- 7 hours ago
Please, Daddy
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:01It was the summer I turned 18. I tried to seduce my godfather for the first time, and he pressed
00:06his gun under my chin.
00:07I wore a white slip dress so thin, it might as well have been water, straddling the lap of Sicily's
00:11most ruthless godfather, pressing his own Beretta 92F against my jaw.
00:16You are crossing the line, Lola.
00:18Deep eyes that hid whirlpools beneath still surfaces, to the mole there, the one he'd seen when he bathed me
00:23ten years ago.
00:24I leaned forward, my lips grazed the gun barrel, tasting oil and leather, and something darker, then kill me.
00:30My legs tightened around his waist, through his towel I felt him harden, felt the war in his body between
00:35protector and predator.
00:37Or claim me.
00:39Your choice, Uncle Asher.
00:43The ocean crashed against the cliffs outside, same sound as that night ten years ago.
00:48I still remember everything.
00:49The gunshots are dying through cicada songs.
00:51The blood-hitting pinaki is warm, so warm it's steam.
00:56The rough hands dragging me from a pile of corpses, fitting headphones over my ears, playing something loud and ancient.
01:02Count to one hundred, then I'll be back.
01:11I counted to thirty-seven.
01:13He kissed my forehead, his lips burning, his hands shaking.
01:16Thirty-nine.
01:26I counted to sixty-eight.
01:27More gunshots.
01:40I counted to one hundred.
01:41He returned covered in blood, lifted me into his arms, carried me to the car.
01:45Since then.
01:46I have never celebrated another birthday, and never looked forward to summer, except for him flying back to this seaside
01:51villa every July to spend this damn anniversary with me.
01:54Ten years.
01:54Ten summers.
01:55Then times he handed me gifts, said happy summer vacation, little princess, then vanished into his study like I was
02:00something to be locked away.
02:01But this year I was eighteen, legally adult, and physically, I looked down at my dress, the fabric clung like
02:07a second skin, nipples visible, hip bones sharp.
02:09I knew I was ready.
02:15The shower stopped, also stopped my heart, the doorknob turned, I pushed the door open, steam poured out, and there
02:21he was, thirty, when he saved me, forty now, time had carved him, fine lines at the corners of his
02:26eyes, a sharper jaw, but those eyes, Mediterranean depths, the surface might be calm, however, the undercurrents could drag you
02:32in and drown you underneath.
02:33His towel sat low, water tracked from his collarbone, down his chest, over the ridges of his abs, disappearing into,
02:39Lola, he pinned me in place with my name, what are you doing in my room?
02:45This year I prepared a special gift, I untied my robe, silk slid off my shoulders with a whisper, the
02:51slip dress left nothing hidden, his gaze moved over me like touch shoulders to waist to thighs, I watched his
02:56throat work, watched his hand tighten on the towel, I stepped closer.
03:02I'm eighteen, not a little girl anymore.
03:12Close enough to smell him, mint soap over tobacco and leather, the scent of him that haunted my dreams, I
03:18caught his wrist, guided him toward the bed, felt the tension in his muscles, like a leopard deciding whether to
03:23snap his prey's neck, I fell back onto the mattress looking up at him.
03:29Lola, I know who you are, the godfather, my father's best friend, the man who raised me, but remember that
03:36summer night, that summer night you saved me?
03:38It's not just my life, you didn't just save my life, you stole my soul, it's been yours ever since.
03:46His eyes went dark, dangerous, then his hand moved, not to caress me, to the pillow beneath my head, then
03:52the gun barrel pressed under my chin, I didn't close my eyes, I stuck out my tongue, licked the metal,
03:56his breath hitched, his finger whitened on the trigger, that cross tattoo swam in my vision, the one I'd seen
04:01a thousand times over these ten years, the one on the hand that held the pen when I handed him
04:05the document, on the hand that supported my waist when I was taught to swim, on the hand that fed
04:10me medicine when I had a fever last summer.
04:11Now this hand trembled, I don't care, next summer I'll come again, the summer after, every summer.
04:20I wrapped my lips around the cold steel, blame me, or kill me.
04:26Staring into his eyes, silence crushed us outside, waves beat the cliffs like a heartbeat, just like they had ten
04:32years ago.
04:32He threw the gun, the Beretta hit the carpet with a dull thud, his towel fell.
04:54In one violent motion, he snatched the bedsheet, wrapped it around me, rough, angry, tucking the edges against my shoulders,
05:00like he was trying to sew me inside.
