Daddy Cool (5 page)

Daddy Cool didn't bother to answer. He waited until the girl disappeared, then he hurried to his bedroom.

THE SUNLIGHT BEAMING through the framed bedroom window cast rays of gold on the bedspread. Normally, Daddy Cool would have been up by now. One quick look at his diamond-studded watch assured him of the time-it was a little past high noon. For him, it was rare indeed to stay in bed that long. The sunlight generally awakened him early in the morning. Then he would get up and take his morning shower. But today was different. His glance lingered on the ten thousand dollars lying on the dresser top. Most of the time this sight would lift his spirits. But today he couldn't pull his feelings together. Seldom did he allow himself to be down and blue, nor did he like to have anybody around him who was in such a mood. So Daddy Cool remained lying in bed, smoking cigarette after cigarette.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Who is it?" Daddy Cool inquired sharply, more so than he had actually intended.

Shirley hesitated, then spoke up.

"It's me, Larry," she said, then added, "I was wondering if you might like me to fix you something. I could make you a ham sandwich right quick." Her voice was shaking slightly.

Without even thinking about it, he almost dismissed her. Then Daddy Cool remonstrated himself for being so damn evil and changed his mind.

"Okay, Shirley," he replied, trying to make the tone of his voice casual. "I'm gettin' up now, so by the time I take a fast shower, you can lay something out for me. Oh, by the way, honey, if we don't have any, send one of the boys down to the store and pick up some cans of iced tea, okay?"

He didn't wait to hear her reply. Slipping off the bed, he took off his silk shorts and walked naked into the shower. After taking a cold shower he felt a little better. He wondered idly if he was ducking his daughter. He remembered too vividly the events of the early morning. Regret was written across his face as he stared into the mirror. The last thing he should have done, he scolded himself, was to allow his anger to get away from him. Putting his hands on her was the most foolish thing he'd done in years, he thought.

Taking his time, Daddy Cool selected the clothes he would wear for the day. He was an excellent dresser for a man his age. Keeping up with the latest in men's styles, he was always neat. Today he selected a short, light-brown silk shirt, then matched it with a pair of brown pants with large cuffs. Next, he opened the closet where he kept over twenty pairs of shoes.

The latest were those with large heels and he removed a pair that he had only worn once before. The shoes were brown and white, with a four-inch heel. He sprinkled powder inside the shoes before slipping his feet into them. Then he stood up and examined himself in the large bedroom mirror. He could find nothing wrong with his appearance.

He started for the door, then stopped and came back. Picking the stacks of money up from the top of the dresser, he opened his bottom drawer and casually dropped the money into it. After firmly closing it, he departed from the bedroom.

Shirley glanced up, smiling, when he entered the kitchen. The food was already on the table.

"I didn't know if you wanted to eat in here or in the dining room," she stated, as she wondered what kind of mood her man was in this morning.

"It don't make any difference," Larry stated as he pulled out a chair and sat down. He began to eat the ham sandwich, and once he'd done so he realized he was hungry. She watched him eating, then hurried and prepared him another one before he finished with the first. The cold tea had already been poured out of the can and was now in a glass with ice cubes. He drank the tea slowly, enjoying the light meal.

When Shirley bent down and set the food in front of him, Daddy Cool stared down at the well-developed tits that pushed her blouse out so far in the front. He let out a sigh. His woman was still as attractive as ever. She had gained weight, but it looked good on her because it was all in the right places.

Shirley had the same golden brown complexion that their daughter had, and also the beautiful and evenly spaced white teethsomething Daddy Cool knew he lacked. His teeth were disfigured and gaps could be seen whenever he opened his mouth.

"I'm glad to see you're in a better mood than you were this morning," Shirley began, slowly feeling her way. She knew that she had something to tell him, and she realized that once she told him, his anger would shoot up to the boiling point.

"Well, let's just say that's left to be seen," he answered slowly, eyeing his wife closely for the first time that day. Something was on the woman's mind. He believed that he could read her like a book.

Before she could begin, he beat her to the point. "Ain't no sense bullshittin', Shirley. Whatever you got to say, spit it out." He stared at her coldly, knowing that whenever he looked at her in this fashion it upset her. Nevertheless, he didn't make it any easier for her.

Shirley rolled her tongue out and wet her lips, wildly trying to figure out which would be the best way to give her husband the news. Under his sharp stare she became confused and just blurted it out. "Your daughter had a cab pick her up this morning!"

Daddy Cool took a sip from his drink before replying. "So what? It ain't no big thing for her to catch a cab, is it?"

"No, no, not at all," Shirley began, still afraid to add the final words. But then it all came out in a rush. "But this is the first time she took all her clothes with her."

For a minute there was a deadly silence in the kitchen. Shirley could feel herself backing away from the table. The expressions that flashed across her quiet husband's face frightened her. It was rare indeed when she saw him like this.

Once many years ago, when they had first gotten married, a man had accosted them in a bar and ignored Daddy Cool while trying to hold a conversation with her. She had seen that look then, before her husband had cut the man with his straight razor.

Daddy Cool had to repeat himself twice before his wife could understand what he was saying. She was so frightened that it was almost impossible to reach her.

"I said, bitch," he growled, "why the fuck didn't you wake me up and tell me what she was trying to pull off?"

Shirley shook her head in fear. "I didn't know myself, Larry. Jimmy told me about it when I got up. He said she left with three suitcases."

"Jimmy, huh!" Daddy Cool said the name with emphasis. "Just where the hell is Jimmy at now?"

