Don't Tell Daddy

by Jai Amor

  She held her hand out, and he gave her the twenty. “Shoulda stuck to the five. Cockiness doesn’t pay off, now, does it?”

  “I let you win.”

  The statement made Pamela crack up. She knew Jordan had given his all in that game just as she had. He was good, but her goalie skills were better.

  “They all say that.” She winked at him, sauntering away.

  “Alright. Fireworks time!” Jonta announced.

  Pamela smiled over her shoulder at Jordan, and he smiled back, shaking his head. He lost to a girl. “Hey, Pamela,” he called, taking her hand.

  “Yes?”

  “So… where should I take you?”

  “Where do you want to?”

  “I know a spot,” he said softly, pulling her closer to him, looking into her pretty gray eyes and back to her lips. Her mouth suddenly felt dry and she swallowed hard. The fireworks were lit, and Jordan’s lips met hers. She couldn’t be sure if the fireworks she saw were behind her eyes or the real ones. Damn why did he kiss her?

  Pamela moved away from Jordan, looking as if he had lost every fabric of a piece of his mind. “Who told you it was okay to kiss me?” she snapped.

  He just smiled lazily at her. “You liked it. Otherwise, your tongue wouldn’t have been all in my mouth, now would it, Miss Pamela?”

  “Boy, you’re asking for it.”

  She decided to just walk away. He caught her wrist. “Pamela—”

  “Look, I don’t know who you think you are, but I didn’t give you permission to kiss me.”

  “Yes you did.”

  She glowered at him, saying nothing else. She knew damn well she hadn’t told this man to kiss her.

  Releasing an irritated breath, Pamela made her way over to sit with Jada.

  “What are you doing tomorrow when you get off?” Pamela asked.

  “Going home and listening to Moms bitch about something new. Probably about to start apartment hunting.”

  “I said you could move in.”

  “My dad moved in with his best friend after college.”

  “See?” Pamela smiled.

  “They ain’t friends no more,” Lila clarified.

  “Oh.” Pamela cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. “Let’s go see a movie. I’ll pick you up.”

  “Cool. Don’t stand me up again.”

  “I promise.”

  As Mela turned back to watch the fireworks, Jordan came over, and he apologized to Pamela, saying that maybe he read things wrong. She accepted the apology, leaving out that he had read things exactly right.

  To the right of her, she could hear Jonta telling Bryan he should take Heather on a honeymoon to rekindle their spark. Their wedding anniversary was coming up. Bryan replied with just a little smile, thinking it was a good idea. “How did it work out when you took Mella to the Bahamas?”

  Jonta just chuckled. “I’ve never seen a forty-six year old married woman jump on dick so fast.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Bryan decided. “I don’t know where I should take her though. I don’t know. She’s been dying to see Spain.”

  “Then take her to Spain. Have a good time.”

  Pamela was irritated at her father for putting ideas in Bryan’s head, and Bryan for even entertaining them.

  She left directly after the fireworks and took a nice, hot shower. She was lying in bed, surprised to hear Bryan come in. She couldn’t imagine anything he would want with her tonight and didn’t know why he bothered showing up.

  He came and sat on her bed. “Have you lost the very essence of your mind? Is there even a thread of common sense left in there?” he asked her, his eyes blazing into hers.

  She stared blankly at him. “Why the hell are you talking to me like that?”

  “I saw you kiss Jordan.”

  She sat up. “Whoa, chill out!” she said, holding her hand out. “Come off that. Homeboy kissed me. I didn’t tell him to.”

  “Whatever, Pamela. Wear black tomorrow.”

  “You tell me this shit at midnight? I don’t have any black clothes that fit.”

  “Well, you better find some before 9:30 tomorrow morning.”

  “Get out, asshole.”

  He tried to kiss her, and she put her palm to his forehead. He knew she didn’t want to be kissed by him. “Get out.”

  Bryan left and locked her door, making his way home and sliding into bed beside his sleeping wife. He fell asleep, pulling Heather into his arms.

