The organ started the wedding march. Mona hooked her arm through mine and we started down the aisle. She was really happy. I felt like I was on a death march. Soon my only daughter would belong to someone else. My baby girl would be gone.
We reached the altar and I let her go. I gave her to the young man who had captured her heart. My heart was broken. A major piece of me had been removed. I regretted letting her go, but I had known I would have to eventually. Tears drizzled down my cheeks as I watched my daughter kiss another.
After the wedding, I drove slowly home. Home? It wouldn't be much of a home now that Mona had left me. My wife was dead, my daughter married. I was totally despondent. I had nothing left except a great big house and a collection of cars.
I entered the house and went into the entertainment room. The TV roared to life. I cruised the channels for a while but couldn't find anything interesting. I shut off the TV and went into the den. Trophies I had bagged gazed sightlessly down from the walls. I eyed the gun rack and for a moment considered taking the coward's way out. I slunk from the den like a weasel and went to the kitchen.
There was plenty of left over smoked salmon and a big dollop of caviar. I retrieved some crackers and a half bottle of Chianti and sat down in the dinette for a snack. The food perked me up a little.
I finished the snack and went to my bedroom, the bedroom I had shared with Mona for two years. Her scent was still in the air. I remembered how she looked the first time I had seen her nude when she was nineteen. My thoughts drifted back to two years ago.
I was retired and so stayed home or attended auto shows across the country hoping to add to my collection. Mona had a job in one of my dealerships.
She came home fuming one day. I looked up from my auction brief. I could see she was distressed. "What's wrong baby?"
"That goddamned Roy Everest made another pass at me. I'm taking my ball bat with me tomorrow and show the son of a bitch that 'no' means 'no!'"
"Now honey, you can't bash everyone who wants to pry your panties off. You would have to thump half of L.A."
"I don't like that asshole. I'm gonna get Jake to kick his ass!"
Jake was my chief mechanic at the dealership where Mona worked. He was a huge guy and could get real mean when provoked.
"I'm gonna save Roy's ass," I said.
"What are you gonna do daddy?"
"I'm going to fire him before you can get him killed."
I picked up the phone and dialed the number. "Let me speak to Roy Everest."
Roy came on the line. "Hello?"
"Roy, do you know who this is?"
"Yes sir, Mr. Jacobs. I'm sorry about your daughter."