David Pennington was a retired police officer with a cranky temperament. He had spent 20 years as a Cop before his divorce. After the divorce he decided it was time to start living the dream and taking a corporate security job for a real salary.
He took the job for a hotel chain and moved from Atlanta to Miami, where his only son David Jr. (Davey) attended "The U".
Sr. was a large rough looking guy, about 5'11" and 215 Lbs. He had dark thinning hair and was fairly fit for 46 with a little role of fat in the mid-section. He was tough minded and in the eyes of more than a few people that know him, a bit of a prick.
His relationship with his son had been strained for years and nearly blew up during his divorce 2 years ago. Junior did not appreciate the treatment of his mother during that process. Since then, Senior has tried to repair the relationship, at least to the extent his personality would allow him to mend fences. His normal mode of operation is to knock down fences and move full speed ahead.
He was not interested in the feelings of others as a rule and really did not want to indulge his son's weaknesses. The boy was way too soft in his mind, but he was sincerely trying to ratchet down the tension between them. He thought when he decided on The U it would give them a chance to spend time together. So far it had not worked.
He would often text and invite David Jr. to dinner or a Marlins game and almost always got the "I'm kind of busy" response. That made the text he just got all the more surprising.
Junior: Hey, got plans tomorrow night?
Senior: Sunday? no what's up?
Junior: thought you could buy dinnerπ
Senior: you in trouble?
Junior: no!
Senior: sounds good. where?
Junior: you gotta ask?
Senior: Larios?
Junior: π
Senior: pick you up at 6?
Junior: K
David really was not crazy about Cuban food, but Junior loved it, so he would take what he could get. He could not help but wonder what Junior needed. He never initiated getting together...
He picked him up at his dorm on a beautiful but "Florida Hot" day. Spicy Cuban food in 96-degree heat was not his first choice. Junior seemed to be in good spirits and was surprisingly talkative.
"So, are you still enjoying the job dad? You're not too bored? I know you loved working cases," he asked seeming genuinely interested.
"I have to admit, I miss banging a few heads every now and then, but. I get to travel, I'm living in Miami. It's all good. How about you? School going ok?" he asked waiting for the bad news.
"I made the dean's list last semester and all A's so far this semester," said Dave smiling.
"Great." said Dave senior, halfheartedly.
He could not understand a psychology degree. He thought it was a massive waste of money. He really wanted him to go into engineering, medicine or law. These were areas of study that paid well. "Psych degrees get you a job in the food service industry", he used to tell Davey. He has learned to bite his tongue lately, so he did just that.
They arrived at the restaurant and David Senior was happy he made a reservation. He was surprised it was this busy on a Sunday evening. The waitress was a beautiful young girl, probably Cuban with straight black shimmering hair and a skin-tight blouse with size 38's possibly. She wore equally tight black dress pants that showed every curve and crevasse of a round firm ass that you could have bounced a quarter off.
Senior could not contain himself, "Now that is some Cuban I could sink my teeth into right there! (She walked by giving a great view of her curved ass.) Holy shit son, I'd pay a thousand bucks to fuck that tight little ass!"
"Really Dad? She's my age!" Dave replied, disgusted by the horny macho asshole coming out again. He had so hoped he would not see that side of him tonight. It started out so well.
"I would bend her over and fuck that ass...Damn. Image shooting a load on that brown little back. Whole new meaning to "wet back"," he said chuckling.
"Oh God Dad! Please shut the hell up. Can you please keep the racist shit to yourself! It's fucking 2018, and anyone with half a brain knows we are just people regardless of where we're from. Can we please just eat dinner and act like you are a human being and not a racist pig!" He whispered pleadingly. "And I don't mean pig as a dis on cops. I mean it like a garbage wallowing ignorant beast."
Senior resisted the urge to back hand the spineless little prick that just called him a pig. Assault charges would surely mean losing his job and he had way too much to lose if that happened. He wished he had slapped the kid a little more often. Maybe he would not be the psych majoring little pansy he is today if he'd toughened him up a little more.
The waitress came to the table for drink orders and Senior ordered a bourbon thinking to himself, "Shit, would I like to pin her down, titty fuck the senorita and blow on her cute little face."
Junior could tell from his dad's hungry look, he was still thinking of fucking the beautiful young lady that could be his fucking daughter. This made for a rather quiet dinner, as neither could think of anything to say without starting another argument.
Senior tried the braised short ribs and was very impressed. He thought, "Maybe this place is not so bad after all." Junior had the Churrasco and was happy with it also. "Of course, he was happy; he got a free meal," thought David.
On the drive home Junior did his best to keep the conversation going but it was difficult to find common ground with his prick of a father. "You can't pick your relatives," his dad used to say about his in laws. After a long silence, Junior spoke up.
"I almost forgot. Do you remember Tony my lab partner last year in chemistry?" he asked with a bit too much enthusiasm.
Senior thought, "Now we get the reason for the dinner. I knew there was a catch. Why else would the ungrateful little douche initiated getting together?"
"Not really," replied his father. "Oh, is that the nipple head that picked you up that one weekend last year when the car was in the shop?"
"Nipple head?" replied Junior in disbelief.
"Nerd, bowl cut sitting on his head...nipple head," he answered as he realized he was losing ground with every word. "I'm sorry David, even I know I'm being obnoxious. Is that the young man that picked you up last year and took you back to school?"
"Yes, anyway, he is doing a survey for Psych 202. As part of his field studies report, he is looking for a cross section of people to take a survey, where you just answer a bunch of questions on line and he will be putting together personality profiles for his lab grade. I told him I would get you and Mom to participate. He was very excited about including a Police Officer in his group. Would you please help him out and do the survey?"
"I'm not sure I have time for that. How many questions and what kind of answers will he be looking for? I have no desire to do a bunch of essay questions. Tell me it's multiple choice." Said Senior, losing interest rapidly.
"Dad please! I don't ask for that much from you. Please help my fiend out and take the damn survey. I know it's not essay questions, it's probably multiple choice." he said frustrated.
Senior was laughing inside thinking, "Ungrateful little prick, I'm forking out money for a fucking psych degree..." He stopped himself and tried to remember his mission to mend fences not knock more down.