Blood Wrong

** All characters portrayed in this story involved in any kind of sexual act are 18 years of age or older. **

Note: This is a work of pure fiction. Any persons, places or events that may seem familiar are purely by coincidence.

Blood Wrong

The sound, frogs croaking and of millions of crickets tuning up their legs for the same night time symphony that is played on most every night out here by the big pond. The occasional sound of a bird or two calling as they flit about the cattails before settling in for the night was familiar too. So peaceful out here. Out where the skies open up and there are no street lights or neon signs advertising anything and everything. The heavens alight with the entire milky way and sometimes the moon in one phase or another. This was a safe haven for so many years. Now it just seemed like a memory really, even with the frogs and the crickets and other familiar sounds.

The long neck bottle had long since lost its chill even if the contents were only half gone. It seemed like a good idea earlier, to grab a few beers and drive out to the big pond and drop the tailgate and sit a spell. To watch the sunset over the water and welcome in the night. The feel of the rusty tailgate under me, the creaky sounds the old truck made when I sat down or moved any at all really. Yeah, it was a good idea… until reality set in, and the memories came calling. Oh sure, some memories were good, so many good times spent here at this place, growing up. But we did grow up. Grow up and grow apart. Life can really be fucked up sometimes. Ours definitely were, thought Tom.

Tipping the bottle over and watching the lukewarm contents pour out into the grass at the edge of the pond… until it was only a sad slow drip or two. Too often that same elixir had deadened the pain, pushed it aside so that it could be forgotten, if only for a little while. It made it easier to do things that were hard to do when the mind wasn’t fogged with alcohol, like forget and pretend. Pretend that what happened hadn’t happened, that it was all just imagination or a bad dream. Yeah… but it was neither, it was all true and too real to keep pushing away and forgetting. Sobriety, like the sunrise of the new day always brought back the clarity and the pain.

Tom drew back his arm as if to throw the empty bottle into the pond. He took a heavy breath and sighed, and instead half turned on the tailgate and dropped the bottle into a wooden box in the bed of the old pick-up truck. The empty bottle clinked against the two other empties that had been drunk earlier. Some things seem to stick with us, like the old man’s declarations of keeping the place clean and tidy. The old farm still looked good even after so many years of neglect. Sure, there could be work done like cleaning up the fence rows and knocking down some weeds and tall grass around the barn and the outbuildings. The old house was still in good shape mostly though. Of course, it was lived in until the old man died. If you can call that living.

The word that the doctors gave was that the old man had died from the cancer, it ate him up on the inside and finally the shell just gave up and he stopped living. Tom knew there was far more to it than that simple explanation though. Yes, the old man was eaten up on the inside but the cancer was barely a whisper compared to the secrets that he had kept for so many years. Secrets, some of which Tom was only learning of now that the old man was dead and gone. Some that had rocked Tom to the core and made him rethink his entire world and beliefs… and the events of his life leading up to this point. So many things in the past could have been… would have been… different. Life could have been so much easier and happier. If only he had known then what he knew now. The pain was still there, the past would not change.

Turning back around to resume his statue like perch on the tailgate, Tom gazed off across the water of the big pond. He wasn’t seeing the ripples on the water, or the shooting star reflected in surface of the water. Tom was seeing the past, better times when life was simpler as a child. All of the world was wonder and exciting to explore.

“Aint Deeny I’m hungry!” little Tommy whined as he sat and fidgeted on the uncomfortable wooden pew of the little old country church.

The little old country church was sweltering that day. Tommy tugged again at the tight collar trying to loosen the little red necktie that his momma had put on him that morning. Momma was all dressed up in a pretty light blue dress. She was upset that she couldn’t wear a white dress for some reason but Tommy couldn’t figure out why. His aunt Deeny had come to visit today and told him that he was going to go home with her for a day or two cause his momma and Mr. Richard were going to have a celebration at their house. That was something else little Tommy couldn’t understand. But aunt Deeny promised him ice cream this weekend so that he was excited about. But going to church was never fun and it was just too hot, and he was hungry.

“Hush Tommy, we’ll go get something to eat in just a little bit. Now be a good boy and be quiet, your momma and Mr. Richard are saying their vows.” Geraldine Simmons whispered in little Tommy’s ear as she gently pulled his little hands away from tugging at his cute little neck tie. Tommy sat back and pouted a bit more.

Geraldine Simmons, or “Aint Deeny” was Tommy’s mother’s older sister. This was the second time that she had been in attendance at this little country church for her younger sister’s wedding. Her younger sister Lee, Juanita Lee, had been wed here once before two years ago. It had been a small service then as well. Lee had been two months pregnant with Tommy at the time. Tommy’s daddy was about to ship out to boot camp with the army. He had been drafted two days before he found out that Lee was expecting. Deen thought that it was honorable of the boy to marry her sister, but she never did like him much. Sadly, it didn’t matter in the end.

Lee’s new husband and the father of her unborn child was killed in a training accident in boot camp. The details never were very clear but that didn’t matter much either. What mattered was that Lee was pregnant and now a widow at a very tender age of 19 years old. She had barely finished high school six months before and now she was a mother to be and a widow.

Tommy came into this world kicking and screaming, but he was healthy even if he was a little on the small side of average newborns. Lee lived with her folks and worked whatever hours she could get at the little diner out by the exit coming into Helton Missouri, just off of Interstate 35. The diner was one of only a few businesses in the small town of Helton. Somewhere between Plattsburg and Lawson, there just wasn’t much else around except farm land.

Most of the customers at the diner were travelers who got off the interstate for gas at the Sunoco across the road from the diner. Oh sure, locals ate there occasionally too, at least the food was decent, and the coffee was good. It was one of the locals that eventually took a liking to Lee, he became a regular customer at the diner. It wasn’t the food that kept him coming back though, it was Lee. Enter Richard Alva Burton. Rich fell head over heels in love with the young girl. He didn’t even flinch when she told him about her baby boy. It was less than six months before he asked her to marry him and she said yes. So here we were, back in this same little country church, Lee getting married again. Deen prayed that things would work out better for her younger sister this time.

Little Tommy stayed with his aunt Deeny after the wedding and all that weekend. It was a happy time for him. It was a happy time for his momma too. Life was looking up for her finally. Sadly, it wasn’t for long though. One year to the day of her wedding they were back in that same little country church again but the ceremony this time was far sadder. Juanita Lee Burton was being told goodbye by her friends and family. She had passed away from cervical cancer that had not been caught before it was too late. Two weeks after being diagnosed by a doctor in Kansas City, she was being laid to rest. Little Tommy was quiet and sad. He sat between his beloved aunt Deeny and his new dad Mr. Rich.

Richard Alva Burton was heartbroken to say the least. When asked what he was going to do about the boy, he told anyone asking that he made a promise to the boy’s mother. He would care for him as his own, and that he did. Richard went on to eventually meet and fall in love again. Enter Teresa Mae Singleton.

Teresa was the granddaughter of the owner of the local hardware store where Richard bought everything he needed for his small farm. She had been in Helton visiting her grandparents that fateful day. Richard was struck by her self-confidence and outgoing personality. She was cute too, in his eyes, which didn’t hurt. Standing five foot four next to his gangly six foot two, she might as well have been ten feet tall though for the impact she had on Richard. She was fair skinned with a light dusting of freckles on her bare arms and across the cheeks and nose on her face. Startling bright blue eyes and curly red hair made it hard for Richard to even make a complete sentence when speaking with her. And likewise, Teresa, a city girl from Kentucky, was quite taken by this tall gangly man. It was something about his sad deep brown eyes yet he still had a warm sweet if shy smile. His gentle demeanor and the way he looked at her made her heart swell.

The two weeks visit that Teresa had originally planned on turned into a month, then two. Richard would find any reason he could to come to town and the hardware store if just to see Teresa and talk with her a spell. Being a single dad, Richard always brought along little Tommy of course. For her credit, Teresa fell in love with Richard despite the fact that he had a child. She adored little Tommy and they became fast friends. Teresa eventually had to return home to Kentucky, Richard was despondent the day she left for home. They wrote letters to each other almost daily for two months after that. Tommy didn’t understand why Teresa had to go away, he was just too young at three years old.

Teresa did return however, reasons were never clear or even talked about, but return she did. She moved in with her grandparents and was again helping in the hardware store. It wasn’t long before Richard and Teresa were inseparable. Soon they were engaged, and not long after that they were wed.

Another wedding in that small country church. Deeny was there again with little Tommy, she would again have him stay with her for a couple of days after the wedding. But then he would be going home with his new momma. At first Deeny was a little leery of Teresa, but she soon warmed to the younger woman and even grew to like her. The fact that Teresa and Richard, both welcomed her any time she visited the farm, and that they both loved and adored little Tommy certainly helped. Deeny would also come to love and adore the new addition to the little Burton family seven months later. It would seem that Rich and Teresa hadn’t waited to be wed before consummating their love for one another.

Into the world came a little bundle of joy and wonder, Richard and Teresa’s first child. They named the little girl Adaliene Rae Burton. When little Tommy met her for the first time, she was but a tiny little wrinkly pink squirming curiosity wrapped in a soft pink blanket. He wasn’t sure what to think of this tiny creature, that is until she wrapped her tiny little fingers around one of his and then her little eyes opened up and looked at him. Something changed in little Tommy that instant. He fell in love with this little bundle, his heart swelled and he was speechless. It was a situation that would repeat itself over and over again for the rest of his life… being speechless and lost in those eyes.

Tommy had difficulty pronouncing tiny Adaliene’s name, so he called her Addy, and the name stuck. Addy was his baby, his little sister. He loved her so much. They were inseparable growing up on that little farm in Missouri. Wherever Addy went, Tommy was there too, and likewise, wherever Tommy went Addy followed along as well. Chores, playing in the barn or around the farm, exploring the woods and swimming in the pond, or just laying on their backs staring up at the clouds or the stars. Things would change though, they always do, life makes certain of that.

Tommy started school when he turned seven years old. He hated that he couldn’t take Addy with him, and she hated that she couldn’t go with him too. She did, however, make it a point to get up every day with him as they did the chores before going to school. Addy would walk to the end of the long dirt driveway and stay with him while they waited on the old school bus to come collect him. She would also be there waiting for him when the bus came back later in the day to return him to home. Addy was always excited to hear about his day and adventures away at school, and Tommy always told her all about everything. Three years later they both still made that same walk and waited on the same bus but now Addy was going with Tommy to school too.

Two years after Addy started school Life stepped in and made another change. The day started like any other ordinary day on the farm. Both kids were up with the roosters and doing their chores before getting ready to go to school. On this day however, Tommy had to climb up into the hay loft of the barn to pitch down a bale of hay for the cows. As he was turning to climb back down though he slipped or tripped somehow and fell out of the loft. Addy heard his yelp and the sickening crack of bones breaking when he hit the floor of the barn. Tommy’s wind had been knocked out of him and his eyes were bugged out with the pain. Addy screamed and ran to get their Daddy.

It was a long wait for the ambulance to reach the farm. Addy had sat with Tommy holding his hand and telling him everything would be okay. She teased him for trying to get out of going to school that day to avoid a quiz that he had studied for the night before. Teresa had covered him with a blanket and sat with him as well telling and trying to get Tommy to lay still and not move around. She knew enough that he may have broken his back and that moving him could cause more damage than the fall. Richard paced the barn and later ushered the ambulance crew into the barn to help collect Tommy. Teresa rode in the ambulance with Tommy to the hospital in Kansas City. Addy was upset that she couldn’t go with him but she and Richard followed the ambulance in the pickup truck. It was a long drive.

Tommy had indeed broken his back when he fell from the loft that morning. Teresa’s knowledge not to move him had prevented more serious damage to his spine thankfully but he was still badly hurt. The doctors realigned the broken vertebrae and immobilized them with metal rods. Tommy was encased in a full torso cast and put in traction for the first few days at least. He ended up spending two weeks in the hospital before the doctors said he would be able to go home, as long as he remained in bed and let the bones heal. And so, it was. Addy was by his side almost constantly when she wasn’t doing their chores or away at school.

Addy would play board games with Tommy or sit and watch TV for hours. Addy did her homework in Tommy’s room and asked for his help when she had trouble with anything. She would tell him all about school and her classmates and teachers. She would also tell him about the outside world, what the weather was like, how big the baby animals were getting. Sometimes they would just talk. Addy would share her dreams with Tommy and he would share his with her. On more than one occasion Teresa or Richard would have to pick up Addy from the chair beside Tommy’s bed to carry her to her own bed as she was fast asleep.

One night in late summer, a storm blew up and thunder and lightning raged for what seemed like hours. After the storm had passed and Richard had gotten up to check the house and looked in on Tommy only to find that Addy had snuck in to curl up at Tommy’s side so that he would not be frightened by the storm. Or at least, that’s what she said later in the morning when asked about it. Tommy ended up missing that whole year of school and it was decided to let him repeat that grade when he recovered from his injuries.

Now only separated by two years in school, Tommy and Addy still rode the same bus the next year but they were only two years apart instead of three. So, when they both made it to high school, Tommy was a junior when Addy began as a freshman. Tommy had recovered from the broken back as a child and all the hard work on the farm had turned him into a sturdy young man, his natural athletic ability made him an integral part of the school’s baseball, basketball and even football teams. He may not have been the star quarterback or top man on any of the teams, but he was respected and relied upon all the same. There were a few girls that were infatuated with him but they all seemed to be frustrated that he was pretty shy and reserved. He often talked about this and his own frustrations with Addy of course. She was after all, his best friend.

Addy blossomed in high school herself, she was outgoing and friendly and made friends easily. She was bright and did well in most of her classes, and the ones she struggled with Tommy helped her find her way. Nature was changing Addy as well, her body was developing and changing into that of a young woman. No longer was she that gangly little wisp of a girl, a tomboy if ever there was one. Now she was filling out and curves were appearing where there used to be nothing but straight lines and bony limbs. Her strawberry blond hair was still wild and virtually untamable but it was getting thicker and longer. She had freckles just like her mother, and they both shared the same dazzling electric blue eyes. The slight gap in Addy’s front teeth grew to be more and more of a sense of shame and embarrassment for her as she got older and started noticing boys. Not that anyone ever really said anything about it, well, except for Delbert Evans.

Delbert Evans was a bully, plain and simple. He was a spoiled brat and when he saw something he wanted, he thought he was entitled to it, no matter what. And Delbert took a liking to Addy their freshman year. Delbert had moved to Helton the previous summer so he was the new kid amongst the freshman class. At first everyone welcomed him of course, but his personality and his very nature soon earned him enemies and people began to avoid him. Delbert was not exactly handsome. Rather, his eyes were just a little on the beady side, close together and with a slightly pug nose gave him a piggish appearance. It was his constant sneering almost cruel smile that set most people on edge though. Addy wasn’t one of those who out and out shunned him, at first, as her nature was to be kind to everyone. That all changed the last week of school that year.

Addy often spent her free time in the library, studying or simply reading while Tommy was at practice for whatever team was in season. They would both ride home in the old pick up that their dad had given Tommy his junior year. It made more sense for Tommy to drive to and from school especially if he had to stay over for practice or a game. Often Addy would still ride the bus home to do chores, but just as often or more often, she would stay and wait for Tom.

Delbert lived not too far from the high school, and he would often loiter about school grounds getting into mischief. One afternoon, after school, knowing that Addy was in the library waiting on Tom, Delbert decided he was going to have some fun. It was a day that would set things in motion that would prove fateful for all involved. Life was about to get complicated.

Addy sat in the window at the end of a blind aisle near the back of the library. She loved this spot because it was always warm and sunny on her back as she sat with her legs tucked up under her as she read whatever book she had at the time. She was lost in the story when Delbert and one of his like-minded tag-along friends came strolling down the aisle. Delbert walked with a swagger that most recognized that he was up to no good. Addy didn’t notice it though, lost in her book. It was only after He and his buddy had been standing there looking her up and down for a minute that she even registered that they were there.

“What are you looking at?” Addy asked a little timidly.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” Delbert responded and elbowed his buddy as if joking around.

“Huh?” Addy said, not getting Delbert’s meaning.

“Well, you almost look like a girl with that long hair and all, but you dress more like a boy. So, we were wondering, just what are you?” Delbert said with a nasty smirk as he gave his buddy a sidelong look causing his buddy to snort.

“I’m a girl, dufus!” Addy huffed and went back to reading her book, or tried, Delbert was far from finished with her.

“Prove it then!” Delbert demanded, folding his arms across his chest covering up his Harley Davidson sweat shirt. His friend put his hands on his hips and smirked too.

“What do you mean, prove it? Of course I’m a girl!” Addy said and rolled her eyes at him before dismissing him and his buddy and trying to read again.

“I don’t believe it! Why don’t you show me you are a girl?” Delbert challenged Addy again with a mean looking grin.

“And just how do you expect me to do that?” Addy fired back annoyed with his persistent presence now.

“Oh, you could just show us your tits maybe.” Delbert stated and chuckled like he had just said something witty.

“I will NOT!” Addy declared looking into his face with a shocked expression on hers.

“Why don’t you just take off and leave me alone, pervert!” Addy declared with an angry glare.

“Pervert? What the hell? You’ve lost your mind girl! I have half a mind to just find out myself!” Delbert barked back at Addy puffing himself up and looking indignant.

Addy ignored him and tried to start reading again. Delbert looked to his friend again and his eyes narrowed as his true nature asserted itself. Turning back to Addy, Delbert uncrossed his arms and stepped up to the window and grabbed Addy’s ankles and pulled. Addy was caught by surprise as she was pulled feet first off of the window sill. Her book went flying as her hands and arms waved as she tried to catch herself. The back of Addy’s head hit the window sill as she fell butt first to the floor in front of the window. She was stunned and the world was spinning as Delbert and his buddy began laughing at her.

The world continued to spin and tilt as Addy pushed herself up onto her knees. Suddenly she felt her arms pulled behind her and she was lifted to her feet. Delbert was standing in front of her sneering that mean smile of his while his buddy was now holding Addy up with her arms pinned behind her back. Delbert told his buddy to hold her up and hold her still, as he reached out to Addy’s blouse.

“Wha… what are you doing?” Addy puzzled still stunned from the blow to the back of her head.

“I’m gonna see what you are, bitch! I want to see your tits, and I’m GOING to see your tits!” Delbert declared as he pulled her blouse up out of her jeans.

“STOP! NO! YOU CAN’T DO THIS!” Addy shouted as she struggled against the arms holding her.

“Cover her mouth damn it!” Delbert barked at his friend. Addy felt him let go with one hand and then it covered her mouth and nose.

The hand smelled like cigarettes and motor oil. Addy’s eyes went wide as Delbert finished tugging her blouse out of her jeans then he reached up to unbutton the blouse from the top. Frustrated that the tiny buttons were hard for him to manipulate he simply grabbed either side of the blouse and ripped it open as the buttons went flying. With the blouse now open he saw that Addy had a bra on that held and covered her breasts. He sneered even more nastily, almost looking like a snarl at this point. As he reached out to grab the bra though Addy panicked.

Not knowing what else to do, Addy’s reflexes and her body took over. She bit down on the hand that was covering her mouth. That caused the boy behind her to yelp in pain and release her arms. Addy whipped her head backwards and it connected with a crunch against his nose and lips. At the same time Addy kicked out with her right leg and her knee connected with the soft tissue between Delbert’s legs.

Delbert’s eyes literally bugged out and his face turned beet red as he clasped his hands over his crotch and he sank to the floor with a whimper. Addy, still woozy from the blow to the back of her head, made a break for it. She managed to grab her book bag and dashed out of the blind aisle and towards the front to the library. Seeing that there was no one else at the desk she bolted on by and out the door into the hallway. As she was going through the door, she heard Delbert scream at his friend.

“Catch that Bitch!” Delbert groaned at the top of his voice. His friend, holding a hand over his bloody nose and lips, dashed after Addy.

Addy ran down the hall and turned the corner towards the front doors out of the building. Outside she looked around in a panic as she tried to focus on the still slightly tilted and spinning world around her. There! She spotted Tom as he was just putting his athletics bag in the back of his pickup truck. She screamed his name and stumbled towards him.

Tom was exhausted after the full gear practice and was glad the day was just about over. As he slung his bag into the bed of the pickup, he heard a pitiful cry that sounded familiar somehow. Turning back towards the sound he saw Addy and his heart stopped. She was stumbling awkwardly, her face red and tears streaming down her face. Addy’s blouse was open and fluttering in the wind as she stumbled towards him calling his name. Tom dashed towards her his heart racing now.

“Addy! What happened to you? What’s wrong?” He asked worriedly as he caught her just as she was stumbling to her knees. She wrapped her arms around his neck and shuddered and wept into his shoulder.

“D… D… Delbert Evans! He… He…” Was all Abby could get out before Delbert’s friend burst out of the front doors of the school followed shortly by a stumbling and very red-faced Delbert Evans.

Something inside Tom came to life at that moment. He put two and two together and realized that Delbert Evans had hurt or tried to hurt Addy. Tom gently pried Addy from his neck and let her down to sit on the pavement of the parking lot. Delbert, still mad as hell from being kicked in the balls, continued towards them not knowing that he was in mortal danger now. Tom stood back up and turned to face Delbert and his friend. He took a step towards the approaching bullies, and then another. Tom’s hands balled into fists and the adrenaline flooded through his veins as his heart raced on. Tom’s vision narrowed down to just the two boys approaching him and his sister.

Delbert’s friend finally realized that this might not be such a good idea and slowed down as his pea sized brain began to debate the merits of staying with Delbert of making a hasty retreat. The retreat won out in the end and he turned and beat feet in the other direction, unbeknownst to Delbert who stormed on in a rage. Delbert had been bound and determined to see Addy’s tits, and by God he was going to see them. This punk, her brother, was not going to stop him. He had no idea how wrong he was.

Tom stopped when Delbert was two steps away. Delbert was all puffed up like a raging bull, but only giving Tom a passing glance as if he didn’t matter. He almost looked shocked when Tom stopped him cold with a stiff outstretched arm, his open palm on Delbert’s chest. Delbert looked down at the hand and then up at Tom questioningly as if to say “How dare you?”.

“What did you do to my sister?” Tom growled menacingly.

“Out of my way asshole! I’ve got some unfinished business with Addy.” Delbert spit back as he went to brush Tom’s hand away.

That’s when Tom’s right fist connected with Delbert’s jaw. The right cross was a haymaker if ever there was one. The sickening crunch of Delbert’s breaking jaw could be heard yards away, but only Tom and Addy heard it. Oh, Delbert heard it too, but more, he felt it. He felt the stinging pain just before he lost consciousness.

Tom dashed back over to Addy and knelt to pick her up in his arms and carry her to the truck. He sat her in the passenger side and made sure she was okay. She complained about the bump on the back of her head but otherwise she was alright. He put her seat belt on then closed the door and went back to grab her book bag. Delbert was still crumpled on the ground but he was breathing fine so Tom just left him there. Tom drove home to the farm and Addy told him what had happened in the library. As he listened to her tale, Tom grew angrier and angrier with Delbert and his coward friend. He vowed silently to look after Addy better in the future, never again would the likes of Delbert harm her if he could help it.

Richard and Teresa were livid when they learned of what had happened to Addy. They were proud to hear what Tom had done in response though, even if they didn’t say as much. Rich merely placed a comforting hand on Tom’s shoulder as the two of them watched as Teresa dabbed a damp cloth at Addy’s bump on the back of her head. Teresa had once again had enough knowledge of medical care to know that Addy might have a slight concussion even though she seemed to be fine other than the bump. She sat Addy at the kitchen table and put her to work peeling potatoes for dinner as she sent the men off to finish the day’s chores. Addy had wanted to lie down and take a nap but Teresa wouldn’t allow that. In the end it was okay though. Addy was a tough tomboy at heart and her head was hard as they come.

The next day at school, Delbert was missing. Tom had gone looking for him specifically but had only found his would be henchman, the cowardly friend who ran away. Ryan Betts. Ryan had two black eyes and his lips were swollen. It was hard for him to speak clearly when Tom slammed him up against his locker and questioned him about the day before and his buddy Delbert. Tom learned that Ryan had come back looking for Delbert and found him unconscious in the parking lot. He had found someone in the school office and they had called an ambulance. Delbert had been taken to Kansas City to the hospital with a broken jaw. He was home now with his jaw wired shut. He might not be at school for a few weeks. That was all fine with Tom. Tom told Ryan to pass along something to Delbert. Ryan nodded his head nervously. Tom told Ryan that if he ever saw or heard that Delbert or Ryan ever bothered Addy again, he’d come after them and they would not like it at all.

Apparently, the message got delivered, as Addy was never bothered again the entire school year. In fact, Addy was not bothered by Delbert or his friends for another two years. Tom of course, went on to graduate at the end of Addy’s sophomore year. She was now going to school by herself, but she was still protected by that curtain of threat, at least in the eyes of Delbert and his crew.

Tom graduated from high school but he had no interests in going off to college, even if Richard could afford it. He couldn’t afford it of course, but that was beside the point. Instead, Tom took correspondence classes while still living on the farm. He did get a job with Teresa’s grandparents at the hardware store in town. Tom would stock shelves, load and unload trucks and even make deliveries around the county. As such he made a little money to help out with the farm and he met lots of people and learned about the county. He found the best fishing holes and even places to park and make out with a like-minded girl whenever he might have one. No girl really held his attention much though, his heart was bound to another, one that he would never be allowed to have and hold as would be normal.

Life was hard, but it was happy for those few years. Addy excelled in school, being a natural reader, she consumed books as if breathing air. Her mind absorbed so many things. Addy didn’t have much of a social life outside of school however. She didn’t find any of the boys at school interesting enough to hold her attention, so she went on few dates. Tom likewise didn’t date often or very much at all really. More often than not the two of them could be found together.

Since Tom still lived on the farm, he did the majority of the chores but Addy was always there to help out. And there were the fun things like fishing or just walking the fence lines and exploring. They talked about their hopes and dreams. They talked about other people. They talked about love and what they hoped it might be for themselves. They didn’t talk about their love for each other though… that was a given. Theirs was a bond that no one could break. Tom took Addy to the ice cream shop for her eighteenth birthday. They both ate ice cream till they were sick.

It was a few weeks before Senior Prom in Addy’s last year of high school when life made the next big change for the Burton clan. A couple of different boys had asked Addy to go to the dance with them, but she politely declined. The fact was, she had little intention of even attending the Prom really. Over the last two years Addy had blossomed physically and it had not gone without notice to all the boys, and even some girls in school. She still dressed much as she had all along however, jeans mostly and blouses often covered with a loose sweater or a sweatshirt. Her wild strawberry blonde hair often pulled into a pony tail or even gathered into a bun. Addy had had to start wearing glasses in her junior year and now her dazzling blue eyes seemed even larger whenever she looked your way. Her usual expression was one of distracted pensiveness. Almost as if she were daydreaming. He lips slightly pursed when she wasn’t smiling.

One of the many boys who had taken notice of Addy’s blossoming was none other than one Delbert Evans. The very same who had accosted her in her freshman year and gotten his jaw broken as a result. To say that he harbored a grudge would be massively huge understatement. Every time Delbert saw Addy around school he would sneer and grind his teeth. “Some day…” he thought to himself.

During her senior year, Addy found that often the reading material she sought out was not available in the school’s library. She did discover that most of it could be found, however, in the town’s public library. Whenever that happened, Addy would walk after school from the high school into town to the library. It was not a long walk, at least for a country girl. Usually, on days like that she would meet up with Tom at the hardware store as he was getting off work in order to ride home to the farm with him. Addy was always welcomed at the hardware store, after all she was the owners’ great granddaughter. Often, she would help Tom finish up whatever job he was working on that day.

Late one afternoon, Addy had walked into town from school to check out a couple of books for a research paper. After collecting the books, she headed over to the hardware store, but ran into trouble on the way. Addy was only half paying attention to where she was going as she had one of the books open and was reading as she walked. Addy pulled up short when she recognized Delbert Evans stepping out of the shadows between two shops. It wasn’t that he wasn’t familiar to her but that the look on his face promised trouble.

“Well, well, well… what have we here?” Delbert asked with a malicious grin on his face. His eyes taking in Addy with her heavy armload of books.

“Delbert, you need to step aside and leave me be.” Addy said with all the authority she could muster even as she took a cautious step backwards.

“Oh, I’ll leave you be alright… right after I have my fun.” Delbert growled as he took a half step closer to Addy, his hands still in his pockets as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

“You’ll have no fun with me you bully, besides… aren’t you afraid of my brother Tommy? He might do more than break your jaw this time.” Addy said again taking a step backwards away from Delbert.

“Well, I don’t see Tommy around anywhere, looks like it’s just you and me bitch.” Delbert growled as he held his arms out to his side and his hand open and palms up.

A car drove by down the street about that time and the driver blew the horn but kept on driving. As Addy turned her head to watch the car, Delbert lunged at her. He grabbed her by her pony tail and twisted her head so that he could wrap one of his lanky arms around her neck in a choke hold. Addy dropped her books so that she could dig her fingers into his forearm and try to pry it off of her neck. Addy couldn’t scream, she couldn’t even breathe. Delbert’s arm was under her chin so she couldn’t bite him, and as he was turned sideways her feet could only flail ineffectively as she kicked and squirmed.