05:02Stay that again, and you'll learn what happens when you provoke me.
05:10The door slammed in the dark, I sat on the bed, cheek clutched to my chin, counting my heartbeats, 107,
05:15108, 109.
05:18I won't give up, Uncle Asher, next summer I'll be here, every year, until you say yes.
05:24I shouted into the darkness, laughing to tears. Footsteps paused at the stair's end, one second, two, then faded away.
05:30Moonlight spilled through the window, landing on the nightstand.
05:33I curled around the battered teddy bear he'd given me ten years ago, nose chewed bald by me, ears sewn
05:38back three times.
05:39I buried my face in familiar fur, couldn't smell lavender, couldn't smell blood, only smelled myself, exactly like ten years
05:45ago.
05:48Three years later, I gift-wrapped myself and waited two hours. Red ribbon, clear chelophane.
05:53I wore a red bikini and sheer cover-up, curled behind the living room sofa like a present waiting to
05:57be unwrapped.
05:58Provence's July heat to bake the air through the French windows, sweat slicking my back against the wrapping pepper.
06:03Heartbeat 21, heartbeat 22, the lock burned.
06:07Footsteps, two sets, heels clicking like bullets, chambering against marble.
06:13Engagement ceremony in August.
06:15What about your little girl? She had you every summer. Time she learned independence, no?
06:21Uncle Asha!
06:22When I burst out of the bar, his lips were pressed against her neck.
06:26Black dress, pearl earrings, typical Italian socialite, 35, ripped from the pages of Vogue.
06:31Her gaze scraped over my bikini, lips curving in a knowing, venomous smile.
06:34Her nails circled his chest.
06:38Lola. Yes?
06:39She extended her hand.
06:40Maxime Capone. Your Uncle Asha's fiancé.
06:50Fiancé. The word detonated in my skull.
06:53I looked at Asher. Stiff, embarrassed.
06:55Something broken in his eyes like a caged beast caught in its own trap.
06:59When the fuck did you get a fiancé nobody told me about?
07:02Go change! Now!
07:05Oh, relax, darling.
07:08No mother to raise her, poor thing.
07:11No wonder she doesn't know how to dress like a decent woman.
07:14But don't worry, dear.
07:15Once Asher and I marry, I'll teach you some manners.
07:19Don't you fucking touch this, you bitch!
07:22Crack. My face snapped sideways.
07:24Fire bloomed across my cheek.
07:25Asher's hand hung in the air.
07:27Shock in his eyes.
07:28Regret. The cross tattoo burning like it had against my jaw three years ago.
07:31Lola, I-
07:32Tim Hard ran towards the stairs.
07:34Knee cracked against the banister.
07:36Numb with pain.
07:37But I didn't stop.
07:38Poor little thing.
07:39Pity she'll never learn her place.
07:46I slammed my door, slid down the wood, spine hitting cold grain.
07:50My cheek burned, not from the slap.
07:51From my eyes, tears flooded, wiped away by my wrist.
07:54Tasting salt.
07:55Outside, the lavender fields turned deep purple in twilight, like clotting blood.
07:58Like that night.
08:00I counted breaths until the knock came.
08:02Maxine entered with a perfect smile, carrying a glass.
08:05Condensation beaded the surface.
08:06Black dress, low neckline, a mole below her collarbone.
08:09Almost exactly where mine sat.
08:10Your Uncle Ash so sorry.
08:12He squeezed this lemonade himself and asked me to bring in it.
08:15Lemonade. Pale yellow. Pulp floating. Poison in the light.
08:18I was deathly allergic to citrus.
08:20He knew it well since he saved me ten years ago.
08:22No lemons, oranges, grapefruit in this villa ever since I came here.
08:27Last summer I ate one bite of lemon tart by accident.
08:29He drove me to the hospital at 2am, holding my hand through three epinephrine shots.
08:33He forgot.
08:34Or, I took the glass, drank it dry under her gaze.
08:37Acid burned my throat.
08:38In the mirror, I saw my own expression.
08:40I knew what she'd done.
08:41And I knew.
08:42I knew he would save me.
08:43I always knew.
08:50Finished?
08:51Good girl.
08:52Now, go help prepare dinner.
08:54Asher wants to see us getting along.
08:55I set down the glass, fingers already tingling.
08:58Snow filled the edges of my vision.
09:00Old television static.
09:03Fifteen minutes later, I sliced cake in the kitchen.
09:06Maxine and the maids blocked me from the living room.
09:08Pretending busyness.
