I don't think that I shall forget the day that my relationship with my sister changed.
My sister Gretchen and I attend the same tiny Iowa high school. I have always been outgoing and gregarious, even as a child I would command audiences wherever my mother or father would take me, a real ham, they said. I became addicted to sports early on and played year round until I graduated and moved onto college. Being so outgoing, and not to be cocky, but very handsome as well, I was also probably the most popular guy in High School, eventually sewing up Homecoming and Prom King. At the time of this account, I stood six foot one, weighed about one ninety and was solid, not ripped muscular, but very solid. I wore my light brown hair a little on the long side in the latest style and was very hip to fashion. Enough about me, onto my sister. We are polar opposites, she did not give a shit one about makeup, and her style was all her own.
She was a complete bookworm and wore horn rimmed glasses, and get this, they had the chain on them, Fifties style! I had worn contacts since junior high, screw glasses. She was probably five foot five and a little on the thin side, and ever since that time a few years ago when I heard my mom tell her that she was "now a woman", which I took to mean that Aunt Flo had begun her monthly visits, she had worn baggy clothes, so I had no idea what her body looked like, even in the summer time she wore oversized clothes and Dad's t-shirts, not that I cared. Looking back on it, had we been in a big city school that was more diverse and eclectic, she may have been considered fashionable as she reminded me of Andie on Pretty in Pink, kind of her own style and damn you if you don't like it. Gretchen wore her long reddish blonde hair straight, and her face was generally clear, however, she had a small dusting of acne right at her hair line. Needless to say, she was not in the popular crowd.
My relationship with her was typical brother/sister; cat/dog relationship. I would torture that girl until she would scream for Dad and I would relax, well, a little anyway. I would not acknowledge her when we saw each other at school and would generally ignore her all in all, unless I needed help with homework and she was always glad to help me. I would never thank her.
As a typical stuck up jock asshole, I ran with other typical stuck up jock assholes. I mentioned that we attended a small school, and the entire high school, 9th through 12th would have the same lunch hour and that was mine and my friends' highlight of the day. We would make comments to the underclass girls, especially the cute freshman, threw food, make fun of people and generally be jerks. It was on this one occasion that this watershed moment occurred.
My buddy Brett was the football teams' star offensive lineman, resident dumb ass and all around instigator. He was a big corn fed motherfucker that eventually went on to Iowa State with a full ride football scholarship, which is great for him, for I feared that he would never get out of this town as we had talked about so many times. He was so damn big that even the principal of the school, a big (in his own right) former Marine would only 'suggest' that Brett do certain things, not command. We had hung out together since Kindergarten, so we were pretty close. When Brett homed in on somebody to torture, he was like Anton Chigurh from 'No Country For Old Men', he would not stop until the mission was accomplished, and he happened to be concentrating on one of Gretchen's friends, an chubby girl named Heather.
From what I understand, Brett had homed in on her about three weeks ago and was pretty relentless, calling her names, teasing her openly, and just generally making her life a living Hell. So much so that Gretchen once told me that she had taken to skipping school to ease the immense pressure. At the time, I would always think that his pestering and bullying was funny, and I would join in on the group laughter on a regular basis. This particular day, Gretchen and Heather were sitting a table on the next row away from us with their backs towards my group. Brett was tossing food scraps at Heather, intending to hit her in the head and all the while lambasting her about her weight. I just stopped and surveyed the situation. I could tell that Heather was upset, why shouldn't she be, she was the target of public humiliation. The next thing that I know, Heather was bawling hysterically, and my sister Gretchen was standing at our table, one hand on her hip and the other hand wagging a finger in Brett's face, giving him a piece of her mind. I was literally aghast when I saw what was going on, but I realized that I felt admiration for her at this time. She admonished Brett for his actions and was getting after him pretty good until he grabbed his bottle of water and threw the contents at her, soaking her face and front of her sweater.