Delbert dragged Addy kicking and choking into the alleyway from which he had emerged. It was dark in the shadows between the two buildings and no one could see into it unless they walked down into the alley. Addy’s fight got weaker and weaker as she neared blacking out from lack of oxygen. Eventually all the fight went out of her as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Addy regained consciousness with her head swimming and feeling pain. There was a grunting sound and the pain was coming from her most private of places. With a shock she realized that she couldn’t move her arms and her legs were being pressed down onto her chest. She couldn’t see anything because her blouse and sweatshirt had been pulled up and over, covering her face and eyes. In a panic she realized that something was poking inside of her, something that shouldn’t be there! Then whatever it was or WHO she realized stopped and grunted one last time before pulling out. She tried to scream but all she could do is sob.

After Delbert had pulled the unconscious Addy into the alley, he had pulled her blouse and sweatshirt up over her head. He had then ripped her bra off and used it to tie her hands behind her back. He groped and squeezed and molested her breasts bruising them. After that, he had pulled down her jeans and panties to her knees and pushed her onto her back and lifted her legs up, pushing them onto her chest and pulled his own pants down and… and raped Addy. She had come to just as he was finishing up. He shot his malicious load into her virginal teen-age womanhood. When he had finished, he first sat back on his heels and looked down at the writhing sobbing Addy. Standing up, he added insult to injury by pissing all over her before zipping up his pants and walking away smiling that sadistic smile and he spat the words “Take THAT bitch!”

Addy lay there sobbing and crying for who knows how long. For her, time had no meaning. At some point she realized that she had to get up, to get out of there before Delbert came back. She needed to find help! She needed to be with Tommy! Still not able to see, she rolled over and then onto her side and tried to push herself along to get the sweatshirt and blouse at least off of her face. The rough ground and dirt and debris of the alley ground into her soft fair skin, the urine mixing with the dirt making a foul-smelling mud that smeared her flesh and her clothes.

Once her face was clear of the shirts, she was able to at least grab the back of her jeans and pull them up to her butt. The jeans were still open and loose but she could get to her knees and then unsteadily to her feet. She held onto her jeans with her hands behind her back. Her breasts and entire front torso were bare to the world as she stumbled out of the alley and then down the sidewalk. Cars passed on the street going the same direction but they didn’t seem to notice her plight, perhaps they were going too fast. Half a block, then another, she finally stumbled to a stop at the front window of the hardware store. Her muddy breasts smooshing up against the glass and leaving dirty wet streaks as she sank down to her knees sobbing.

Tom had just returned from a delivery and was walking around the counter from the back room when he looked up to see Addy pressed against the front window. He was out the door and had her cradled in his arms in less time than it takes to tell it. Addy was whimpering and sobbing so much she was unintelligible. Tom pulled her blouse and sweatshirt down to cover her modesty and picked her up to carry her inside. Shouting for someone to call for an ambulance.

Once inside, Tom laid Addy on the old sofa in the back office and untied her bra from her hands freeing them. Addy brought her hands to her face as if to hide from the world. Tom knelt on the floor beside her stroking her hair and murmuring trying to soothe her, to calm her down. He himself was wound up tighter than a spring though. Seeing Addy this way was like a knife in his heart and he desperately wanted, no… needed… to do something… to lash out or strike back.

“Addy… who… who did this to you?” Tom asked softly in her ear as he continued to try to comfort her.

“Delbert…” Addy said in a meek voice so quietly that it was hardly more than a whisper and so full of hurt and shame that it sent another dagger of pain through Tom’s heart.

Addy lay curled into a fetal position on that old couch and shook with her sobs. Tears flowed from her eyes and ran down her cheeks through the dirt on her cheeks. Tears also clouded Tom’s vision but not nearly as much as the blood red rage that grew from his gut. How could anyone be so cruel he wondered. He silently vowed that he would make Delbert pay for this if it was the last thing he ever did.

Richard and Teresa arrived at the hardware store about the same time as the ambulance did. The EMTs did a quick evaluation before gently transferring Addy to their gurney and taking her out to the ambulance. Teresa rode in the ambulance with Addy on the trip to the hospital in Kansas City, Richard followed in his truck. Tom said he would follow along shortly, he had to do something first.

Tom watched the ambulance drive off with lights and siren blaring, Richard in his truck close behind it. The fire in his gut raged as the hatred for Delbert grew from contempt to an all-consuming obsession. He stuck his hands in his pockets and traced Addy’s steps backwards from the hardware store to where her books had fallen on the sidewalk a block and a half away. He followed the drag marks into the alley to where the vile act had taken place. The scuffed earth and smell of urine only served to fan the flames of hatred in his heart.

With hooded eyes, Tom turned and walked back out of the alley to collect Addy’s books and things that she had dropped. There, on the edge or the sidewalk were Addy’s glasses. He carried her things to the hardware store and put them in his pickup truck. I climbed into the cab and sat behind the wheel and leaned forward to rest his forehead on the steering wheel as his hand gripped it in a deathlike hold. The rage in his soul fought with the searing pain that he felt for his defiled precious Addy. The light of his life, the one person he loved in this life more than anything in the world. Tom wept.

That evening, late, the doctors had examined Addy and found only superficial wounds, bruises mostly and a slight tearing of her vaginal opening. They followed procedure and completed a rape kit for law enforcement if it were to be requested. She was cleaned up and given a hospital gown to wear home as her own clothing was soiled and smelled of urine. After discharge, Addy was wheeled out to the front of the hospital where she was loaded into Richard and Teresa’s pickup truck. Tom followed them home in his own truck.

Once back home, on the farm, Teresa walked Addy to the bathroom where she helped her draw a bath. She soaked and scrubbed and cried until she could cry no more. Richard and Tom sat silently at the kitchen table, each lost in their own thoughts. Richard was as worried about Tom as he was his own flesh and blood daughter. He knew that the two were very close and this was hurting the boy, the young man, as much as any of them. Tom was stoic, sitting there with his arms hanging at his sides, a faraway look in his eyes as he stared at the table top. Richard could almost hear the gears turning in his mind. There was a storm rising.

After Teresa got Abby dressed and tucked into bed she came downstairs to the kitchen. Her eyes were red rimmed from crying and the hurt was all over her face. She rested her hand on Richard’s shoulder briefly before walking around to do the same with Tom. Tom finally looked up and turned to glance at Teresa. Teresa swallowed and cleared her throat before speaking.

“Tommy… Addy wants you… she wants you to come be with her, like when you were younger. She said she needs you. Be gentle Tommy, she’s been hurt bad…” Teresa told Tom in a voice that sounded as much as pleading as it did instruction.

Tom stood slowly and Teresa Wrapped her arms around him and hugged him fiercely. Tom stood rigidly for a moment then returned the hug briefly before heading off to go upstairs to Addy. At the bottom of the staircase, he paused. His left hand on the banister, his right running through his hair as he looked down at his feet. Gathering his thoughts and separating the raging hate that was boiling just under the surface, from the love that he had for his dear Addy. He didn’t want to bring any more hurt to her than she had already experienced. With a deep breath he climbed the stairs.

Tom took his boots off outside her bedroom door before slowly opening the door and letting himself in. Addy was curled once more in a fetal position, her back to the door as she faced the window beside her bed. The low light from her bedside lamp giving the room a warm glow. Hearing the door open then close, Addy rolled over enough to see who it was. Upon seeing Tommy, she sobbed and opened her arms beckoning him to her. Tom’s heart melted just a little more as his vision grew blurry from his own tears.

Tom lay in the bed next to Addy and enveloped her in his arms, her head nestled into the crook of his neck and shoulder as she shuddered and shook with silent sobs. Tom stroked her back and murmured reassurances into her hair. After some time, she calmed and began to breathe steadily and fell asleep. Tom continued to hold her as she slept. Again, he vowed to God and himself that Delbert would pay and pay dearly. After some time, he wasn’t sure just how long, lost in his own thoughts as he was, Addy stirred.

“I’m so sorry Tommy…” She whimpered into his chest, her words slightly muffled by the heavy flannel shirt he still wore.

“Why are you sorry Addy?” Tom asked in a low but confused voice, perplexed by her words.

“I… I’m not clean anymore… I’m ruined.” She said sadly as she sniffed and coughed a choking sob into his shirt.

“Shhhhhhh… baby, you’re not ruined. You are not dirty, not by any stretch of the imagination. What he… what he did was wrong. It was horrible, but you are better than that. Not even he can ruin you Addy. He’s a pig… he’s shit. Wash him off of you and hold your head up high. He’s not worth your spit.” Tom growled even as he stroked the back of her head gently.

“I’m so ashamed… I just want to hide away from the world.” Addy sputtered softly.

“It’s okay, Addy, you’re safe now, nobody can hurt you. I’m here. I’ll always be here for you.” He told her gently.

“I… I love you Tommy…” Addy cried in a quiet sad voice, as she snuggled in closer to him still.

“I love you too, Addy. I always have, and I always will baby. Now hush and rest. Go to sleep Addy. I’ll stay right here with you.” Tom promised her softly.

Addy shook softly for a while longer but finally stilled to where her chest slowly rose and fell with her relaxed breathing. She had drifted off to sleep again, wrapped in Tom’s arms.

Tom was awakened by a hand gently shaking his shoulder. In the in the light cast by the open bedroom door from the hallway, Tom realized it was Richard. Addy was sleeping soundly her back to Tom as she had spooned up next to him in her sleep. Tom eased himself up and away from her and then pulled her blankets up around her shoulders and kissed her gently on her exposed right cheek. He turned and walked softly out of the room and closed the door quietly behind himself and Richard.

“I figured I should wake you up so you wouldn’t be late for work. I’m sure Teresa’s folks would be understanding but they are pretty dependent on you son. You go get cleaned up and have a bite to eat before you go. Addy will be fine here at home, her momma will be here with her and I’ll be close on the farm if she needs anything.” Richard spoke quietly to Tom in his gravelly deep voice. Tom was sure he heard heavy emotion in that same voice this morning, he knew that Richard too seethed with anger and pain over what had happened to Addy.

Tom raised his hands to his face and then ran them both back through his hair before taking a deep breath and lowering his arms. He looked Richard in the eyes, the old man’s were as red and his own.

“She told me who did it…” Tom growled quietly. “The son of a bitch will pay for it!” He spat with venom.

“Tommy… Tom… Son. I feel the same way, but it’s not for us to do. I’m going to talk to the county Sheriff this morning. The little bastard will pay, but let the law handle it.” Richard spoke rumbled with his gravelly voice, one hand on Tom’s shoulder.

“I can’t make any promises… but I’ll wait and see what happens… for a while.” Tom vowed with a steady gaze into the old man’s eyes.

Richard nodded sagely and gave Tom’s shoulder a brief squeeze before releasing him. Tom turned and headed down the hall to his own room. He stretched then took off the clothes that he had put on about this time the day before, and ended up sleeping in. He went down the hall to the bathroom and showered quickly. Back in his room he dressed in clean work clothes. All but his boots, they were still outside of Addy’s door.

As he walked in his sock covered feet down the hall Tom heard murmuring coming from Addy’s room. He saw through the gap where the door was only partially closed, that Richard was on his hands and knees beside Addy’s bed. His hands clasped together and his elbows on Addy’s bed with his head bowed. The old man was praying softly for healing for his only daughter, and for patience for his boy. Tom felt his heart do a little flip in his chest. Silently he bent over and picked up his boots and then carried them quietly down the hall then down the stairs. Sitting on the bottom stair he put them on and tied them.

“Coffee will be ready in a minute Tommy, sit down and eat.” Teresa told Tom as he entered the kitchen. She set a plate on the table before him with bacon and eggs and a couple of biscuits. Tom bowed his head and said a quick prayer of thanks silently… then thinking of Richard praying at Addy’s bedside, he added a prayer for Addy as well. Tom picked up his fork and ate mechanically, not really tasting the food as his mind was preoccupied with how he would track down Delbert Evans. The boy was still in school, the same senior class as Addy at the High School. Maybe after school, the punk liked to hang out around the school. Yeah, Tom was distracted.

“Tommy? Did you hear me?” Teresa asked with a hint of concern as she touched the tips of her fingers to his left that was balled up into a fist on the table to the left of his plate.

“I’m sorry, I’m a little foggy this morning… worrying about Addy…” Tom apologized to Teresa.

“I can tell, we all are. Tom, you and Addy are close. Closer than most brother and sister. She looks up to you. Be careful how you deal with this, please. It’s hard for us, but it’s even harder for her.” Teresa said softly as she patted Tom’s left hand before standing back up to fix a plate for Richard as he walked into the kitchen.

Tom wiped his mouth with his napkin then pushed his chair back to stand. He let his hands lay flat on the table on either side of his plate. Looking to Richard’s face as he sat down across the table, Tom asked him.

“You’ll call and let me know what you find out… from the Sheriff?”

“If I find out anything, yes, I’ll call. Tom?” The old man began to question.

“I know… be patient…” He sighed and bowed his head breaking eye contact briefly before standing up straight and leaving the table to find his jacket and hat.

Teresa met him at the back door and handed him a brown paper bag with a sandwich for his lunch. Tom accepted it and told her thanks, then turned and went out the door. The sky was just beginning to lighten with the coming dawn. Tom’s old pickup creaked as he opened the door and climbed into the driver’s seat. Glancing up to the window over the front porch, Addy’s room, he said another silent prayer for his little sister before starting his engine and driving off.

The day went by almost unnoticed, Tom was in a fog his thoughts and worries for Addy mixed with a seething hatred for the bastard that did that to her. Teresa’s grandparents were understanding that he was hurt and upset and so overlooked some mistakes that he made, like taking deliveries to the wrong addresses. Tom snapped out of it enough to correct the mistakes, but he was still distracted. There weren’t many deliveries that day so by three o’clock that afternoon the old man told him he could knock off for the day. Tom thanked him and promised that he would do better tomorrow. Before he left the hardware store he asked if Richard had called while he was out. He learned that there had been no phone call. Tom hung his head and then went out the door and climbed into his old pickup truck.

Sitting behind the wheel again, Tom let his mind wander. Where would that prick Delbert Evans be on a day like today? It was cloudy all day and threatening to rain, but as of yet there hadn’t been a drop to fall from the skies. In the end, Tom started his truck and drove off towards the high school. Maybe he would get lucky and find him at or around the school.

As Tom was crossing the outskirts of town, he spotted a group of guys sitting on an old propane tank next to a closed and abandoned gas station. He recognized one of them instantly even though the last time he had seen the guy he had two black eyes and swollen lips. Ryan Betts. Tom slowed the truck and turned into the gravel parking lot and pulled up to the pump island that still had two broken gas pumps on it. The weeds were grown up around it and in several spots around the parking lot. The guys were all just sitting there on the propane tank drinking beers and smoking, trying to look tough or something. Ryan almost choked on his beer as he recognized Tom when he opened the door and climbed out of the truck. Ryan’s face went pale but he sat still on the tank trying to act cool… and failing miserably.

Tom walked slowly across the parking lot towards the tank with an expressionless face. His eyes were cold as he stared a hole through Ryan though. A couple of the guys recognized Tom as well as he got closer and raised their beer bottles in salute, all smiles. They might not have been drunk, but hey were buzzed and feeling no pain all the same. Ryan, however, had sobered up very quickly. His heart was racing in his chest.

“Hi guys.” Tom spoke in greeting, sounding infinitely calmer than how he felt inside. The smile on his face was on his lips only.

“Hey Tom! How’s it goin’ man?” One of the boys sitting next to Ryan asked.

“Oh, not bad I guess…” Tom replied as he stepped a little closer, sliding his hands into his front pockets of his jeans as if he were bored.

“Say, have you guys seen Delbert Evans around today?” Tom asked, glancing at the other guys but locking eyes on Ryan.

“Oh man! That guy is so full of shit! He’s been bragging all day today at school about fucking some slut yesterday… he just wouldn’t shut up about it.” The guy to Ryan’s left spoke up and chuckled before taking another swig from his bottle.

“Yeah… He’s probably tryin’ to git some more of that this afternoon.” The guy to Ryan’s right chimed in and laughed.

Ryan didn’t think that his day could get any worse, but the fire he saw in Tom’s eyes made him nearly wet his pants. Tom, somehow, some way, managed to keep his voice even and calm, almost as if he were bored.

“Yeah, he’s a lot of talk, isn’t he? Say, Ryan… could you come over here to my truck for a minute? I need to ask you something in private?” Tom asked and tossed his head over his shoulder towards his truck. “Thanks guys.” He said to the three other boys sitting on the tank.

Ryan swallowed and saw his life flash before his eyes, it only took a moment, he was only 18 years old after all. With a deathly white face, he slid off the tank and nearly crumpled to his knees into the gravel as his shaky legs nearly buckled. He dropped his beer bottle and the lit cigarette fell from his lips as he stumbled along in a dead man’s gate just a few steps behind Tom towards the pump island and Tom’s truck. At the truck Tom turned and leaned his back against the side of the bed and crossed his arms as if in a friendly conversation. Ryan stopped a hesitant step or two away from Tom.

“Ryan… Do you know anything more about what your buddy Delbert did yesterday?” Tom asked in a low voice that rumbled like distant thunder in Ryan’s ears.

“He’s not my buddy… anymore.” Ryan nearly whimpered and then swallowed. His eyes were huge and frightened.

“So, you finally wised up to the fact that he’s no good… that’s good Ryan… but you didn’t answer my question… did you? I’ll ask you again, please think very hard and tell me the truth… okay? Do you know anything more about what Delbert did yesterday?” Tom asked quietly and jutted his head slightly forward and raised one eyebrow before tilting his head a bit towards his right shoulder.

Again, Ryan swallowed. His bottom lip was trembling as his fight or flight instincts were screaming at him to run to RUN LIKE HELL. In the end though, he swallowed again and took a deep breath and bowed his head in defeat.

“I overheard him tell a girl that he was trying to hit on that he fucked… uh… had sex with… your… with Addy.” Ryan whimpered again and figured he was about to be pummeled. When it didn’t happen, he looked up to see what was going on.

“Do you believe him Ryan?” Tom asked in a voice that cracked but was still soft and quiet.

“I… I… I don’t… know man… Tommy I swear! I didn’t have anything to do with it man! I don’t hang around with him anymore… he’s bad news.” Ryan sputtered nervously.

“Yeah, he’s bad news alright. Listen Ryan, buddy… Delbert hurt my sister yesterday, really bad. You didn’t have anything to do with that so relax.” Tom said almost affably. It might have been thought of as friendly if it weren’t for the cold look in Tom’s eyes.

“Is… is she okay… Addy?” Ryan asked meekly with a nervous voice.

“She will be, Ryan. She will be. I can’t say the same for Delbert though.” Tom said with venom dripping from every word.

He smiled again at Ryan and unfolded his arms and reached over and patted Ryan on his right shoulder. He leaned forward and away from his truck and turned to get in. Ryan was rooted where he stood, he damned near wet his pants with relief as Tom started the truck and put it in gear and drove off. The other guys on the propane tank, still clueless as to what was said all raised their beers and saluted Tom as he drove away.

Having spoken with Ryan and hearing what the other guys had said had only soured Tom’s mood all that much more. It was only fitting that the skies finally opened up and it started raining as he drove home to the farm. Yes, Delbert Evans would get what’s coming to him, one way or another. Tom had made a promise to Richard to wait and hear what the Sheriff might have to say about the situation first. That was a hard pill to swallow but he had done it. Now, though, it was time to be with Addy. His sweet precious Addy, the light of his life.

The rain had let up briefly to the point of only being a light drizzle when he got home to the farm. Tom pulled into the barn and parked his truck in front of the tractor. He unloaded some barbed wire that Richard had ordered from the hardware store. There were a few spots in the fence line that needed to be restrung. Tom was just taking his gloves back off when he looked up to see Richard stepping into the barn to join him. The old man looked almost ill. He stood there just looking at Tom silently in the eye for a moment then he walked over to a wooden feed box next to one of the stalls and opened it. Reaching down, he sifted through the feed until he found what he was looking for. His hand came out with a flattened glass bottle. A fifth of whiskey. Tom knew that the bottle was there, Addy had found it last year. He and Addy had smelled it and even took a tentative sip before putting it back.

Richard closed the box and turned around and sat down on it. He looked up at Tom and motioned with his head to come have a seat next to him. Tom walked over and silently took a seat next to him. Richard then twisted the top off then held the bottle up to look at it for a moment. He then took a couple of draws of the drink and winced after he swallowed it. He looked at the bottle again and half turned to Tom and handed him the bottle. Tom took the proffered bottle and took a draw himself. The liquid burned all the way from his mouth to the fiery pit that was his stomach. He then handed the bottle back to Richard. The old man started to take another pull from it but then changed his mind and sighed and put the cap back on it and set the bottle on the box beside him.

Tom sat quietly and waited. He sensed that Richard had something to tell him and from how the old man was acting it was probably not going to sit well with him. Richard put his elbows on his knees and put his face in his hands before dragging them down and sitting back up straight. He cleared his throat and spat on the dirt and straw covered floor. Thunder rolled as the rain picked up again outside, coming down in sheets again.

“Sheriff Cambrick stopped by this morning, not too long after you left.” Richard began. His voice sounding wearier than Tom had ever heard it.

“We told him what happened, to Addy, yesterday… He was polite and concerned, of course, but he said he would have to hear if from Addy herself… and she would have to make charges against… the boy.” He went on to tell Tom.

“Well, she did, didn’t she?” Tom asked. “What did he say after that?” Tom asked as well.

“She didn’t tell him, Tom… she’s not talking at all. Not even to her momma, or me. She just stares off into space…” Richard said with a catch in his throat.

“Cam said that happens sometimes, she’s traumatized he said.” He went on to say. Another flash of lightning and a rumble of distant thunder rattled the tin on the roof of the barn.

“So… he can’t do anything?” Tom asked, but already knew the answer to be no.

“He said that he’d check back in day or two and see if she wanted to talk or press charges then.” Richard said.

“Meanwhile that punk bastard is out there free as a bird and probably terrorizing some other girl… That’s just not right!” Tom spat in disgust.

“I don’t like it any more than you do Tom… son. But you have to give it time. Right now, you need to go be with that little girl. You’re the only one that can get to her right now. She needs you Tom… help my little girl… please?” Richard’s voice broke as he brought a trembling hand up to his face as if to wipe the frustration away.

“A couple of days… a couple of days.” Tom repeated and then stood up.

Tom looked down at the old man and realized that this was really hurting him too. Tom walked to the door of the barn and out into the rain on his way to the house. He was soaking wet by the time he got to the back door. As he stepped into the mudroom, Teresa came out of the kitchen with a towel for him. The worry was all over her face as well, her eyes were haunted. Tom took the towel and dried his head and face, then removed his boots. He looked silently down at Teresa as he stood back up and handed her the now damp towel.

“I’ll change my clothes first.” He said as he walked through the kitchen to the stairs.

“I’ll keep your dinner warm for later.” Teresa said softly.

Tom climbed the stairs and walked down the hall to his room. He peeled off his wet shirt and jeans and pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a tee shirt. As he turned to go back out of his room, he saw a child’s crayon drawing that was pinned to his wall next to the light switch. Addy had drawn that when she was five years old. It was a stick figure drawing that was supposed to be himself and her sitting on the bank of the pond fishing. Tom’s breath caught in his throat for a moment. He swallowed and sniffed back a tear that threatened to escape his eye, then turned off his light and left his room.

The soft knock was not necessary, but Tom was a creature of habit. Not hearing a response, Tom eased the door open and peeked around the door. Addy was laying on her bed in a fetal position with her back to the door. Tom’s heart broke just a little bit more. Quietly he closed the door behind him and walked over to sit on the edge of her bed. He reached out with his right hand and gently brushed a few stray locks of her hair out of her face and back behind her ear. Addy’s eyes opened slightly and her head turned to see him smiling softly down on her. In a flash she was sitting up and wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him as if her very life depended on it.

“I was so afraid when I woke up earlier today and you weren’t here… I was afraid you wouldn’t come back. Don’t ever leave me Tommy…” Addy keened into Tom’s shoulder, her body trembling in his arms.

“I had to go to work Addy, you know that. You also should know I would come home to you. I would never leave you baby. Momma and Pa were here, you were never alone little one.” Tom spoke softly into her hair as he rocked Addy gently and stroked her hair on the back of her head.

“That man… the sheriff… he… he wanted me to tell him what happened. I… I just couldn’t Tommy, not again… I just want to forget it all like it never happened, but just can’t.” She moaned pitifully between gasps and sobs.

“Addy… I know it hurts baby… but if you don’t talk to the Sheriff, he can’t do anything to make it right. He can’t even talk to Delbert unless you tell him what happened to you…” Tom tried to explain to Addy while comforting her. He felt her tense again in his arms.

“I… I don’t care! I just want to forget it… I want to forget all about it… I’m so ashamed…” Addy cried into his shoulder and neck.

“Shhhhhh shhhhhh shhhhhh… It’s okay baby…. It’s okay… Don’t worry about it right now… it’s okay…” Tom repeated softly over and over as he rocked his sister in his arms calming her.

Addy sniffled and sobbed for several long minutes, maybe it was an hour or more before she relaxed and fell silent. Tom continued to hold her close and rocked her gently all the same. Eventually he realized that she had indeed fallen asleep. He carefully turned her around and lowered her head to her pillow and then laid down on the bed next to her. Even though she was asleep, Addy clasped his right hand in both of hers and drew it to her chest, close to her heart. Lying on his left side, his right hand captured within Addy’s, Tom allowed himself to drift off to sleep as well as the thunder and rain played their lullaby.

A soft hand gently shaking Tom’s shoulder woke him. His face was still buried in Addy’s hair as he lay on her bed with Addy curled up with her back next to him. Tom lifted his head and turned, to see Teresa smiling sadly at him as she turned on the bedside lamp.

“I brought you some creamy chicken soup, and some biscuits. I also brought a jar of apple butter, maybe you can get Addy to eat a little too. She hasn’t eaten anything all day, Tom. I’ll be back with some lemonade shortly.” Teresa said as she tucked her hands under her armpits, crossing her arms, her face a mask of restrained worry.

“I’ll try to get her to eat something. Thanks.” Tom said as he sat up and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands for a moment.

Looking out the window, he saw that the storm had passed on and though it was dark out now, the rain had stopped. The crickets were tuning up and, in the distance, he could hear the frogs at the pond warming up for their nightly chorus as well. Looking down at Addy sleeping peacefully, he almost felt like letting her continue sleeping rather than wake her. Teresa had said she had not eaten all day though, so he reached over and shook Addy gently by the shoulder. She groaned and turned her head to see who was rousing her. Her sleepy eyes made out Tom’s face and his warm smile, so she smiled back.

“Hi.” She said sleepily.

“Momma brought you some soup, why don’t you sit up and have some.” Tom told her as he reached for the mug and began stirring it with the spoon.

Addy frowned a bit but even Tom heard her stomach growl, and her frown turned into a sheepish grin. Pressing up with her hands and elbows, she rose up to a sitting position and Tom handed her the mug of soup. He turned back to the bedside table and split open a biscuit and spooned on some apple butter. He took a bite of the biscuit, savoring the sweet apple flavor. After Addy had eaten three spoonfuls of the soup, he held the biscuit out for her to nibble a bite of as well. Her eyes got wide with delight before she closed her eyes and chewed while trying not to smile. When she had swallowed, she opened her eyes and looked for more of the biscuit, her eyebrows raised in silent question.

“Nuh uh… eat more soup first.” Tom said playfully as he drew the biscuit back out of reach. Addy pouted but then grinned again and spooned more soup into her mouth.

Tom got Addy to eat the whole mug of soup and two of the three biscuits (slathered with the apple butter) out of three that Teresa had brought to them. Tom was spreading apple butter on the last biscuit when Teresa knocked softly on the door before entering carrying two tall glasses of lemonade. She smiled when she saw that Addy had eaten all the soup. She leaned over to collect the empty mug and spoon and kissed Addy on the top of her head. Teresa rested her left hand on Tom’s shoulder and smiled at him warmly in thanks. She then turned and picked up the plate from the bedside table. At the door she paused and turned to Tom.

“I’ve got more in the kitchen, if you’re hungry before you go to bed… or you can come back here and sleep if…” she left her statement open knowing that Tom probably would sleep here again tonight if Addy wanted him to. It was that special connection they shared. Inseparable when one or the other was hurting. They had been that way since they were babies.

“Thanks, Teresa. I might be down shortly. I need to shower anyway. I think our girl can let me go long enough for that.” Tom said with a warm smile as he glanced over at Addy who was biting her lip and watching him and Teresa quietly with a hesitant if worried look in her eyes.

“Tom… will you come back… and stay with me again tonight?” Addy asked in almost a whisper like voice.

“Of course, I will Addy. I just need to shower and get something to eat. I’ll bring you another biscuit if you want too.” Tom said with a smile as he rubbed her shoulder reassuringly.

“Okay then… just come back.” She said as she pulled the covers up to her chin while still sitting up.

Tom stood up and bent over to kiss her on top of her head before turning and heading to the door. He stopped in his room and got a change of underwear and socks. He would put the same sweats and tee shirt back on after his shower. He shaved first, pausing to look himself in the eyes in the mirror. His eyes were red rimmed and tired looking… but something else too. There was a coldness that he knew stemmed from the anger and hatred that grew in his gut. The poison that had to be vented, vented on one Delbert Evans… when the time was right.

A quick shower and then down the stairs to the kitchen. Richard was still sitting at the table when Tom entered the room. Teresa got up and went to the stove to fix Tom a plate, a bowl of soup and some biscuits. She also poured him a glass of iced tea. Tom sat and watched Teresa scurry about the kitchen.