  When Bryan woke up, he went to pick Pamela up, and she was wearing navy. “This is as close to black as I could get. Nothing is open this early,” she informed him.

  “Did you call your mother?”

  “At eight AM the day after Independence Day? No. Because her boutique is closed and I’m sure she was up until three cleaning. Some of us are actually considerate,” she sneered.

  “Whatever, Pamela. Let’s go.”

  They got in his car, and she stared out the window. “Good morning,” she finally said.

  “Good morning.”

  There was silence for a few blocks, and when Bryan stopped at a light, Pamela removed her seatbelt and leaned over the center console, pulling Bryan’s face towards her and pressing her lips to his. A gesture she wasn’t sure he even gave a thought.

  “Are you mad at me?” she questioned. “I swear to you I really didn’t tell him he could kiss me.”

  “I believe you.”

  “Then what did I do?”

  “Nothing,” he said, looking over at her, his brows turned down. “Why do you think you did something?”

  “Bryan, I just kissed you.”

  He said nothing. She turned back out the window, clicking her seatbelt back in.

  They had their meeting, and then they went to two more. She wanted to have lunch together, but Heather had asked him to come home. So she asked if he could just take her to Panera Bread. She got a Panini and a latte, and he took her back to the office.

  Bryan entered the house and found Heather in the kitchen with only an apron on, standing at the stove finishing up a meal of ceviche de camarón. Lunch was going to be a pleasant thing.

  For Pamela, though, it was lonely as she sat in the office, flipping through a magazine. She checked her watch, and Bryan was already late coming back. It didn’t need to be told why he was late coming back.

  She sighed, going out for a walk to try to clear her mind of what she knew Bryan was doing to his wife. She ran into Jordan, again, literally, and she backed up. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. Hey, Pamela, what are you doing when you get off of work tomorrow?”

  “I don’t have work tomorrow. I’m going to the gym. Going home and heating up a TV dinner to watch the Real House Wives of Atlanta. Why?”

  “That sounds boring. DVR your show, and I’ll pick you up tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Okay.”

  Jordan smiled, kissing her hand, and he walked away. “Oh, afternoon, Mr. Valdez,” he greeted Bryan as he came in, a grin on his face.

  “Jordan, what are you doing here?”

  “I just came to see Pamela, sir.”

  Pamela immediately headed for the elevator, afraid of anything else Jordan might tell Bryan. She wasn’t aware Jordan had come specifically for her and she knew that was only going to rear Bryan’s jealousy.

  “We’re going on a date tomorrow night. I have it all planned out.”

  The more she heard, the more she wanted Jordan to shut up and to shoo him out of the door. He was doing nothing to help her situation.

  “Well, that’s nice. I have to get to work.”

  Bryan spotted Pamela as Jordan headed to the parking lot, and she willed the elevator to hurry down. When it opened, she stepped on and pressed her floor, pressing the close button. It closed just before Bryan reached it. She had a few minutes to get herself together. Chances were, he would take the stairs.

  She went into his office and locked herself in his bathroom. Bryan came into the office and looked around.
“Pamela, got dammit, where are you?” he asked.

  She stayed in the bathroom. “My daddy made me do it!” she shouted from her side of the door. “I don’t even like him.”

  “That’s a lie, Pamela.”

  “No it’s not! Leave me alone! I have to share you, but the minute you see someone interested in me, you want to start World War III! It’s not fair!”

  “I’m married.”

  “Exactly!”

  “That’s not the same thing, Pamela.”

  In her eyes, it was the exact same thing. He wasn’t all hers, but he expected her to be there at his beck and call whenever he wanted her. She was not his toy.

  “Then leave her.”

  “You marry someone and almost twenty-seven years later tell them you want to leave.”

  “Excuses, ex-fucking-scuses.”

  “Pamela, my marriage is older than you are,” he reminded her.

  Pamela rolled her eyes to the sky. She couldn’t believe that he was really going to pull that with her. That hadn’t mattered when he walked his ass into that bathroom and ate her like a five-star feast.