09:10Their laughter needling my eardrums.
09:11I heard Asher's voice low, impatient, asking Maxine about the terrace view.
09:16The moon's beautiful time.
09:18Perfect for discussing wedding details.
09:20Wedding, the knife slipped.
09:21Sliced my finger.
09:22Vision blurred.
09:23I heard Asher crash through the crowd.
09:26Let me see.
09:27Nothing.
09:27Just a small cut.
09:28He brought my finger to his lips and began to suck on it slowly.
09:31Still hurt?
09:33I wanted to say no, but the allergic reaction hit full force.
09:38Lola!
09:38Lola!
09:39The world tilted, last conscious thought.
09:41Him rolling me onto my side, tearing my jeans' waist.
09:44Slamming the epinephrine pen into my hip.
09:50Pills water.
09:51His fingers forced me to swallow.
09:52Tasting of blood and mint.
09:54Exactly like three years ago.
09:58Breathe with me.
09:59Tingling fingers.
10:00One, two, three.
10:00Heart hammering like it would explode.
10:01I moved and felt the nightstand, the battered teddy bear with its nose chewed, bald, and
10:05ear sewn three times.
10:07He sent it to me ten years ago and said,
10:08He will protect you, just like I will.
10:10The door opened.
10:11Asher entered with water.
10:12Black shirt sleeves rolled to elbows.
10:14Cross tattoo exposed.
10:15Forty.
10:16Fine lines mapping his face and lamplight.
10:18Every man he'd killed.
10:19Every life he'd saved.
10:20And me.
10:21Awake.
10:22Maxine left.
10:23The maids are gone.
10:24He handed me the cup.
10:25I took it.
10:26Didn't drink.
10:27Gone?
10:28Fired.
10:29They almost killed you.
10:31And Maxine?
10:32Your fiancé?
10:34His jaw tightened, like when he threw the gun.
10:40Business arrangement.
10:41Capone family needs Myceria ports.
10:43I need...
10:44Someone to manage my affairs.
10:46Manage affairs?
10:47She just tried to kill me.
10:48With lemonade.
10:49I know.
10:50You know?
10:50I know what she is.
10:51I also know you drank it.
10:53Knew I'd save you.
10:54You always know.
10:55Silence crushed us.
10:56Waves outside like that night.
10:58I set the cup down slow.
10:59Deliberate.
11:00Let one camazole strap slide off my shoulder.
11:02His gaze stuck.
11:03Magnetized.
11:04Then forced away.
11:05You knew three years ago, too.
11:06Knew I'd lick that gun.
11:08Knew I'd come every summer.
11:09Knew I'd...
11:09Lola.
11:10Warning.
11:10But he didn't move.
11:11You know everything.
11:13I leaned close.
11:14Close enough to smell mint over tobacco and leather.
11:18So did you know I've thought of you every day for three years?
11:22His breath caught.
11:23Know I rejected every man in college because they didn't have your crow's teeth?
11:27Know I sleep with that teddy bear every night pretending it's you?
11:29I caught his wrist, guided it to my hip.
11:31I'm not a little girl anymore, Uncle Asher.
11:34I'm 21.
11:35My body...
11:36changed.
11:40His restraint vibrated like a plucked string under my touch.
11:43I straddled his lap, felt him hard through dress pants.
11:47Lola, we can't.
11:49Feel that?
11:50That's me.
11:51All of me.
11:52Not your little princess anymore.
11:53My hand found his shirt buttons.
11:55Trembling.
11:56He caught my wrist.
11:57Grip crushing but didn't push me away.
11:59Let me be your woman.
12:00Just tonight.
12:01Just now.
12:02Tomorrow you can pretend nothing happened.
12:03Marry Maxine.
12:04Have your arrangement.
12:05But tonight, his phone rang.
12:06Maxine's name.
12:08He said it face down on the nightstand.
12:12Eat something.
12:13Rest.
12:14I need to see my fiancée.
12:16She needs me.
12:17But you've never left me on summer vacation night.
12:19This year, the maids are gone.
12:21I'm alone.
12:22You're 21.
12:23An adult, right?
12:24One night, endure it.
12:25The door closed.
12:26I heard my heartbeat.
12:28I lay down, buried my face in the teddy bear outside.
12:30Provence lavender turned silver in moonlight.
12:32A frozen sea.
12:34Sleepless.
12:36Dawn breaking.
12:37I decided to make him jealous.
12:42Mia and Daniel friends from college dragged me to a beach club's back rooms.