He looked at Richard and saw that he was being watched as well. The old man studied him as if trying to measure his mood and or thoughts.

“How’s she doing son?” Richard asked.

“She’s still pretty wound up, I think. Addy’s scared mostly. She seems to be okay when I’m with her.” Tom spoke. Richard nodded his head knowing it to be the truth.

“Do you think she might be willing or able to talk to Cam… Sheriff Cambrick… in a day or two?” Richard asked hopefully, even as his eyes were locked on his half empty coffee mug, he held in both hands on the table in front of him.

“That, I don’t know.” Tom admitted sounding frustrated. “Addy seems pretty adamant about just trying to forget the whole thing. She feels ashamed of it all.” Tom almost growled as his voice got tight, his own hands balled into fists on the table.

“Son… I know it’s hard, but you gotta be smart. Think about Addy… don’t go doing anything stupid.” Rich spoke in a low gravelly voice.

“The son of a bitch is walking around bragging about it… And if Addy doesn’t press charges… Hell! Even if she does, it’s her word against his!” Tom spat the words in disgust and brought his hands to his face as if to wipe the frustration away.

Tom felt a soft hand grip his right shoulder. Teresa set a bowl of soup in front of him. He looked up into her concerned eyes, her smile more of a soft grimace, but she remained silent. She stepped back over to the stove and collected a plate of biscuits to set on the table as well. Tom picked up his spoon and idly stirred his soup, his mind still a storm of conflicting emotions and thoughts. Richard stood up and patted Tom on the shoulder as he left the kitchen. He paused at the doorway to speak.

“Get some rest son, things will look better tomorrow.” The words still low and gravelly.

Tom nodded then began to eat his dinner, he was distracted by his thoughts though, he got no enjoyment out of the food. After he finished, he cleaned up after himself, putting his bowl in the sink and turning off the light in the kitchen before heading back upstairs to go to bed. Outside Addy’s door, Tom paused listening quietly to hear her snoring softly. Rather than wake her up, he went on to his own room and climbed into bed. Lying on his back with his hands folded behind his head, Tom stared at the ceiling in the dim glow of the bedside lamp. He drifted off to sleep.

Sometime later that night Tom awoke to the feeling of a familiar form snuggling up next to him. Addy had awakened and found herself alone. Feeling vulnerable and scared, she did as she had done so many times before as a young girl, she went to Tom’s room and climbed into bed with her brother. For maybe the thousandth time, Tom realized that Addy was no longer the scrawny little girl who was all knees and elbows and wild strawberry blonde hair.

Addy had grown into a sturdy but infinitely soft curvy young woman. The hair was still wild and untamable, but his sister was not a little girl any longer. This girl, this woman… made his heart beat faster just thinking about her. He loved to hear her voice, her laughter, even her chiding teasing or angry voice. More so, he loved to see her smile. When she looked at him and he saw those dazzling blue eye he could think of little else. Tom loved his sister more than life itself. He knew it was wrong though… It wasn’t natural, it wasn’t right to love your sister in ways like that. Only… Tom knew, in his heart of hearts, he knew that Addy loved him the same way… and that hurt too much to think about. With guilt in his mind and joy in his heart, Tom wrapped his arms around Addy and held her tight as they both drifted back off to sleep.

Tom awoke again later that morning before his alarm went off. He carefully reached over and turned it off before it started making racket. Realizing that he had to get up and get ready for work, he carefully picked up Addy and carried her to her room and gently put her in her own bed. Pulling the blankets up and tucking her in even as she roused sleepily.

“Don’t go Tommy… Stay with me.” She half whined with a pouting face.

“I have to go to work Addy… Momma and Pa will be here, you won’t be alone.” He told her softly as he stroked the hair on her head.

“You will come back though, right?” She asked hesitantly.

“Of course, I will baby… I’ll be back before you know it. Maybe you and momma can make some cookies today?” Tom reassured her teasingly.

“That might be fun…” Addy said sleepily as she yawned and then smiled, her eyes drifting closed again.

Tom stood up and left her room to go down the hall to the bathroom. After returning to his room to dress for work, he made his way downstairs and to the kitchen. Teresa was sitting at the table and there was already a plate of eggs and bacon with some of last night’s leftover biscuits on the table for Tom. Richard’s seat at the table was empty and there was a half empty cup of coffee and a dirty plate. Apparently, Richard had already eaten and gone out to start his day. Teresa sipped her coffee as Tom sat and started eating.

“That boy… the one that…” Teresa began, but choked on her words, bile rising in her throat.

“Is he really bragging about what he… what he did to my baby?” Teresa finally spat out the question.

Tom paused as he was spreading apple butter on a biscuit, his knuckles turning white as he held the knife. Tom’s eyes never left the biscuit, he carefully set it back on his plate and with slow deliberation placed the knife on the table beside his plate. He took a long deep breath and then swallowed.

“That’s what I heard from some guys I spoke with.” Tom said in an even tone that belied how tense he truly was.

Tom looked up to see Teresa’s eyes filling with tears as she stared into her coffee cup. Her hands were shaking so she set her coffee cup down on the table and folded her hands in her lap. Tom wiped his mouth with his napkin, no longer having an appetite.

“Tom…” Teresa began in almost a whisper, her voice shaky but surprisingly stern.

“Be careful… whatever you do. Addy can’t lose you.” She added in the same voice.

Tom looked up to see a new coldness in her eyes, a knowing understanding that didn’t have to be spoken of. She knew that Tom had already made up his mind. She knew he wasn’t going to wait on the law to fumble around and make a mockery of what happened to his sweet Addy. Looking into her eyes, Tom simply nodded then rose from the table. Slipping on his jacket at the back door, Teresa brought him a paper bag with his lunch in it. She gripped his shoulder briefly and then turned to go back into the kitchen. Tom left the house.

As he sat in his old pickup letting the engine warm for a minute or so, Tom thought of how or where he might find Delbert today. Perhaps after school let out. Delbert being a senior this year, the same as Addy. Delbert was 20 years old though, apparently, he had been held back or had failed a grade or two in the past. Being older might have something to do with his being so much of a bully, he had always looked down on everyone else in his grade. Thought he was better than everyone because his folks had money and he was spoiled. The best clothes, the best shoes, he even had a car at sixteen years old. His prized possession, a black 1978 Camaro. Tom’s face transitioned from a grimace to a knowing smile. That’s how he would find Delbert, find his car.

It was a busy day at the hardware store. Two trucks to unload and put into storage and half a dozen big orders to be delivered around the county. Tom ate his lunch while driving between deliveries. As he was driving across the bridge on the narrows across Arrowhead Lake, Tom spotted Delbert’s Camaro parked near the boat launch. There were a couple of other cars parked there too so Tom knew Delbert wouldn’t be alone. The whole bunch were probably drinking or smoking pot. Instead of stopping, Tom just kept driving, unnoticed. He would be back though, now that he knew where Delbert was hanging out.

Back at the hardware store, Tom was finishing up for the day. It was a little after four in the afternoon, all the deliveries had been made and it was time to go home. As he was walking through the store on the way to the back door, Tom paused by a display of electric cattle prods. The nearly three-foot-long fiberglass wands with electrodes on the end were a favored tool with farmers and ranchers needing to move livestock. The prods moved something in Tom’s mind, an idea forming, he smiled and continued out the door to his pickup.

That evening when he got home to the farm, he was pleasantly surprised to find Addy sitting on the back porch as he walked up to the house from the barn. She was dressed in a lightweight summer dress that was yellow with white trim at the collar and sleeves. Addy sat barefoot on the steps with her knees tucked under her chin and her arms wrapped around her legs as if hugging herself. She was rocking gently forward and back staring at the ground in front of the steps.

Tom walked up to the steps and turned and sat next to Addy. He wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him. Tom kissed the top of her head and then rested his chin on her hair as she continued to rock. They sat there for a while before Teresa came to the screen door and looked out at them. She cleared her throat to get Tom’s attention.

“Supper is on the table if you two want to come in and eat.” Teresa said in a soft neutral voice.

“Thanks momma. We’ll be right in.” Tom responded with a nod.

Tom kissed Addy on top of her head again and went to stand up. Addy leaned away from him and looked up at him with sad eyes… soulfully sorry sad eyes. It hurt Tom to see the pain and sadness in her eyes. The dazzling blue eyes that he fell in love with the day he met her when Teresa and Rich brought her home from the hospital. The eyes that had always been so full of light and wonder… joy and happiness… now to be dimmed with sadness… it just wasn’t right. With an extended hand, Tom helped Addy to her feet.

At the table, dinner was a quiet affair this evening. Teresa had prepared meatloaf with mashed potatoes and green beans and there was cornbread of course. Normally Addy would be happily chattering on about this book or that story that she’d been reading. But this evening, her first time sitting down at the table since being attacked, she was subdued. She picked at her food and ate very little. Tom saw all this of course, as did Richard and Teresa. They tried to act normal and make Addy feel at ease but they all sensed it was a lost cause. Eventually all were finished eating and everyone stood up to leave the table. Teresa began cleaning up, Richard said he had to go check something in the barn as he left the kitchen to go out the back door. Tom and Addy went upstairs to their rooms. Tom paused outside of Addy’s room and looked down at her to see if she were okay to be alone for a bit.

“I need to go have a shower, and change my clothes. I’ll come sit with you a while after I do that, okay?” Tom spoke softly as he stroked the back of Addy’s head gently with his left hand.

“Okay… I’ll wait up for you.” Addy said quietly and nodded. She turned to go into her room.

Tom continued down the hallway to his room where he took off his boots and his clothes except for his boxer shorts. Grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt he left his room and went down the hall to the bathroom. Closing the door, he set his clothes on the toilet seat cover, then stripped off his boxers. Stepping into the shower and turning the water on, Tom flashed back to seeing Delbert’s car at the boat launch earlier today. Anger rose in Tom’s gut and he clenched his fists as the hot water cascaded down over his body.

After finishing his shower, Tom dried off and slipped on his sweat pants and shaved. He slipped on his shirt after drying his face. Leaving the bathroom, he walked down the hall past his room and checked in on Addy. She was curled up on her bed with her back towards the door. Slipping into the room, Tom realized that she was, in fact, sleeping. Tom pulled the throw blanket from the foot of her bed and spread it over. He turned on her bedside lamp and then turned off the overhead light before closing her door softly. Back in his own room, Tom set his alarm for the morning and stretched out on his own bed and stared at the ceiling. His mind a bitter mix of ideas and scenarios of catching up with Delbert Evans. The sick bastard was going to answer for what he did to Addy, Tom would make sure of it. Eventually Tom drifted off to a fitful sleep.

Again, Tom was awakened by his sister slipping onto his bed beside him later that night. She spooned up next to Tom’s back, her slender right arm wrapped around his right side, her face nuzzled into the back of his neck. Tom could feel her soft pert breasts pressing into his back and her hips melding with his backside.

“I love you Tommy” Addy whispered into his neck and sighed.

Tom, had heard her say the words many times before, but for some reason they held a special weight tonight. His heart skipped a beat even as it swelled in his chest. Tom rolled over to be face to face with his sister. The light from the mercury lamp outside the barn shown weakly through his bedroom window and reflected in Addy’s shining half lidded eyes. Tom brushed some loose hair out of her face with the fingers of his left hand. Addy captured his hand as the fingers went over her ear, and brought it to her lips and kissed the back of it. Her hand clasped in his, Addy pulled it to the hollow of her neck at her chest.

“I love you too Addy.” Tom said in a quiet warm voice.

“Do you? Can you?” Addy asked, again in a near whisper, her voice trembling like her bottom lip.

“What? Of course, I do. What kind of question is that?” Tom asked puzzled.

“I… I’m not pure anymore. I’m dirty…” Addy whimpered, her eyes welling up with tears.

Tom’s heart wrenched in his chest. He had known Addy her entire life, they had played together, they grew together. He had seen her get hurt many times, scraped knees, cuts, bruises, bumps. She always shook them off and came back for more. She had always been one of the strongest persons he knew, but this… this was something different. Addy was hurt deep, in her mind, and her soul. Could she bounce back from this?

“Addy… You’re not dirty. You’re still you. That bastard might have hurt you, but he can’t make you less of a person. Never!” Tom said reassuringly, squeezing his left hand in hers to emphasize his words.

“He made me dirty… no one will ever love me or want me now.” Addy choked on the words as the tears began to flow and her body wracked with quiet sobs.

“No… Someone will want you… and you already know you are loved. I love you.” Tom said as he placed his forehead to Addy’s and shushed her sobs.

“Do you? Do you really?” Addy asked quietly raising her head up to look Tom in the eyes, searching for… for what? Confirmation? Affirmation?

“Yes. I love you Addy… I love you so much…” He began softly, again to reassure her. Addy startled him into silence however, when she tilted her head up and kissed him softly on the lips.

Tom was stunned. His mind froze, his body froze, his heart… stilled… momentarily. Addy released his lips and drew back hesitantly, fearful of his reaction. The one constant in her life as far back as she could remember was Tom. Her brother, her playmate, her friend… her confidant… the only boy she had ever loved or wanted even if she knew it was wrong. And now… she had kissed him, not like a sister, not on his cheek, but on his lips. Those soft, inviting, full lips… And he froze. She had ruined everything she feared. Addy’s heart began beating faster in her chest and she began to turn to bolt from Tom’s bed, to run away.

As she began to turn away, the look of abject fear and remorse on her face, Tom squeezed her right hand still clasped in his left. He pulled her back around to face him, his own face wide eyed and confused, his heart, too, racing. Addy hesitantly looked back up into his questioning big brown eyes. They both shuddered and exhaled. Then their lips collided once more. This time Tom’s lips were as active as Addy’s. The two seemed to melt together as the kiss went on and on. A tender sweet loving kiss but with an underlying sense of hunger and longing as well.

They both had to draw back eventually to breathe. When they did, they both stared into the others eyes. Their hearts were both pounding in their chests. This was so wrong, they both realized, but it felt so very right at the same time. Tom was the first to find his voice.

“Addy… we can’t… this is… not right.” He said even as the sadness flooded his eyes and the guilt began to grow in the back of his mind.

“I know… But I can’t help it Tom… I love you so much. You just make everything feel… right.” Addy said in a shaky quiet voice as her bottom lip trembled.

“I feel that way when I’m around you too baby… but we are brother and sister…” Tom tried to explain, or maybe understand himself.

“I don’t care! You’re the only one I love… you’re the only one I’ll ever love…” She said quietly, her eyes locked on his, never blinking.

Tom felt his heart swell even more hearing Addy’s declaration. He also felt other parts of his body swell as well. He quickly stomped down on that feeling in his mind. Kissing was one thing, anything else would just be… more wrong. His body wasn’t listening to his mind however, it was very aware of Addy’s body pressed so closely to his own. Her feminine softness, her warm clinging hold on his own body, those big shining blue eyes and those oh so soft lips. Tom could feel his resolve weakening and his body hardening.

“Addy… I do love you… but we can’t… I… I…” Tom sputtered and tried to explain, only to be silenced once more by her lips crushing against his urgently, wantonly.

With her right hand, Addy moved Tom’s left hand to her breasts, pressing it against her soft mounds. She sighed as Tom’s hand reflexively squeezed one gently, the soft nipple hardening against the night shirt material under his palm. Tom felt Addy’s other hand running her fingers through the hair on the back of his head.

“Oh God!” Tom thought to himself. “So wrong… so very wrong… but…”

Their tongues darted about teasing one another. Their lips hardly ever breaking contact as they gasped and inhaled in desperate little breaths. Tom jumped when he felt Addy’s hand glide softly along his hardening manhood on the outside of his sweat pants. Her tentative grip caused him to break the kiss and reach for her hand.

“No, Addy. We can’t. I’m sorry baby, this is just wrong. Please.” Tom pleaded, his forehead pressed against hers.

“You… you don’t want me? You think I’m dirty… because…” Addy gasped, the pain and hurt evident in her voice.

“No! No, Addy, that’s not it at all. You know I love you. I love you more than anything in the world! But you’re my sister. This would be so wrong. You’re not dirty. Any guy would…” Tom tried to explain, his heart racing, his body reacting in all the wrong ways, only to be cut off again by Addy.

“I don’t WANT anyone else. I only want YOU! I love YOU!” She said with solemn determination.

Not knowing what else to say, Tom took Addy’s right hand and placed it on his left hip then wrapped his arm around her and pulled her tight to him. Her head nestled in the crook of his neck and shoulder and he could feel warm tears against his skin. Addy sobbed silently as he continued to hold her tightly.

“Shhhhhhh…. It’s okay baby… I love you too. I love you so much.” Tom murmured into her hair.

They clung to each other until Addy eventually fell asleep. Tom lay there long into the night just holding her tight. His mind a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts. He always knew that Addy loved him, that was never a doubt in his mind. He was startled and amazed to learn that she loved him in ways that he hadn’t even dared imagine however. Thoughts that he had tried many times in the past to banish from his mind, because she was his little sister. It was overwhelming, troubling… and ultimately thrilling as well. If only… if only she weren’t his sister.

At some point in the wee hours of the morning, Tom, too, fell asleep. Addy was still wrapped in his arms, clinging tightly to him as if her life depended on it. That’s how Teresa found them when she slipped softly into Tom’s room. She had gone to check on Addy before starting breakfast. When Teresa hadn’t found Addy in her room and her own bed, she assumed that she would be with Tom. Teresa wasn’t prepared for the way she found Addy and Tom however. Instead of cuddling siblings, a familiar tableau, she found them looking more like lovers. Anyone else might have been surprised or even shocked, Teresa though was not. She smiled softly to herself as she pulled the blanket up around their shoulders and then slipped quietly back out of the room.

The harsh clattering of Tom’s alarm clock, roused both himself and Addy. Still clutching one another, there was an awkward moment as both remembered what had transpired just before they fell asleep. Addy looked nervously into Tom’s eyes waiting for him say something. Tom, at a loss for words or at least conflicted at what he really wanted to say, only smiled if somewhat sadly at his younger sister. This warm, soft, beautiful young woman sharing his bed. It seemed like hours, but in reality, it was closer to a few seconds before he managed to get any words out.

“Are you okay, Addy?” He asked quietly, his sad eyes full of love and concern.

“I… I think so. Are… are you okay?” Addy asked timidly, fearing that she had somehow alienated her big brother, the man she loved more than life itself.

“I… uh… yeah… We have a lot to think about. I have a lot to think about. But I need to get up and get ready to go to work. It’s Saturday, usually one of the busiest days at the store. It might be a long day.” Tom stammered, reaching desperately for some kind of normalcy.

“I don’t want to be alone today…” Addy said quietly, breaking eye contact and casting her gaze anywhere but towards Tom.

“Mom will be here, and Pa…” Tom began but was cut off by Addy’s next question.

“Can I come with you today? Great Grampa wouldn’t care, would he?” Addy asked with a pleading gleam in her eyes.

“I don’t know Addy… I guess we could call and ask. You could hang out at the store, and maybe ride along on my deliveries. Sure, let’s call and find out.” Tom said with a smile.

The light in her dazzling blue eyes was worth it. Addy smiled brightly and lunged at him hugging him around the neck and kissing his cheek. There was an awkward moment when she drew back and they both searched each other’s eyes briefly as last night’s kisses flashed through their memory. Then Addy snapped out of it smiling brightly again and jumped up out of bed.

“I’ll go get dressed and tell momma. Hurry up sleepy head!” Addy actually giggled as she bounced out of Tom’s room and down the hall to her own room.

Tom put his face in both his hands and rubbed. “She’s your sister… she’s your sister… she’s your sister…” he kept hearing in his head. Exhaling in an exasperated sigh, Tom swung his legs off the side of the bed and stood up. His sweat pants still tented slightly from what he would normally think of as “morning wood” but he somewhat guiltily thought of as something else this morning. He left his room to go down the hall to the bathroom to get his day started.

As Tom came downstairs and entered the kitchen, he was greeted by Richard sitting at the table drinking his coffee. Addy was across the table from her father shoveling in a mouthful of scrambled eggs, a glass of juice in her free hand. Teresa set a plate on the table in front of Tom as he sat down, she glanced at Addy then back to Tom and smiled warmly. She was happy to see life returning to her baby girl.

“I called papaw at the store, he said it’d be alright if I came to work with you today!” Addy beamed after she swallowed her mouthful of food.

“Did he say you had to do half the work?” Tom chided playfully, causing Addy to pause with her glass of juice halfway to her mouth and give him a quizzical look of uncertainty… for a moment, before smiling and rolling her eyes.

“No! But he did say not to be late, there are a lot of deliveries for today. So, eat up and let’s go!” Addy said with a smirk and reached for the apple butter to spread on her biscuit.

“Now slow down missy, let the boy eat in peace.” Richard said with a low rumbling chuckle. He too was happy to see Addy so animated after what had happened earlier in the week.

Richard stood up from the table and patted Tom on the shoulder as he went around the table to set his coffee cup in the sink. Teresa stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him on his cheek and smiled warmly before turning back to making sandwiches for Tom, and now Addy. No one saw Teresa’s face go pale and wince. They didn’t hear her drop the butter knife she was using and clutch at her abdomen until the pain subsided. Taking a deep breath, she stood straight again and continued spreading peanut butter on the sandwiches.

“I’ll see you two this evening then.” Richard said as he put on his hat and went out the back door to head to the barn.

“You about finished squirt?” Tom asked Addy as he tipped up his glass to empty the last of his orange juice.

“Ready when you are.” Addy said around a mouthful of biscuit and still managing somehow to smile.

Tom stood and pushed his chair in then walked to the back door to put his jacket on. Addy wiped her mouth and stood as well. She stepped over to the counter to kiss Teresa on the cheek. Teresa handed Addy a brown paper sack with a couple of sandwiches and apples in it.

“Love you mom… see you later.” Addy said with a smile as she grabbed a sweatshirt from the coat hook and followed Tom out the door.

Teresa grimaced and bent halfway over holding her abdomen for a moment or two. After a bit, she stood back up and inhaled sharply. She reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out a small bottle of pills and took one out. She poured a little water out of the tap into a glass and then took the pill. Looking out the window above the sink, Teresa watched Addy follow Tom into the barn to get into his old pickup truck. Addy waved to the house as the truck pulled out and turned to go out the long driveway to the road.

Having Addy with him today was both a delight and troublesome for Tom. On the one hand he was always happy to spend any time with his little sister, she made everything fun or an adventure. On the other hand, after last night’s revelations and that kiss… his mind was still in a whirl trying to sort out emotions and practical thoughts. The morning went by quickly, sorting and picking items for deliveries. Soon Tom and Addy were on the road making the first of the day’s runs.

By noon they had made three deliveries and were ready for lunch. Tom pulled off the road at an old abandoned farmstead a few miles from Arrowhead Lake. Tom dropped the tailgate and He and Addy sat with their legs dangling as they ate their peanut butter sandwiches. Addy seemed pensive after she had finished her sandwich and was nibbling on the apple Teresa had packed in the lunch. Tom was quiet as well, still thinking about last night.

“Do you ever think about going somewhere else?” Addy asked quietly as she studied her apple before taking another nibble.

“What do you mean? Like a vacation?” Tom replied with a question of his own.

“No. I mean like, move away, this is a really big world… there’s so much to see.” Addy explained and glanced over at Tom to see him thinking about her question.

“Oh… Not really. I mean… I’d like to see the mountains some time, and the ocean… maybe visit the Grand Canyon… or Alaska. I’ve read about all those places, and seen them on TV, but it’d be cool to actually see them… right?” Tom admitted and smiled a little. He glanced over at Addy and cocked his head slightly to one shoulder.

“What about you? You think about traveling… or moving away?” He asked hesitantly.

“Only all the time! I want to see it all… I want to travel and see the world. The big cities, different countries… but…” Addy began enthusiastically but trailed off sounding a little uncertain.

“But?” Tom asked to nudge Addy to continue.

Addy shrugged her shoulders slightly and stared off into the distance biting the inside of her cheek as if struggling with a decision. She looked down at the half-eaten apple in her hands and then slowly raised her eyes back up to look at Tom’s face.

“I don’t know if I want to go alone… Maybe… Maybe after college… I don’t know.” Addy pursed her lips and glanced away again.

“With your grades you should get your pick of schools. Have you thought about where you might like to go?” Tom asked distractedly, knowing that no matter where Addy chose, she would be moving away from the farm… and him.

“I’ve been thinking about Kansas City… it’s close to home, I could come home on the weekends to see you and momma and pa.” Addy said almost as if in a trance, clearly her mind was on something else as well.

“That would be good. It’ll be awfully quiet around here with you gone.” Tom said with a wry grin and elbowed Addy playfully.

“C’mon, we need to get back on the road. I’ve still got a couple of deliveries to make yet. Hey, you want some ice cream?” Tom asked as he slid off the tailgate to stand behind the truck.

Addy’s eyes lit up and she smiled at her brother, nodding as she too slipped off the tailgate and turned to close it. Tom went to the driver side door and climbed in, Addy went to the passenger side. Tom did a three-point turn and drove back out the driveway of the abandoned farm and turned on to the road.

A few miles down the road, Tom drove across the narrows bridge over Arrowhead Lake. As he glanced off to the side, he once again spotted Delbert’s black Camaro parked by the boat launch. Addy didn’t notice it so Tom kept quiet. Just a few minutes later they were pulling into the parking lot of the Tasty Freeze on the edge of town. It was a hot afternoon and there were lots of people with the same idea, to get a cool treat. Tom and Addy got out of the truck and got in line.

They had just paid for their ice cream cones and were getting back into the truck when the black Camaro pulled into the parking lot a few spaces over. Delbert climbed out of the car and was just getting in line when he spied Addy getting into the truck. He smirked that malevolent smile of his and grabbed his crotch sneering at Addy before seeing Tom. He continued to smirk but straightened up and turned away from the truck to place his order.

Tom’s stomach soured and his mouth went dry. He threw his cone out the open window and made to open his door back up and get out. Addy’s left hand on his right arm stopped him. She was still staring daggers in Delbert’s back but she spoke in a low steady voice.

“Don’t… Let’s just go… now.” Addy looked at her own ice cream cone and then pitched it out her open window as well, then sat back and put her seat belt on.

Tom seethed inside. He felt like getting out of the truck and stomping Delbert to a pulp. Addy was right though, he probably would have ended up being arrested and Delbert would be poor victim. No, Tom knew that he needed to wait till the time was right. In disgust, he started the truck and drove Addy and himself back to the hardware store to load up the last orders to be delivered for today. Neither said a word on the drive to the store.

The rest of the day was quiet and subdued. The new spark that Addy had been showing had once again vanished at the sight of one Delbert Evans. Teresa and Richard, both noticed it too as soon as they got home to the farm. Addy quietly went straight up to her room after entering the house. Tom fixed himself a glass of iced tea and sat at the kitchen table with Richard. Teresa was busy fixing dinner but she listened in closely as Tom told them what had transpired at the Tasty Freeze earlier in the day. Nothing was said of it, but both Richard and Teresa frowned now knowing why Addy was again sullen.

Addy came down to dinner but again, the light had gone out of her. She quietly ate a little of her food before being asked to be excused from the table. Addy went outside and sat on the back porch steps while the rest ate their dinner. After he finished, Tom too joined Addy on the back porch. He sat quietly beside her not venturing to speak, letting Addy have her space. He knew she would speak when she was ready. After what seemed like an hour she leaned over against Tom and laid her head on his shoulder.

“You’re off tomorrow, right?” Addy asked quietly.

“Yeah, it’s Sunday, the hardware store is closed on Sundays. Why?” Tom asked almost as quietly

Addy shrugged her shoulders and remained quiet for a time. She rubbed the outside of her right foot on the edge of the wooden steps as if to scratch an itch. She had both hands tucked into the pockets of her hoody sweatshirt. It hurt tom to see Addy so sad and subdued, he missed his bubbly light hearted little sister. He’d give anything to see her smiling again and happy, like she was before. He had a thought, an idea that might bring a glimmer of that happiness back, if for a little while maybe.

“Hey… it’s been a while since we went fishing at the pond… what do you say we dig a can full of worms and go fishing tomorrow?” He asked giving Addy a little nudge with his shoulder.

“Think we could go tonight? We could take a lantern and a blanket. If the fish aren’t biting, we could just watch the stars.” Addy proposed a little timidly, but hopeful.

“Sure, go grab a can and I’ll get a shovel out of the barn and I’ll meet you at the compost heap. There should be plenty of worms under there.” Tom said, hopeful that Addy’s spirits were lifting a little.

They raked back the surface around the edges of the compost heap and picked up a few dozen worms. Addy went in the house to get an old blanket and a battery powered lantern. Tom met her coming out of the tack room in the barn with two fishing poles and a tackle box. They opened the gate next to the barn and began the long hike back to the pond around the hill. Richard and Teresa stood on the back porch of the house and watched them walking through the field. Teresa leaned against Richard and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“When are you going to tell them?” Richard asked softly in his low gravelly voice.

“I don’t know… I’ve got time yet, I think. It just seems like too much right now what with what happened to Addy. Tom might be alright but my girl is fragile right now.” Teresa said sadly, and sniffed back a teary breath.

Richard wrapped his left arm around Teresa’s shoulders and pulled her tight. He swallowed the lump in his throat but kept quiet. Teresa patted his left hand with her right hand in an unspoken show of understanding.

