Going Down

My sister and I drove to Manny's party in silence and Manny himself met us at the door. His eyes raked my sister and she smiled at him and let him kiss her hand. It was like a knife in my heart. I hated seeing them so close to each other.

I did my best to be sociable. Linda was a big hit with all my colleagues, although their wives regarded her with obvious suspicion. Manny's eighteen-year-old son, Brad, looked great in a tux and followed Linda around the party like a fanboy. I was sure they'd end up getting together, and the thought made my heart feel heavy. I sipped my whiskey and tried not to glare at Brad.

After an hour of avoiding Linda and Brad, I lost track of them. I asked Manny if he'd seen them and he said they might be downstairs in his man cave. Manny's wife talked to me for a while about how expensive the caterer was, then I finally managed to extract myself from the conversation so I could go to the basement and check on my sister. I didn't find them in the game room.

Both the basement bathroom and the one on the main floor were occupied and I desperately had to pee. I took a chance and went upstairs. I found the bathroom and did my business. When I came out, I could have sworn I heard Linda's voice. Curious, I walked down the hall and stood by a door that was about an inch open; then I heard them clearly.

"Stop it, Brad," Linda said.

"Come on," he said. "Why did you come up here if you don't want to play a little?"

I peered through the sliver of door opening and saw a little of Brad. I pushed the door wider carefully, just enough that I could see both of them. He was holding her arm and she was trying to pull away. She had a game console in one hand and the television behind them showed some shoot-em-up game.

"I was bored," Linda said. "I just want to play video games. Let me go."

He dragged her closer to him and forced a kiss on her. She brought the hand up with the console and smacked him, nearly knocking him over.

"No!" she said.

What happened next felt like it was in slow motion.

He recovered and swung at her.

Linda's eyes widened but she didn't move fast enough and his fist connected with her jaw.

She went down and I flew into the room, rage blocking all sense from my mind. I grabbed Brad by his lapels and head-butted him, possibly breaking his nose. He screamed and I threw him halfway across the room, into his closet, where he stumbled over his shoes and fell.

I got between him and Linda with my fists clenched, ready to take him apart.

Then, Manny and his wife appeared in the doorway and saw me standing over their bloodied and cowering son.

"Jacob!" Manny yelled. "What the actual fuck are you doing?"

I pointed at Brad. "He attacked my sister!"

Brad blubbered and cried. "He hit me out of nowhere. We were just playing games and he came in and hit me!"

"That's not true!" Linda got up and stood with me. "He punched me!"

Her jaw was very red and puffy, the beginning of a huge bruise making its way across her face.

"The bitch brained me with a game console," Brad said.

"Get the fuck out of my house," Manny said, his voice low and dangerous.

"Gladly," I said, the last of my rage still affecting my reactions.

I grabbed Linda and we pushed past Manny and his stunned wife, thundered down the stairs, and slammed the front door after ourselves, leaving the guests in the living room wondering what the hell had happened.

* * *

My sister and I were about a mile from Manny's place when the realization of what I'd done hit me. I'd hit my boss's son and wrecked any chance I had at keeping my job. Panic gripped my chest and my vision tunneled so I had to pull over on the side of the road. I was hyperventilating, pouring sweat, and my heart felt like it would hammer its way out of my chest.

"Jacob," my sister said. "Take a deep breath."

I couldn't speak, I was so freaked out. I was having a full-blown panic attack. I'd never had one this bad before. I had to get out of the car.

When I opened my door, a passing pickup truck nearly took it off the hinges, honking as he raced by. I got out, slammed the door behind me, and paced on the side of the road. Linda got out as well and followed me, doing her best to calm me down. I was inconsolable.

"I've lost my job," I said. "I fucking killed my job. I'm going to be fired. I'm going to starve and lose the apartment. I fucked my sister and I got myself fired. Mom and Dad are going to kill me."

"Jacob, please stop," she said. "You don't know that. It was Brad's fault. Maybe his dad will be reasonable and not fire you."

I laughed. "I'm dead meat! I'm going to have to move back home in disgrace."

"No," she said. "I have a little money. It'll pay for us until you can get another job if you need to. Please calm down."

As if things weren't bad enough, a police car pulled over behind our car and turned his lights on. He set the floodlight on Linda and me, got out, and walked over to us slowly. I had my hands up. Linda was just Linda.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing," Linda said. "He just had a bit too much to drink. I'm the one driving."

The cop eyed both of us. He had a flashlight and shone it on us to dispel any shadows remaining from the blasted floodlight that was nearly blinding me. He must have seen Linda's wounded face and wondered whether I'd beaten her.

"Are you sure you're all right ma'am? It looks as if you've got yourself a nasty bruise there. Where'd you get that from?"

She stared at him. "I...don't know," she said.

His eyes narrowed. A second police car pulled up behind the first, lights swirling, and another cop got out. The first cop backed up, keeping an eye on me, and conferred with his buddy for a moment. The second cop was huge. He must have been six-five, with a linebacker's build.

I was still having a panic attack, but I was at least able to recognize that I needed to act calm. If I threw myself on the ground and rolled around wailing like I wanted to do, I'd end up in jail faster than I could snap my fingers.

The cops spread out and surrounded us. The big one had his hand on his weapon, which made a chill run down my back.

"Ma'am," the first cop said. "I'd like you to go sit with my colleague in his car for a little while."

"Why?" Linda said. She moved a little closer to me. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"Please, ma'am," he said. "I'd like to talk to your boyfriend alone for a bit."

Another cop car, an unmarked SUV, pulled up behind the second one, and I knew I was screwed. They must have thought I was dangerous. I raised my hands higher so hopefully they could all see clearly how empty they were and how cooperative I was.

