” You were at a loss for words frankly, who the hell says something like that?
“Oh don’t look at me like that! If you saw him, you’d understand. He’d lap up your bleeding heart like an inbred mutt. Anyway, somehow it managed to multiply, shocking.” You couldn’t hear anymore, shaking your head.
“That’s quite enough, just tell me about the incident so I know what I’m getting myself into.” You firmly stated. Bethany immediately went back to being visibly annoyed. “Ya know, with everything, I thought for sure that he would at least spare us the trouble of looking at his offspring but once again, we were wrong.” She scowled.
“Ever since that little hellspawn stepped foot into this place, she’s been nothing but trouble!” Bethany tossed up her hands. “Always screaming, whining about her father and starting trouble with the other children.” You hummed, absorbing the information.
“May I ask how these fights start? Children don’t just kick up a fuss out of nowhere.” The older woman rolled her eyes at your suggestion. You resisted the urge to roll yours back at her.
“Oh honey, when you come from someone like Bambino, you’re just bound to start up a fuss.” She said blankly. “Anyway, some of the boys were innocently teasing her and as per usual, it had to escalate. The damn imp bit one of them, kicked one in the stomach and tried to bite me.” Bethany huffed. “Her father should be on his way right now, hopefully he picks her up and never returns.” You swallowed thickly.
Eventually the two of you arrived at a classroom, where it was weirdly empty? You looked around, confused. “Um where’s the child?” You asked. Bethany wandered on over to a closet, where she proceeded to open it. Quiet, meek sobs spilled out from it as Bethany gestured to it.
“It’s all yours, don’t be afraid to put it in its place. Good luck.” She quickly shoved past you, closing the door behind her. Your mind was struggling to keep up with all the information but you were brought back on track with the child’s sobs. Upon gaining further inspection, you were greeted with a rather innocent sight. You expected a simpering, devious imp from how Bethany was behaving.
She was a small girl with dirty blonde hair and pale white skin. Her eyes were a cute shade of light blue, bloodshot from crying. Her outfit was certainly rather expensive than her peers’, with her lilac skirt and Mary Jane shoes stained with dirt. She did have noticeable facial differences, with a cleft lip and a minorly swollen cranium. Her thumb was nestled deep in her mouth, trying to rock herself into a soothed state. You cringed at seeing her roughed up, bleeding knees, bruising along her arms that was certainly fresh.
‘Not even a trip to the nurse first?’
Really? This is what had everyone up in arms? You sighed, you could work this out with staff later. You put on a gentle smile, getting down on her level. “Hey sweet pea, could you tell me your name?” You approached her softly. She didn’t reply at first, sucking harder on her thumb. “Let’s get you out of the closet and get you some bandages, yeah?” You suggested, offering your hand to her. She didn’t take it, eyeing you with distrust and scooting backwards. Poor baby.
“I’m not mad at you sweetheart, okay? I only want to know what happened and to help you but I can’t do that if you’re all the way over there.” She considered your words, taking out her finger to give you a brittle response.
“S’my daddy almost ‘ere?” It was weak and scratchy, tinted with a noticeable accent. You nodded, glad that you’re getting somewhere. She went quiet again, sniffling and wiping her face.
You smiled, nodding. “Mhm and I’m pretty sure that your daddy doesn’t want you to be hurt, right?” You said. She nodded again, scooting closer. “There we go, good girl. Now, let me go get you some bandaids and then we can talk, okay?” She let out a hum of acknowledgement as you got up and searched for the bandaids.
You quickly found some in a first aid kit, pulling a few out before going back. “You must’ve taken a pretty hard tumble sweetpea!” You stated, gently applying the bandaid to her wound. She briefly hissed in pain before tightly grasping at her skirt.
“You’re such a trooper for taking it so well, I bet your dad must be proud of how brave you are, yeah?” She responded positively to that, nodding enthusiastically.
“He says that m’tougher than most guys he sees.” She boasted slightly. You nodded in agreement before getting back to business.