At the pond, Addy spread the blanket out on a flat spot on the bank. Tom rigged and baited the two fishing poles and casted out into the still water. The frogs and night birds were tuning up for the evening’s performance. Setting the poles down in two forked sticks that he had driven into the bank, Tom stood up and turned to look at Addy. She was sitting in the middle of the blanket with her knees tucked under her chin and her arms wrapped around her legs. She was resting her left cheek atop her knees as she watched her brother. Seeing him looking at her she smiled if somewhat sadly, the smile never quite reaching her blue eyes.

It turned out that the fish didn’t seem to be hungry this evening. Tom only had a couple of nibbles and caught only two very small fish. He threw them back. As the sun set on the horizon, on the other side of the pond, he walked up the bank and sat on the blanket next to Addy. Fireflies were starting to put on their nightly fireworks display and the frogs were beginning their symphony.

“I’m guessing you won’t be cleaning many fish… if any, tonight. Oh well, it’s still nice just to sit out and enjoy the peace and quiet huh?” Tom commented lightly.

“Yeah… but not so quiet… Frogs and crickets and birds… I like it though.” Addy agreed quietly, seeming to be a little distracted.

Tom laid back on the blanket and interlaced his fingers and rested his head on his hands. Seeing this, Addy too laid back and she rested her head on Tom’s left arm snuggled up close side by side.

“Up high in the sky, I spy with my little eye, a light so bright, a beautiful sight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have my wish, that I wish tonight…” Addy uttered in a near whispered voice, then gasped in a breath as if she realized that she had spoken aloud.

Tom lay silently, wondering what was going through is little sister’s mind. She seemed so fragile since… since the attack. He had never known Addy to be so meek and subdued, it hurt him deeply to think that she was in pain, physical or otherwise. He would give anything to have his carefree happy girl back. They lay there in silence, listening to the night sounds and watching the stars come out more and more as the sky overhead turned from deep dark blue to black. The fireflies adding their display to the twinkling lights in the heavens.

“Tom…” Addy began hesitantly, as if unsure of what or how to say what was on her mind.

Tom was instantly alert, Addy always called him ‘Tommy’, since she was able to form and speak any words at all. For her to call him ‘Tom’ was almost strange in his ears. He felt his heart speed up a beat or two faster, the night sounds faded into the background of his awareness. He could hear Addy’s breathing, he imagined that he could almost hear her heart beating as well.

“Yeah?” He asked quietly.

“Could you… could you love me? I mean if I were any other girl… Am I… pretty enough?” Addy asked with a voice so timid and uncertain that again Tom’s heart ached.

His heart actually paused, skipped a beat, before speeding up yet again. He felt his throat get tight and his mouth turn dry. His mind was trying to understand her question. Of course, he loved her. He loved Addy more than anyone else he knew. But… is that what she was actually asking of him?

“Addy… I… huh? What do you mean? Any other girl? Of course, I love you.” Tom sputtered in confusion.

“Before… I… I was a virgin. Now I’m not but I feel like… like he stole something. Something I was saving to give to someone I love. I was cheated…” Addy croaked, her throat so tight from emotion that she almost sounded like the frogs serenading in the night.

“Now I’m dirty! No man will ever want me, I’m not pretty like all the other girls, I dress like a boy… and now I don’t even have that one gift to give.” Addy added and then broke down into quiet sobs again, her tears squeezed from her eyes dripping onto Tom’s arm.

“You are NOT dirty!” Tom proclaimed forcefully, his own voice sounding tight.

Tom unclasped his hands and rolled turning to wrap both arms around Addy’s slim shoulders and pull her head into his chest. He could feel Addy’s breasts heaving with her sobs as they pressed into his abdomen. He shushed her quietly again and again, and kissed the top of her head and nuzzled his chin in her hair.

“Addy, any guy would feel lucky to be seen with you, let alone be loved by you. You are beautiful! You’re smart, you’re funny… you’re… you’re amazing! You have a lot to give.” Tom affirmed what he thought of his little sister.

“Do… do you really… think I’m pretty?” Addy asked, sniffing tears back, still shaking in Tom’s arms.

“No. Not pretty, beautiful. You are stunning Addy. Your eyes are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen on anyone.” Tom proclaimed in a soft voice, then quietly bit his tongue before he got carried away.

“And… my hair?” Addy squeaked the question.

“It fits you perfectly. It’s wild and untamed and beautiful all at the same time… just like you.” Tom professed with a slight grin on his face.

“I am not wild!” Addy sputtered with just a hint of a choked giggle, and sniffed her tears.

“Says the girl who wouldn’t wear shoes until her momma almost had to tie them onto her feet permanently. The girl who went skinny dipping up until…” Tom began and was cut off by an elbow to his ribs causing him to huff out his breath.

“You HUSH! I seem to recall that you pretty much went swimming naked too up until that day! I thought momma was going to have a heart attack! I mean, what was the big deal? We were just swimming like we always have.” Addy said with a subdued amusement, as if begrudging feeling better about herself or anything really.

They both chuckled for a moment or two and then fell silent again, each lost in their own thoughts. Overhead a shooting star shot across the sky. Addy’s left hand shot up and she pointed at it without saying anything, at least anything out loud. Tom glanced at his sister’s face in profile. Even in the dark with only the light of the stars overhead and the fireflies blinking on and off, it was beautiful to him. He thought he could see her lips moving soundlessly, perhaps repeating that wish that she had uttered earlier.

Addy pressed herself up to sit. After a moment she toed her sneakers off her feet and reached down to pull her socks off. Looking over her shoulder at Tom who was watching her from his reclined position on the blanket, she grinned mischievously and stood up on the blanket. In a flash she had unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them and her underwear down to her ankles. Stepping out of them as she stepped off the blanket, she then took the bottom of her hoody in both hands and lifted it up and over her head. Now suddenly completely naked with her back to her startled brother, she looked over her shoulder and smiled in the starlight.

“I think the fish have gone to sleep… I’m going to go for a swim… want to join me?” She said as she took three or four steps down the bank and leapt out into the still water of the pond.

Tom sat up and watched his sister as she began to slowly swim out into the dark water of the pond, the ripples in the water distorting the reflection of the millions of stars overhead. Tom’s mouth was hanging open, his heart was racing again, and something inside of him, perhaps his conscience, threw up its hands and gave up. Tom reached down and took his boots off, then his socks. He peeled off his tee shirt and stood up. He undid his belt and unbuttoned his jeans, pushing them down to his ankles. Tom left his boxer shorts on, that small vocal part of his brain still demanding some modesty around his sister. With one or two strides down the bank, Tom launched himself out into the warm water to join his sister.

When Tom resurfaced after his initial plunge into the warm water of the pond, he spun in place treading water as he looked around for Addy. There was no sign of her. She had been swimming towards the middle of the pond when Tom had dived into the water, but where did she go? There were still ripples in the water from the middle of the pond. Tom spun back around to look at the bank to see if she had decided to get out of the water. When he did, he felt his boxer shorts being tugged downward off his body.

Addy had waited to hear the splash that Tom made when he dove into the water. She knew he would swim towards her when he jumped in so she stopped and spun in his direction. Just before he resurfaced, she took a deep breath and ducked under the water and swam towards where she thought he would come up. It was a game they had played since they first started swimming in the pond as little children. As Tom was looking around almost frantically for her, Addy swam up to him under the water and grasped his shorts in her hands and yanked downward. After they slipped past his thighs, she raised her right foot up and pushed them down his legs as she grabbed him around his waist from behind.

Tom yelped in alarm as he felt his shorts being stripped from his body and arms suddenly wrapping around him from behind. With his legs tangled in his shorts from the knees down he could no longer tread water and he slipped under the water gasping. He kicked free of his shorts and spun in place, his elbow just missing the top of Addy’s head as she ducked reflexively under his swinging arms. They both surfaced again sputtering and spitting water and then began to giggle and laugh.

Addy smiled at her brother even as he tried to look cross with her, his laughing belied any anger he might have had though. She edged closer to him as they both tread water. As she got closer to him, Tom’s smile faltered just a bit and his face took on a more pensive, almost worried expression.

“That was not cool…” Tom began as if to chastise his little sister.

“It was funny though!” Addy said and giggled again.

“I could have hurt you.” Tom said plaintively, his eyes darting rapidly between both of Addy’s and at her neckline in the water as she edged closer still.

“Would you… hurt me?” Addy asked quietly, her face losing some of her playfulness, her brows knitting with concern.

“Not… not intentionally…” Tom stammered feeling the warm water around his body warm even more as Addy got nearer and nearer to him.

“I know you wouldn’t… because you love me.” Addy said in a near whisper as she closed the distance to her brother and slipped her hands upon his shoulders and stopped kicking her legs so as not to tangle with his.

Tom felt as though an electric charge had just jolted through is body when Addy’s hands came to rest on his shoulders. It wasn’t so much her hands as the feel of her fleshy naked breasts pressing into his chest. The look in her eyes was… was something he had never seen or at least noticed before. She looked both excited and scared at the same time… and worried.

Addy literally held her breath as she placed her hands on her brother’s shoulders. She drew herself into his body, her breasts, the nipples at least, tingled when they brushed against Tom’s hard hairy chest. His skin was warm against hers even in the warm water of the pond. She searched his eyes for the same feelings that she herself had, longing, desire, love… apprehension. Her body trembled. Addy gasped as she felt Tom’s big strong hands take hold of her waist.

Time slowed down as their faces got closer and closer. When their lips connected in a slow warm collision, time stopped completely. Their hearts exploded in their chests, swelling up and encompassing their entire being. Addy’s hands moved from Tom’s shoulders to wrap around his neck and head. They ground their lips together with a passion that had been held in check for so very long. Tongues darted about one another playfully exploring each other’s mouths.

Tom had been slowly easing the two of them closer to shallow water and he finally felt the soft mud under his feet and stopped kicking his legs to stand still in the water. Addy sensed this and wrapped her own legs around his waist as they continued to kiss. Tom’s hands slid up and down Addy’s back and they found and took hold of her firm little behind. Feeling Tom’s hands on her ass Addy broke their kiss to gasp then moaned breathlessly.

With their faces drawn back as they both panted and tried to catch their breath, both too, searched one another’s eyes. Tom noticed the hopeful light in Addy’s wide-open eyes. Addy saw wonder and love in her brother’s eyes… and something almost like fear. She stroked the side of his face with her right hand, the fingertips lightly tracing across his skin as if to confirm that he was real. This was really happening.

“Addy…” Tom began, the uncertainty in his voice making his fears all the more evident.

Addy touched her fingertips to his lips to still them, to silence him gently. Her eyebrows rose pleadingly as did the timber of her voice when she spoke. Her bottom lip quivering slightly.

“Tom… Please… make love to me. I need to know… what it’s like to be made love to by someone who cares… someone who loves me. I’m sorry I don’t have my virginity to give to you… as I had dreamed of before…” She trailed off as her throat got tight when the thoughts of the violence and being raped flashed through her mind.

He found himself speechless after hearing Addy’s request in that pleading hurt voice. He could feel her trembling in his arms, her body pressed against his. Or was it his own body trembling? Tom swallowed and searched Addy’s eyes, finding only desire and trust… and hopefulness. Tom swallowed again and remembered to breathe. Taking a deep breath, he slowly nodded his head slightly. His breath was taken from him yet again as Addy suddenly reengaged his lips in a furiously passionate kiss. Both of her hands holding the back of his head as she drew herself into him.

“N… not here…” Tom struggled to say under her oral attack. He was cautiously backing out of the water one slow step at a time.

“The blanket…” Addy gasped out as she broke briefly to switch her nose to the other side of Tom’s.

With her legs wrapped around his waist and her hands and arms around his head. Tom was support all of Addy’s weight. Though he hardly noticed as she was considerably smaller than him. He did have to turn around when he got to the bank however. A big bullfrog launched himself from the bank into the water only a foot from where Tom and Addy emerged from the pond. Addy giggled and then re attacked Tom’s lips. Tom lowered himself to his knees as he stepped up to the edge of the blanket. Both he and Addy were still streaming water off their wet bodies, but neither seemed to notice.

Now kneeling on the blanket, Tom sat back on his feet. Addy’s bottom came to rest on the top of Tom’s thighs freeing his hands to explore. His hands ran around her hips and down the tops of her thighs to her knees, then back up to her sides. Tom’s hands felt almost hot to Addy as they brushed across the skin up her sides to just under her arms. She also felt a heat between them, as Tom’s swollen and throbbing erection pressed into her abdomen. He nipples still tingled with every brush against his chest.

Addy felt the soft gentle hesitant touch of Tom’s big strong hands as he brought them to the sides of her breasts. He lifted them ever so gently and squeezed them as if holding a baby before releasing them to slide his hands around her sides again. Addy leaned back to gasp in a breath and to stay in contact with his warm hands on her back. Tom leaned into her and kissed her on the side of her neck, trailing soft kisses down to her collar bone and then to the hollow of her throat as she leaned backwards. Again, she gasped and her heart fluttered in her chest.

Tom gently kissed at the hollow of Addy’s throat and groaned. His body was leading his mind instead of the other way around. Every inch of Addy’s skin was exciting and electric to his touch. His hands were supporting her weight as she leaned backwards away from him, not to get away, but to allow him to continue kissing and exploring her body. With every touch, with every kiss, Tom could feel Addy tremble, he could hear her little moans and gasps. The farther she leaned back the farther forward he leaned to be able to reach her with his lips.

When Tom felt the blanket beneath the backs of his hands as Addy’s back and shoulders finally lay on the blanket, the small but insistent voice in the back of his mind roared once more. He found himself leaning, almost lying atop of Addy, between her legs that were still wrapped around his waist. His face was hovering just above her bare breasts that were heaving with each breath she took in. Her eyes were wide open and wild with excitement and wonder. That little voice was telling him to stop, that this was so very wrong. She was his sister! STOP!

When he paused, hesitated, Addy released the grip she had on the back of his head to gently hold him by the sides of his face. She looked into his eyes questioningly, even a little fearful that he had decided to stop. She knew that Tom was torn between his love for her and being the honorable protective older brother that he was. She loved him all the more for it but…

“Addy… baby… we shouldn’t do this. It’s so wrong.” Tom sputtered, the turmoil clearly evident in his voice as well as the wide-eyed concern in his eyes.

“No! Don’t stop… please… I want this! I want YOU… Tom… please. I only want you, I love you…” Addy pleaded breathlessly.

“But… I’m your bother… you’re my sister…” He tried to explain, perhaps to himself or his body, as much as to his sister.

“I know, and I don’t care. You are the only boy I’ve ever loved, the only one I’ve ever wanted to be with. It was YOU that I wanted to give my virginity to…” Addy told him, nearly choking on the last bit, as her face scrunched up painfully again as her emotions from the rape overwhelmed her again.

Tom looked down onto his sister’s face as her eyes clouded with hurt and pleading and shame as well as desperation for his understanding. Some part of his reasoning brain was still functioning, if somewhat in a skewed fashion. The confession that Addy had always intended to give herself to him shook him to his core. It was the thought of her shame and sorrow for having had that virginity stolen from her before she could even offer it that tipped the scales however. Tom felt her emotions deeply in his own heart. To stop now, however wrong it was, would hurt her even more. It would be the ultimate rejection by the one person who she loved and trusted more than anyone else. Tom couldn’t do that.

Addy’s eyes were wet with tears that had not yet begun to fall, her lips were struggling to smile, if sadly, even as they trembled with pent up emotions. Her hands still gently held Tom’s by the sides of his face. Tom searched those watery eyes as they darted back and forth between his own. They grew increasingly wider as he slowly leaned down and met her lips again with his. Both closed their eyes and their whole world reduced to just their lips as they joined.

The hands holding Tom’s face released him and traveled down his neck to his collar bones only to turn and press flatly against his chest. Not to push him away but to feel his warmth and solid body under their touch. The hands slid outward to either side and then glided down his flanks to his hips. Addy’s legs unlocked from around Tom’s waist and her feet came to rest flat on the blanket on either side of his thighs, her knees bent. Tom’s own hands had released Addy’s back and turned over to press into the blanket with his palms down, thus supporting more of his weight on his arms. He raised his body up so that their skin felt the cooler night air filter between them. All but Tom’s erection that is, it was still pressing or laying on Addy’s abdomen.

Breaking their kiss once more, both panting from lack of air, they studied each other’s eyes again. There was still hesitancy and a little uncertainty, but both understood that this was happening. Addy’s pulse raced so fast and hard that she no longer heard the night sounds of the pond and all its denizens. Tom didn’t either, truth be known, he probably didn’t even register the sounds of his own breathing at that moment. The only thoughts were for this beautiful girl… this beautiful woman… looking up at him.

“You’re sure?” Tom somehow managed to ask one last time.

Addy only nodded, her eyes gleaming with love and hopefulness and determination. Tom took a deep breath and raised his hips up to scoot a bit downward, bringing his manhood into position above Addy’s spread open crotch. He raised his right hand and touched Addy’s lips with his fingertips. She kissed them. Tom then let his fingertips trail slowly down her chin and along her throat. They lightly slid along her warm moist skin down her chest between he breasts, causing goose bumps to raise in their wake. As they neared her bellybutton his hand turned so that the backs of his fingertips were now in contact with her skin.

Every nerve in Addy’s body was at a heightened attention. Every contact Tom made with her skin felt like fire and ice at the same time, Addy felt like she might scream it was so overwhelming. When Tom’s fingers crossed her abdomen and encountered the first of her pubic hair above her mons, her hips tried to rise all on their own.

Tom felt the soft downy hair with his fingertips. It was a new sensation for him as the only experience he had was with a couple of girls he had dated from time to time, and their pubic hair had been wiry or coarse in comparison to what he was feeling now. Tom flinched a little when Addy’s hips twitched upward at his touch. His heart skipped another beat. Further down, he felt the soft heated flesh that would of course be Addy’s vagina. Her labia were swollen with excitement and of course they were wet, but it wasn’t entirely from their recent swim.

She twitched again, her hips rising, almost leaping, at the feel of Tom’s fingers deftly, hesitantly touching her most private of privates. Addy’s breath caught once more as her nerves were electrified. Her whole body was vibrating in anticipation, she felt like a spring wound to the breaking point. Looking up into Tom’s still worried and concerned face, even as it was somehow as awestruck as she herself felt, Addy nodded wordlessly to encourage him to continue.

Seeing Addy’s nodding and the expectant pleading look on her face, Tom used his index finger to part her swollen outer lips. He ventured in a little finding her very wet… and heated. He withdrew his finger and brought his hand to his own body to grasp his erection, to guide it to those wet wanton lips that were so eager and ready and waiting. At some level in his overloaded mind, he realized that this was the final line. Everything up till this point, while wrong, could be forgiven. What they were about to do, however, could not. As he touched just the head of his cock to Addy’s outer lips, feeling the heat from her waiting body, Tom trembled. Glancing one last time into Addy’s face, her eyes, searching for any doubt or change of mind or heart… he found none. She only nodded one slow certain nod, acknowledging his unspoken question.

The first time a person makes love is momentous. Poets and lovers have proclaimed for millennia the raging emotions, or startling revelations that people experience. They talk about the stars and the universe suddenly coming into alignment, or hearing a host or choir of angels heralding the moment with their voices raised in song, accompanied by trumpets and violins. Some declare that the earth stands still, that time stops. That might all be hyperbole and exaggeration but for Addy, and even Tom, all these things would have been very near to what they experienced that night on that blanket under the billions of stars and millions of fire flies.

Addy felt the soft warm surprisingly solid flesh of Tom’s erection spread her outer lips and slowly press into her vagina. She was literally dripping wet from her own secretions, from being so excited, so there was little resistance from lack of lubrication. It did feel like she was being stretched wider and wider as he pressed slowly into her. It wasn’t entirely uncomfortable, just a feeling of fullness that grew and grew. As the head entered slowly, Tom leaned forward and placed his hands on the blanket on either side of Addy’s heaving chest to better support his own weight. He wanted for his sister to be as comfortable as possible.

Tom was not a virgin, he had been with girls before. Not many, but enough to know that he shouldn’t rush anything. He needed to go slowly, to let Addy get comfortable with him, with his cock inside of her. She felt so tight wrapped around him but he could feel her relaxing slowly. The heat he felt was driving him insane though. He felt as if he were a spring wound too tight. He watched Addy’s face carefully as he pressed in further and further a little at a time. Her eyes were wide with wonder, her eyebrows were fluttering like butterflies. Addy’s mouth was slightly open, her jaw was slack even as her lips quivered much like her eyebrows. Tom could feel her hands gripping his sides, her fingers almost digging into his skin.

Slowly, ever so slowly they came together, inch by inch, until finally Tom was all the way in and Addy’s hips rotated slightly by instinct to try to accept even more. There was no more though, all of Tom’s eight-inch cock was buried inside of her. They both groaned as they held still, their bodies awash with sensations both pleasant and overwhelming. Addy released Tom’s sides and brought her hands back to the sides of his face, drawing him down to hers. They both closed their eyes as their lips met again in a slow sensual passionate kiss. Both of their bodies were vibrating, trembling with excitement and emotions.

When their bodies demanded air, and they broke their kiss, Addy wrapped her arms around Tom’s neck to bury her face in between his neck and shoulder. She whimpered even as her body flexed convulsively. Tom remained motionless, fearful that he was hurting her.

“Are you okay Addy?” He asked hesitantly.

“I… I… Yeah… Oh Tom! I love you so much! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you… so much! Now I know what love is supposed to feel like…” Addy gasped breathlessly almost in Tom’s ear then resumed kissing his neck.

Driven by some ancient instinct, Addy’s legs rose up and wrapped around Tom’s waist to lock her ankles behind him. Tom lowered himself to rest on his forearms and elbows as the two lay motionless in their lovers’ embrace. As Addy kissed his neck, so too did Tom kiss hers, and her shoulder. His hands, turned over and were holding Addy’s back, his fingers just reaching the tops of her shoulders. And then it began…

Again, instinct or the body’s natural drives caused Addy to flex at her hips. Her pelvis rocked slightly and her thighs clenched as did muscles deep within herself that she had never been aware of before this night. She gripped and squeezed the fullness inside her that was her brother. The movement caused some small measure of friction between their most intimate of flesh. The nerve endings in both flared and electrified with even that so very small movement. They both gasped at the intense pleasure they felt.

Those small movements began to grow larger, and more frequent. Slowly the rocking became a grinding motion, and then the more familiar and ultimately more pleasurable and intense natural thrusting in and out. Tom knew to go slow, more though, he wanted to go slow, to savor and to share the intensity and overwhelming pleasure with Addy. He knew, too, that he could not keep up this intensity much longer because Addy was so very tight around him. He could feel his growing climax threatening to explode, it was too soon, far too soon. Halting all movement while deep inside Addy, Tom whispered for her to hold on tight, then he rolled the both of them over so that he was on his back.

Addy wasn’t sure what Tom meant when he said to hold on tight, she was already holding on so tight that he felt like her own skin. When he rolled the both of them over however, she had to unlock her legs so that they lay shin down as she straddled Tom’s waist. She still felt his cock filling her completely with such a sweet wonderful fullness that she had never even imagined before this night. Addy leaned back, sitting upright, allowing her hands to trail down from Tom’s neck across his chest, her fingers running lightly through the hair on his chest. She felt his chest rise and fall with his heavy breathing and even his heart beating strongly inside.

Tom’s hands rested lightly atop of Addy’s thighs, until she took them in her own hands and brought them slowly up to her breasts. Her face was a mixture of delighted amazement and perhaps a little fearful curiosity. Addy’s eyebrows danced nervously and her bottom lip was drawn into her teeth. Tom saw her eyes nearly roll back into her head just before she closed them as his big strong hands, with the callouses and rough skin gently pawed and squeezed her tender and still bruised breasts. Addy’s nipples sent jolts of pleasure flashing through her mind and body as they rubbed on the palms of Tom’s hands.

“You are so beautiful Addy.” Tom whispered in awe as he looked up at his sister.

“I… am… not…” Addy gasped out even as she shuddered from the strange surge that flashed through her body, it felt scary, and yet… wonderful at the same time.

Almost as if it hurt in a way, her body tightened up and cramped. No. Not cramped, convulsed. Addy had seen a girl have an epileptic seizure once at school… could she be having or about to have a seizure as well? These thoughts vanished however as the feeling ebbed away. She found that she longed to feel that again, then she felt Tom move slightly beneath her… inside of her… and then she realized that He was the source, or the two of them together had created that feeling. She wanted more. Looking down on Tom’s caring, worrying, adorable, awed and amazed face… she smiled. It was a self-conscious grin that grew and grew beyond her control.

Releasing her grip on the back of Tom’s hands, Addy slid her hands down his arms to the joint at the elbows. There she grasped his arms with her hands for support, and began to rock forward and back with only her pelvis. It was slow at first, she was new to this and was learning as she went, but it was something that came naturally. Faster and faster, she rocked and slid herself off and on Tom’s cock, never quite letting it come out of her wanton sheath. It seemed that every motion, any direction, caused that wonderful exciting feeling insider her to grow. It was like something inside of her was heating to a low boil, getting hotter and hotter with every move.

Tom lay there on the blanket looking up into the face of the girl he had known almost all of his life. His little sister, his best friend… a beautiful girl. No. Not a girl, not any longer, she was a woman now. He witnessed the transformation this very night. She gazed down at him, her face full of awe and wonder as well as love. Tom’s thoughts were swept away, however, by the emotions and the sensations that they were sharing. As Addy began to rock and slide on him, her hands locked on his arms, Tom could feel her moving on the inside as well. Her sheath grasping and pulling him, the feeling was the most amazing thing in his experience.

Both their hearts raced ever faster as their bodies too moved faster and faster. The look in Addy’s eyes changed somewhat, from awe and wonder to concentration and… hunger. Her body knew what her mind did not. This primal dance, this race to ecstasy that she and Tom were engaged in was coming to the finish line. Their bodies were wound tighter and tighter and their breathing faster and faster until…

Addy’s fingers dug into Tom’s arms as her body went rigid. Her back arched and her head tilted back on a straining neck. Addy’s eyes were closed and her face twisted in something akin to agony, her mouth agape as if struggling to scream or perhaps trying to inhale a breath that she couldn’t find. Her heart seemed to stop… for what seemed like ages… but it was only a heartbeat or two. Beneath her, and inside of her, Tom went rigid as well. His breathing had stopped as did his own heart… or so it seemed. Again, time seemed to stop or at least slow down to nearly a stop. The electricity, the ecstasy, boiling searing turmoil that the human body experiences in those brief few moments during climax consumed both of them at the same time.

The only sounds they uttered were animalistic at best, groaning and moaning if anything… and even those were muted. The night sounds around them seemed to quiet for that moment or two before re surging to the usual raucous chorus of crickets and frogs and night birds. As Tom had experienced climax at least a few times in his life, he knew how overwhelming it could be. His first conscious thoughts as he began to come down from his high was how it would affect Addy, his inexperienced little sister.

As exhilarating and wonderful as these new feelings were, they were still a little scary as well. Addy’s mind was a blur of conflicting thoughts and emotions while her body blissfully took stock of the situation. As she began to come down and relax from this unexpected wonderful climactic peak, she collapsed onto her older brother’s body. Her head came to rest on his still heaving chest as both of them panted and gasped to catch their breath. Addy felt Tom’s big strong hands and arms wrap around her to hold her closer still and keep her safe. Between them, as they were still joined, Tom deep inside of Addy, their bodies still pulsed and throbbed in time with their hearts.

They lay there for some time, their bodies cooling in the night air, as their breathing returned to something more normal. Tom stared at the stars above as his mind struggled to come to grips with his confused and conflicted feelings and emotions. Part of him was overjoyed in finding that his Addy loved him as much as he loved her. He couldn’t be happier if he tried… but those thoughts were tempered by the knowledge that she was his sister. His little sister. A girl that he swore, if only to himself, that he would sooner give his own life than to see her hurt in any way. On top of that there were the moral implications, the taboo and just plain wrongness of carnal love between siblings. God! Why had he let this happen? The stars seemed to blur and lose focus. He was about to try to apologize when Addy stirred. Tom felt her suck in a huge breath as if it were a startled gasp.

“Tom?” She asked as if she weren’t sure it was him that was holding her tightly.

“Thank you… Thank you for loving me so much… Thank you for showing me what love really is…” She spoke in a near whisper with her head turned and the right side of her face pressed against Tom’s naked chest as if listening to his heart.

“Love… sex… should be special. Special between two people that love one another. You know I love you and I know you love me… But as much as we love one another and want to share with each other… Other people, Addy, will not see it like that. What we’ve done and shared is wrong… as far as others are concerned. I wish it weren’t that way…” Tom told Addy in a soft if somber voice, and she lay there atop of him silent if trembling slightly.

“There is no one else in this world that I would rather share love with than you baby… you have to know that. I… I… I’m so sorry Addy…” Tom’s voice cracked as the lump in his throat threatened to choke him with his own words.

“What if we ran away to somewhere… somewhere that no one knew us and nobody knew we were brother and sister?” Addy barely whispered, her own voice threatening to beak as well.

Tom lay there quietly, struggling to breathe let alone speak. He had to admit that he too had asked such questions of himself on more than one occasion but had dismissed them without giving them much thought. That was before he knew just how deeply and completely Addy did love him. The realization was indeed overwhelming.