12:47Want to drive an old man crazy?
12:48Make him watch.
12:50White bodysuit.
12:51Bridal veil.
12:52They pushed me on stage where dozens of drunk men howled.
12:55Little angel!
12:57Money rained like confetti.
12:58I stood in spotlight, shaking, thinking what Asher was doing.
13:02Dinner with Maxine.
13:03Whispering promises.
13:04Or bang.
13:05Gunfire tore the music.
13:06Everyone turned.
13:08Asher stood in the doorway.
13:09Black trench coat.
13:10Pistol smoking.
13:11The chandelier above him sparked.
13:13Glass running down.
13:14He looked at no one.
13:15Only me.
13:16Eyes burning through me like they wanted to incinerate me alive.
13:18He strode to the stage.
13:20Tore a stack of cash from his pocket.
13:22Slapped it across the manager's face.
13:23Take this stripper to VIP.
13:25Now.
13:26Private show.
13:27The room froze.
13:28I followed him down the hall.
13:29Into the red room.
13:30A lock clicked.
13:32You like dancing for men in places like this?
13:35He sat on the sofa.
13:36Legs spread.
13:37Cigar smoldering.
13:38Then dance for me.
13:40Strip.
13:40Give me your full show.
13:45Insulting me.
13:46Claiming me.
13:46I walked to him.
13:47Draped the bridal veil over our heads.
13:49White fabric enclosed us.
13:51Faces inches apart.
13:56You taught me.
13:58Don't tell me you forgot.
14:00His pupils blew wide.
14:01Outside.
14:02Daniel's voice.
14:03Lola.
14:04Next bar.
14:05I pulled back.
14:07Smiled.
14:07Oops.
14:08That's my boyfriend.
14:09Gotta go.
14:09He shot up.
14:10Threw me over his shoulder.
14:11Kicked open the door.
14:12Stormed through the crowd.
14:14Daniel stood at the entrance.
14:15Face painted.
14:16Crop top showing skin.
14:17Asher stopped.
14:18Sneered.
14:19This is your boyfriend?
14:21Jesus fucking.
14:22He threw me in the car.
14:24Silence crushed us until I exploded.
14:30Engine rolled.
14:32Why did you do that?
14:34You humiliated me in front of my friends.
14:36I'm protecting my child from trouble.
14:38I'm not a child.
14:41He slammed the brakes.
14:42Tires screamed at the cliff's edge.
14:46Then he turned.
14:47Eyes holding something I'd never seen.
14:49Vulnerability.
14:50Hunger.
14:52Sorry.
14:53I know I shouldn't keep treating you like a kid.
14:56If you want me to see you as an adult.
15:01First step?
15:02Learn to drive.
15:03Not that strip club bullshit.
15:06I climbed over the console.
15:07Saturday in his lap.
15:10His hands covered mine.
15:11This is what adults do.
15:13Feel it.
15:14The car swayed on the coastal highway for three hours.
15:17Not out of control.
15:18Deliberate.
15:18Every turn.
15:19His chest pressed my back.
15:20Every shift, his hand accidentally slid up my thigh.
15:23Watch the road focus.
15:25I counted his heartbeat through my spine.
15:27Faster than mine.
15:28You're distracting me.
15:29This is dangerous.
15:30I'm teaching you.
15:31Feel the engine.
15:33Feel the speed.
15:34This is what adults do.
15:46We stopped at a viewpoint.
15:48City lights spread below like scattered jewels.
15:51I turned to find him smiling.
15:53Real smile.
15:54Crow's feet.
15:55White teeth.
15:56You look good smiling.
15:58I mean, you rarely smile.
16:03You rarely make me this uncontrollable.
16:07The word hung between us.
16:08Forbidden invitation.
16:10Then he ruffled my hair like I was 12.
16:12Drove me home.
16:17Three days later, they crucified me in lecture hall.
16:20My presentation slides were placed with photo strip club champagne room.
16:25Asher's hand on my leg.
16:27His mouth on my ear.
16:30The classroom erupted in laughter and screams, vestitial howling.
16:36Advanced stripper studies?
16:38Lola, is this your project?
16:41I ran for the door.
16:43They blocked me, Mia, Daniel, Kylie, others.
16:50They dragged me to the lab.
16:58Industrial glue pressing me to the wall like a specimen.
17:07Admit it.
17:08You're an incestuous whore.
17:10Say it loud.
17:11Or you stay here overnight with the corpses.
17:14White sheet.