“Could you tell me your name sweetpea? So I know who the brave girl I’m talking to is?” You queried, you watched as she pondered for a moment. “If it helps, I’ll tell you mine. It’s Ms. [Last Name].” You introduced, patiently waiting for her to reply. She did, softly and almost faintly. Carnia, a fitting name for such a dear young lady.
“Ooh! That’s a pretty name, your daddy certainly knew what he was doing when naming you.” You complimented, Carnia shook her head. That’s not what everyone else said, everyone always called her ugly or nasty.
Just like those boys on the playground, she only wanted to play with them. It was getting boring sitting in the shade as everyone else played. Nobody complimented her new dress or shoes, she picked them out specifically because daddy said they would love it. She was wrong, like always. “Mm-mm.” She murmured softly, shaking her head.
“I’m ugly, that’s why those boys pushed me.” Carina sniffled, her chapped lip beginning to wobble. “I said that m-my daddy said that it wasn’t true but they laughed ‘n said he was lying.” She whimpered.
“Sweetheart, I’m not sure that’s why they-!” You were cut off by Carina snarling at you hurtfully. Her glossy eyes welled up with a new batch of tears, furiously sniffling. She stood up, stomping her foot against the floor aggressively.
“No! That’s why they dids it! They called me a nasty, drooling freak and pushed me! They pushed me! I didn’t start it, I didn’t, I didn’t, I didn’t!” She shrieked angrily. You were startled by her abrupt burst of anger before you gently shushed her. “Hey, hey! Shh, it’s okay sweetpea, I never said that they didn’t.” You tried to explain before Carina sneered.
“But you were, just like t-that hag! Nobody believes me!” She wailed. Your heart broke, frantically trying to grab her hands as she went up to tug at her full head of dirty blonde curls. Frantically you reached up and took her hands into yours. “Let go! I hate you right now! I’m telling my daddy!” She threatened.
“Hey! None of that now, I believe you! C’mon sugar, please don’t hurt yourself like that.” You firmly but gently grasped her hands as she jerked about. “Listen to me, I believe you, alright? So you don’t gotta get all worked up, it’s okay now.” You soothed, watching her relax and sniffle. She struggled briefly, trying to escape your grasp before ultimately relaxing herself.
“Y-you promise?” She meekly asked, you nodded as she wiped her face. Carina removed her hands from yours, wiping her face and trying to suck in all the snot leaking from her nose. “Please don’t put me back in the closet.” She whimpers. She hated the closet, it was dark and there were often spiders in there. Her mean teacher would say they were gonna eat her if she didn’t be quiet.
You gasped softly, taking the initiative to pull her away from the dreadful place. “Oh sweetheart I could never!” You announced, horror etching into your pretty features. Sure children could be mischievous little things but that didn’t warrant a fucking closet! Who the fuck thinks of such a thing?! You calmed down, wearily but assuringly smiling at Carina.
“Sweetpea, as long as I’m here, you’re not going back into any dusty closet, alright? Here, I'll make a pinky promise.” You held out your pinky, watching her consider. Like a curious bunny, she got closer before locking her pinky around yours.
“See? Now you can safely say that I owe you my word.” You stated. Carina perked up at that. “Oh my daddy and grandpa do something like that too!” She announced, you stood up and offered your hand to her. “Why don’t you tell me about that while we head down to the office, yeah? I’m pretty sure your dad is here right about now.” Carina gleefully accepted your offer.
Franco was probably one more sentence away from making this stuffy office look like a blood bath. It wasn’t uncommon for him to be called away from his usual activities to deal with whatever bullshit this school regularly pulled out of their asses. All he saw were a bunch of well dressed gutter whores trying to tarnish his baby’s image. He knew that the world wasn’t made for people like him or his daughter, he tried to take some solace from the fact that Carina had less than noticeable issues but people will always find a way to be asssholes.
“I’m not gonna ask you fuckins again, where the FUCK is my kid? Do you have ANY fuckin’ idea who you’re dealing with? Huh? HUH?!” Each ‘huh’ was punctuated with a harsh slam on the principal’s desk while his secretary cowered behind it.
