Pablo Senior was pretty ticked off. Here he was, outside at night, standing in his home's dirt driveway with his thick arms folded across his chest. His sturdy body leaned back against the front fender of his most prized possession. This was a nicely appointed and recently purchased 2016 Dodge Ram pickup truck.
"I already said No." The forty-four year old man repeated, more than a little anxious to get back inside.
The cool night breeze was nipping at his thin layer of clothing: a simple white tee shirt and a pair of gray cotton shorts. The only thing preventing him from going inside was his pretty but feisty daughter Melinda, who was sternly pacing a few yards away from him, and keeping the keys to his vehicle tightly held within her grasp.
"I don't know why I have to keep telling you over and over again, you are not going to drive my truck tonight. Or on any other night for that matter!"
Against any other man, Melinda considered, she would have long since gotten her way. The Latin looker should have been fifty miles down the road by that point. Other, more susceptible types would have long ago buckled under her tight scrutiny, or better yet, succumbed to her flirty advances. But this was her stubborn mule of a father standing before her. Her brand of sexy just didn't work on him.
Melinda harrumphed her displeasure, recalling how a few years earlier she'd abruptly stormed out of her parents' quaint residence. That was right after she'd turned eighteen, and she knew her father had never forgiven her for that. It was even worse when her parents later found out that she was working as a stripper.
Or, Melinda thought smugly, like that one day a couple of years back when she abruptly dropped out of beauty school. Her dad was left holding the bag for the tuition. Pablo was probably still paying the debt off. Instead of feeling sorry for what she'd done, the self-centered Melinda blamed that on her father. Pablo shouldn't have been stupid enough to co-sign on the loan with her, when he knew it wasn't even her decision to enroll in the beauty school in the first place. That had all been her mother's idea.
Melinda cleared her throat and said, "I don't know why I have to keep telling you; my car is in the shop and it won't be ready for another couple of days. I am going to use your truck tonight and there's nothing you can do about it!"
"Tell your boyfriend to come pick you up."
"He's working tonight." Melinda countered. "I don't know why I'm even bothering standing here arguing with you. If mom were here, she would have already forced you to move out of the way and you know it."
"Well, then it's a good thing she's out for the night." Was Pablo's smart-ass reply. "She's getting drunk with your Aunt Cessy, so she probably won't be coming home until tomorrow morning."
The deck was stacked against her, Melinda acknowledged, as she glanced towards the house. All the windows were dark. That meant that her sister Amanda was probably spending the night at a friend's house. Nobody had seen her brother Junior recently, even though he'd gotten out of jail just a few days before. There was no person around who could help Melinda talk her father into giving up his showy vehicle. She gave in to her frustration. "Come on! I need to use the truck, just for tonight!"
"I'm sure you've got friends over at that... that dancing place you work at." Pablo looked away carelessly.
The truth was; the older man still hadn't gotten over the fact that his precious twenty-one year old daughter was taking off her clothes for money. In front of droves and droves of strange men.
"Why don't you call and bug one of those girls you dance with?" He insisted.
Cursing her father in her thoughts, Melinda was ready to play her last card. "Either you let me use the truck, or I'm telling mom."
Pablo looked at her with contempt. "Telling her what? You'll try to make something up so your mother will get mad at me, won't you? Well guess what, she's already mad at me for something I didn't even do!"
"I know you've been cheating on her behind her back."
"That's bullshit and you know it!"
"Oh, really?" Melinda's tone changed, as if she did in fact have the goods on him.
Suddenly, Pablo found himself wary. He watched as Melinda slowed her constant pacing. Very arrogantly, very deliberately, his daughter reached up and snared a lock of her raven-colored hair in her fingers. She began to twirl and twist on it as she asked; "Do you remember what mom said, if she finds out that you tried to cheat on her again?"
His wife Lorena had sworn that she would leave him, Pablo recalled. It was bad enough that he and his wife were barely talking nowadays. Ever since his son Frankie had moved out, they'd even taken to sleeping apart, she in the bedroom and he on the fold-out couch in the living room. Another allegation of infidelity, Pablo figured, would probably mean the end of their marriage. A marriage that had lasted over twenty-four years.
Melinda was staring at him coldly, knowing full well that she'd struck at a raw nerve. "I mean, if mom were to find out what I know..." She trailed off, making sure her father would observe the smirk of satisfaction on her face.
Pablo tried to stare back with equal rancor, but inside, he was getting nervous. Especially after his recent escapade with his son's wife Carmela, and the unpardonable act he'd almost committed with his youngest daughter Amanda soon after. Melinda really knew how to needle a guy, he thought vehemently, in much the same way her mother did.
The comparison between his wife and Melinda brought back memories of long ago, back to when he'd first met Lorena in a cathouse just south of the border. She'd been a server then, barely nineteen and unwilling to peddle her wares away like the other girls did. Pablo had to admit one thing; there had been a persistent rumor at the time that Lorena had in fact slept with one or two patrons when the price was right.
He'd been an energetic and mischievous young man of eighteen, when he crossed the threshold into that darkened cavern of a saloon. From the moment when Pablo had first lain eyes on Lorena, he'd been infatuated with her. So enamored was he with this beautiful serving girl, that he soon began promising to give her the moon. Pablo ardently vowed to marry her and to take her away from that godforsaken brothel.
Lorena had tried to manipulate him at first, he recalled, by coquettishly questioning his motives and dangling an expensive piece of jewelry in front of his face, something one of the other patrons had given her. She enticed him into buying her fancy rings and showy necklaces. Yes, he'd fallen for the obvious ploy like a fool, which in hindsight he understood that he had been. Eventually, Pablo succeeded on his own end and won the young lady's heart. He'd come through on his promise to marry Lorena, bringing her across the border to a place where they could begin a new life together.
Twenty-six years they'd been together; twenty-four in marriage. Now he could see that his third oldest child had grown into the spitting image of the woman he'd fallen in love with. Melinda had the same dark black hair as his wife, although she kept it a lot shorter. She also had the same piercing brown eyes. As for Melinda's figure, while she might have been lacking Lorena's much fuller breasts, Melinda certainly made up for it with her voluptuous thighs.
And just like her mother, Melinda knew how to take full advantage of her face and body. On this night, she wore just enough eyeliner to soften her harsh, calculating eyes, and just the right tinge of lipstick to accent her full lips. Melinda's clothing was as carefully selected as her make-up. She wore a white shirt, more a half-shirt really, since it's collar was wide enough to allow a tanned shoulder to peek past. The shirt ended several inches above the bellybutton. Over this was draped a black fishnet blouse, snug enough to warmly hug her B cup bosom. Its mesh revealed the pleasing and tanned stretch of her waist, until her tight denim skirt cut off the view of her skin. The swell of her hips was unmistakable. His daughter's skirt stopped several inches above the knees to reveal even more of the same sensuous tan on her toned thighs and legs.
