All characters are 18 or older.
*
It was on a camping trip when the long battle of the siblings ended. A truce cemented by hatred of a common enemy began with a morning fishing trip. It was first light in Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin. Steven wondered nearly out loud why he was still living at home at 21 years of age, while he checked his supplies a second time. Jennifer was why. She was 18 now, but Steven still felt he needed to protect her from the very deviant Paul.
Steven had packed the bait in his tackle box the night before, along with a couple sandwiches and a jug of cold fruit drink. He left the lakeside cabin his parents had a time share in, on the way to the small pier with a couple of small rowboats latched to it. He figured the reason they had picked this cabin was it's proximity to the tavern. He heard a small noise behind him. He sighed.
"What is it brat?" Steven asked.
"Can I come with you?" Steven stopped and turned to see his sister holding her closed reel fishing pole. He thought about how she had begun to get his back to their stepfather recently.. He nodded. She was wearing a bikini top and shorts, and Steven couldn't help but steal glances at the 18 year old pair of perfect "B" cups, in a top too large. When she bent to pick up a paper bag, he could see her bare tits.
"You put your own worms on your hook, and you have to help row, okay?" Steven said with authority.
"Deal!" Jenny ran down the small dirt hill towards him, and walked along side, as they crossed the ten yards of lawn to the dock.
They got to the spot under some shade where their mother had told them they might catch some Bluegill. Steven cast his line, set his pole down, and helped his sister rig her pole. He thought about how she had been so quiet lately. He thought about the small whimpering sounds he heard in the middle of the night when he had gotten up to pee. He watched his bobber, then hers.
"So Jenny, why did you stop trying to get me in trouble with Paul??" Steven alternated his gaze on either side of the boat, watching both lines.
"I guess I realized I don't like Paul any more. He's mean and weird." She said almost inaudibly.
"Hell ya he's mean....what do you mean "weird"?" Steven broke his sentry to look at his little sister.
"He's weird. It's real bad late at night when he's been drinking gin." Jenny gazed blankly at the bottom of the aluminum row boat. Steven had heard about things like this, he thought maybe it was happening to his baby sis. He cut to the point. Jenny never lied to him.
"Is Paul touching you?" He forgot the fishing lines.
"Steven....." Her eyes began to tear up. Steven didn't push any harder. He waited for a few moments.
"He smells bad, his breath is awful. He isn't nice to me when he is like that. He does stuff. Makes me do stuff. You can't tell mom! She will think I'm trying to steal him away!" Her voice was almost loud now on the quiet lake. The graceful Bald Eagles seemed to stop fishing themselves at that moment. She reached out to him. Steven hugged her.
They never caught any fish that day. They did become best friends united for one cause, to protect each other.
From that day on, anytime Steven could possibly get in trouble, Jenny provided an alibi. Steven stood sentry late into the night until Paul would try to sneak into Jenny's room. Then Steven would suddenly have to pee. Sometimes, Steven would get a charlie horse in his calf and begin screaming in fake pain. On the weekends they would sleep in the same room, pretending to fall asleep while playing Grand Am Tour Racing or Monopoly.
It worked, nearly half the time. Not nearly enough. Steven confronted Paul, and lost.
June 7th 2019
Jennifer had just graduated, and was looking for a part time job to help her mother make ends meet. Steven chipped in and was making a decent wage at a burger spot. Paul had lost his factory job, and was in a downward spiral. Mom had asked that they stay and help out as opposed to moving out on their own.
Later, Steven was attacked by Paul, but this time Steven won the fight. Paul made it clear that when he saw Steven next, Steven would die. Jennifer drove her mother out to her aunt Ginny's house with a packed bag and a gun. Jennifer returned to find the plan was already underway.
With Jenny's virginity and Steven's life at risk, they packed a couple bags, needed tools, canned food, mason jars, and sundries, than headed to the deep woods of the Kettle Moraine state park. Most of what they packed belonged to Paul. In the middle of the night they left, not knowing the future, but knowing they would survive.
Steven had bought a 20 year old car with his wages from the greasy spoon joint he worked at. Jenny had used her time to fill notebooks with drawings and notes on edible and medicinal plants in Wisconsin. She also studied Native American traps, and hunting techniques. Jenny stowed two bows, two hunting knives, and 30 arrows in the back of the car that Steven had hidden in the barn at his girlfriends house.
Jenny was panicked by the time they got to Cleveland, 20 miles south of Paul's house. Paul had come home after they had started packing the car, and didn't realize his wife wasn't home, nor did he notice the old car parked in front of the house.
"If he wakes up and calls the cops, we're fucked!" Jenny sat in the passenger seat, knees at her chest, rocking on her jean clad butt.
"Keep yourself together Jen, He is drunk and passed out. We'll have camp set up in the middle of nowhere before he wakes up." Steven lit a cigarette.
"Did you remember the tents?" Jenny was now going to pick apart all of their planning. Steven sighed. His sister was still difficult, but in new ways.
"Yes Jenny, and the flints, and the knives, and the sleeping bags, and the...." Jenny cut him off.
"You don't have to be a dick dude. I was just making sure." She put her left hand on his right shoulder. "What about our paperwork?"