It was like time stood still. I saw her reaction in slow motion and I could hear the guys and girls at our round table break into raucous laughter, however, it was from afar, deep back in my head, not in my ears. Gretchen's head turned towards me and her glossed over, tear filled eyes met mine. It was at that moment that my heart did a flip flop and my stomach briefly churned. Goddamnit, she was family, my blood.
"STOP, DAMN IT!" I bellowed as I slammed my fist down on the table, causing cups to spill and the lunch trays to clatter against the table. "Don't fuck with my sister!"
Brett just laughed and something in me snapped. Brett had at minimum two inches on me and well over 150lbs, but I did not care, I had the element of surprise as I leapt at him, shoulder blocking him and knocking him over into the table which caused a huge mess. I snatched his neck in my hand and squeezed for all that I was worth, in the back of my mind praying that he wouldn't bow up, knowing that I would be a dead man.
"If you or anyone else fucks with my sister or her friends, I am going to kick the shit outta somebody, ya got that?" I threatened.
I must have made quite the impression, because all that I received from my circle of friends were wide eyed, frightened stares and heads nodding in acknowledgement. I released Brett and stalked off, giving Gretchen a cursory glance as I did so.
The big test came that afternoon at football practice while we were getting dressed. My head was down lacing up my cleats when the room darkened. The reason for the eclipse was Brett, standing in the light. Behind him was most of the team, the seniors anyway.
"Man," He started, "I am sorry. I didn't know that shit bothered you that much."
I stood and shook his hand.
"I am sorry too. But you have to realize that bullshit that you pull all of the time is fucking stupid." I was chewing him out pretty good. "Just fucking leave people alone, Brett. It may have been funny when we were kids, but fuck! We are fully fucking grown men. Just let people be."
"You're right, Jack." Brett stated. "Now, let's get to practice before coach wears us out!"
Later that evening, I was in my room doing homework when I heard steps on the stairs down into the basement. Gretchen and I lived in a modest one story, three bedroom home with a nice two car garage on the outskirts of Burlington, Iowa with our parents, who had been married for twenty six years. When I turned sixteen, they allowed me to move into the basement, which was incredibly cool as I could come and go as I pleased out of the cellar door and generally did. It was set up like a loft style apartment as the basement had no walls, save for where the shower and bathroom were.
I turned away from my laptop toward the stairs and my sister was walking towards me. She had changed into a pair of white Hello Kitty sweats and a Morrissey T-Shirt.
"Thanks for today, Jack." Gretchen said barely above a whisper. I just grunted.
"Well," She said, wringing her hands together. "I'll leave you alone."
"Hey, Gretch," I stopped her as she turned away from me. "I'm going to put in 'The 40 Year Old Virgin' if you want to watch with me."
Gretchen smiled and agreed.
"Heather would thank you as well." She said, almost as an afterthought.
"Tell her to take a shower and lose some weight, fucking take care of herself and that wouldn't happen to her."
She just shrugged and headed over to the TV/Entertainment area of the basement.
"Where's mom and dad?"
"Did you forget 'Date Night', Jack?"
I grunted. Mom and dad reserved Friday nights for their date night, where they would head into town for catfish and drinks, then come home and fuck until the wee hours, then sleep in on Saturdays.
"Well," I said, looking at her intently, "if you don't rat me out, I am going to raid the liquor cabinet. Do you want something?"
Gretchen gave me a quizzical look.
"Its Friday, you're not going out?"
"Nah, I don't get paid until Wednesday, I don't have enough money to just cruise around all night."
"In that case, sure, make me something."
I returned a few minutes later, handing Gretchen a Crown and Seven.
She sipped. "Wow! That is strong!"
We watched the movie, and I could tell that she wanted to talk to me.
"What's up, Gretch?"
She reddened.
"Do guys really wake up with boners?" Gretchen asked, referring to the character, Andy, attempting to pee with morning wood.
I laughed heartily.
"Yeah, we do." I grinned sheepishly.
"What's it like to have sex?"
"You'll find out eventually, little sister."
