As she drove back home, Trisha was surprised that she didn’t feel worse. She’d recently broken up with her boyfriend of three years. It had been her longest relationship yet. The breakup was not angry or bitter. There had been no cheating, no abuse, no violence. But there’d been no passion, either. She realized that their relationship had simply run its course. He, on the other hand, wanted to get married. That’s what triggered Trisha to end it. But as they were breaking up, he realized that he actually didn’t want to get married… it was just what was expected of them. They dated for years, they were both out of school, so now it was time to get married. The fact that it was expected was enough for him. But not Trisha.
She saw how her parents were still in love after twenty-two years. She saw how her dad treated her mom, Carla, and she wanted somebody who would cherish her the same way. She often thought her mom won the lottery with her dad, Robert O’Day. He was everything a girl could want. He was always so sweet and kind. He always had a ready smile for her. And most importantly, he always had time for her. No matter what she needed, and no matter how trivial, he always had a moment for her. Time to put what he was doing down and embrace her for a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. And because she knew he was always there for her, whenever she needed anything, he was the first person she ran to, like when she was eleven years old and some boy that she liked showed interest in some other girl and it broke her heart, she ran crying to Daddy. And just like magic, her tears disappeared.
Her mom wasn't neglectful or abusive. She was okay, but she was just never as present as Daddy was. He became the sun and moon to her. And over the last year, she’d noticed something else: her father was hot. He was everything she wanted in a man: six feet tall, smooth chocolate skin, strong, broad shoulders, and just a little bit of bad boy stubble that he wore. She knew girls weren't supposed to feel that way about their fathers, but she did anyway. Now she was twenty, and she couldn't deny it anymore. It would be wrong to make a move, so she never did or said anything. They just maintained their natural closeness, and she basked in it, hoping to one day find a man just like him. Yes, her mom was one lucky woman.
But mom had better be careful, because Trisha had heard stories… whispered stories; scandalous stories; impossible stories of daughters who somehow took their own mother’s place in their father’s lives, and in their beds. She knew they were mostly fake. But there were too many tales out there for all of them to be false. She knew she didn't have what it takes to act on any of that, but still. Her mom had better treat that man right, thought Trisha.
Trisha was no skinny little stick figure though, and although she had tiny little A-cup breasts, she had an absolutely spectacular ass, one that would be right at home in the raunchiest of rap videos. Tapering down to a tiny little waist and flaring back up to those beautiful perky little breasts, she knew she was sexy. Her copper-colored skin accentuated by her light brown curly locks and bewitching hazel eyes made her absolutely a redbone. And there was something about Redbones that just drove the brothers crazy. Even her dad wasn't immune to her almost otherworldly allure. He was just a man and she’s a very attractive young woman. Of course, she'd caught him looking. But she knew it was too much to hope that anything more than looking would ever happen.
It was a Friday evening in October. Because this was Florida, it wasn’t cold yet. Since summer was doggedly trying to hang on, it wasn’t even cool yet. But summer knew it was losing the battle, and it was nice and balmy as she maneuvered her convertible through the traffic back to the Tampa suburb where she lived. Trisha had been out with a few of her girlfriends trying to have a relaxing girls’ night out. They were constantly being hit on by guys, and more than a couple of them didn't seem to understand the concept of the phrase, “No, thank you.” By nine o’clock, Trisha was tired of the unwanted attention and told her girlfriends that she was going to head home.
By the time she got home, it was almost ten o’clock at night. Pulling up to the house where she grew up, it looked totally dark. It wasn't unheard of for her parents to be out on a Friday night, so she thought nothing of it. She walked into the dark house intending to just go upstairs to her bedroom when she smelled something odd. Was that weed?
She went back down the steps to the family room, and it was dark but then she saw motion. Her father was sitting there in the dark. Then she saw the bright orange light of the tip of his blunt. She walked over to him, reaching towards the light switch as she passed it.
“Don’t,” he said softly, barely louder than a whisper. She watched as he took a pull from the thick joint, held it in for a few seconds, and exhaled smoothly. Trisha noticed he was sitting on one end of the sofa, and right beside him was a small table. On the table was one of his three-hundred-dollar bottles of tequila that he always purchased when he was on a cruise, an ashtray, and a little bag. Robert took a sip of tequila.
She came over and sat beside him. “Why are you sitting here in the dark, smoking weed and drinking?”
He slowly took another hit and held it in. Finally, he released a cloud of smoke, shrugged, and said, “It wasn't dark when I started.”
“Dad, this isn’t like you,” she said. Then she looked around the room for her mother. “Where’s Mom?”
