David pleaded with Desmond with no luck as Desmond chugged on his beer and scoffed at David's pleas for extra time. Two of Desmond's cronies stood at either side of the sofa Desmond was lounging on and smirked. David had hit hard times. His small business was not doing well and Desmond wanted the $150,000 he had leant to David along with $50,000 in interest within 24 hours or face eviction and lose every single possession of his.
At 46 David looked more like 56. The weight of his debt making him stoop and look much smaller than his 6'5'' foot frame. Desmond used to be David's business partner. They were old army buddies. Desmond cheated David out of a lot of his business and got into politics becoming the richest and most corrupt person in the little California town. David had a string of tragedies over the years starting with his wife passing away and being swindled in his business which had started to dwindle ever since. As things got worse for David he had no where to go but take money from Desmond to keep his business going as he had a daughter ready to go to college, but he had now hit rock bottom.
As David's desperation mounted the front door opened and his daughter Patty came home from the gym. At 18 Patty had grown into a little heart breaker and was the toast of her small California town. She was a straight A student and star athlete and had just been accepted to Stanford. Patty had grown into a very pretty young woman. The blonde, blue-eyed, 5'6'' leggy girl was a young gymnast sensation in her town and was able to use her talent to get herself a small scholarship to attend college but that would not be enough to pay for everything.
David made sure that Patty never felt deprived of anything and never gave her even the slightest inkling that she was his step child...something she found out just a few years back. Patty's mom was pregnant with her when her Dad died in the first Gulf War saving David and Desmond from a grenade attack. Patty's mom and David dated briefly in school and when David came back from the war he took care of the family and married her mom, his old High School sweetheart. She died in a car accident when patty was just an infant and David brought her up alone doing the best he could.
As Patty entered she saw Desmond and cringed. She hated Desmond for what he did to her Dad. Ignoring him she looked at David and shouted "Hi Daddy," from across the room.
"Hi Baby, how was practice?" asked David.
"It was fine Daddy, just very tiring," responded Patty.
"Well go up to your room and I will call you when Dinner is ready," said David.
As Patty moved up the stairs she felt a chill run up her spine because she couldn't miss the leer on Desmond's face. His eyes moved up and down her body, checking her out in her little lycra shorts and tank, undressing her in his mind making her shudder at the thought. She couldn't believe that he was her favorite grown-up as a kid and that she even had a crush on him once after all he was a really good looking guy who used to pamper her. At 6'4'' with chiseled muscles and designer clothes, Desmond was a very attractive black guy.
As she left, Desmond turned to David and said, "Patty has really grown into a fine young woman, just like her Mom. How old is she? Is she in college yet?"
"She just turned 18 and will be joining Stanford this fall," replied David as he gritted his teeth.
"Nice," sneered Desmond as he started to get up chucking the empty beer can to the side. He suddenly turned to David and said, "I tell you what David, I will write of my loan to you but you gotta do one thing for me man."
David's eyes lit up. "What? Anything, I will do anything...what do you want from me?"
Desmond started into David's eyes, grinned and said, "Patty."
David was taken aback and couldn't believe what he heard and asked again, "What!?!"
"I said I want Patty, well just for a night...and that is it...all will be forgiven," replied Desmond
David couldn't contain his anger anymore and lunged at Desmond but was quickly brought to the ground by Desmond's henchmen before he could do anything.
Desmond caught him by his hair and pulled up his head from the carpet and menacingly whispered, "Listen David, it's not like she is your real daughter. She is 18 and fair game. This is a small town and sometimes accidents happen. You don't want anything to happen to you because God knows what would happen to Patty if you were not around. I am just giving you a way out and helping you get your life back. I will wait for your call tomorrow. Its either Patty or you arrange for the $200,000 you owe me by 4 tomorrow afternoon."
Saying that his cronies kicked him in his stomach and left David crouched in pain weeping silently. He heard Patty calling out for him as she ran to pick him up off of the floor.
"Daddy! Are you all right? What did that bastard do to you?" she screamed.