As the thoughts of what could possibly be and what they actually were, Tom felt his now deflated manhood slip out of his sister to fall wetly between his legs. Addy whimpered and sighed almost sadly as she continued to lay atop her brother, straddling his torso with her legs, the right side of her face still resting on his chest. The fingers of Addy’s left hand idly running through the sparse hairs on Tom’s chest.

“What about our family? They would know… As much as I want to be with you babe, I don’t want to hurt mom or dad. It would… it would kill them if we ran off… left them.” Tom finally spoke even as he gently stroked the back of Addy’s head, running his fingers through her still damp hair.

“I… I don’t know… I wouldn’t want to hurt momma or dad… But I do know I love you and I only want to be with you. It’s so confusing sometimes…” Addy admitted in a sorrowful voice, muffled as it was against Tom’s chest.

“I just don’t want to lose you…” She stated with a little more authority.

Tom smiled despite his inner turmoil and doubts. He took a deep breath and let it out in a slow shuddering sigh. Reaching up with both hands, he gently took Addy’s head in his hands and turned her face towards his own.

“First of all, you will never lose me. I will be your brother forever, and I will always love you more than you can even imagine… Secondly, as smart as you are, you need to finish school before you even think about anything else… seriously anyway… And then there’s college…” Tom spoke while his eyes were locked on those dazzling blue eyes.

Not that Tom could actually see their color in the darkness of night laying there on that blanket beside the pond. He had seen them for all of her life though and knew that those dazzling blue orbs were locked on his own eyes. After a moment or two of consideration, Tom could feel Addy’s head nod a couple of times slowly.

In an unspoken agreement both decided that they should be getting back to the house. He asked her as they walked back to the house after getting redressed and gathering up the fishing poles and the blanket, if she would be going to school the next day. Addy was hesitant in her answer but said that she did think she was ready to return. The unspoken fears and anxiety were as palpable as the cool evening air and Tom once again vowed to correct the wrongs that brought her to this state of mind.

Addy held the lantern while Tom put the fishing gear in the tack room of the barn, then together, hand in hand, they walked to the house. Teresa met them in the kitchen as they came in. She was already dressed for bed and had her housecoat over her gown. The cup of tea she was sipping on at the table was next to an empty coffee cup that Richard had finished a little earlier. He had already gone to bed she told them.

Teresa studied both Addy and Tom over the rim of her teacup as they washed their hands at the kitchen sink. Tom poured himself a glass of iced tea and sat at the table. Addy stopped behind his chair and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a brief hug, her head nestled next to his. Tom leaned his head into Addy’s before she broke the hug and said good night to him and Teresa. Teresa had witnessed such displays throughout their childhood but what she saw tonight… made her inhale sharply with the recognition of something… more.

Sunday came and went as normally as any had before. Tom, with Addy’s help caught up on chores that had been neglected through the week. They exchanged smiles and curious glances throughout the day but neither spoke of the night before. The sun set was enjoyed while sitting quietly on the back porch sipping iced tea shoulder to shoulder. Soon, it was bedtime and everyone turned in.

The sound of the alarm going off next to his bed, roused Tom the next morning. After silencing the alarm, he rolled over on his back and draped an arm over his eyes. He lay there a few moments longer as his brain replayed the events of the previous day… and last night by the pond. It really did happen. God, what a mess. On the one hand, it was a dream come true, being with the one girl he loved more than anything in the world… but the wrongness of her being his own little sister… How would this affect her? He couldn’t live with himself if he hurt her.

As Tom laid there thinking, there was a soft knock on his bedroom door. The door cracked open slowly and Addy entered hesitantly. When she realized that Tom had raised his head up and was looking to see who it was, she crossed to his bed. She sat with her left leg tucked under her and the right hanging off the side of the bed, her sock covered foot brushing at the hardwood flooring. Addy’s hands were clasped together in her lap, her head down but her eyes bright and imploring.

“Tom… could you give me a ride to school today?” She asked meekly.

“Of course.” He said without a moment’s thought as he rested his left hand atop of hers.

“And… maybe… pick me up after school too?” She asked, again, meekly… chewing her bottom lip.

“I can do that… or at least try to be on time anyway. Depends on… deliveries or whatever.” Tom responded.

“Oh, I don’t mind waiting. I can see the parking lot from the lobby in the office.” Addy said in a slightly stronger voice, obviously pleased by her brother’s willingness to help.

“Well, you better go get ready then. I need to get up and get dressed myself.” Tom said with a smile.

“Thanks Tom.” Addy said and returned his smile as she stood up to go back to her room and get dressed.

She stopped at the door and turned again to look at him. They locked eyes and both smiled a soft gentle knowing smile before she turned and left the room. With an inward groan, Tom threw back the blankets and turned to sit on the edge of his bed and brought both hands to his face and rubbed it. With a sight he stood up and got dressed.

Richard was just standing up from the kitchen table as Tom came down the stairs and turned into the kitchen. Addy was already sitting at the table and eating from the plate that Teresa had set before her. Teresa stood on her tiptoes and gave Richard a kiss on the cheek and squeezed his hand. They exchanged a silent look, both smiling if a little sadly. When Teresa released Richard’s hand she turned to Tom and told him to sit down. She moved back over to the stove and fixed him a plate. Richard stopped beside Addy’s chair and rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment. Addy turned and looked up at him. He nodded and she smiled. She turned back to her eating and Richard walked to the door. Pulling a cap off the coat rack and set it on his head and opened the door and stepped out of the house to begin his day.

Teresa came back to the table and set a plate in front of Tom. She then put her left hand on his right shoulder for a moment. She smiled down at him when he turned to look at her. It was a sad smile, but one with love all the same. The look in her eyes puzzled him briefly and he tilted his head ever so slightly in askance but she just smiled and patted his shoulder once more before turning back to the stove to clean up. Tom pondered the look for a moment longer before turning back to look at his sister before he began to eat.

“I hope I’m not too far behind on my classes.” Addy said between bites of her breakfast.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to catch up. Most likely you were ahead in your classes anyway, you usually are.” Tom said between bites of his own breakfast.

Addy grinned sheepishly at her brother but finished eating without saying anything else. They both brought their plates to the sink to Teresa before heading to the door. Addy slung her book bag over one shoulder as Tom put on his jacket and grabbed his hat. Teresa handed him a paper bag with his lunch and grabbed his arm with her free hand. He looked at her and it seemed as if there was something that she wanted to say, but she only smiled that soft, almost sad smile then let him go. He puzzled that, again as he walked to the barn to get into his pickup truck.

Addy climbed in the passenger side and fastened her seat belt while Tom started the truck to let it warm up a minute. Tom wondered if he should ask Addy about their Teresa, but shook it off as he figured Addy had enough on her mind as it was. As they pulled out of the barn and turned to head down the driveway, Tom could see Teresa standing in the doorway of the house watching them go. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was missing something. Maybe Teresa knew something about what had transpired last night out at the pond. No. That couldn’t be it. She would have freaked out, he was sure. It must be something else, or it might be that she was just still worried about Addy and how she was holding up after… after the rape. Tom’s stomach tightened at the thought and he felt the black anger rising in him.

The drive to school was quiet and uneventful. Addy kept silent, and Tom didn’t pressure her to talk. He did reach over with his right hand and clasp her left however. Addy turned to look at him and smiled warmly. Yet there was a sadness in her eyes, as if the weight of their actions was on her mind as well. The sadness didn’t mask the love that shown in those same eyes though. Those dazzling blue eyes still captivated and bewitched Tom. It was all he could do to tear his own eyes away and turn back to watching where he was driving. They held hands most of the way to the school.

When Tom pulled up to the curb in front of the main entrance at the high school, Addy unbuckled her seat belt and leaned over to kiss Tom on the cheek before grabbing her book bag and getting out. They shared a look for a moment after she closed the door. That same sad smile crossed Addy’s face before she turned to walk into school. Tom sighed deeply then put the truck into gear and drove off towards town and the hardware store. As he was exiting the school parking lot, he saw a black Camaro pull into the lot. It was Delbert’s Camaro, and Delbert gave Tom his usual sneering grin as they passed one another. Tom’s stomach soured and the blackness grew a little darker.

Addy’s day was not too bad until just before lunch. She was heading to the library when she ran into Delbert. He was standing outside the men’s restroom down the hall from the library entrance. He was talking with a couple of other sleazy looking guys and all three of them took notice of her as she approached. Of course, Delbert had to say something. She didn’t hear what he had mumbled to the other two guys but she could imagine well enough. She did, however, hear what he said to her as she neared.

“Well well well… look who finally came back to school. Did you miss me?” Delbert said with a voice that was as much of a sneer as the one on his face.

Addy pretended not to hear him and focused on the door to the library, both hands clutching the strap of her book bag that was slung over her right shoulder. Delbert was not going to let it slide though, he would not be ignored. Stepping in front of her, he forced Addy to come to a halt.

“Hey… not so fast. What? Not happy to see me after what I gave you last week? You should be flattered that I even bother to say hi. You know… you were a pretty lame lay.” Delbert said loud and teasingly still sneering that awful grin.

Addy felt herself go cold with fright but it quickly changed to heated sickening disgust. Not wanting to show him any fear or shame, she stared coldly into his eyes. She raged inside, she wanted to scream at him and tell him off… tell the whole world what a monster and a creep he was. But she didn’t, she simply stared at him coldly. It was a look that would have caused concern for any normal person seeing it but it had no affect at all on Delbert.

“What’s a matter? Cat got your tongue? You know, that’s one part of you I didn’t enjoy last week. We can fix that though, how bout we find some place quiet and you can suck me off? I’ll bet you have a sweet little mouth for sucking with, don’t you?” Delbert turned to smile at his buddies thinking he was so very witty.

Just then another boy came out of the men’s room, one that wasn’t a friend of Delbert’s. The distraction was enough for Addy to step around Delbert and hurry into the library a few paces away. She could hear him and his buddies laughing in the hallway behind her even over the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears. Addy ducked into the librarian’s office to one side of the check-out counter and leaned against the wall, out of sight of anyone coming into the library. Her face had gone ashen and she was trembling, from rage and fear both at the same time.

Delbert had not followed her into the library, thankfully. Instead, he and his buddies had decided to ditch the rest of the school day and go get high or something. They had left the campus but Addy was not aware of that, she was wary and on guard the rest of the day, looking over her shoulder and jumping at nearly every sound. She was, in a word, miserable. By the end of the school day, she was nearly an emotional wreck as she waited for Tom to come pick her up.

Tom’s day had been rather uneventful, so far, only one truck to unload earlier that morning, and just a couple of deliveries after that. By the time school let out he was pretty much done for the day. He had told the owners, Teresa’s grandparents, that he was to pick up Addy after school and they let him go a little early. Tom’s mood had been dark the entire day and the older couple had known, or suspected, that he had been brooding over what had happened to his sister last week. It was true, of course, but his thoughts were more about vengeance than sorrow.

Brooding and thinking about Delbert and what could and should be done about what he had done, and knowing what would likely be done, or rather not done about it just made him seethe with anger. Tom knew that he had to do something, something himself, the law would not touch that animal. It was the animal that Tom had considered when he picked up an electric cattle prod from a shelf in the back room, along with a tube of super glue on his way out to his truck that day.

Addy felt relief wash over her as she saw Tom’s pick up pull into the parking lot. She gathered up her book bag and was exiting the school’s front entrance when he pulled up to the curb. Her smile was tempered with her anxiety and Tom noticed it as soon as he laid eyes on her. After she opened the passenger door and climbed in, he reached over and took her hand as she was fastening her seat belt.

“Addy, are you okay?” Tom asked in a concerned low voice… uncertain as to the cause of her demeanor… could it be about what they did the night out by the pond?

“I’m okay… I… I just ran into Delbert earlier…” She began and then her eyes flooded with tears and she pulled Tom’s hand to her cheek, her whole body shaking.

“What did he do Addy?” Tom asked in a barely controlled voice, his teeth grinding because his jaw was clamped so tight.

“N… nothing… Just being an ass… he was taunting me and… and just being an ass…” She sputtered out plaintively while trying not to sob.

“I only saw him once today…” She added a little more strongly, regaining some self-control, perhaps drawing strength from her big brother’s touch.

Tom broke his gaze away from his stricken younger sister and looked around the parking lot. Delbert’s black Camaro was not to be seen. Tom thought he had a pretty good idea where he might find it though. Squeezing Addy’s hand gently, even though his own gut was tight as a drum from the boiling rage that had surged through him as Addy had spoken, Tom took a deep breath and put the truck in gear. They headed home to the farm. On the way Tom struggled with the way to break the subject of last night.

Addy too, was thinking of the night by the pond. For her it was a comforting thought more than anything else. She had found out for certain that her brother loved her every bit as much as she loved him, and in every way… right or wrong it was all that she had dreamed of and more. She was smart enough to understand that it would be difficult at best, to continue down this path with her brother. Society as a whole was simply not ready to accept the forbidden love of two siblings. But she would not, could not, change her heart. She was determined that they would find a way, somehow. This determination, however, was hard to put into words and discuss, at least just yet, with Tom.

Tom mistook Addy’s silence as pain and withdrawal after her latest encounter with Delbert. His mind seethed with darkness and hatred for that son of a bitch. At one point on the drive home Addy had involuntarily gasped and sobbed almost silently. That was the last straw… the darkness won out over his conscience. Tom’s eyes hardened as and his jaw set with firm determination. As they pulled into the driveway at the farm, at last, Tom pulled up to the house instead of the barn where he normally parked. Addy looked at him in askance, confused perhaps.

“I just remembered I was going to finish a delivery. I… forgot something on my last run that I need to get back out to the customer.” He nearly choked on the lie, even though it might have been plausible if he had ever forgotten anything on a delivery, which he hadn’t.

“I… I can go with you…” Addy began, not really wanting to be apart from her brother any longer than she had to be.

“Nah… I won’t be long. You can get started on your homework, I’ll be back in no time, I’ll see you at dinner.” Tom said, not making eye contact with his little sister, knowing that she would see the lie in his eyes.

“Well… okay… hurry back. And Tom…” She said reluctantly, finally drawing his gaze.

“Yeah?” He asked as he felt himself being drawn into those electric, dazzling blue eyes of his little sister.

“I love you…” She said softly, not breaking eye contact for even a heartbeat.

“I love you too babe.” Tom responded even as his heart swelled.

Addy closed the passenger side door and Tom drove off, turning in the barnyard and heading back down the driveway to the road. Teresa opened the back door drying her hands on a towel as Addy stood there on the porch watching Tom drive away.

“Where’s Tom off to?” Teresa asked, puzzled by his leaving before dinner.

“He said he had forgotten something on a delivery earlier and had to go finish it up.” Addy spoke distractedly, almost as if she were talking aloud to herself.

Addy turned to walk inside after Tom drove out of sight. Teresa stood there a moment or two longer wondering about this unusual behavior. It wasn’t like Tom to forget anything, but there was the chance that his mind was on other things today. Teresa’s unease and suspicions grew a little more, she told herself she would have to get Tom alone sometime soon and have a talk with him. Even as she was thinking this however, the sharp pain in her abdomen nearly caused her to double over. She gasped as if someone had kicked her in the gut and knocked all the wind out of her. Clutching the towel in her hands as if it were a lifeline, she squeezed her eyes shut and grimaced as she waited out the pain. Slowly it subsided again. She knew in her heart that her time was short, and growing shorter all the time. The pills were helping to take the edge off the pain most of the time. But…

The countryside rolled past Tom’s windows as he drove. He really didn’t see anything other than the road ahead and the visions of… of things he felt like doing to Delbert when he finally found and caught up with him. He was going to confront the bastard, finally, and… well… Delbert would regret ever having thought about harming Addy. Reaching behind the seat of the truck he felt for and found the three-foot-long electric cattle prod he had borrowed from the hardware store. He brought it over the back and set it across the seat next to him.

“Aw come on man! Where you bitches going? I was just starting to have fun.” Delbert exclaimed in a disappointed almost whining huff.

“Come on Delbert, I’m on a curfew now thanks to your crazy ideas of fun. You know I got to get home before five or my old man will take my car away.” The taller boy said as he tossed his empty beer bottle at the overflowing oil drum that was supposed to be a garbage can. The bottle missed and shattered on a cinder block next to the drum.

“Yeah, man, and Scott is my ride. I’m already walking on thin ice with my mom. We’ll see you at school tomorrow.” Said the second shorter guy with greasy hair hanging in his eyes. He took a last long drag on his cigarette and flicked it out into the water of the lake just off the boat ramp where they had parked.

“Pussies! Fuck you then! I’ll just party by myself!” Delbert shouted halfheartedly as he flipped them both off as he sat there on the old truck bench seat someone had dumped there at some time in the past.

Delbert smirked as the two other boys drove off screeching tires as the driver of the hot rod Oldsmobile put his foot to the floor. Leaning to one side, Delbert reached into his front left pocket of his jeans and pulled out the little zip lock bag of pot that he was carrying. Taking one last swig of his now nearly empty beer bottle, he then flipped it over his shoulder behind him into the weeds off the side of the boat ramp. He proceeded to open the baggie and pull out a joint that he already had rolled. Delbert then carefully sealed the bag back up and slipped it back into his front pocket.

Tom passed the roaring Oldsmobile going the opposite direction as he approached the narrows bridge across Arrowhead Lake. As Tom neared the end of the bridge, he looked off to his left towards the boat launch, and saw Delbert’s black Camaro parked there. A hint of a grin slowly formed on Tom’s face, it was not one of mirth or joy however, his face was still hard and cold. Tom slowed and pulled off the road a good distance past the turn off for the ramp. After pulling into the trees and parking in the shadows where his old pickup might not be noticed by any traffic, he turned off the engine and sat there for a moment.

Delbert’s concentration was entirely on the rolled up little bit of paradise in his hand. He slowly drew the tightly wrapped joint under his nose sniffing loudly at the smell of the dried weed within. He then held the joint in front of him and muttered “Pussies” under his breath as he drew a Bic lighter from his shirt pocket and lit it. Drawing heavily on the end of the joint opposite the burning paper and weed, he pulled in a big long breath of the smoke. Delbert’s mind clouded and his world got a little fuzzier still fueling the buzz he already had from drinking at least 8 beers since lunch time. He closed his eyes and leaned back on the old truck seat and grinned stupidly.

Tom got out of his truck and pulled the cattle prod out. He was about to close his door softly when he remembered the super glue. Reaching across the seat he fished the tube of super glue out of his truck’s ash tray. He was not a smoker so he used the ashtray as a coin holder or catch all for little stuff. Pocketing the super glue, he closed the door. Turning towards the road he began walking quietly towards the boat ramp, and Delbert.

After making his way through the trees, Tom crossed the road and began walking down the path that ran alongside the boat ramp access road. He wasn’t trying to sneak up on Delbert really, but he wasn’t making very much noise either. Not that it would have mattered either way, as Delbert had the stereo in his Camaro cranked up loud and the pot that he was smoking had dulled all of his senses. Delbert had his back to the direction in which Tom was approaching, as he slouched in a stupor with his head lolling and his eyes closed.

Never a big fan of the kind of music that Delbert favored, the thumping beat punctuated by shouted obscenities that passed for lyrics only fed the raging anger he felt towards one foul mouthed rapist, Delbert Evans. Tom paused in his approach some twenty feet from where Delbert slouched on the old truck bench seat. Both of his hands formed fists without any conscious thought to do so. The anger and rage bubbled up inside of Tom and his heart began to race as the adrenaline coursed through his veins. He wanted so badly to just beat Delbert, to take out his frustrations about the lack of anything the law could do for what Delbert did to Addy.

Tom gritted his teeth and his nostrils flared. He wanted to hurt Delbert. He wanted to humiliate him. He wanted… he wanted Delbert to feel what it was like to be… to be… hurt and afraid and helpless. Tom’s hands gripped and twisted the cattle prod he carried, he intended to use the business end on Delbert. It wouldn’t kill him, but he would remember it for a very very long time. It might even wipe that insidious smirk off his ugly face. Yes, it was time.

Two slow strides closer to the bench seat, Tom flicked the power switch on the cattle prod. Delbert was none the wiser that his life was about to change dramatically. Two more strides and Tom had halved the distance to where Delbert still slouched and bobbed and nodded his head to the thumping beat of the shouting and music. His head and shoulders were above the backrest of the ratty old seat. Delbert’s black tee shirt left his neck bare, except for his greasy long hair that kept flipping with the head bobs and nods.

Delbert had just formed the thoughts of relighting the remainder of the joint he held in his left hand, he opened his eyes and tried to focus on it. The sound of Tom’s foot falls on the gravel six feet behind him still didn’t even register in his consciousness. Tom raised and extended the cattle prod and brought the two metal prongs to just touch the bare skin on the back of Delbert’s neck, just where the neck meets the skull… and squeezed the trigger.

Tom had seen the results of using a prod on livestock, bulls mostly and sometimes a mule maybe, but he had never seen how a human body might react to being zapped. The size difference and thickness of the hide should have made a difference but apparently it was a big difference. Delbert never knew what hit him. It was like being electrocuted, his already tweaked and abused brain cells were overloaded by the massive electrical jolt and it was lights out… for starters. His body went rigid for a few moments and then limp and lost control of his bodily functions. It would seem that Delbert had had to empty his bladder… and he did.

Looking down at Delbert’s unconscious body, with the growing wet stain in the crotch of his jeans, Tom felt disgusted. He toed Delbert’s right left leg, there was no response. He poked Delbert with the cattle prod but didn’t trigger it again. It was time to get started. Setting the cattle prod aside for the time being, Tom bent down and unfastened Delbert’s belt and pulled it from his jeans. Rolling him over, he then pulled his hands behind his back and tied them with the belt. That done, Tom then pulled the tail of Delbert’s ratty tee shirt up and over his head to cover his face, at least partially blinding him.

Delbert emitted a long groan while he was face down. Tom stood back up and stepped to Delbert’s feet. Picking them up, one in each hand, Tom twisted causing Delbert to roll over onto his back, exposing his bare chest and stomach. Tom then stepped to straddle the unconscious boy’s legs and gripped his jeans at the waist. Pulling the jeans down, or rather up, they slipped off of Delbert’s hips and thighs. Tom pulled and tugged until the jeans were below Delbert’s knees. Again, Delbert groaned as his overloaded tiny little bully brain struggled to regain consciousness.

Tom remembered the tube of superglue in his pocket and took it out. He knelt down next to Delbert and twisted the top off the tube to open it. Then, using the tube like a pen he wrote “I AM A RAPIST” in glue on Delbert’s bare chest in big block letters about two inches tall. Feeling the gravel and broken glass crunch under his feet and knees, Tom had a flash of an idea. He reached down and gathered a couple of handfuls of the gritty material and sprinkled it on the still wet glue in***********ion on Delbert’s skin. The glue set instantly and the glass and gravel stuck… like glue.

There was almost half a tube of glue left, Tom looked down at Delbert’s naked junk laying shriveled in the boy’s crotch. It crossed Tom’s mind to glue Delbert’s dick to his abdomen, but then he thought it probably wouldn’t even reach that far. Instead, he simply put the cap back on the tube and stood back up. Slipping the tube into his pocket again he bent over and picked up the cattle prod. Tom looked at the power settings and saw that it was still set at maximum. Not wanting to render Delbert unconscious again when he finally came around, Tom lowered the power setting to low. It would still hurt like hell.

“Wh… What the Fu… Fuck?” Delbert moaned through clamped jaws as his head lolled to one side.

“Oh good… you’re awake. You’re really not much fun when your sleeping… you fuck!” Tom said sarcastically with an edge in his voice that even he didn’t recognize.

“Who is that? Who’s there? What the fuck is going on?” Delbert nearly squealed as he was desperately trying to come to grips with what was happening.

“Not so much fun, being helpless, is it you turd?” Tom spat, and then he literally spat on Delbert as he struggled to free his arms.

“Wh… why can’t I see anything? Why are my arms… WHY ARE MY PANTS DOWN?” Delbert asked, each question causing his voice to go up in pitch to match his alarm.

Tom held out the cattle prod and lightly touched Delbert just under his throat and let the metal tips drag across his skin as it moved downward to his chest and then abdomen. Just the touch of the tip of the prod caused Delbert to freeze and tense up.

“What is that? What are you…” Delbert began to demand in a startled tone but didn’t finish as he suddenly was jolted by an electrical shock as Tom triggered the prod.

Delbert’s body jerked as if… well… he had been shocked. His body stiffened and then went limp again. He groaned as he got his breath back after a few moments, his chest heaving in panic, real panic now.

“I’m sorry, did that hurt? I guess I should have warned you huh? Oh, I don’t know, maybe I should have asked if you wanted to play too, do you think? Just like you did with my sister, right Delbert?” Tom growled.

“Wh… what are you talking about? Who… who is that? Tom?” Delbert squeaked in a nervous high voice.

“Ding Ding Ding! Give the boy a prize! I’m glad you’re finally putting two and two together fuckwad! I really didn’t think you had it in you Del… you being all talk and no walk. Oh, sure, you can sneak up on people and be really nasty. Well, buddy, you’re getting a little taste of your own shit today, aren’t you? In fact, how about another little taste?” Tom said as he let the head of the cattle prod slide along Delbert’s skin of his bare right thigh.

Delbert didn’t flinch at first as he really hadn’t actually realized that the feeling of the prongs was about to cause him renewed agony, until Tom triggered it. Delbert choked out a strangled gurgling yelp as his body once again convulsed from the electrical charge delivered from the prod and surged through his nervous system. It was over in seconds of course, but to Delbert it must have felt like hours. He was now whining and crying, pleading for Tom to stop, to let him go.

“Really Delbert? Let you go? Hell, I was just starting to have a little fun. You know what fun is don’t you Del? Sure, you do, you had fun with my sister, didn’t you? Tell me Del, did she ask you to stop? Did she cry and plead?” Tom asked vehemently as he poked the tip of the prod in Delbert’s stomach and triggered it for another jolt. Then to the side of his rib cage and triggered it again, then a third time on his left thigh.

Each jolt causing Delbert to seize up and convulse, jerking and twitching. Tom didn’t smile, he just watched and tried to decide where to poke and shock the bastard next. He stopped and let Delbert catch his breath. He didn’t want the asshole to pass out again, he wanted Delbert to feel the agony, the pain, all the helpless humiliation that he had caused his sister.

“P… P… Please… St… St… Stop… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” Delbert cried like a little girl, blubbering and twisting both in pain and in fear of the next jolt.

“Please? Please? Do you even know what that word means Delbert? Didn’t Addy ask you to please stop? No? Oh! That’s right! She was unconscious while you were having your fun… Now that’s just not fair is it, Delbert? I mean she missed out on all the fun, right? Well, I won’t let you miss out on the fun. I want you to have it all!” Tom growled again.

Tom poked and triggered and poked and triggered over and over along Delbert’s bare skin, hopping from one spot to another. Delbert jerked and twitched and gurgled and moaned with each new shock. At one point he literally pissed himself, the urine spraying all over his abdomen and legs as he twitched about. Tom stepped back so as not to get sprayed himself. Unfortunately, he wasn’t fast enough and some of it landed on his right boot. Disgusted, Tom drew back and kicked Delbert’s left leg just below his pulled down pants and knees. Delbert groaned and drew up his legs as if to protect himself somehow.

“I guess I don’t have to piss on you now, you’ve taken care of that yourself. Asshole!” Tom barked as Delbert continued to squirm and writhe on the ground in front of that old truck bench seat.

“Please… Please stop!” Delbert pleaded pitifully, as he managed somehow to roll himself over onto his stomach.

“Now, there you go again, begging like a little shit. Oh wait, you are a little shit aren’t you, Del? A pathetic little shit who thinks he’s a big turd. Well, you’re both really, aren’t you? And you stink! You make me sick, you sick FUCK!” Tom all but shouted his rage boiling over within him.

Tom drew back and kicked Delbert in the ass as hard as he could, the steel toed boot of his right foot split Delbert’s cheeks and crashed into his tightly puckered asshole. Something crunched, and Delbert screamed in agony! Tom kicked again, this time connecting with the meaty part of Delbert’s right ass cheek. Again, Tom drew back and lashed out, his aim was off or maybe it was because Delbert tried to turn away. As a result, Tom’s boot connected a glancing blow to the squirming boy’s bound hands and wrists. Once more there was a sickening crunching sound, like a twig snapping under foot… or perhaps several twigs snapping. Delbert gasped then moaned as he curled into a fetal position, his legs clamped tightly together causing his balls and shrunken penis to jut between and behind him.

With his chest heaving from exertion and from the raging emotions, Tom stood up straight and stared down at Delbert as he cringed at his feet. He felt the rage and anger still boiling within himself, but he just didn’t have the heart to do what he thought Delbert deserved. The rapist thug should be put down, like a rabid dog, but that was beyond Tom. He could and had hurt Delbert, and he thought Delbert had deserved every bit of it, and more. So, Tom swallowed and pushed that demon down, he would not kill Delbert… but he would humiliate him… even more than he had so far.

Remembering again the tube of super glue in his pocket, Tom thought of the last bit of humiliation he would leave with Delbert. And Delbert would almost do it to himself. Flicking the top off the tube with his thumb, Tom bent down and squirted the remaining half of the super glue out all over Delbert’s exposed ball sack and penis. Then tossed the empty tube into the weeds by the garbage barrel. Delbert didn’t even notice it, perhaps because the glue was body temperature from being in Tom’s pocket.