Linda eyed the new cop to arrive. He was in plainclothes and smaller than either of the other two, but I got the feeling he was used to being in charge regardless.

The three cops conferred for a minute while Linda cowered next to me and I stood with my hands up. Other cars drove by going slowly and I felt like a total idiot. They probably thought I was some drunk loser. I couldn't believe how far I'd fallen in just one week of having my sister live with me. I'd been an up-and-coming, upstanding professional with a high-paying job and the prospect of only more, and now I was out-of-work and about to be in deep shit with the law.

The smaller man in the business suit stood back while the other two cops advanced a little.

"Ma'am," the first cop said. "Please step away from your friend."

"Why?" Linda asked. "What are you going to do? What's going on?"

"We're arresting him," he said. "Please, move out of the way."

"No," she said. "He didn't do anything. Someone else hit me."

The cops glanced at each other.

"Ma'am," the first cop continued. "Please step away or we'll have to forcibly remove you from the area."

She turned to me and looked up at my face. I was sure I must have looked ashen, because I'd felt the blood drain from my face when he said they were arresting me.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I'll call Dad."

Our parents were both lawyers. Our father practiced criminal law and our mother was in family law. Either of them would have been appropriate.

"It's not your fault," I said. "Do exactly what they tell you to do. Don't say a word to them without Mom or Dad with you."

She nodded, clearly terrified. She took a few steps backward, and the big cop led her away from me. The first cop had me turn around and put my hands on my head. I'd held them up for so long, my arms shook.

He handcuffed me and patted me down, then put me in the back of his car without telling me anything. I couldn't remember how long they had to read me my rights. On television, they always read the perp his rights immediately. In reality, they had something like twenty-four or forty-eight hours to Mirandize me, or maybe it was until they formally questioned me.

By the time I was in the cop's car, Linda was on her phone, presumably calling our parents. After she got off the phone, she followed us to the station in my car. I was put through receiving and ended up in a holding cell with two other men and a woman. They looked pretty rough, in rags and skinny to the point of emaciated. The woman had track marks all over her arms. I stood near the bars and tried not to make eye contact with anyone.

* * *

I couldn't believe I'd been put in jail. It was past midnight by the time our parents showed up. I heard Mom's voice in the hall and an officer brought Dad back to see me. He looked very stern.

"Jacob, what happened?" he asked immediately.

"Nothing," I said. "It looked bad, but I didn't do it."

"Didn't do what?" he asked.

"I didn't hit Linda," I said. "That was Brad, my boss's son."

"Someone hit Linda?" he asked. "Seriously?"

I stared at him. "Isn't that why I'm in here?"

"You're here under suspicion of impaired driving," he said. "They also found traces of cocaine in your car."

"What?!"

"You refused a breathalyzer, son. What did you think they were going to do? Hand you a medal?"

"I did? They didn't offer me one. No one said anything about a breathalyzer."

He frowned. His silver-streaked eyebrows pulled together making him look even more concerned.

"I was told you refused a breathalyzer test so they brought you here to sober up."

"I'm stone cold sober, Dad," I said. "I had one drink four hours ago."

He stared at me. "Where on earth did they get the impression you were drunk? And, why would they say you refused a breathalyzer if you weren't offered the test?"

"I have no clue," I said. "Maybe they're just confused?"

"They've got Linda in an interrogation room," he said. "She's refusing to talk to them. That makes you both look guilty to them." He glanced around, but no cops were in evidence. "What did the two of you get into?"

"Nothing, Dad, I swear," I said. "I told her not to talk to them, but that's just because I didn't want them to take anything she said the wrong way."

"Okay," he said. "You won't be formally charged until Monday, if they're going to actually charge you with anything. In the meantime, you get to stay here."

"In jail?" I asked. "How can they keep me in jail when I haven't done anything?"

"It's the weekend," he said. "The DA's office doesn't work weekends. I've got a friend I can call, though, Maybe I can get you out sooner."

* * *

Thanks to Dad's connection, I was back home by six in the morning. Linda was asleep in my bed, naked. I warred with myself for a long time, then finally stripped to my boxers and slid under the covers next to her, facing away. She stirred in her sleep and snuggled against my back, spooning with her arms around me.

She ran her hand down my torso into my shorts and took a hold of my cock. She smelled like peppermint again. I was hard in seconds.

"Make love to me," she said.

It was like another man—an evil, depraved man—had taken over my body. I turned over and rolled onto her, squishing her into the mattress and feeling her nakedness all along my skin. I ran my hands up and down her curves and took her mouth in mine, giving her lingering and passionate kisses. She moaned with obvious need for me.

I removed my shorts, tossed them onto the floor, and guided my cock inside her moist pussy. She wrapped her legs around my waist so I could get in deep. I was hot so I threw the covers off us and fucked her with all my might. She wrapped herself around me and I'd never felt so close to anyone ever before. I was inside her vagina with my cock, inside her mouth with my tongue, and she was completely wrapped around me, gripping me so tightly, we basically became one body, locked in ecstasy with itself.

It didn't take long for me to cum. I shuddered and released great wads of cum deep inside her, my entire body and soul shivering with lust. Her spasms matched mine and having her climax beneath me while my own orgasm still raged was indescribably gratifying. I realized some of my girlfriends must have been faking it, because this was entirely different. My sister's vagina clutched at my cock with each fading throe and she moaned into my mouth.

I collapsed on top of her and she smiled up at me, still gripping me with her arms and legs. Suddenly, her face went completely white and her eyes widened so much I thought they'd pop out of her head. Pure shock covered her face. I followed her gaze to the doorway of my bedroom.

There was our father, open-mouthed, standing frozen in place, and there could be no doubt about what he saw.