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?”

“Hey baby,” said her mother. Trisha put the call on speaker, so her father could hear anything that his lying wife might say. “Is your father there?”

Robert shook his head, no.

“No, he's still out shopping,” lied Trisha. “He said something about getting me something really special since he didn't have to waste any money on you anymore,” she added with a grin toward her father, but hoping it hurt her mother. 

“That's fine,” Carla said, ignoring the dig. “I needed to ask you something. I need to know if you can get him out of the house so I can come and get the rest of my clothes. He boxed up a lot, but I’m missing some of my favorite stuff. My credit cards don't work anymore, so I can't replace anything. I just –“

“Nothing’s left,” Trisha cut her off. “Everything he didn’t send you went to the dump. Sorry.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Don’t know,” said Trisha. “Why don't you call him?” 

“I don't know if he told you what happened the night I left, but now I'm terrified of him. I don't want to be anywhere near him.”

“Well, you did rip his heart out. What did you expect, saying the things you said?”

“What did he say I said?”

“That you said, ‘Yeah you were banging someone else, and he was fucking you better than Daddy ever could.’ Isn't that what you said?” shot back Trisha, her voice raising dangerously.

There was a moment of silence from Carla, and she finally said, “Well I didn't say it in exactly those crass terms.”

Trisha looked at her father who indicated, that was exactly what she said.

“Anyway,” continued Carla, “He was so mad it was like he wasn’t even human. For a second, I thought I saw an actual demon looking at me through his eyes. I don’t ever want to be in the room with that monster again! But none of this is your concern –”

“Monster?!” screamed Trisha. “You fucked around on him, and then threw it in his face like he’s some kind’a bitch and left him for that asshole! You were married over twenty years! Monster? I’m surprised he didn’t choke your ass to death! I fuckin’ would have!” Trisha was so angry she was practically vibrating. “As far as your stuff? Try the dump. I’m sure you’ll be able to find it…  it’s where trash finally ends up!”

“Baby,” Robert said, taking his daughter in his arms. “Calm down, it’s okay. Shhhhhh,” he soothed her. Standing together, she relaxed her body against his and sighed deeply as she hugged him close. She knew her mother could hear them…  She wished she could see them like this, too.

“Robert, are you there?” Carla asked when she heard his voice. “Baby, talk to me. I’m sorry, don’t throw away over twenty years of happiness. Let’s talk. We can get through this.”

“You did that,” he answered her. “You threw it all away the moment you spread your legs for him. Don’t call again. Ain’t nothing here for you.” He didn’t say goodbye, he simply ended the call.

He was no longer angry. Holding Trisha in his arms, soothing her, and swaying gently together, he realized that Carla didn’t matter. The only thing in the world that mattered was standing there in his arms, pressing her body against his.

Trisha looked at her father and saw all the joy and happiness that had been there just moments earlier draining away from his face. It was as if the sound of her mother's voice was sucking the life out of him right before her. Oh, hell no, Trisha thought to herself I'm not letting her fuck this evening up.

“No, Daddy,” she said. “You are not sinking back into a depression.” Trisha pushed her father down to sit on the nearest barstool and straddled him, her legs dangling on either side of his. She rubbed her nose against his, and looked deeply into his eyes, willing him to see not just the love she had for him, but the forbidden desire simmering in the depths of her soul.

She whispered to him, “You don't have to worry about her anymore. I'm never going to let her hurt you again.”

“I’m supposed to protect you, sweetie,” he began to protest.

“And you’ve done a spectacular job so far,” she replied, kissing him softly on the lips. “So let me return the favor and be here for you.”

She put her arms around him and held him close as they sat there, her straddling his lap, her cheek pressed against his, and them breathing together. She was wearing a thin sundress, and he could feel her little nipples digging into his thin shirt. Just this act of sitting with her, holding her like this, was the most amazingly intimate thing that he'd experienced in, well forever. Where was this going, he wondered. I know Trisha loves me, but she doesn't want to love me like that, could she? Robert knew he needed to get out of this situation before his hands touched something inappropriate.

“Ok. But don't worry, baby,” he said. “I'm not letting her cheating ass get me down anymore. I'm spending my holidays with the most wonderful woman in the world. How could I be sad?” Trisha squeezed him again and kissed him again square on his lips, much to his delight. Robert thought her lips were unbelievably soft, the most wonderful thing he'd ever felt. He resisted slipping his tongue towards her mouth, and before he could even decide if it was inappropriate, the kiss was over. But it was filled with such promise. It was impossible that she didn't feel his hard cock pressing up against her. In an effort to get away from the situation before it escalated, he said, “Let's take this food in the living room and watch a movie while we eat, okay?”

“That’s a great idea,” she said, and she let herself slide down his lap. As she headed to the sofa, she grabbed a couple of...