++++
Keith kissed her good night the whole length of her parents' long private road. The moon was so full. He begged her to climb in the backseat of his Fairlane and she almost gave in, but it was so late already. The closer she got to home, the more nervous the teenager became. At her request, he stopped short of the driveway, so as not to alert anyone with shining headlights. She snuck in the front door, holding her key lightly to avoid jiggling it. The hinges were soundless, the wooden stairs mounted on rubber slats to cushion footfalls. She was home free! And she'd never felt more beautiful or womanly. Her skin tingled where Keith's eruption left a salty constellation, and her private lips were so swollen they squeezed between her thighs with every step. She was going to sleep well that night, but first she was going to jill off reliving every single second. Until she turned on the lamp and saw her parents sitting on her bed.
Robert Evans looked like he was going to explode. His face was vermillion and his breath came in short snorts, like a bull. Only her mother's firmly clenched grip on his arm kept him from raging into the night, a one-man lynch mob. But it was the look on her mother's face that broke Kendra's heart. Pure, utter, point-blank disappointment.
"Sit down, young lady," Maria said.
Kendra dropped cross-legged to the floor in front of her parents.
"Mommy, Daddy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to get in this late. I was at the library—"
"The library closed hours ago."
"I know. I lost my phone, so I hung out at the gas station until Keith could come out and give me a ride."
Maria pressed the redial button on the handset by Kendra's bed. Her cellphone buzzed mercilessly in her back pocket. Maria did not hang up until Kendra's voicemail timed out. She stood and walked over, stopping a few inches short. For once, in this position, she towered over the teenager.
"Kendra, you're in trouble as it is," she leaned down so she was face-to-face, "So what were you really—good Lord, child, you smell like a brothel!"
"May as well been in one," her father muttered. "Dammit, Kenny, what the hell were you thinking? A hundred, no, thirty years, hell, now! What do you think that boy's doing? He's bragging to all his friends how he banged the black girl! I hope you used a rubber!"
Kendra flinched, which seemed to enrage him further. He propelled himself off the bed.
"Oh, was that indelicate? Did that offend you?" He gripped her jaw roughly, yanking her eyes up to duel with his eerily light ones. Off to the side, even Maria looked alarmed.
"Rob—"
"I'm talking to my daughter," he said with exaggerated enunciation. "His stink is all over you, like a wet dog. Did you suck his dick, too? How else did you debase yourself? Answer me!"
Kendra burst in tears, terrified. "No Daddy, I swear! We didn't even have sex!"
"I sincerely doubt that," Robert's cold tone sliced like a blade. "A liar isn't the worst thing you've proved yourself to be tonight. Don't add to the list."
"Rob, you're going too far," Maria interjected.
Kendra didn't even hear her mother. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks like they would never stop. What only minutes ago had been the most beautiful moment of her life now seemed treacherous, dirty and degrading. She reeled as he flung her head away from him, catching herself on her forearms before she hit the floor. Her father had never looked at her like this, never talked to her this way. He'd always been her champion. Oh God. What did I do? Daddy doesn't love me anymore. Dry heaves wracked her chest, but when she found her voice, it was clear—if a bit shaky.
"No, Daddy, I promise. I'm still a virgin. You can check if you don't believe me."
Maria gasped, then grabbed Kendra and hugged her, using her body to shield her child from her husband's glare. "Baby, I would never subject you to that. I believe you, honey. It's OK."
Robert couldn't wipe the look of disgust off his face, even as his daughter's sobs broke his heart. He tried to smooth her hair and echo his wife, that it would be all right, but he couldn't bring himself to touch her right then. His half-proffered gesture ended in an impotent wave.
"Clean up, then come to the kitchen. We have things to discuss."
That was the night he broke her.
Since then, she'd only dated guys like Niall, who were great on paper but didn't fill the emptiness inside, and she poured her heart into the monthly letters. Over the years, they morphed from updates about her life into the most private kind of writing. Half journal entry, half prayer, they held all her hopes for Keith and herself in their separate lives.
She thought her father choosing to deliver them was like the commissary check: an apology or form of penance both to her and Keith. it certainly helped her get past all the horrible things he'd said that night. But since learning of his deception, her love for her father collided with hate, brewing a hell of a storm.
+++++
Kendra glared as her father approached, oblivious to the rage welling up inside her.
Robert threw his arms around his daughter and hugged tight, her lack of response and the stiffness of her arms not registering.
"I got back as soon as I could," he said. "I don't know why your mom didn't call me immediately, but Niall here told me all about what happened. Goddamn peckerwoods. So you're taking a few days off? That's good. That's the best thing you could do."
Only when she remained impassive did he acknowledge the man next to her.
"Keith. When did you get out?"
"Not a year ago." Keith rubbed Kendra's arm. She was breathing funny, and hadn't taken her eyes off her father. "You OK, babe?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well Keith, this is Kendra's boyfriend Niall," Mr. Evans said. "Keith is a childhood friend," he directed to Niall.
Keith grinned, a fleeting, wolf-like baring of the teeth that his Native ancestors would have called a Pillager Smile. He ignored Niall's offered handshake.
"That's where you're wrong, Mr. Evans."