17:15Pale hand underneath.
17:16Glue burned my skin.
17:17I screamed.
17:18They laughed.
17:19Phone lenses hunting my face like ritual.
17:21And the door exploded.
17:25Water and exploited.
17:26Wood sputters like that night.
17:27Piano room door.
17:28Shirt making bullets.
17:31Asher stood in the frame.
17:32Black trench coat.
17:33Pistol smoking.
17:37His gaze swept the room.
17:39Found me.
17:39Pale.
17:40Shaking.
17:40Glued to the wall like captured prey.
17:42He tore the fabric from my body.
17:44Lifted me in his arms.
17:46You like this?
17:49Let's see how you like being stuck.
17:51He coated her mouth.
17:52Lips to chin.
17:53Like a mask.
17:54Her eyes widened.
17:55Muffled screams.
17:56Call police.
17:58Call lawyers.
17:59Call your rich daddy.
18:00I don't care.
18:06I wept in his arms.
18:08Face buried in his shoulder.
18:09Tobacco and leather.
18:10Exactly like ten years ago.
18:13I knew you'd come.
18:15You always come.
18:16He kissed my forehead like that night, but longer.
18:22What I didn't know, Maxine's plot started at the hospital.
18:25Shelly, my only real friend pregnant, needed company.
18:28I held her ultrasound in the hospital.
18:29When masked men dragged me to the hospital.
18:31First thought, at least Shelly's not here.
18:37They slammed me on a cold room.
18:39Fists to my lips.
18:40Trying to shake organs loose.
18:45Which bitch is pregnant?
18:48Tell us, or we kick this belly until it miscarries.
18:52In the corner, Shelly screams, muffled by tape.
18:55I looked at her.
18:56At her belly.
18:57Then I made a decision.
19:02Me, I'm pregnant.
19:04The biggest lie of my life.
19:05The truest sacrifice.
19:06If they thought it was me, they wouldn't touch Shelly.
19:08If they thought the child was mine, they'd keep me alive.
19:10At least until confirmation.
19:14Asher burst in as I coughed blood.
19:17Asher's face, shock.
19:19Then something complex, breaking.
19:20That look from the piano room ten years ago.
19:22But something shattered.
19:25I'll raise your baby, Lola.
19:29But you've been with the wrong men.
19:31There are consequences.
19:35That's what you think of me?
19:37Some cheap slut sleeping around?
19:42He carried me to emergency.
19:50Save her!
19:50She's losing the baby!
19:55The doctor looked at him, confused.
19:57What baby?
19:58She's not pregnant.
20:04Put me down.
20:08It was Shelly.
20:10She's pregnant.
20:13I was just keeping you from here.
20:16He misunderstood.
20:17Thought I'd been with some man.
20:18The unseen, non-existent man.
20:20And lost his child.
20:21Then a new doctor entered my chart.
20:23Paused, looking at Asher.
20:24Notifying him to leave.
20:25When it was just the doctor in need.
20:27Miss Bruno, we ran some tests.
20:30There's something you should know.
20:32Stomach cancer.
20:33Late stage.
20:35Late stage.
20:35You have three months.
20:45I didn't tell Asher.
20:47I didn't tell Asher.
20:47Instead, I pushed him away.
20:48Let him believe I was with Joe.
20:49His nephew.
20:50Just returned from Italy.
20:52We kissed in front of him.
20:59Walked in gardens.
21:02Watched stars from terraces.
21:05I moaned with Joe in the bathroom.
21:11Listening to Asher's footsteps.
21:13Shattering outside.
21:16Imagining his face.
21:18That thing suppressed for ten years.
21:19Finally cracking, then breaking.
21:21I told the mirror.
21:22Tears and smile mixing.
21:25Happy summer vacation.
21:27This is the last gift I can give you.
21:30Maxine's engagement party.
21:31August.
21:32Capone Estate on the Amalfi Coast.
21:34Clifftop White Palace.
21:35Lit like a sunken cruise ship.
21:37I attended as family.
21:39Maxine's chosen dress.
21:40Her delivered invitation.
21:41Her designed humiliation.
21:44She waited in the dressing room.
21:46Holding a white wedding gown.
21:47Not bridesmaids, but her gown.
21:49Born from Milan.
21:50Her name on the label.
21:52I saw her honey knife smile.
21:54I knew the trap.
21:55Try this.
21:56I want my future daughter's opinion.
22:02Code of coordinator.
22:02I know her how you did.
22:02I tried to do it.
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