Me and my uncle had always been close. He was my dad's brother, and for the most part growing up, he took my dad's place. My dad was an alcoholic, and was never there for me. My uncle would let me spend the night at his house when I had no where else to spend the night, when my mom and dad both worked third shift. Sometimes, I'd wonder why my uncle would never have any girls over. Was my uncle gay? Or was he interested in sex at all?
One night, when I was barely 18, I spent the night at his house after my dad had left me all alone at the house, while he went off to drink himself stupid. I was pissed at my dad, and I had come to the point where I hated to ask my uncle to stay with him. I had noticed when I was about 14 and starting to develop, he'd watch me as I'd get out of the shower and go into the spare bedroom to get dressed. Now, I don't mind the attention from guys, to say the least, but the first time I noticed him watching me, it felt kinda weird. But, nonetheless, I still came to him when I needed a place to stay, or simply someone to talk to.
That night, we had gone out for pizza and talked about my future. He always wanted me to go to college, cause he always said it had made a world of difference for him. I believed him too. He had a nice home, a brand-new truck, and a great job. We talked about what I wanted to be, and that night I decided I would go to school to be a teacher. Making my mind up what my major in college would be in my sophomore year of high school made me extremely happy. I hugged his neck tightly and when he put his arms around me, it seemed as if he lingered a little longer than usual. I thought he was happy about my decision too, and blew it off as me being paranoid.
When we came home, it was already past ten. He had to get up to go to work in the morning, so we said our goodnights and went to separate bedrooms. At about 12:30 a.m., I was woken up by the phone. Grabbing my robe to cover up my sheer nightgown, I went into the living room, but my uncle had already picked it up. He sat on the couch, telling the person on the other line no. He didn't have a shirt on, and was wearing just boxers. I had a feeling that the person he was saying no to was my dad. When he hung up a few seconds later, he looked up at me with a weary look in his eyes.
"Your dad is in jail, again. He got another DUI. He asked me to come bail him out, but I said no." He patted the cushion next to him and motioned for me to sit next to him. I sat down, feeling comforted when his arms went around me. For a few seconds, I felt as if I was five and had a nightmare. He held me for a few minutes, just letting the phone call sink in.
"This is the third one in the past year. What are they going to do to him?" I asked.
"I don't know. But lets not worry about that tonight, okay?" He looked at me and sadly smiled. "Are you going to be all right?"
"Yeah, I think so. I have a question though. Can I sleep with you tonight?" I asked him, tears welling in my eyes. "I just don't feel like being alone."
"Sure. C'mon, grab your pillow. I'll be in there in a minute. I gotta get some water." I headed to the guest bedroom to grab the pillow and put my robe on the bed. After all, I wouldn't need it in the bed. Padding down the hallway, I went straight to his bed. Climbing under the covers, I felt a little silly. I hadn't slept in the same bed with my uncle since I was younger, maybe 10 or 11. But I only felt silly for a minute, and then with a sigh, reminded my self that he was my uncle, and it didn't matter if he was a grown man and I was almost a grown woman: we were family.
After a few minutes, he came back into the room. He crawled under the covers, and immediately I snuggled up to him. He was laying on his back, and for a few minutes he was silent. But, then, I noticed he was shying away.