Tom then roughly grasped the loose end of Delbert’s belt and yanked it. The sound of broken bones crunching together was drowned out by Delbert’s screeching cry of pain. The belt slipped loose though. Standing up again Tom glared down at Delbert, grimacing as he once more brought the cattle prod around to bear, he lightly touched the metal prongs to Delbert’s dangling and glue covered ball sack and triggered it.

Aside from the initial shock that had rendered him unconscious, all the other shocks that Delbert had suffered from the cattle prod paled in comparison to this last one. An electrical jolt directly to his balls was beyond excruciating. Never in his life had he ever felt such pain, not even the broken jaw he had suffered could come close to this pain. Automatic reflex caused Delbert to bring his hands to his shattered and abused balls. From behind his back to grasp at his junk as if to protect it from further abuse, his hands came together to form a shield. The right hand arriving just a split second before the left… and it stuck. So too, did three fingers, the pinky, the ring finger and the middle finger of his left hand… his index finger and the thumb landed on the back of his right hand, overlapping. Not that Delbert noticed any of this, at least not right away… the pain was so intense.

“I won’t tell you to stay away from my sister Delbert. I don’t think you will ever want to see her again let alone bother her… but if you do… so help me God, this today will seem like a slow dance at the prom.” Tom said in a low rumbling voice that could have passed as thunder.

Delbert couldn’t even talk, he lay there writhing in a fetal position on his side holding his balls in both hands. He had pissed himself yet again and the puddle was spreading beneath him. All the while the stereo in Delbert’s car had been blaring out the loud trash metal sounds of whatever band Delbert liked listening to. Tom looked at the car and thought of busting out the tail lights or flattening the tires but the rage was subsiding now. The anger was simmering… still there but mollified by what he had done with or rather to Delbert. Instead, Tom merely turned and began walking back up the access road to get to his truck on the other side of the main road. Delbert groaned and moaned on the ground in front of that old bench seat.

Tom got back to his truck and opened the door. He reached in and dropped the cattle prod behind the bench seat back rest then climbed in behind the wheel. He sat for a moment with both hands on the top of the wheel and lowered his forehead to rest on the backs of his hands. He shuddered as the adrenaline began to wear off and as he thought of his dear little sister Addy. The warm feeling of tears running down his cheeks and across the back of his hands went unnoticed.

“That bastard will never bother you again Addy…” Tom barely whispered aloud.

Taking a deep breath and then letting out a long sigh, Tom straightened up in his seat and fastened his seat belt before starting his old truck. He put it into gear and eased out of the woods and back onto the road, turning to go home, to the farm, to his little sister Addy.

Tom was miles away when Delbert began to regain his senses. He hurt all over, his balls were on fire and he was still blinded by the shirt that was pulled over his face. He went to pull his right hand away from his balls to move the shirt… but his hand wouldn’t come free… it was stuck!

“What the… fuck?” Delbert groaned as he tried to tug his injured right hand, the pain from the broken fingers or wrist bones shooting up through his arm causing him to yelp. Not only that but the pain of his balls increased as well. Switching gears somewhat, Delbert tried to pull his left hand away… and was only partially successful, again pain from his hand and from his balls caused him to whimper and cry out. Now Delbert was in a near panic, as if he hadn’t gone far past that already. Desperate to at least see his surroundings he yanked his left hand as hard as he could. It was possible the scream could be heard a mile away, if there were anyone around to hear it.

Delbert’s left hand had come loose from his junk, broken and with extra skin and hair. The super glue had fused three fingers and the skin of his ball sack when he had reflexively grasped his junk after being zapped in the balls. He pawed at the shirt a few times before getting his broken fingers to make any kind of purchase on the material. Once his shirt was pulled off of his face, he looked around with wild panic-stricken eyes. Where was that crazy fucker Tom, he wondered? His instincts, primal at best, were to get away, FAR AWAY, as fast as he could.

With his right hand glued securely to his balls, Delbert rolled over onto his stomach and pushed up on the one broken wrist of his left hand onto his knees. His head swam as if he were drunk or high, but this wasn’t a pleasant feeling at all. He was hurting all over and bleeding. The ripped skin still glued to the fingers of his left hand had left raw open wounds. Somehow, Delbert managed to push himself up to stand. He staggered about a few steps with his jeans, now muddy with piss and gravel and broken glass, were still below his knees. He knew he had to pull them up before he could walk. Reaching his broken left hand down he began the struggle to get his pants back up.

“Get away!” Delbert’s pea brain screamed at him. “Get away NOW!”

Delbert had gotten his jeans pulled up to just below his ass cheeks, but no matter how he tried, he couldn’t get them up any farther because his right hand was in the way. Groaning, he held them in place as he staggered over to his car parked on the boat launch ramp a few yards away from where he had been… been… attacked. He found he had to lean against the side of the car facing it so that he could use his left hand to try to work the door handle on the driver side. He managed to open the door somehow but as the door swung open his jeans again fell to just above his knees.

“Fuck!” Delbert exclaimed before deciding to simply slide into the seat with his jeans down, his bare ass sliding and grinding on the leather bucket seat. The mud and debris grinding into his skin, the broken tail bone caused him to cry out and whimper like a little baby as he squeezed his eyes tightly closed. After a moment or so, Delbert reached out with his left hand and used his forearm through the open window to close the driver’s door. Pain shot through his arm from his broken left wrist as the door jolted to a stop when it closed.

“Get away! Get away NOW!” his brain continued to scream.

Realizing that his right hand was useless as it was glued to his balls, Delbert had to reach his injured left hand around to turn the ignition key. It was a struggle but he got the big V-8 motor to turn over and rumble to life. Leaning back in his driver seat, tears streaming down his face leaving muddy tracks on his cheeks, he whimpered again but it was colored with a building rage and anger. Frustration was something he was familiar with in many forms but this was something new.

Delbert hammered his left hand on the steering wheel, once. What would have been an act of rage and anger caused the injured hand to remind him yet again that it was a source of pain. He banged his head backward with frustration against the head rest several times while screaming in anger. Delbert realized that the shifter for the automatic transmission was on his right and his right hand could not operate it. His eyes filled once more with tears of pain and frustration, even as his right foot pressed hard on the gas pedal causing the engine to rev loudly.

In a rage, he reached his left hand over once more across his body to try to move the gear ***********or. Somehow, he managed to grasp and move the t-bar shifter handle. Slamming it into gear, he stomped on the gas pedal even harder intending to peel some rubber, perhaps to vent a little frustration. The car leapt even before he could get his left hand back up and onto the steering wheel. Delbert’s head was slammed backward into the head rest on his driver’s seat. Instead of putting the transmission into reverse, he had inadvertently put it into drive. The revved up big V-8 rocketed the car forward instead of backwards. Down the boat launch ramp thirty feet and into the water of Arrowhead Lake. When the car slammed into the water the momentum caused Delbert’s head to slam forward and his forehead struck the steering wheel knocking him unconscious.

There was no one withing miles of the boat launch to witness the black Camaro drift out into the water off the end of the ramp and slowly sink beneath the dark water. No one would know that the car was even there as it was very deep off the end of the ramp. Only the rising bubbles that slowly tapered off and finally stopped rising at all marked the spot where that black Camaro settled into the muddy bottom of the lake. Oddly the lights on the dashboard were still lit for a few minutes, perhaps a curiosity for passing fish, until the battery finally shorted out.

It was getting dark when Tom backed his pickup truck into the barn. As he got out of the truck he was nearly startled when Richard called a greeting to him from further back in the barn, in the shadows. Tom turned to peer into the darkness as Richard walked towards him, or stumbled a little maybe. As he stepped into the better lighted end of the barn near the open doors, Tom could see that Richard’s face was drawn and troubled.

“Son, I’m not going to ask you where you’ve been. I reckon that it was something that’s been on your mind for a bit. But we need to talk about something else.” Richard said as he went around Tom and to the feed box next to the stall.

He raised the lid and reached down to retrieve that bottle he had stashed there. He re closed the lid and turned to sit on the box and motioned Tom over to join him. Taking the cap off the bottle the old man raised it with his shaking hand and brought it to his lips. Two long gulps then he handed the bottle to Tom. The old man stared at the dirt in front of his feet for a minute or so while Tom took a swig from the bottle as well, and handed it back to him. Richard screwed the cap back on and held the bottle loosely in both hands.

“Sheriff Cambrick stopped by this afternoon, before you and Addy got home. He wanted to know if Addy had changed her mind and wanted to press charges against that boy. Seems he’s been hearing some stuff around town about what happened.” Richard said in a low rumbling voice.

Tom sat silently, a feeling of cold satisfaction growing in his stomach at the thought of what he had done to Delbert just a short while ago. Nothing could take back what that prick had done to his sister, but Tom was sure that He would think twice about messing with any other girl like that again.

“Cam said he was gonna talk with that boy, maybe off the record so to speak… I think he knows the boy is bad news.” Richard added, still holding the bottle in his hands and turning it slowly from side to side.

“You know he probably can’t do anything to that prick without Addy pressing charges… and even if she did, it would be her word against his…” Tom spat out as if the words left a bad taste in his mouth.

“Yup… Just don’t seem right no matter how you look at it.” The old man admitted dejectedly.

The two sat there on that box in the barn for a few minutes longer, each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually they stood up and after the old man put the bottle back into hiding, they walked side by side to the house. Dinner was being set on the table when they entered the house. Addy made curious and sometimes worried glances at Tom but didn’t ask him where he had gone. Teresa prattled on about nothing really, just keeping the conversation light.

“Tom… could you drive me to school again tomorrow?” Addy asked when the meal was over and Teresa had begun to clear the table.

“Sure.” Was all he said, distractedly.

Tom’s mind was still on Delbert. That’s not to say what had happened between himself and Addy was not weighing heavily on his mind as well. Try as he might to push it out of his thoughts, it always crept back in. It made his heart hurt when he did let it in. To love his sister so much and long for her touch, her kiss… but it was so very wrong. She would get hurt in the end and he couldn’t stand to think of that, of him causing her pain.

Addy brought her books to the kitchen table to do her homework. She had some catching up to do. Tom excused himself to go take a shower and get ready for bed, claiming to have been tired from work. He didn’t fool Addy though, just as he had been struggling with guilt from their tryst by the pond, she had been thinking about it too. Addy wasn’t so much experiencing guilt as she was anxiety over not being able to be with her brother more. She understood that others wouldn’t approve or even find it acceptable… but in her heart she didn’t care. She silently watched Tom climb the stairs with an aching heart.

It stormed that night, heavy rain and wind with plenty of lightning and thunder. Tom was awakened in the small hours of the night when Addy pulled back the covers and slipped into his bed. She turned her back to his front and snuggled up in spoon fashion. He didn’t pretend to be asleep, rather, he wrapped an arm around her waist. Addy took hold of his hand and drew it up to her chest, between her breasts. Tom bent and kissed the back of Addy’s head… she sighed and they both quietly drifted back to sleep.

Things began to almost seem normal again through the rest of that week. Taking Addy to school and picking her up became part of the daily routine, at least through the school week anyway. Addy kept looking over her shoulder while at school for days. She couldn’t help but to wonder when or where Delbert would appear next. He never did show up however, no one saw him in fact. It was halfway through the next week that anyone really wondered about that, at least the students anyway. Staff made note of the absence… as did his parents. The Law was called and word went out that Delbert was missing. Most people quietly thought it was good riddance.

The bond between Addy and Tom grew with each passing day. It was a quiet thing, and both were careful not to carry on in front of anyone, no hugging or kissing where anyone could see them. Oh sure, there was the usual brother/sister bumping and nudging, teasing and joking around, but both read between the lines. The lingering eye contact, the warm knowing smiles… and holding hands while riding to and from school in the truck. Often those rides were quiet as well, both lost in their own thoughts.

One afternoon, some three weeks after Tom and Addy had consummated their love for one another out by the pond on that fateful night, Addy seemed worried and upset on the ride home. Tom thought this was more so than her often moody silence even. He wanted to know what was eating at his sister, what was making her unhappy, but he knew to let her decide when she would speak of it. It was when he heard her sniff at some tears she was trying to hide, that he decided to ask her. Tom pulled off the road a mile or so from the farm. He turned off the motor and sat there quietly for another minute or so.

Addy knew Tom was worried about her, he always thought of her first. It was just another reason that she loved him so much, but what she had been worrying about so much might yet be more than he could handle. She thought it was all her fault… and that thought was the cause of more tears. She held Tom’s right hand in her left, or was it he held hers? Addy had her head leaned against the closed passenger door window staring off into nothingness through tear flooded eyes, her right hand at her throat clutching a damp tissue.

“Addy… baby… what’s wrong?” Tom finally asked in a soft, worried voice… his heart breaking to see her so distraught.

“Tom… I… I think I’m in trouble…” Addy sputtered out meekly and began to sob quietly.

“What do you mean… in trouble?” Tom asked confused. Addy never did anything to get into any kind of trouble what possible trouble could she be in?

“I… I’m late…” She sobbed, drawing her legs up under her to hide her face in her knees and began to rock gently back and forth.

“Was there some sort of appointment that you forgot? Is it a homework assignment or a project or something? I’m sure you can get an extension if you ask for one…” Tom began, as if trying to solve her dilemma or offer ways to fix it, but he was cut off by her barking sorrowful laugh.

Addy pulled her hand free from Tom’s and wrapped it around her knees as if she were trying to hide from the world. Her laugh at his suggestions caught him off guard and was not sure what to think about that, but before he could ask, she began to talk again.

“I’m late you dufus… my period… I… I might be… pregnant…” She stuttered forcing each word out through the tightness in her chest and throat that threatened to choke her.

Tom was stunned. He froze as his right hand was halfway to touching Addy’s shoulder to comfort her. His heart stopped for what seemed like an hour even if it might have only been a couple of heart beats at most. In that short span of time so many thoughts raced through his mind that he thought he might explode. What would they do? Would they have to run away somewhere where no one knew them? How would she, he, they… tell their folks? Oh damn. Tom also felt a surge of hope and perhaps pride, that his Addy was pregnant… might be pregnant… with their child… his child! So many thoughts and questions. None of them even close to what he heard Addy ask in her next breath.

“What if… what if… Oh God… What if it’s HIS?” Addy wailed and her body shook with massive heaving sobs.

“His” as in Delbert’s? Tom thought… all the wind gone out of his mental sails in an instant only to be replaced by a sickening twisting of his gut. It was possible… it was fucked up! Tom’s head whirled and he felt dizzy with the thoughts and implications of a bastard child of Delbert Evans possibly growing in his Addy’s belly. It was almost as if he had raped her… again. Oh God… Addy! Tom snapped out of his fog at least enough to realize that his sister was hurting very badly and needed him now more than ever.

Unfastening his seat belt, Tom scooted over closer to Addy and wrapped his arms around her shoulder and her knees and pulled her into him. Her head and knees coming to rest against his chest as he softly nuzzled the back of her neck and hair murmuring and whispering his love and support into her ears softly and repeatedly. He rocked her gently until she finally seemed to collect herself and calm down somewhat.

“I’m right here Addy, you’re not alone… I’m here baby.” He continued to reassure her.

“Tom… what am I gonna do? I can’t… I can’t have a baby… by… by him!” Addy pleaded in a small voice, muffled by his chest.

“Shhhhh… shhhhh… shhhhh… Calm down… It’s okay. No matter what, a baby would be yours, it would be part of you. That can’t be bad.” Tom whispered into her ear as he continued to rock his sister gently.

“Besides…” Tom whispered again… a catch in his throat but it was from love, not fear… “It might be… it might be mine… and yours…” Tom inhaled as though he hadn’t breathed in several minutes causing his chest to swell and seemingly pulling his sister Addy even tighter to him.

Addy actually stopped sobbing, she even stopped breathing for a bit as her mind repeated what her brother Tom had just spoken, whispered, into her ear. Her mind contemplated this new thought. Her heart started beating again, as it swelled with newfound hope and… joy. Addy raised her head and turned to look into her brother’s face, her lips trembling but with the beginnings of a hopeful smile. Her teary eyes, red rimmed and puffy, showed hope and adoration for her brother. Tom, looked into those watery dazzling blue eyes and was once more lost in their depths. As long as he had her, how could life be bad? He thought to himself.

“Do… do you think? It might be yours? I mean… ours?” Addy quietly asked with a voice full of wonder and hope.

“It could be.” Tom stated. “I mean, we’ve only done it the one time but… we didn’t use any protection.

“I think I could be okay with that… if the baby is ours…” Addy cooed. “I want to have your babies Tom. I never… I never thought that it might be yours… Oh I feel so stupid!” Addy moaned and blabbered a bit, the relief evident in her voice.

“It would have been better if we had at least waited till you were done with school though baby.” Tom said softly. “But we’ll work it out somehow.” He added.

“Well, I’ll graduate in four months… maybe I won’t be showing much before then. We don’t have to tell anyone. Then I could move to the city for college…” Addy began in a distracted voice as her mind worked on possibilities.

“But…” Tom began, reluctantly but stating the obvious. “Mom and Dad will have to know. Mom, will figure it out I’m sure… we should be the ones to tell them.” He sighed heavily knowing that this would change all their lives, forever.

“Yeah.” Addy said in a soft almost defeated voice. “We should be the ones to tell them… but not yet. Let’s wait a while, okay? Please Tom?” Addy turned again to look into his eyes as she pleaded.

“Sure… okay. It would probably be smart to wait a while yet. There’s no hurry I guess… well… for a while anyway.” Tom said with a soft sad smile.

Addy twisted in his arms and threw her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss Tom. The move caught Tom a little by surprise and he stiffened for a moment before relaxing and returning her kiss as softly and with as much love as she was giving him. Yes, he thought, the world could wait, the world would be right, as long as they were together. After a few minutes of very un-sibling like hugging, the two pulled back apart and smiled sheepishly at one another. Addy’s hands unconsciously going to her tummy. Tom didn’t miss it though.

They got back on the road and were home at the farm in just a few minutes later. Tom sent Addy on into the house and told her that he was going to clean out the bed of his truck a little. In reality he just needed some time alone to think. He did grab a broom and began to sweep out his truck bed, he was doing that when Richard ambled into the barn through the big open doors.

“I ran into Cam today at the diner.” Richard said as he took off his hat and held it in both hands as if examining the brim, turning it this way and that.

“Yeah?” Tom asked as he kept sweeping.

“They’re still looking for that boy…” Richard said as he glanced up at Tom’s face.

Tom didn’t say anything but he paused for a moment then continued sweeping.

“Tom… son… I figure you caught up with that boy and… I don’t know… I probably don’t need to know… but… should we be worried for you?” Tom asked quietly.

Tom stopped sweeping and took a deep breath, his hands gripping that broom handle as if he were choking it, his knuckles turning white. He looked up to meet Richard’s gaze and shook his head no almost undetectably. Tom’s eyes burned with hatred for Delbert.

“If anything, I scared him. I kicked his ass and showed him how it feels to be ashamed and afraid. I won’t say I didn’t hurt him but I have no sorrow for what I did to him. I hope he did run away, good riddance.” Tom growled the turned and hopped down off the bed of the truck to the barn floor.

“Son, you might not want to share that with anyone else… That boy might have got what was coming to him but it would put you in a bad spot.” Richard spoke solemnly, again studying his hat in his hands. Glancing up once more he added. “Thank you, Tom… about time for supper. Get cleaned up and come on to the house. Your ma’s been cooking all day.”

Richard put his hat back on his head and turned to walk back out of the barn and across the yard to the back porch of the house. Tom stood there watching him, his heart slowing back down a little, and his mind wondering briefly what had become of Delbert. Did he really run away? A long way away he sincerely hoped. Tom closed the tailgate of his truck and put the broom in the corner where they kept it, then headed to the house himself.

Dinner was special that night. Teresa had put a lot of work into the meal, making pork chops, and au gratin potatoes. There were green beans and creamed corn, biscuits and of course gravy. As if that wasn’t amazingly wonderful enough, Teresa had also baked an apple pie. Everyone made sure to save a little room for pie after dinner. Addy was all smiles throughout the meal, eating like a horse as it appeared she had a big appetite for the first time in weeks. Tom ate plenty too, but remained mostly quiet as they all ate. Teresa happily talked away about this that and everything, fully engaging Addy and occasionally Tom and Richard. It was a good night, and a good dinner.

Everyone helped Teresa clean up after dinner. Tom and Addy doing dishes as they had for most of their lifetime. At one point Teresa stopped behind Richard’s chair as he was still sitting at the table, and put her hands on his shoulders. Richard raised his gnarly right hand up and gently patted Teresa’s hand on his shoulder, as they both watched Tom and Addy work and play at the sink.

Richard felt Teresa tense up as a pain shot through her abdomen nearly causing her to double over. Only he heard the soft almost silent whimper and grunt that came from her still smiling lips. That familiar lump rose in his throat and threatened to choke him. The pain passed and Teresa squeezed his shoulder before turning and heading down the hall to their bedroom. Richard was still smiling softly as Tom and Addy said goodnight and headed upstairs to get ready for bed themselves.

Addy paused by her bedroom door, both of her hands were on her tummy and she was looking down at them, perhaps imagining what it would look like when she got bigger. Tom stood by his own door, watching her. Addy looked up to see him watching and smiled softly and tilted her head slightly to one side before she turned to go on into her room. Tom sighed and realized he too had a soft sad smile on his own face.

After taking a shower and dressing for bed, Tom stepped down the hall to his sister’s room and knocked softly on her door. She called out to enter, and he did. Addy was sitting at the foot of her bed, cross legged, with her diary in her lap and a pen in her hand. The hand and pen were just lying on the open page, not writing at the moment. Instead, she had her left arm folded up and her hand touching or resting on her neck at her collarbone. Addy’s head was turned so that she was looking out her bedroom window into the night. Tom had the impression that it was not exactly outside her window that she was seeing, but rather, her mind was elsewhere.

“Hey…” He spoke in a quiet voice, not quite whispering, as he sat down on the edge of her bed.

“Hey.” She responded in kind, turning her head to look at him in the face, her eyes searching his, those dazzling blue eyes.

“Just thought I’d check on you before I went to bed… You okay sis?” He asked kindly, with a soft smile on his face.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking…” She responded with a slightly smirking smile of her own.

“A lot to think about huh?” Tom said more as a statement than a question really.

“A lot.” Addy agreed. “Tom?” Addy began but paused as if considering her next words.

“Yeah?” He responded, kind of nudging her to speak.

“Mom told me what the sheriff told dad at the diner…” Addy’s head dipped down a bit and she bit her lip for a moment, her bright blue eyes looking up through her lashes at her brother’s face and eyes.

“Do… do you think he’s really run off… Delbert?” She asked, her voice quavering slightly.

“I don’t know Addy… nobody’s seen him for a week or so. Not that I care if he did.” Tom said with a slightly bitter edge to his voice at the end.

“That day… the day you brought me home and then left again… Did… did you go and… find Delbert?” She asked in a voice so hesitant that even a whisper would seem like a shout. Addy’s eyes locked on her brothers with such intensity that he couldn’t look away.

Tom looked into those blue eyes, he knew she didn’t really need to know what he had done, but he also knew that he couldn’t lie to her. Tom reflexively pursed his lips and his brows knitted as he struggled with how much he should tell his little sister.

“Yes.” He said simply, still trying to spare her the details.

“I… I thought so…” Addy breathed out the words as if she were talking to herself really. She looked down at Tom’s hands, they were clenched into fists and he wasn’t even aware of it.

“Tell me… Tom… I need to know. What did you do? Please…” Addy said softly as her eyes once again rose to lock on his own.

“Addy… I don’t know… it was… it was ugly. I was so mad… I hurt him. I hurt him bad.” Tom struggled to get the words out, the bile rising in his throat as he remembered that afternoon vividly. He was so full of rage and anger and… hate.

“Please Tom, for me… I have to know.” Addy pleaded quietly, nearly holding her breath at this point. She could feel Tom practically shaking as he sat there an arm’s length away from her.

Over the next half hour or so Tom relived the events of that afternoon in telling of them to his little sister. Picking up from when he had left the farm after dropping Addy off at home, to finding Delbert. Alone, stoned or drunk or both, sitting on that old truck bench seat someone had thrown out at the boat launch ramp at the lake. How he had zapped Delbert in the head with the cattle prod then pulled his shirt over his head and tied his hands behind his back with the boy’s own belt. Pulling his pants down and then when he had regained consciousness, zapping him over and over with the cattle prod. Kicking him and breaking bones in his hands by accident. Not that he was sorry about that at all.

Tom told of using the super glue to write “I AM A RAPIST” and pouring gravel and broken glass onto it on Delbert’s chest. Then Cursing and tormenting the bastard over and over. Finally, he told of how he had emptied the super glue on the boy’s balls and untied him just before zapping him one more time on his balls. Addy could almost envision the entire ordeal, and while it was horrific in its own way, she found herself actually slightly amused and trying not to smile in the end. More importantly, she was relieved that her brother hadn’t killed the boy. Her big brother, the love of her life was truly a good man at heart, not a monster.

Tom saw Addy’s bottom lip trembling and her eyes watering up and threatening to spill over with tears and had the wrong impression. He felt ashamed for having shared what he had done to Delbert with her. His head dropped and his heart sank.

“I’m… I’m sorry Addy… I was just… just… God! What have I done?” He uttered so heart stricken and full of remorse that he himself was on the verge of tears. Addy saw this and reached out to touch his left cheek with the tips of her fingers.

“Tom… It’s alright. Really… you have nothing to be sorry about or ashamed of… Thank you.” She said in a warm but soft voice. A voice that struck him to his very core and caused him to look up once again to find her eyes shining and smiling into his sad remorseful face.

Tom leaned his head into Addy’s hand as she continued to lightly stroke the side of his face. There was a soft knock at the door and both looked up to see Teresa lean around the door and peek in.

“I just wanted to let you both know that I have a doctor appointment in the city tomorrow. I might not be home before you two get home in the afternoon. Maybe you might want to pick up a pizza or something in town on your way home.” Teresa said softly with an apologetic smile on her face.

“Sure, okay mom. Good luck at the appointment tomorrow.” Tom said warmly. Addy just smiled likewise and nodded.

Addy looked at Tom as Teresa backed out of the door and they heard her walk back down the hall to the stairs. Tom stood up and turned to face Addy who rose up on her knees and reached for her brother to get a hug. Her head was sideways in the middle of his chest and he bent down and kissed the top of her head as he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed gently.

“Good night, babe.” Tom said softly.

“Good night, lover…” Addy whispered and giggled slightly, then pulled back to look up into his smiling eyes.

They did stop the next afternoon in town to pick up a pizza for dinner. As they sat in the dining room at the pizza shop waiting for their order, none other than Sheriff Camden came in the door. The bell chimes over the door announced the new arrival and drew everyone’s attention. Addy and Tom had been sitting in a booth across from one another, hands extended and being held on top of the table. The Sheriff, out of habit or design, scanned the room as he entered it. He was, in fact, there to have and early dinner himself, but upon seeing Tom and Addy, he veered towards them. A slow casual walk, not particularly as if it were official business or anything, just being sociable. Maybe.

“Tom, Addy… how y’all doin?” Cam asked with a friendly lilt in his drawling voice.

Addy looked away a little nervously, the last two times she had seen the Sheriff he had been asking about the day she got raped by Delbert. She had told him then, both times, that she didn’t want to talk about it. Tom noticed this but tried to cover for his sister.

“We’re doing okay sheriff… you?” Tom asked politely.

“I’m hungry.” The sheriff smiled at his own joke, then went on. “I’m a little frustrated too. I’ve been looking for that boy, Delbert Evans… nobody’s seen him for over a week or so. Have either of you seen him around?” He asked glancing first at Addy, then back to Tom.

“No, I haven’t…” Tom said, looking across the table to Addy then back up at Cam. “We, haven’t. Sorry.” Tom amended.

“Well, if you do happen to see him, could you tell him that I need to talk to him?” The sheriff said as he tipped his hat and turned to approach the counter to order a pizza.

Addy looked back to her brother, her face was neutral but there was a little worry in her eyes all the same. Tom just looked at her and shrugged slightly. They heard their name called and they both got up to collect their pizza and head home. They both nodded and smiled to the Sheriff as they headed out the door.

When they got to the farm, Richard’s truck wasn’t there so they figured that he and Teresa weren’t home yet. Instead of backing into the barn to park his truck as usual, Tom steered around the barn and stopped at the gate that led back towards the pond. Addy looked over at him questioningly then smiled and opened her door to go open the gate. After he pulled through, she closed the gate and got back in the cab. They drove slowly back the rutted dirt path and parked by the pond, very near where they had spent that very special night not too long ago.

Tom got out and walked to the back of the truck and dropped the tailgate. Addy joined him carrying the pizza box and the two bottles of root beer they had got with the pizza. She set the pizza box on the tailgate, in the middle and hopped up on her side to sit with her legs dangling off the end of the gate. Tom did likewise on his side of the truck. They both twisted off the caps of their drinks and clinked their bottles together and smiled at the silliness of it all.

As they sat and ate slices of pizza, the sun began to set in the west and the night sounds started to warm up for the evening. The frogs were still out of sync and the crickets were uncertain yet with only a few here and there making much of any noise at all. Both were lost in their own thoughts and so remained silent. How many times had they sat out here by the pond growing up? Fishing, swimming, playing… sometimes just laying on a blanket and watching the clouds or if at night, the stars above. Fond memories indeed, but the one most recent perhaps the fondest of them all.

“Tom… Where could we go… to be together? I mean to be married and raise a family.” Addy asked distractedly as she nibbled on a crust of pizza and stared off unseeingly across the pond at the setting sun.