“S-sir, we only wish to try and clear up this issue as civilly as possible.” The principal tried to explain before Franco shut him up.
“Oh get the fuck outta here with that bullshit! Ya know what? I’m honestly tempted to blow a round up your fuckin’ ass every time you hit me with that bullshit and let me tell ya, you’ll look like a fuckin’ puddle once I’m done.” Spittle flew in the principal’s face as Franco loomed over him like a wolf just itching to maul someone.
“Sir, aren’t you aware that your daughter severely injured two young boys? She drew blood! She would’ve broken one of their noses’ if she had kicked harder!” The secretary tried to speak up before Franco snarled at her to shut up.
“If I wanted to hear a whore talk my ear off about a whole lotta nothin’, I wouldn’t have come down ‘ere! I don’t give a shit if Carnia ate a kid’s fuckin’ face off! Maybe then they’ll get a taste of what it’s like to be her!” Before Franco could continue his tirade and commit a double homicide, the door opened.
“Daddy!” Carina’s excited voice filled the room as she eagerly rushed to Franco’s side. Without hesitation, he hoisted her up and began to pepper his face with kisses. It was startling from how Franco went from a snarling beast to a doting father in the span of a few seconds.
“There ya are, sweetness! I thought that I was gonna hafta’ storm this fuckin’ place!” Franco said as Carnia, wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. You took your time to observe Franco and he was quite an interesting sight, you certainly hadn’t seen anyone like him before. He was dressed in an expensive pinstriped suit, standing out amongst the modest outfits in the room. Although his more interesting features came from his head and face. A swollen carinum, with accompanying tufts of dirty blonde hair. The sun’s light cast an interesting shadow, making the hair appear like imp horns. Big bulging baby blue eyes, one painfully bloodshot. Carina definitely had bits of her father shining through, albeit in minor ways. Franco turned his attention to you, immediately getting aggressive.
“What did you do to my daughter that kept her away for so long, eh?” He aggressively jabbed a finger in your chest. “Let me guess, you’re one of those scumbags that think you’re so big ‘n tough for hurtin’ my lil girl?! Answer me ya whore!” Before you could, Carnia stepped in. She tugged at his shirt and shook her head.
“No daddy! She’s nice!” She defended, Franco was slightly taken aback. Carina half the time was begging to be taken away, sobbing into his chest as she tried to distance herself from the preparator. “Look! She even helped me!” Carnia proudly held up her knee to reveal the bandages.
“Your daughter was pushed and nobody bothered to give her a trip to the nurse so I had to improvise.” You gingerly explained, fear tainting your voice ever so slightly. You could hear Franco’s angry shouting from across the hal and the fact that you could see the visible outline of a gun definitely intimidated you. Nonetheless, you gave a shaky smile and continued. “She’s a very sweet girl, you’re doing a great job with her.” You could make out the judgemental and disgusted faces of your boss and colleague from behind as Franco paused for a moment.
You were a pretty thing, that’s for sure. With your sweet e/c eyes that shone so brightly in the sunlight, your soft h/c hair that looked like a dream to pet and pull at. “Daddy, m’wanna go home.” Carina’s drowsy voice pulled Franco out of his thoughts as he gently shushed her.
“Yeah, I hear ya baby. Let me just wipe these pieces of shit off my shoes and then we can go, yeah?” Carina nodded. He turned his attention towards you, getting closer.
“You’re lucky my kid likes ya, was inches away from nearly blowing your head off.” He stated, you swallowed nervously. “But… you’re obviously doing somethin’ right, wish I could say the same thing about the rest of these whores runnin’ this establishment.” Franco insulted.
“T-thank you, I only wish to make sure your daughter has a good time with us. She’s a very sweet child, I’m honestly jealous that you’re able to have such a sweet little cherub in your care.” You admitted. Franco smirked, feeling his ego slightly swell as he felt his attraction to you grow.
Perhaps he should look into giving Carina a mother after all