  “What does that mean? Nothing on this end, man.”

  Pamela went to turn on the water, and she cried. She didn’t want him to hear. A part of her believed that stroked his ego that he could have her crying over him and then just come right back.

  She washed her face, and Bryan knocked on the door. “Pamela—”

  Pamela came out the bathroom and sat at her desk, ignoring Bryan, trying not to cry. Heather called the office, and she passed the phone to Bryan, listening to them talk about some romantic evening. When it was time for her to go, she didn’t even want Bryan to take her home. “You’re going to take a bus all the way to the East side?” he asked.

  “Why are you worried about what I’m doing?” she questioned, gathering her belongings. “Go home and have your oh so precious time with your wife. Happy fucking anniversary.”

  She stormed out of the office and walked to the bus stop. Bryan pulled up. “Mela, get in the car. Stop being so difficult. I think you forget this is Detroit, you’re a pretty girl, and there is an East side rapist on the loose. Get your ass in this car.”

  She huffed but got in the car. She did hear about the rapist, and she didn’t want to be his next victim. No amount of spite would allow her to put her safety in jeopardy.

  Bryan walked her to the door. “I’ll see you when I come home, okay?” he said, pressing his forehead to hers. She nodded, and he kissed her goodbye before she walked in the house and got ready to pick up Lila.

  When she did pick up Lila, she had a big grin on her face. “Just get fucked?”

  “Even better!”

  Lila pulled a letter out of her purse and passed it to Pamela. “I am going home!”

  Pamela read the acceptance letter. She was happy for her friend, but she knew she was going to miss the hell out of her. Around a lump in her throat, she managed, “Wow, congrats, Li!”

  “Thank you. Getting the hell up out this house. I am so glad I was saving up, because I don’t wanna have to ask my mama evil ass for shit.”

  “Why she so mean to you all of a sudden?” Pamela wondered, merging into traffic.

  “I don’t know. It’s like I turned eighteen and she just got snotty.”

  Pamela called Jada on her car’s speaker system. “Hello?”

  “Jae, me and Li are going to the movies. Come with us.”

  “I can’t. I have robotics club.”

  Both girls rolled their eyes at this news. It came as no surprise anymore.

  “Ugh, you geeky bitch. Fine. Next weekend, we’re all hanging out. I don’t care what your nerdy friends are doing; you tell them you’re hanging with your main bitches. ¿Comprendes?”

  “Okay, Mela. Bye. Love ya.”

  “Love ya.”

  The girls hung up, and Pamela took Lila to the Emagine theater. “Since you have been accepted to your school of choice, my treat. Keep your money, girl,” she said, smiling as they got out.

  “Sweet.” Lila wasn’t going to turn down a free movie.

  Pamela paid for tickets and snacks and they went to see Monte Carlo. Afterwards, Pamela decided to take Lila to dinner, prolonging the trips home. Lila didn’t feel like her mother, and Pamela didn’t want to be consumed by loneliness.

  *** ***

  While Bryan and Heather got ready to take a cruise to Spain, their daughter came home, and Heather explained that they would be gone for a week. “House to myself?” she asked, skeptical. “Who’s going to make dinner?”

  “You’re a big girl now,” Bryan told her. “You can make dinner. Why are you so helpless, Jae?”

  She looked at her father, puzzled. He sighed. “You know what, I’m sure if you ask Carmella and/or Pamela very nicely, one of them will let you stay with them until we come back.”

  “I am never spending the night with Pamela again. No siree. Learned my lesson.”

  “What happened?” Heather wondered.

  “I can’t tell you.”

  Jada wasn’t going to snitch that Pamela was having sex. Even if she was grown, out of her parents’ house, and paying bills, it just wasn’t her business to put out. She didn’t want them to go back and tell Carmella and Jonta.

  “Okay. Well, we’ll be back in a week,” Bryan told her. He kissed her forehead, and Heather gave her a tight hug. They left the house, holding hands. “You figure your situation out. I love you, bye.”

  Heather looked up at her husband with adoration. “I’m so glad that we’re going to Spain. I’ve always wanted to.”

