It was a conclusion she had very recently reached on her own, but to hear it validated by her father, or some version of him, made Izzy grin right back at him. Some kids' parents said things only to make them feel better. Her mama, on occasion, was guilty of saying what she needed to hear, even if she did mean well. When it came to her dad, however, Izzy knew she could trust in every word he said. He didn't lie. Mama called it 'bluntness,' but Izzy liked to think of it as 'credibility.' It was a big word, but a new favorite since she had stumbled over it in a book and had to look it up.
"I think you're right," she admitted trustingly, knowing that he was. It wasn't the first time she had heard something similar from her father, but that didn't make this instance any less affecting. "It's not that I don't stick up for myself when kids pick on me, 'cause I do, but I could do that better...not caring who knows what subjects I like, or how I do on a test, or what music I like, or any of that stuff?"
Izzy pondered the very last thing he said, genuinely thoughtful. "I don't think I'd have to feel guilty, Daddy." She caught the slip immediately, halting her train of words to contritely glance down at the table before continuing. "'Cause I wouldn't even be the one making them look stupid. They do that for themselves. It's not my fault if I say all the right things, right?"
That was what lawyers did, too, wasn't it? Trick their opponent into blankness. It was a tactic that had worked well for her on an occasion or two in the fourth grade, even if she was just now recognizing it.