“I don’t know. I guess just about anywhere that people didn’t know us. Where would you like to go?” Tom asked as he looked down at the root beer bottle in his left hand as it rested on his left thigh.

“I would like to see the ocean someday… walk in the sand and feel the waves on my feet and legs. Somewhere warm.” Addy said as if in a day dream.

“You mean like, California?” Tom asked curious as to where Addy might like to go.

“Nahh… Maybe somewhere closer to home… Texas, or the Gulf of Mexico… Florida maybe?” Addy said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Addy turned to look at Tom, tilting her head slightly to one shoulder and smiling softly. Tom smiled back, marveling once again at the beauty in her bright blue eyes. Tom knew in his heart that it didn’t matter to him where they went, anywhere she was with him would make it heaven on earth.

“What?” Addy asked seeing him smile like that while staring at her.

“What do you mean what?” Tom asked, one eyebrow rising towards his hairline.

“What are you smiling about?” She asked turning her head slightly affecting that sidelong glance that girls and women do so well.

“Just… you? I don’t care where we end up as long as I’m with you Addy… that’s all that matters to me really.” Tom said sincerely and gave a little shrug.

Addy felt her heart swell in her chest and her eyes misted slightly. She knew that Tom loved her as much as she loved him. It made her so happy to know that, to feel that… to share that. Then she felt a cramping deep inside of her, just a twinge really but it was enough to bring her mind back to other thoughts. A child growing inside of her… who’s child was it, or rather, who was the father. She hoped and prayed that it was in fact a creation of the love between herself and her brother Tom. Yet, she feared, still, that it might possibly be an offspring spawned by that rapist bastard Delbert. What would happen? Would Tom still love her and the child if it wasn’t his own? Addy unconsciously held her hands to her tummy as she looked off into the sunset once more, adrift in worry.

They both hopped off the tail gate and tossed the uneaten pieces of crust from the pizza out into the pond for the fishes. Tom put the empty box and the empty bottles in a plastic milk crate he used for garbage, then closed the tail gate. They drove back to the barn and parked the truck before going to the house. Richard and Teresa were still not home yet and it felt odd to both Tom and Addy, the house seemed so quiet. They left a light on over the stove, then went upstairs. Tom told Addy that he was going to go to bed, he felt like he needed some sleep. Addy had homework to do before going to sleep so they hugged good night in the hallway. It was a lingering hug that neither really wanted to break. Both longed to kiss, as lovers do, but instead it was a rather chaste kiss.

After a shower and dressing for sleep, Tom lay in bed in the dark and stared at the ceiling. Addy’s question earlier in evening about where they could go, to be together openly, kept running through his mind. She didn’t know it, but it was something that he had been pondering for some time now. The thought of leaving behind everything he grew up with or the people he knew and loved was hard for him to reconcile though. He knew, however, that his love for Addy far outweighed any of those misgivings.

How much time did he have, did they have, before it became apparent that Addy was pregnant? Everyone would most likely assume that it was a result of the rape, even if there was a chance that it wasn’t. Tom hoped and prayed that it was not a bastard child from her being raped. He would stand by her regardless of course, but he truly, deeply, hoped it was his child that she had growing inside of her. A child made from their love. Time… how much time?

Tom fell asleep at some point, despite his worries and thoughts. He never roused when Richard and Teresa got home later that night. Addy did, however, as she was still doing homework, or so it looked. She had in fact been as lost in her thoughts as her older brother was with his. Worry and hope battling for her attention. Hearing her parents return home, she went downstairs to greet them.

“Addy! What are you doing still up at this hour?” Teresa asked as she was pulling off her jacket to hang from a hook in the mudroom off the kitchen by the back door. Richard was just coming through the door behind her. Addy saw the worry on her father’s face but didn’t know what it meant.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I figured I might as well study if I was going to be awake.” Addy fibbed and shrugged her shoulders.

Teresa gave Addy a sidelong look with one eyebrow raised in suspicion but held her tongue. Richard hung his hat and coat next to Teresa’s and then put a hand on her shoulder as she was talking with Addy.

“I think we should all be trying to get some sleep, it’s late. Up to bed with you, young lady. Your momma and I are going to bed. We’ll see you in the morning.” Richard said as he began to ease Teresa towards the short hallway that led to their bedroom.

Addy covered her mouth as she tried to stifle a yawn then smiled and nodded. She walked to the stairs and made her way up to her own bedroom. She was just about to turn into her room when she paused and looked at her brother’s door. It was cracked, not completely closed. She stepped up to the door and listened at the crack. Addy heard Tom’s deep even breathing and knew he was asleep. She almost ached to push the door on open and go in and join him in his bed. She knew if she did, however, that she would not get any sleep this night. Instead, she returned to her room and flopped down in her own bed. Sleep overtook her even as she was lost in wakeful dreams.

“Hey… sleepy head… you going to sleep all day?” A voice sounded as if in a distant fog, and there was something shaking her… What kind of dream is this, Addy wondered?

“Addy… Hey… wake up sleeping beauty.” The voice spoke again… The voice… it was Tom’s.

Addy’s eyes opened up, or at least cracked open a little somehow, event he light from the hallway seemed to be too bright just now. Looking up, or rather squinting up she saw her brother leaning over her. She felt his big strong hand gently shaking her shoulder again.

“Ugh… what time is it?” Addy managed to ask, even with her mouth tacky and dry.

“It’s time to get up if you want me to give you a ride to school before I go to work.” Tom said in a patient voice that edged on exasperation.

“How late did you stay up last night anyway?” Tom asked.

“I don’t know… late… Ugh… I don’t feel so well.” Addy groaned and covered her head with her pillow.

“Well, are you or aren’t you getting up?” Tom asked just a little annoyed at this point.

“No. I really don’t feel well, Tom. I think I’m going to stay home today. I’m sorry…” She moaned sorrowfully.

Tom reached for her hand that held the pillow and wrapped his fingers around it. He gently picked it up and the pillow as he sat on the edge of Addy’s bed. After setting the pillow down he stroked her cheek with his right hand softly.

“Hey, babe… really, are you okay?” Tom asked a little more tenderly, now concerned about his little sister.

“I don’t know… I’m cramping and my stomach is upset.” Addy told him, her soft features frowning and a little distressed.

“Okay… Go back to sleep. I’ll tell mom you’re not feeling well. I’ll see you this evening.” Tom said as he squeezed her right hand in his left.

“Tom…” Addy called his name as he started to stand. “I Love you.” She said, smiling softly up into his eyes.

Tom leaned over and kissed first her forehead… then again, on her lips. A lingering kiss, gentle and sweet and full of love. He smiled as he drew back.

“I love you too Addy… Feel better.” He said as he stood up and left her room. He pulled her door shut and made his way downstairs.

As he walked into the Kitchen, Tom saw Teresa standing with her back to him at the sink, she was gripping the edge with her left hand and her right was clutching at her abdomen. He didn’t see the look of agony on her face or the tears that threatened to spill over and run down her cheeks. What he did see was her straightening up and taking a deep breath before reaching to fill the kettle with water to heat for tea. Tom sat at the table next to Richard who was eating his breakfast in silence.

“Addy’s not feeling well this morning. She said she is going to stay home from school.” Tom informed them.

“Is she sick?” Teresa inquired as she set the kettle on the stove and turned a burner on under it. She turned and wiped her hands on a dish towel she had on the tie string of her apron.

“She said she’s cramping and her stomach was upset.” Tom relayed what Addy had told him, before he drank most of his orange juice.

“Sounds like female complaints.” Richard offered in his gravelly voice as he continued to eat.

“Richard!” Teresa said in admonishment. “I’ll go up and check on her.” She added in a softer more concerned voice.

Teresa walked over to the stairs and made her way upstairs. Tom ate his breakfast in silence. Richard having finished his meal was sipping at a cup of coffee and seemed to be lost in thought, as usual.

“I hope she’s alright.” Tom finally said as he wiped his mouth and stood up to take his plate to the sink. “She’s usually not one to complain about a tummy ache.” He added as he rinsed his plate.

Richard just grunted in agreement and nodded distractedly. Tom said he’d see everyone this evening and went to the mud room to slip on his jacket and grab his ball cap before stepping out the back door and heading to the barn. He was halfway down the driveway in his truck when he realized that he didn’t have lunch. Teresa usually handed it to him as he was leaving, but she was distracted this morning, but then, so was Tom. He mentally shrugged and thought he’d stop somewhere today to get a bite to eat.

It was an average kind of day at the hardware store that day. No trucks to unload but there were a few deliveries that had to be made. Tom was on his way back to the store after one such delivery when he decided to pull into the Tasty Freeze to get a hotdog and some fries for lunch. It was closer to four o’clock than three thirty, but his stomach didn’t care about the time. And the smell of the fries wafting through the air only reinforced the decision to stop.

Tom got out of his truck after parking and walked to the window to place his order. As he stood in line, he noticed Ryan sitting with some of the guys he hung out with these days. Tom placed his order and paid, then walked over to the table where the guys were sitting. The guys all said hi or how you doing when he stopped next to their table. Only Ryan looked a little nervous, but then, he had history with Tom.

“Hi guys.” Tom said in greeting. “Say, have any of you guys seen or heard anything from Delbert lately?” He asked conversationally.

They all shrugged or shook their heads in the negative while making snide comments about Delbert. Ryan just shook his head, maybe just a little to vigorously to be casual. Tom took off his hat and scratched at his scalp briefly before setting it back on his head.

“Just curious, I’m not looking for him but I think the sheriff is.” Tom said by way of explanation for his asking.

“He aint been around in a while.” One boy said.

“Yeah, he probably pulled some stupid shit and he’s layin low till it blows over.” Another boy said.

“Or his folks pay someone off to bail his ass out of trouble again.” A third boy said and they all laughed out loud.

Tom grinned at the joke and shook his head in amusement. He patted Ryan on the shoulder and turned and walked back to the window to pick up his lunch. He ate it sitting on his dropped tail gate there in the parking lot. Ryan and the other guys all piled into a car that belonged to one of them and they drove off honking the horn and blasting loud music. Tom just waved idly and continued to eat.

When Tom got back to the hardware store, there was only one more delivery to be made that day. Tom loaded up his truck and said he’d just head home after the delivery. Addy had been on his mind all day, both with thoughts of her pregnancy and how it was going to affect their lives in the very near future. Also, he worried about her feeling sick this morning. Usually, she rarely if ever got sick and even when she was, she pretended not to be. Her staying home from school had him worried… worried that she was worse off than what she had claimed. Those thoughts were still with him as he turned into the long drive way when he got home to the farm that evening.

When the old farm house was built, some hundred years or so ago, the front of the house faced East. As such, the front door and the big covered porch on the front of the house didn’t get used much. Instead, most drove around the house and parked in the back, like Tom using the barn to park his truck. On this evening however, there was one lone figure sitting on the front steps of the house leading up to the porch. Addy. She had her knees drawn up to her chest and her hands and arms wrapped around them with her head resting one cheek on her knees. Her strawberry blonde hair was flitting and flying loosely about her head and shoulders in the light breeze. Tom honked once as he drove around the house to park in the barn.

Walking in the back door in the mud room to hang his jacket and hat, Tom found Teresa sitting at the kitchen table. She was sipping from a teacup held in both hands. He grabbed a glass out of the dish drainer from the sink and went to the fridge to get some iced tea. As he put the pitcher back and closed the door, he turned to speak to Teresa.

“How’s Addy feeling?” He asked before taking a sip of his tea.

“She’s feeling better I think, but she’s down… I think she’s still dealing with what that bastard did to her.” Teresa said in a tight voice, her eyes hard and cold as she thought of what had happened to her daughter.

Teresa’s eyes softened when she looked up at Tom. Her lips pursed even as her jaw tightened as she bit back on words that she almost spoke aloud. She decided that now was not the time to add to anyone’s worried minds, especially her children. Setting her teacup down on the table, she folded her hands almost as if praying. She glanced back to Tom once again, tilting her head slightly to one shoulder and giving him a warm motherly, if concerned, smile.

“Go to her Tom… You are who she needs right now. The two of you are… just go to her.” Teresa urged quietly.

“Okay. I’ll see if I can’t cheer her up a bit.” Tom said with his own warm smile.

Tom walked out of the kitchen through the dining room and into the front room. The parlor it would have been called by many, or a living room. There was an old black and white TV and a couch with a coffee table and several easy chairs around the room, but as always it seemed stale. No one ever really used this room unless they had company come to visit. Life on a farm found most activity and “living” done in and around the kitchen when in the house.

The front door was open, the screen door letting in a light breeze from outside. As Tom pushed the door open and stepped out onto the front porch, Addy lifted and turned her head to see who it was. Her sad eyes caused Tom physical pain when he saw them. It was like he had been punched in the gut, such sadness and despair. Even as she looked at him, he could see them fill with tears. Tom walked down the steps and sat next to Addy and without a word he wrapped his arms around her and drew her into a hug.

He felt Addy trembling in his arms, trembling and sobbing silently between gasping breaths. He just rocked her gently and kissed the top of her head, letting her feel his loving presence. After a while she did seem to settle down, at least she wasn’t trembling quite as much and her breathing had returned to pretty much normal, he thought. Tom heard her sniff loudly and clear her throat as she steeled herself to speak.

“I started today… my period… I’m… I’m not pregnant…” She half whispered, half cried, again shaking to near silent sobs and trembling again.

Tom sat there holding his little sister… his lover… the girl he thought was going to be the mother of his child. His feelings and emotions tumbled through his mind. On the one hand he felt loss, disappointment that what would have been a magical creation of their love was not actually happening. It was a sadness that he shared with Addy it seemed, but yet, there was a relief as well. Their creation, a child would have complicated their lives as this time in so many ways and few if any would be good ways. Perhaps it was a reprieve that the pregnancy was only a false alarm. Life could go on, at least a little longer, normally… until they could figure this all out. A small consolation maybe, but it still hardly offset the feeling of loss and sadness he shared with Addy.

“Babe… Addy… It’s okay.” Tom managed to choke out the words and make them sound soft and warm for his sister’s benefit.

“We can… we will, make it happen sometime. Maybe when we’re ready… when you’re ready. I can wait.” He added softly as he stroked the back of her head with one hand, still rocking her gently in his embrace.

Addy sniffed again loudly and choked a laugh that was muffled in the shirt on Tom’s chest. She raised her face up to look him in the eye and smiled a teary eyed, just been crying, sloppy smile full of love and admiration… and thanks. The look brought tears to Tom’s eyes as she brought her arms up to wrap around his neck and burry her face in the crook of his neck.

“Thank you, Tom… I am so glad I have you… I’d be lost without you. I Love you so much!” Addy professed into his neck near his ear in a voice full of heartfelt emotion even if it was barely a whisper.

“You and me, kid… always and forever…” Tom whispered back as he squeezed her tightly as if to reinforce his words.

Unnoticed by either Tom or Addy, Teresa stood just inside the house at the screen door. She had heard the strained conversation between her children. One hand clutched at her abdomen, while the other clutched at a tissue that she held to her nose and mouth as if to stifle a moan. Her eyes were clouded by the tears that threatened to spill over at any moment. She had suspected for some time that Tom and Addy were far closer than most brothers and sisters. While she knew the taboo and the way most would look upon the two, she did not feel that way. It filled her heart to know that both were so very much in love. Still though, she knew that there would be pain and shame in their lives when it did come out and others knew of it. Quietly she turned and went back to the kitchen before she was discovered.

Dinner was quiet that evening, relaxed, but quiet. Teresa had made fried chicken, there was corn and green beans and of course biscuits and gravy. Tom and Richard both ate heartily, while the girls picked at and ate a little but not with as much enthusiasm as the men. It was Richard that broached the silence as he was finishing his plate. He off offhandedly asked about what Addy’s plans were for the upcoming senior prom at school. Tom paused in his eating, his fork halfway to his mouth as he glanced over at his sister to see and hear her response. Teresa was taken aback but covered it well, only to shake her head slightly at Richard as if to halt the questioning.

To her credit, Addy didn’t flip out or break down. In fact, she barely made any response at all other than to shrug her shoulders slightly and intently study her fork pushing corn around on her plate. Richard looked to Teresa and finally realized that he might have touched a nerve. Before he could say or ask any more questions though, Addy spoke up.

“I hadn’t really thought about going to prom. Besides, no one has asked me to go anyway.” She said in a somewhat dejected voice, trying hard to sound like it didn’t mean anything at all to her.

In the scheme of things, especially over the last couple of months, prom really didn’t mean much to Addy. So much drama and trauma and uncertainty had happened in her life that worrying about going to a school dance really didn’t add up to much. Still though, it was the BIG dance for high school and this was her senior year. Her lips involuntarily puffed slightly in a pout that she wasn’t even aware of. Tom, however, did notice it and he knew in his heart that she would have like to have gone, even if it did mean having to dress up and be a princess for the night. She would be his princess.

“Do you think they would mind if an older guy brought you to the prom?” He asked conversationally, but with a twinkle in his eye.

Addy looked up curious as to what he asked. She and Tom hadn’t even talked about the dance, so his question gave her pause. It also caused her heart to skip a beat. Looking into his eyes she saw that he was serious, even if it sounded like he was joking.

“Oh, I don’t know… Dad hasn’t even asked me yet, so I guess it doesn’t matter much.” Addy said with a wry grin, watching Tom’s face go from playful to confused.

Teresa burst out laughing, and Richard grinned at his wife and his daughter, sensing a change in the mood at the table.

Realizing that the three were now poking fun at him, Tom grinned and winked at Addy. He set his fork down and steepled his hands together resting his elbows on either side of his plate. He turned and tilted his head in deference to Richard and cleared his throat.

“Well, sir, I wouldn’t want to jump the gun. If you would like to ask miss Addy to the dance, by all means ask away. However, if you decide not to, then, sir, I will ask her myself… at the risk of being refused of course.” Tom said solemnly, fighting hard not to smile.

Addy smiled amused, and looked between her father and Tom. Teresa was still stifling a giggle beside her at the table, one hand cupped over her mouth and nose, the other crossed over her chest with the hand tucked under her arm. Richard smiled and bowed his head as if in thought before speaking.

“Perhaps it would be better for someone a little younger to accompany the young lady to the promenade. I probably couldn’t dance for very long and certainly not very well. I might embarrass her on her big night. Tom, you should ask her if she would find your company acceptable.” Richard said sagely in his gravelly voice.

“I think I will.” Tom declared. He then bowed his head for a moment and then looked up into Addy’s shining, dazzling, blue eyes.

“Addy… Adaliene… would you do me the honor of allowing me to escort you to the senior prom this year?” Tom asked formally with a warm smile spreading across his face.

“Hmmm…” Addy paused as if in thought. “Can you dance?” She queried, turning her head slightly and tilting it a little affecting that sidelong glance.

“Not a lick, but I could probably fake it if I had to.” Tom burst out laughing.

Grinning at him, Addy beamed with happiness in her eyes before speaking again.

“Well, I won’t force you into dancing any more than necessary, but I will expect at least one slow dance… and you will have to dress up for the occasion.” She teased, watching the realization sink home on her brother’s face. Clearly, he hadn’t thought that far ahead… to have to dress up.

Dinner was over and the kitchen cleaned up afterwards. Everyone was in a much better mood as they wound down from the day and prepared for bed. Tom pulled his suit out of his closet and put it on to see if it still fit. It did not. Sighing, as he hung it back up, he realized that he would either have to buy a new suit or maybe rent a tuxedo as he had for his own senior prom two years ago. He could hear Addy and Teresa talking in hushed tones in Addy’s room, along with drawers being opened and closed and hangers being pushed back and forth in her closet. They must also be going through Addy’s wardrobe for ideas. Tom really didn’t care what Addy wore, she would make a potato sack look like an evening gown in his mind. He did, however, want her to be happy more than anything in the world.

As he drifted off to sleep that night, Tom made a mental note to stop by the rental shop the next day to secure a tux for the date of the prom. It was two weeks out, but it was probably smart to be early than too late. Also, he should order a corsage for his sister. Smiling, he finally succumbed to sleep.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Tom was awakened by a heavy weight landing on his stomach and chest. Startled at first, He almost lashed out in alarm only to realize that that weight was Addy sitting astride his body, her hands holding his wrists and pressing them into the pillow his head was resting on. He could feel her long loose hair hanging down about his face and her hot breath as her lips softly brushed against his own.

It wasn’t a hungry, lustful kiss. No, it wasn’t very aggressive at all really, just insistent and sweet, and lingering. When she pulled back to break the kiss, Addy slid her face over so that her mouth was next to Tom’s ear. She whispered to him a thank you, and that she loved him so very very much. She giggled slightly then told him to go back to sleep. Kissing him briefly once more, she then sprang up and darted out of his reach and then softly re closed his door behind her. Tom smiled to himself and sighed then did just that… went back to sleep.

Tom mentioned the prom to Addy’s great grandparents, the owners of the hardware store, and they were pleased that she was going to go. In fact, they offered to pay for his tux rental and for Addy’s dress if she found one to her liking. They informed Addy of this that afternoon after school when she came to the store to wait for Tom to finish up for the day.

The next few days, including most of the day Saturday, were spent going from shop to shop, including a trip to a mall in Kansas City since there was but one dress shop in their town. Addy finally found a dress to her liking, perhaps not as daring or frilly as what most girls were choosing, but it suited her well. She was a little embarrassed that the bust had to be let out just a little however, that was done at no additional charge by the shop where the dress was purchased.

For Addy, the rest of that week and most of the next seemed to drag by ever so slowly. She had never been terribly sociable or worried about being popular at school. She had her friends and was happy with that. Going to dances was never even considered by her really, and dating, well, not so much that either, because no one would ever measure up to her brother Tom in her eyes. So, the country girl who kept a low profile and wasn’t much of a social butterfly seemed to blossom before everyone’s eyes that final week before prom. Excitement was running high, and for Addy it was both new and thrilling.

On the night of the prom, Tom hurried home from work, early. He had stopped by the florist shop to pick up the corsage that he would be presenting Addy. Coming in the back door, he was greeted by Richard who was sitting at the kitchen table, going through the farm’s books. He looked over top of his reading glasses and smiled warmly at Tom.

“The girls are upstairs fussing about and getting ready. You might be waiting a while. You should go and get dressed yourself maybe.” Richard rumbled the suggestion.

“Yeah… I should. I wouldn’t want to be late or anything like that… lord no!” Tom chuckled and headed to the stairs to ascend.

As he pushed open his bedroom door, he could hear feminine voices coming from Addy’s room. The closed door muffled the words so he wasn’t sure what was being said but they sounded happy. Tom quickly disrobed and slipped on some sweats to wear to the bathroom so he could take a shower and shave. Back to his room afterwards, he dressed and checked and rechecked himself in the mirror. Satisfied that he was as good as he was going to get, he opened his door and seeing Addy’s bedroom door still closed, he made his way back downstairs.

When he entered the kitchen, Richard looked up from his books and gave him a once over. Nodding his head in approval, Richard smiled and suggested Tom grab a glass of ice tea and go wait in the “parlor”. Tom sighed but knew that was probably a wise thing to do. So, with a glass of tea in one hand, and Addy’s corsage in the other, Tom walked into the front room and had a seat on the rarely used couch. He had to smile as he realized that even though it was his own sister and his own house, he felt oddly nervous about tonight.

After an indeterminate time… another thirty minutes according to the grandfather clock in the corner… Tom heard the girls voices as they came down the stairs. He heard Richard whistle softly in appreciation and Addy’s embarrassed giggle. After another minute or so he the voices getting louder and footsteps nearing the doorway to the parlor. Tom stood up in anticipation, holding the little box with the corsage in front of him, nervously.

Stunned. That’s the word that would best describe the reaction that Tom had when Addy entered the room. Teresa followed behind her and she was peeking over Addy’s shoulder to see his reaction. She smiled broadly but Tom didn’t see it. His eyes were locked on a vision of an angel standing just a few feet away from him. Tom had seen Addy, nearly every day of her life since she was born. He’d seen her happy, seen her sad, seen her bored and seen her excited. He’d seen her covered in pond mud, and seen her when she was peacefully sleeping. But Tom had never, ever, seen her so radiantly beautiful as this moment.

Teresa had helped Addy tame her unruly curly strawberry blonde hair into an elegant coif. Braided and coiled into a bun that sat atop her head, caged in beaded arrangement that looked for all the world like some sort of angelic crown. There were a few strategically loose strands that hung down either side of her face. And make up! Addy rarely if EVER wore make up. She didn’t need it, but tonight, she had on something. Her usual freckles had vanished, there was a slight blush to her cheeks, and her lips… her lips were glossed with a faint plum color that matched her gown. And her eyes…

On any given day, Tom could and did get lost in his sister Addy’s eyes. The dazzling, almost electric blue color would suck him in and hold him enthralled as if hypnotized. Tonight, she had all that and her lashes seemed to be, what… just MORE. The eye shadow, was light and smoky but wow, did it ever make her eyes POP even more. The sparkly dangling earrings, not too long, but elegant, the thin gold chain with the gold bound teardrop pearl, one of Teresa’s own treasures, WOW! Stunning was what she was… and stunned, is what Tom was.

Addy’s shy, almost bashful smile seemed to fade as she watched her brother’s reaction. His silence and lack of any comment at all was taken the wrong way and she worried that he didn’t approve. She sucked her bottom lip in and bit it, her eyes showed her doubt.

“Well?” Was all she could ask worriedly before her throat tightened up.

“Wow!” Tom finally exhaled, still stunned to the point of being nearly mute.

“Do I… do I look okay?” Addy asked nervously, her bottom lip trembling slightly even as she tried to smile.

“Oh Addy… you look… Amazing!” Tom gushed, then remembered the corsage in his hands and raised the box up to show his sister.

Addy smiled, genuinely smiled as relief flooded over her with Tom’s approval. Teresa stepped up and her hand on Addy’s shoulder further reinforced the feeling of love. Addy’s eyes looked down at the proffered box and her smile grew even brighter as her eyes watered slightly.

“For me?” She almost whispered.

“I don’t think it’ll stand out much compared to you, but yeah, at least it’ll smell good.” Tom said sheepishly as he opened the carton and withdrew the flower arrangement.

He found the pin and gingerly held it as he stepped up to Addy and fumbled several attempts to successfully pin the corsage to her gown’s bodice… the left side. As he stepped back to view his work, one of the flowers fell to the floor. At first Tom was disheartened that something this simple should go wrong, would it ruin the evening?

Addy, however, looked down at the stray bloom then bent over and picked it up. She brought the bloom to her nose to smell it, then looked up at her brother and smiled sweetly before stepping up close to him. Tom stood still as he watched Addy take that bloom and stuck it in the boutonniere hole on the lapel of his tux jacket. She ran her fingers down the lapels as if to straighten them out and then stepped back.

“You both look wonderful!” Teresa exclaimed happily, her eyes watery for some reason.

“Don’t move! I’m going to get my camera…” she said as she turned and hurried back to the hallway and towards her bedroom.

Tom extended his hands, palms up, and Addy put hers into them. Holding her at arm’s length, Tom again looked her up and down. The plum-colored dress, off both shoulders, flowed like a waterfall down over her chest, creating a curtain like shelf from under which, the rest flowed down over her torso and flared hips. The bottom hem was on a bias, slightly higher on Addy’s left side Just at the knee, and lower on her right, several inches below the knee. Her shapely toned legs flowed elegantly in their shimmering stockings or hose to the darker plum-colored high heels. They looked more like sandals, all strappy and open, but the effect they had on her legs was… phenomenal.

Looking up after his inspection, Tom smiled at Addy.

“Okay… who are you, and what have you done with my little sister?” He asked playfully.

Addy actually blushed, but her smile was brighter than the sun. Teresa came hurrying back into the room fumbling with her old Kodak camera, trying to attach a flash cube to the top. Richard appeared in the doorway as well, just standing there smiling warmly as Teresa fussed and directed. Taking pictures, first of each individually, then together, side by side, Addy’s hand in Tom’s arm, both smiling. Finally satisfied, Teresa leaned into Richard’s body in the doorway and just swooned over the couple. Her eyes watering and leaking a tear or two.

“Now don’t stay out too late tonight you two.” Richard rumbled in his gravelly voice but there was a softness in his own eyes as he watched his baby girl glowing with happiness.

With that, Addy hugged her mother and father and Teresa hugged Tom. Richard shook Tom’s hand in one hand and patted him on the arm with his other hand. Then arm in arm Tom and Addy walked out the front door to Tom’s truck. He opened the door for her and helped her in to get seated. He walked around to the driver side and got in and then they were on their way. Richard and Teresa stood in the doorway, her leaning into him as they watched their kids drive away. The tears rolled freely down her face, and a few leaked from Richard’s eyes as well, but nothing was said.

Rather than have everyone fending for themselves and traveling all over for different dinner reservations wherever, the prom committee had suggested that the prom be catered. And so, it was. It may not have been five-star cuisine from an expensive restaurant, but everyone was together and the food was good. Couples sat in groups at tables scattered about the gymnasium. The center of course was left open for use as the dance floor. The tables were all draped with white linens and candles lit the room softly. Music played softly though the audio system that was set up for the dance, as people ate and mingled.