  He smiled down at her and kissed her. They caught a taxi to the airport, and rode to New York, where their cruise would depart.

  *** ***

  Pamela woke up and had breakfast, remembering that she did have a date with Jordan. She got showered and called Carmella. “Hello?”

  “Mama, I have a date with Jordan today.”

  “Really?” Carmella squealed. Pamela rolled her eyes. She knew her mother would get excited about that. “Come to the boutique.”

  “Great. I’m going to the gym first.”

  When Pamela left the gym, she went home to shower and put on a plain tee and jeans before going to her mother’s boutique. “Okay, I had picked out some outfits for you, but I just couldn’t decide,” Carmella said, giddily. Almost as if this date was meant for her.

  “Mama, can you do me a favor and tone it down? It’s just a date.”

  “A date with Jordan Ortega.”

  Pamela rolled her eyes and checked out the outfit choices her mother had laid out for her as a few customers came in. “I’ll be back, Mela.”

  “Take your time, woman. Please. Take your time,” Pamela mumbled, releasing a low breath.

  Pamela looked over the outfit choices and called Jordan. “What should I wear?” she asked.

  “Something casual.”

  “I am going to send you pictures, and you tell me which outfit is the most appropriate.”

  “They’re all appropriate. Just pick one.”

  “How do you know?” she asked, narrowing her eyes as if he could see her.

  She could practically see him smirking, and he chuckled. “Because I picked them out with your mother earlier this afternoon.”

  Pamela’s eyes zeroed in on her mother momentarily. The nerve of this woman to play innocent when she had been conspiring against her all the while.

  “Whatever, kid. I’ll see you later.”

  “I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.”

  “Okay.”

  Pamela picked out a nice yellow tee; a pair of light, baby blue, denim jeans; and a pair of pink and black pumps. When Carmella came back, she looked at her daughter’s choice, and her eyebrows came in. “You’re going to go out with a catch like Jordan, wearing that?”

  “If he’s such a catch, he’ll be okay with what I’m wearing.”

  Pamela went to the changing room and left her clothes with her mothe
r who was shaking her head.

  Jordan came to pick her up on time and walked into the shop with a smile when he spotted Pamela. “Hola, Señora Valdez,” he greeted, waving to Carmella, throwing his arm around Pamela’s shoulder.

  “Hola, cariño. You kids have fun.” Carmella was practically shooing the two out of the shop, a wide grin on her face.

  Pamela shot her mother a death glare. “Goodbye, Mother.”

  Jordan looked down at Pamela, a gleam in his eye. “You look really nice,” he told her, opening the door on his 300. “Thank you.”

  She slid in, thinking of everything she was going to say to Carmella just as soon as they got a moment alone. She had expected this sort of behavior from Jonta.

  He took her to a lake, and she had fallen asleep on the ride there. They were way out of Detroit. He shook her gently. “Hey, Pamela. Wake up,” he said softly and helped her out. She woke up, wiping slob off of her mouth. He smiled, and she looked up.

  “What?”

  “You’re cute,” he told her.

  She just blinked at him. She wasn’t quite sure where he was getting, but she wasn’t there.

  He got a picnic basket out the back and took her hand as he led her to a cute black row boat and set the basket down, getting in, and helping her.

  “Whose boat?” she questioned, stepping foot into the boat and feeling it rock as she lost her balance, feeling Jordan’s strong arms around her waist as he caught her.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes looking down at her in concern. She nodded, entranced in his eyes. “The boat is mine. I made it with mi abuelito.”

  Taking Pamela’s hand in his, Jordan helped her sit down, making sure she didn’t fall again. In hindsight, he should probably have suggested flat shoes.

  “You’re not going to kill me or anything, are you?” she wondered as he opened the basket. He looked up at her briefly before he continued his task.

  “Now, why would I want to kill someone as beautiful as you?” he asked, passing her a bottle of Mountain Dew. “But if a wild bear attacks us, chivalry is dead and your ass better take off those pumps and run.”