"He went to basketball practice with his brother," she managed to reply.

There was a coldness in the room now and Shirley knew that she didn't have any influence on what her angry husband might do. No matter what she thought, he wouldn't pay the slightest heed to her demands.

Daddy Cool stared coldly at his wife. "I guess you don't really care one way or the other about this shit, do you, Shirley?"

"Of course I care," she answered quickly, "but there's not too much we can do. She'll be seventeen in another month, so we really don't have much control over her movements now. It's just too late, Larry. We should have taken this interest in her activities way before now."

For a brief second Larry felt like slapping his wife's face but realized that it wasn't completely her fault. It was their joint mismanagement of the young girl's affairs that had led to this. Neither one had been firm enough, and now it was damn near too late. But Daddy Cool wouldn't allow himself to even think that it was actually too late.

He believed he could still do something to straighten the matter out. If he could only find her and sit down and have a good talk with her, then she would understand that everything he was doing was for her own good.

With his brain whirling beneath the stunning revelation, Daddy Cool sat rigid, unable to think properly. He couldn't bring his thoughts together; he couldn't make the proper moves.

"It's not just Jimmy's fault," Shirley stated, then added, "Buddy was up and he saw her packing her stuff so he could have awakened you as well as Jimmy."

Without really realizing what he was saying, Daddy Cool replied, "Since Buddy and Jimmy ain't nothing but her half brothers, they both were more than likely glad to see her go. That way," he continued, "they probably hope that they'll be able to get more spending money from me."

Shirley caught her breath. She had known for years that her husband only tolerated her two boys from another man, but this was the first time he had ever said something openly about it. It wasn't what he said, but the way that he said it.

"I guess, then," Shirley began, "it wouldn't make any damn difference to you if Buddy or Jimmy were leaving."

Daddy Cool laughed harshly. "I should say not. Why in the fuck should I be concerned? I've raised them and given them any goddamn thing they ever wanted, so now that both of them are grown, do you think I'd shed tears if they decided to leave?"

He gazed up at her with wide, unseeing eyes. He could only see his young daughter in his mind.

Gradually Shirley fought back the tears that were slowly building. "I don't know why you want to say they're grown. Jimmy is only eighteen, while Buddy is just a year older than that."

The thought raced through Daddy Cool's mind. He pushed his chair back from the table. "If you want to baby them boys, that's up to you. But don't think for a goddamn minute I'm going to baby them also. When I was sixteen I was out on my own, and I think it made a better man out of me for it. Your boys are both spoiled little bastards who are used to havin' their own fuckin' way because I made it easy for them!"

Before she could interrupt, he waved her silent. "Now that my daughter has decided to leave home, there are sure going to be some changes made in this household, you can bet on it."

He stared coldly at his wife, then added, "Before it's over, them two niggers are going to wish like hell they had awakened me this morning. I don't give a fuck what you say, Shirley, I know where I'm coming from. They knew what they were doing when they watched her load her bags into that cab, and you can bet on it. Both of them knew damn well I wouldn't have allowed it, and if they were any kind of brothers they wouldn't have allowed it either!"

When he finished with his outburst, Shirley could only gaze at him, dumbfounded. She knew he was in one of his rare moods and prayed silently that it would pass. Daddy Cool was such a strange man that it was hard to tell what he might do next. If he felt like it, he would put both of his stepchildren out and turn his back on them completely.

As she watched his departing back, she wondered why her two sons had done what they had done. They both knew that their stepfather would be angry over Janet's departure, and that was the main reason they fled from the house. They didn't want to hear his angry voice when he found out. She remembered how Jimmy had laughed while telling her about Janet's leaving. It had been a joke to him, but now it looked as if the joke might turn bitter.

She didn't believe her boys could make it without her or her husband's help. Neither boy had ever held any kind of job, nor had really taken up anything in school that would help them out. Daddy Cool had bought a car for Buddy on his eighteenth birthday and promised one to Jimmy whenever he graduated from school. But Jimmy had quit in his last year so that he could run the streets with his brother.

After leaving the house, Daddy Cool walked to his car and opened the door. He sat behind the steering wheel for a minute before starting up the motor. He didn't want to go to his poolroom but decided that would be the best place to get a line on where his daughter had gone.

If only he could catch up with either one of his stepsons, he was sure they would know where she was.

Daddy Cool backed the car out of the driveway. His mind was so occupied with his thoughts that he almost backed into an oncoming car. The sound of the driver's horn warned him just in time.

It took only five minutes before he was pulling into the rear parking lot of his poolroom. The front of the building advertised the place as "the billiard hall for men and women." A place of leisure. It was not only a poolroom, but catered to other tastes as well. As he let himself in the back door, which was always kept locked, the first thing Daddy Cool did was glance over toward the restaurant section of the hall.

The long counter was empty except for two young girls who were sipping on Cokes as they watched the men in the rear of the place play pool. The restaurant had a long counter plus four heavily padded red booths for people who wanted to eat their food in semiprivacy. The two girls who worked the day shift watched him as he entered. Each one smiled brightly in his direction.

Daddy Cool ignored the waitresses, while his eyes sought out every spot in the place for Janet. The front table that was reserved just for women was empty. Sometimes Janet would spend half a day shooting pool on the women's table.

There were eight tables in the poolroom, but only three of them were in use now. From a high chair that resembled the ones lifeguards used out at the public beaches, the massive Earl sat overlooking his domain. He ran the poolroom the way a captain ran a ship. He didn't allow any foul language on the premises, nor drinking.