He didn’t answer.
“Dad, where is Mom? You know, your wife of what, twenty years?”
Another sip of tequila. Another drag on the joint. Trisha waited patiently but was becoming increasingly more worried by the moment.
Finally, Robert said, “I guess you do have a mother. But I no longer have a wife.”
“What the fuck Daddy,” said Trisha. “What's going on?”
Again, he was silent. Trisha pleaded with him, “Dad, every time I've ever needed you, no matter how small, or big, you've been there for me. Let me be there for you for once. Tell me what's going on.”
Finally, Robert said, “Well, your mother is fucking around on me.”
Trisha gasped. “No, not Mom.”
“We’ve always been pretty much in tune. But over the last few months, something seemed off. As time went on it seemed more and more likely that she,” he hesitated, “she might be cheating on me.”
“Are you sure?”
Robert nodded and continued, “I tried to catch her up. I tried following her. I even sunk to the level of looking at her phone. But if something was going on, she was leaving absolutely no clues. But still, something just didn’t feel right. So I hired a guy a friend of mine knows. This investigator. He dropped this off today.”
Robert gestured toward a manila envelope that was on the floor at his feet that Trisha hadn’t noticed before. She picked it up and looked at the photographs. Even in the dim light, she could see that they were very explicit. They showed her mother and some guy she had never seen. She was wondered how the guy got these pictures, because it looked like he was in the room with them. The shots captured the couple at the height of passion. There was absolutely no ambiguity here. Her mother was cheating on her father.
“So I waited for her to come home today,” continued Robert, “and I confronted her. I showed her the photographs.” His expression darkened further. “And rather than act the least bit sorry, bitch actually leaned into it. Said it was about time I noticed that she wasn't there. She even taunted me, saying how this guy satisfied her in ways that I couldn't even imagine. That she’d never been fucked so good. And I just snapped.”
“What did you do?” Trisha whispered, terrified of the answer.
Robert calmly took another sip of the tequila, and went on, “I grabbed her, and I slammed her into the wall, right there,” and he nodded towards what looked like a small dent at about head level in the wall. “Twice. And I told her, with my hand around her throat, that if she didn't get out right now, I would kill her. I guess she believed me because she didn't say another word. I let go of her and she ran out. I went and got something to drink, to calm my nerves, something to smoke, to calm my anger, and now I'm just waiting for the police to come.”
“Police?”
“Yeah,” answered Robert. “I'm sure she'll go to the police, tell them I hit her, I'm black so they're going to come get me. And I'm just waiting for it to happen.
“Oh, Daddy,” whispered Trisha. She was lost for words.
“Just sit here with me, baby,” said Robert softly.
“Of course,” she replied. She snuggled up next to him as if it was just another Saturday night, and they were about to watch a movie. Not knowing what else to do, she shared the joint, and then the tequila with her father.
The police did not come that night. Nor the next night. On the third day, Robert boxed up everything she owned and put the boxes in the garage. He then texted her that she had a day to get it all or she could pick it up at the dump. He wanted to just throw it out on the lawn, but he said he didn’t want to be ‘that black family.’ The next day, the boxes were gone. They didn’t hear from Carla again until the Saturday before Christmas.
Trisha and Robert had just gotten back from holiday shopping. Usually, Christmas shopping was one of the highlights of Robert's year. He absolutely loved all the commercialism of Christmas. This year, however, he was not in the mood to do it. Trisha was bound and determined to bring her father out of this deep blue funk. She wouldn't let him sit at home while she went out shopping, telling him, “I'm not going to go out and leave you at home alone on a holiday weekend and come back and find you in a pool of your own blood from slitting your wrists!”
Robert countered back “No, baby I wouldn't do that to you.”
“I guess we're not going to find out. Put on some clean clothes, we're going shopping,” she said firmly.
“But I...”
“Put on some clothes, now!” she said.
They went out, and completely against his will, he had a wonderful time. As soon as they were out of the house, Trisha had him laughing and joking, and it was almost as if Carla’s affair had never happened. For those precious few hours, he was able to put it away behind him. Trisha thought this was a good sign and started right there making plans for the future. It had been almost two months, and Robert swore he’d never take her back. Trisha had already started working on making him keep that promise. She'd have to find Daddy a new wife. And she had just the girl in mind!
Too tired to cook, they picked up some takeout on the way home. They were sitting around the kitchen island, just about to eat when Trisha's phone rang. She looked at it, looked up at her dad, and said simply, “Mom.” She answered the phone cautiously, “Hello?”