Both Addy and Tom felt too nervous, or excited to have much of an appetite but they both had some finger foods and cups of punch. They didn’t have much time to eat anything however as they found that they, or at least Addy was one of, if not THE center of attention that night. All of her classmates, male and female were astounded by her transformation. The girls all wanting to know where her dress came from and who did her hair and makeup. The guys all paying compliments and of course asking if they might get a chance to dance with her later. All deferred to Tom of course, he was still well known and liked from when he himself attended the same school even if a couple of years ahead of them all. Addy was in heaven, and Tom was loving it for her.

Addy did dance with a few of the guys from her class, but only a few. Tom actually danced with a couple of other girls as well, but the two of them, Tom and Addy, really only had eyes for each other. They danced the final dance of the evening, lost in their own little world. Addy would have danced for years if it could have gone on and on but she was happy with the time they had. As the dance was breaking up, the both of them were invited time and time again to various after-parties but they declined them all gracefully. After making their farewells they found themselves in Tom’s truck driving home towards the farm. Addy was still beaming with happiness.

“Tom… could we stop somewhere… for a little while?” Addy asked wistfully as she squeezed his right hand with her left.

“We could. Anywhere in particular?” He responded, smiling softly even though he kept his eyes on the road.

“I don’t know, maybe that place we stopped for lunch a few times, that abandoned farm?” Addy suggested.

“The old Miller place?” Tom asked with a puzzled voice. “There’s nobody there.” He added.

“That’s kind of why.” Addy replied, her voice taking on a coy edge.

Tom might have not had his mind in the same space as Addy when she first asked to stop, but it didn’t take him long to get up to speed. Addy wanted to be alone with him, at least for a little while before this fairy tale night came to an end. He glanced over at her and could see her smile and her eyes shining in the light of the dashboard. He simply smiled his best smile and squeezed her hand in reply.

A few minutes later, they were parked near the old run-down house several hundred yards off the road. A line of small trees and overgrown brush hid them from view of anyone passing by on the road. Addy tuned the radio to a station playing appropriate music and then looked up at her brother with a look that turned him into jello.

“Might I have this dance?” She asked him.

“It would be my honor.” Tom replied and got out of the truck and went around to her door to help her out.

Stepping out onto the grass rutted gravel driveway, Addy paused and bent over to take her shoes off. She turned and tossed them back into the truck. Taking the hand that Tom had extended to her, she stepped up to him and into his embrace. They danced slowly in the moonlight, her bare feet other than her stockings, on the dew whetted grass. Tom was very careful not to step on his little sister’s smaller feet even as he held her tight. The song ended, and then another began, the dance never stopped or missed a beat. It probably wouldn’t have mattered if there was no music at all though, as they were clearly lost in a world where only the two of them existed. They were dancing to the music in their hearts.

It was probably the fourth or fifth song coming from the radio and the trucks tinny sounding speakers that broke the spell. A faster song played and they both emerged from their dreamlike states. Addy pulled back far enough to look up into Tom’s gentle face. With glistening eyes reflecting the moonlight, she told him how much she loved him. He responded by leaning down and meeting her lips with his own. It was a kiss perfect for this night, sweet and tender and so full of love that both ached in their hearts as they swelled.

“Thank you for this night. I never dreamed that I could feel so… so… magical. Or so very loved. I will never forget this, Tom.” Addy professed.

“Well, I couldn’t let you miss out on your senior prom. But don’t worry, I promise that there will be other nights like this. You have a lifetime of being spoiled ahead of you babe.” Tom whispered into her hair as they hugged again.

“You don’t have to wear a tux every time though.” Addy giggled.

“God! I hope not!” Tom replied with a chuckle.

Tom took Addy by the hand and walked her back to the truck and helped her climb in. He got in on his side and started the truck. Looking over once more at his beaming sister’s face, he smiled, then turned the truck around and headed back out to the road. They were pulling into their own driveway just a few minutes later. Tom pulled up to the back porch at the house and went around to help Addy out and up the stairs to the back door. After she entered the house, he went back and parked his truck in the barn as usual. Tom then made his own way back to the house.

Tom overheard Teresa talking to Addy at the foot of the stairs as he came into the house. She was telling Addy that she could tell her all about the night tomorrow morning. It was after midnight and so Teresa was ushering her brood off to bed. Addy hugged her and started ascending the stairs. Teresa turned to see Tom and held out her arms to welcome him into a hug as well. Teresa hugged Tom fiercely. As she hugged him, she whispered just lout enough for him to hear.

“Thank you, Tom. You don’t know how happy you’ve made that girl… and me. You’re a good man.” She cooed.

Tom felt Teresa tense in his arms as he returned the hug silently. He thought it was just the emotions running high. He didn’t know about the stabbing searing pain that was shooting through her abdomen at the moment, or how it took her breath away momentarily. She simply held on even tighter until she regained control of herself. Looking up at his smiling face, she patted him on the arm and motioned with her head that he should go on up to bed as well. She then turned and walked down the hallway to her own bedroom.

In his bedroom, Tom put the rental tuxedo back on its hangar and zipped the garment bag closed. He put on a pair of gym shorts and climbed into bed. After turning off his bedside lamp he lay there with his head resting on his crossed hands and arms on his pillow gazing at the ceiling. In his mind he was seeing the stars, just like the hundreds of times he and Addy had done so growing up when they would lay on a blanket and watch the heavens. A feeling of peace swept over him and it wasn’t long before he was sound asleep.

The next day, a Saturday, was a busy one at the hardware store. Tom had lost track of the time as he unloaded truck after truck, until he was reminded that it was lunch time. Taking a break, he remembered that he had to return his rented Tux. After sitting on the loading dock and eating his sandwich and apple, Tom loaded up his pickup with the first two deliveries for the day. He made a quick stop at the rental shop on his way out of town. On his way out of the shop, he saw a notice stapled to the light post outside. It was a picture of Delbert Evans with the word MISSING in large bold letters. There were phone numbers listed for people to call with any information. Tom shook his head and wondered where the bastard had run off to, but then admitted to himself he really didn’t care.

It was almost dinner time by the time Tom parked his truck in the barn and walked to the house. The mood seemed to be relaxed and happy. After washing his hands and face, he joined everyone at the kitchen table for supper. Meatloaf, one of his favorites, along with mashed potatoes and peas and carrots. Cornbread muffins were a treat as well. Addy kept everyone entertained as she recounted the evening before with all the happenings at the prom. She spoke of Tom’s popularity with her classmates, especially the girls. Tom just smiled and blushed as he ate his supper.

Addy volunteered to do the kitchen clean up after dinner. At first Tom was going to pitch in and help but she told him that she had it under control. Teresa and Richard decided it would be a fine evening to sit on the front porch for a while as the moon came up. No one felt like watching TV, like most nights really. Taking their coffee with them they both stepped out the front door and sat on the glider. Tom took his glass of iced tea and joined them, sitting on the front steps. The three chatted, small talk mostly, about what was going on day-to-day kind of stuff. Teresa mentioned that she had another doctor’s appointment on Monday. Richard said that they might be late again getting home that evening.

Addy joined the rest after finishing with the dishes. She came out onto the porch still drying her hands on a dish towel and sat down next to Tom on the steps. She took his tea glass out of his hands and took a sip before handing it back to him. The conversation steered towards Addy’s plans and preparations for college. She’d been taking placement exams and writing grant letters for scholarships that were being offered by various organizations. So far, she hadn’t heard anything back from anyone yet, but she was still hopeful.

Seeing as tomorrow was Sunday, Tom’s one day off, Addy suggested that they go fishing the next day. Immediately Tom’s thoughts turned to the last time they had gone fishing… the night that changed their lives forever. Sensing his turmoil, Addy added that perhaps they should get an earlier start this time and perhaps they might catch more fish. She nudged him in his side with her elbow which let him know she knew what he was thinking about.

“And if the fish aren’t biting, maybe we can go swimming again.” Addy suggested innocently as if it were just another option to pass the time.

“Well, the water in the pond might not be quite as warm as it was a few weeks ago sis.” Tom posed aloud as if not so keen on the idea, even though his stomach was in knots and there was a sudden surge of thrilled anticipation.

“Fresh fish sure would be nice for dinner tomorrow.” Teresa sighed wistfully.

“Let’s go around lunch time then. We could have a little picnic at the pond.” Addy said cheerfully as she stood up from sitting on the steps.

“You two should turn in then, if you want to get everything done before you go fishing. Your father and I are going to go see your aunt Deeny tomorrow. We’re going to church with her for her birthday. You know, you two could go with us, she would be tickled to death if you did.” Teresa said as she too stood up from the glider to go into the house.

“Maybe another time. Give her a hug from us and tell her we wished her happy birthday.” Addy said a little somberly.

Addy understood that Teresa’s suggestion was a gentle nudge to remember her aunt. Aunt Deeny, Geraldine, used to come around to visit a lot when she and Tom were little. She was the closest family they had other than Mom’s grandparents who ran the hardware store. As Deeny got older though, she wasn’t as able to get around as well and she stopped coming to visit. Deeny lived in a retirement home with a bunch of other senior singles, be they widows or widowers. Some like Deeny, never married and had no family to care for them. The thought of Deeny pining away alone most of the time made Addy feel a little sad.

Later that night, sometime around midnight maybe, a storm blew up and the night sky was rent with lightning and the quiet was shattered by thunder. Heavy rain fell for nearly an hour as the wind blew. Tom would have slept through it all except for the not entirely unexpected presence of his little sister climbing into his bed and snuggling tightly up next to him. His first thoughts were of happiness but then there was alarm. His hands could feel that his sister was at least wearing clothes this night, even if it was a thin cotton gown.

Reasoning that even if their parents were to check in on them, it would be obvious that this was innocent. Something Addy had done since she was a toddler and afraid of thunder and lightning. Of course, she would never admit that, rather, she declared that she would go to Tom’s bed to keep him from being scared. Nobody argued the point with her then, or even now. Tom seriously doubted that Addy was frightened by the storm, but rather just used it as an excuse to snuggle. So be it, he smiled and drifted back off to sleep.

Sometime later Tom’s door once more quietly opened slowly, just a crack. Having been awakened by the storm and by pain. Teresa had risen from her own bed to make some hot tea hoping to take the edge off. Richard slept on of course. With only a small under counter light on to light her task, Teresa had just sat down at the kitchen table to await the kettle to boil when she heard floorboards in the upstairs hallway creaking. She had heard them many times over the years, especially on stormy nights like tonight.

After pouring the water into her cup for her tea, she quietly made her way up the stairs, knowing which ones made creaking noises, she avoided them. As she had suspected, Addy had gone to Tom’s room and got into bed with him. She saw her two children… no… by far, no longer children… The two young people snuggled up sleeping peacefully. She felt a pang in her heart, not a pain, just an understanding that there would be emotional pain for them both in the near future. If only… if only she hadn’t been gifted with this curse, she thought.

Teresa smiled sadly and then quietly pulled the door closed again and made her way back downstairs to have her tea. By the time she finished sipping her tea, the storm had passed and the clouds were breaking up. She went back down the hallway to her bedroom and back to bed. Morning would be here all too soon.

Tom awoke slowly the next morning. It was if he were still in a dream where he was holding Addy close and she was holding him close as well. His right hand was holding warm flesh, he gently squeezed it and he heard a low pleasant purring moan. His eyes shot open and he realized that he wasn’t dreaming. In his hand was Addy, or specifically, her breast, one of them anyway. At least his hand was outside of her gown, not that the thin cotton was much of a barrier. One of Addy’s hands covered his and squeezed so as to encourage him to squeeze her some more.

Now wide awake, and in nearly a panic, Tom reached for Addy’s shoulder and shook her a little more than gently to wake her up. She mumbled and groaned at first, but quieted as she came awake. She wiggled and pressed herself backwards to be still closer to his body and his warmth. Now Tom’s heart was racing, pounding, for more than just the reason of panic. Great!

“Addy!… Addy! Wake up!” He repeated shaking her shoulder insistently.

“Whaaat?” Addy all but whined sleepily.

“You need to get up and get back to your room!” Tom whispered, still in half a panic.

“I don’t want to…” Addy mumbled and snuggled her head deeper into the pillow under his chin.

“Addy! We can’t be in the same bed… Mom and Dad…. Addy! Wake up!” Tom urged her.

Groaning and sighing, Addy took a long deep breath and began to push herself up to a sitting position. The sun was just starting to shine through Tom’s bedroom window as it rose over the horizon. Tom’s room was on the east or front side of the house whereas Addy’s was on the backside facing west. She squinted her eyes and grimaced, then smiled when she realized that she had slept with her brother through most of the night. Okay, so it was only sleeping, still though, for her it was magical. Then she grimaced again as her bladder made itself a priority.

“I gotta go pee anyway. See you at breakfast.” Addy said as she leaned down to kiss her brother softly on the lips before turning her legs to the side of the bed and standing up.

“Be dressed for chores, we got two holes in the fence to fix before we can get ready to go fishing later.” Tom told her as she was stepping into the hallway from his door.

Tom Dressed and after he heard the toilet flush and then later Addy’s door open and close, he went down the hall to the bathroom himself. Richard was just going out the back door when Tom walked into the kitchen a few minutes later. Teresa was setting a plate on the table for Tom and Addy was busy eating already. Pancakes and bacon this morning. One of Addy’s favorites.

“Dad’s going to get his truck started and warmed up.” Addy informed him as he sat down.

“We’ll be leaving here in a few minutes. We’re going to pick up Deeny and then go to her church. We should be home around one this afternoon, maybe a little later. I’ve put a pot of beans on to soak… in case the fish aren’t biting today.” Teresa said with a coy smile standing behind Addy’s chair and stroking Addy’s hair.

“Oh, we’ll definitely have to catch some fish then!” Addy proclaimed. “Even if we have to jump into the pond to get them!” She added emphatically, which caused Teresa to chuckle.

“If you do that, make sure you’re careful… Let’s not have any… accidents.” Teresa said cryptically in a sing song voice as she picked up her purse from the counter and headed out the back door to Richard who was waiting with the truck.

Tom and Addy looked at one another in puzzlement. Both wondering what exactly did their mom mean by that last statement. Both wondering if it was a veiled hint that she suspected what they might have shared. Both looked at one another with wide eyed looks. The truck horn tooted a couple of times as Richard and Teresa drove down the long driveway to the road. Tom and Addy finished eating in silence both lost in their own thoughts, their minds racing.

Addy volunteered to do the breakfast dishes while Tom went and hooked up the wagon to the tractor. They would need the wagon to haul the tools and wire to repair the two holes in the fence caused by recent storms. Tom grinned, knowing the old tractor was often hard to get started and Addy had difficulty with it. A short while later, Tom pulled the tractor and wagon up to the back porch. When Addy came out of the house, he got off the tractor and motioned for her to climb on and do the driving. Tom knew that she secretly loved driving the cantankerous old tractor. Grinning broadly, she climbed into the driver seat and goosed the throttle a couple of times. Checking to see that Tom was safely seated in the trailing wagon, she let out on the clutch and lurched off in the direction of the work they needed to do.

Ever since they were big enough to help out on the farm, Addy and Tom worked well together. More often than not, it was Tom doing the heavier work and Addy assisting, handing tools or lending a hand when needed. Aside from having to cut up one tree that fell on the fence, they made short work of clearing debris and re-stretching wire and securing it to fence posts. Together they had repaired the fence and finished all the usual chores by late morning. Back at the house Addy went inside to pack a simple lunch while Tom exchanged tools for fishing gear in the barn. By noon, Addy had driven the tractor and wagon with Tom, lunch and fishing gear out to the pond.

Addy spread the blanket on the wagon and set out the sandwiches and fruit that she had packed for their lunch. Tom baited and cast their lines out into the pond before stepping back over and hopping up on the edge of the wagon to join his sister. Aside from some smiling and furtive glances both remained silent as they ate their sandwiches and watched their bobbers out in the water.

Suddenly Addy squealed and jumped down from the wagon and grabbed her pole off the bank. Her bobber had disappeared under the water. She set the hook and happily reeled in the first catch of the afternoon. Before Tom could comment, he saw his own bobber wobble then disappear as well. And the race was on. As fast, it seemed, as they could take a fish off and re-bait their hooks, they would catch another fish. Yeah, some were too small to fool with and got thrown back into the pond, but most were sizeable enough to be considered part of dinner.

Giggling and laughing and having a good time, Tom and Addy fished for another hour before they both decided that they had enough fish for a meal. Reluctantly, they picked up their fishing gear and set it in the wagon along with a stringer full of pan fish. Addy drove them back to the barn where Tom set up a cleaning table and grabbed the hose while Addy went to the house and got a pale to put the fish in after they had been cleaned. Of course, there was the usual playfulness between the two of them and they both ended up soaking wet from the hose before it was all said and done. But both were smiling as they trod soggy and happy to the house with a pale full of fresh fish to be cooked.

Tom and Addy had just set foot on the steps at the back door when their parents turned into the long driveway from the road. Richard drove up to the back porch to let Teresa out, then drove around the house to park his truck. Teresa looked in the pale at all the fish and then smiled at Tom and Addy, until she noticed they were both soaking wet. Rolling her eyes, she took the pale from Addy and shooed them both upstairs to clean up and change clothes.

Richard came into the house as Teresa was rinsing the pale of fish in the sink. Nodding in approval he smiled and kissed Teresa on the neck then went through the parlor to the front door and then out to the porch. Teresa smiled sadly to herself, then set about preparing to fry up the fresh fish for dinner.

In her room, upstairs, Addy was peeling off her wet clothes. She ran her hands up her torso and across her breasts, her forearms rubbed her stiffened nipples causing her to inhale sharply and close her eyes at the wonderful sensation. Her mind flashed back to that amazing night that she and Tom shared at the pond. The night she gave herself to her brother and professed her undying love to him, and he to her. A most magical night, the most magical night of her life.

She longed for his touch again, she dreamt of joining with his body in the act of making love… again. They both had agreed that they shouldn’t, or at least they needed to be very careful. They would wait, until Addy graduated and went off to college. Only, Addy didn’t know if she could stand to wait that long. She heard Tom’s door open and the floor boards creak as he went down the hall to the bathroom. The temptation to follow him was almost overwhelming. One hand strayed below her waist and found itself crossing through her wet tuft of red pubic hair above her very wet and aroused cleft. She jumped and her eyes opened wide when her middle finger brushed over her sensitive clit.

Taking a deep breath then sighing longingly, Addy went to her dresser and got some dry clothes to put on. She pulled her tousled curly strawberry blonde hair back into a ponytail and put an elastic band in it to hold it. She was just opening her door to step out of the room when Tom walked past. He stopped and turned around to look at her. The look in his eyes, was like looking in a mirror. Addy saw the same love and longing in them that she felt within herself. They both smiled sadly and Tom shrugged slightly before extending a hand to her. She took it and they walked to the stairwell holding hands before separating to go down stairs.

The fresh fish was enjoyed by all, breaded and fried crispy golden brown. A cucumber salad and fresh tomatoes along with cornbread hush puppies accompanied the fish. A little apple butter turned the hush puppies into treats fit for dessert. Teresa had outdone herself this evening and all paid their respects. Teresa also carried most of the conversation at dinner, updating Tom and Addy on the goings on at the retirement home and their “aunt” Deeny. She spoke of the wonderful service at Deeny’s church that morning, but only as a hint perhaps.

After dinner Tom and Addy cleaned up the kitchen while Teresa and Richard sat a while on the glider on the front porch. In the distance there was a low rumble of thunder. A storm was approaching. Tom felt a chill in the breeze blowing in through the window over the kitchen sink. Addy, standing beside him at the sink washing dishes handing them to him to dry, leaned her head on his left shoulder. Tom kissed the top of her head almost out of reflex, and she sighed contentedly.

All four were on the front porch sipping lemonade when the storm finally reached the farm. The gusting wind bringing the first raindrops with it cooled the evening air quickly. Everyone got up and went inside, they had agreed that it was bed time anyway. And the thunder rumbled, ever closer, ever louder.

It was no surprise later, when Addy pushed open Tom’s bedroom door and entered his dark room. A flash of distant lightning illuminated her baggy oversized white tee shirt that she was sleeping in as she closed the door and crossed the room to Tom’s bed. Without a word, Tom raised the blankets and she climbed in next to him. His arm went about her smaller frame as he pulled the covers back over them. Addy was curled into Tom with her back to him, spooning. She grabbed his right arm at the wrist and pulled it to between her breasts, clutching it in both of her hands.

“I didn’t want you to be afraid of the storm…” Addy whispered softly.

“Thank you, Addy.” Tom replied, playing along and smiling even though she couldn’t see the smile.

They lay there for a while in silence as the storm neared and grew in intensity. The lightning and thunder coming more frequently and the rain fell harder. A particularly loud rumble of thunder shook the house and Addy trembled in response. Tom squeezed her a little tighter and kissed the back of her head, and sniffed her hair. Addy squeezed his right hand and arm tighter to her chest, it nestled in the valley between her breasts, separated only by her night shirt.

The feelings of closeness, the womanly scents filled Tom’s nose, the warmth radiating from Addy’s softness and feminine curves were having a noticeable effect on him. The usual sweat pants he wore to sleep in could not possibly hide his growing ardor that was pressing up against his little sister, only their clothing separating them. Again, Addy trembled in his arms, her chest swelled as she inhaled sharply, almost as if gasping.

“Tom… today… out at the pond, while we were fishing… I couldn’t help but to remember that night.” Addy barely whispered above the sound of the rain driving against the window pane.

Tom felt himself tense upon hearing his sister’s words. His breath caught in his throat as he tried not to groan.

“I was doing the same thing… thinking about that night.” Tom responded, barely breathing the words into Addy’s hair.

“I’ve thought about that night a lot…” Addy confessed as she squeezed his right hand and arm even tighter as if to emphasize her words or meaning.

Addy pulled Tom’s right hand away from her chest and down the front of her body. Tom could feel the material of her night shirt sliding past the tips of his fingers as it was pulled over her small tummy and then it was gone. The material had vanished from between his fingers and her bare, soft, tender skin. Downward she pulled his hand. His fingers encountered the soft curly tuft of hair that defined her feminine cleft… and then… her sex. Tom’s fingers bumped softly over her raised mound and when he touched the hooded swollen clit, Addy tensed in his embrace.

Tom wasn’t sure when exactly Addy’s hand had released his own. He was very aware of when her hand found its way between their bodies and wrapped around his turgid manhood. Even grasping it through his sweatpants was enough to cause him to catch his breath and shudder in the overwhelming delight of her touch. Both of their hearts were racing as their breathing became labored with just the anticipation that was building between them.

The lightning and thunder outside were hardly as loud as the pounding of their hearts in their own ears. Tom kissed at Addy’s neck and shoulder as she stroked his throbbing manhood through his sweat pants, and his own hand stroked and probed her swollen and whetted nether lips. Each time a fingertip bumped or grazed her clit she would gasp and twitch.

Throwing the blankets back, Addy rolled to face her brother. Her breathing was ragged and her eyes were wide and wild with desire barely held in check. Tom and Addy both saw each other’s faces in the flashes of lightning. Their faces neared one another and their breathing became one just before their lips collided in a searing lust fueled kiss.

In an unspoken command, Addy pushed at Tom’s sweat pants, grabbing the waistband and tugging them downwards. Tom lifted his hips and they slid halfway down his thighs. His erection sticking almost straight up now that he was lying on his back. Addy lifted her left leg and in one motion straddled his waist putting herself on top of him.

Addy looked down at her brother and they shared a look, both of their eyes filled with desire and trepidation. But there was more… there was love… a barely bridled passion that was held in check by only their fear of being caught. It was Addy that broke the spell first. Taking a deep breath, she reached down between them and grasped Tom and guided it to her waiting wanton need. The swollen head parted her aroused and wet outer lips and slipped inside her heated velvet sheath.

Hovering for a moment, Addy held just the head of Tom’s willing soldier inside herself. Then, slowly, she lowered herself down upon him, taking him deeper into her little by little. Both groaned in unison as their bodies merged in this taboo joining. The lightning and thunder flashed and rumbled, both inside of themselves as well as outside in the storm. Reaching down, Addy sought out and found Tom’s hands and pulled them insistently to her breasts.

Realizing that she still had her night shirt on, she reached down and grasped the hem and in one motion pulled it up and over her head. Tom’s hands were now on her breasts, one in each hand as he held them and gently squeezed them. He marveled at how her nipples felt so much like marbles on the palms of his hands.

Nature’s instinctive drives had taken over for their thinking minds. Tom and Addy’s bodies were dancing to that primal beat. Lifting and falling thrusting and driving, perhaps slowly at first but with ever increasing frequency. Each was barely aware of anything else outside of their extreme focus on one another. Their hearts racing, their breathing labored, the bodies approaching that delirious precipice of their own climaxes.

Addy’s hand found the backs of Tom’s forearms as they ground and thrust at one another. her fingers dug into his arms as if holding on for dear life. And then… they were there… Addy tensed like a coiled spring… and then her body convulsed and shuddered in ecstasy even as she felt Tom swell inside of her and pulse again and again as he too reached that ultimate peak. And then the storm broke…

The bedroom door swung open and suddenly the room exploded into glaring brightness as the light switch was flipped. Standing in the doorway was Teresa, Richard was behind her with his hand on the light switch. Both were stunned speechless, eyes wide in shock and dismay. Addy and Tom both froze and looked back in a mixture of surprise and horror… and an increasing amount of shame as well.

Teresa had one hand covering her mouth and the other holding her housecoat closed at her waist. She took in the taboo tableau before them. While she was not completely surprised as many might think she would have been, she knew that nothing would be able to fix this at the moment. Spying Addy’s night shirt on the floor by the bed She stepped forward and picked it up and held it up with both hands for Addy. She beckoned her daughter to come to her and with her wordlessly. Addy had covered her mouth with one hand, and her eyes were wide with fear and shame, mostly fear though. Tom had barely had the presence of mind to pull his hands away from Addy’s breasts but they were resting on her hips and he released them as she pushed herself off of him. Teresa averted her gaze as if to afford him some small measure of modesty in this impossible situation, as she wrapped the night shirt around Addy’s front.

Teresa took Addy’s shoulders and led her out of the room past her father who was still standing in the doorway glaring at Tom. Richard wouldn’t even look at Addy as she was ushered past him by Teresa on their way to Addy’s bedroom. The only sound was the thunder that still rolled outside, and the closing of Addy’s door down the hallway. Tom waited for it, he knew that his life was over, but he had to do something to protect his sister, at least one last time… if he could.

“It’s not her fault…” He began, “It was me… I shouldn’t have let it happen… I…” He tried to say but the look on Richard’s face silenced him.

“Enough! Just shut up!” Richard spoke in his gravelly voice, edged with a bitterness that Tom had never heard before.

“What is done is done… In the morning, when the storm has passed… I want you to leave. Pack your clothes… you aren’t welcomed here anymore.” Richard said glaring at Tom with a look of disappointment and hurt.

Richard reached for the door and pulled it shut behind him. Tom heard his slow steps down the hall and then on the stairs, or so he imagined. Tom’s world had just imploded, he felt as if he couldn’t even breathe. Lying there on his back staring at the ceiling he felt as if his soul had just left his body. From down the hall he heard muffled voices, one clearly in despair, one stern but… oddly… comforting. Tom’s heart lurched in his chest and his eyes filled with tears that fell uninhibited.

The storm was almost quieted a while later. The rain still fell but it was now a gentle pattering and not a deluge as with the fury of the storm earlier. Tom had risen from his bed, for the last time he knew, and pulled a duffel bag from his closet. He packed it with some clothes and a few things that he would want to keep with him. At some point he had heard Addy’s door open and close again. As much as he wanted to see his sister one more time, to say goodbye, he knew that it would hurt her even more. So, he slung his bag over his shoulder and opened his door. Taking one last look around the only bedroom he had ever known, Tom felt as if his life were flashing before his eyes.

Tom walked down the hall towards the stairs. He paused at Addy’s door, placing one hand on the door as if to reach through it and touch his beloved one last time. Choking on the lump in his throat, Tom lowered his hand and walked to the stairs. As he began to descend, he thought he heard a muffled sob from Addy’s room. He kept moving.

In the kitchen Tom saw Teresa standing with her back to him at the sink, as if she were looking off out the window. Before he could think of anything to say, she turned to him. Her bottom lip was quivering and her eyes were full of tears. Her eyes were full of sadness, not anger, Tom was confused by the love he saw there. Before he could even wrap his mind around it though, Teresa spoke quietly to him.

“He asked to send you to the front porch. He wants to speak to you.” She said, indicating Richard, then she turned back to the sink and looking out the window.

Tom set his duffel bag down by the kitchen table and turned to walk through the dining room and parlor to the front door. As Tom was pushing through the front door, Teresa was wiping her eyes with a tissue in one hand and reaching for a canister on the counter next to the sink. Alongside others in the set that held flour, sugar and corn meal, this smallest canister held loose tea bags.

Well, there were tea bags on top, buried in the bottom of the canister however, was Teresa’s stash of mad money. Her scrimpings and savings that she had stashed away for a rainy day or emergency. It was money that no one else knew about, all eight hundred and sixteen dollars. Teresa folded the bills and slipped them into a plastic sandwich bag. She put that bag into a small brown paper bag like so many others she had packed with lunches over the years for Tom. She also put in an apple and a peanut butter sandwich, along with a hastily scribbled note in shaky hand writing. With tears flowing down her cheeks, Teresa folded the bag closed and waited.

Steeling himself for whatever wrath to come, Tom pushed the screen door open onto the front porch and stepped out of the house. Richard was sitting on the edge of glider, hunched over with his elbows resting on his knees. His gnarled and worn hands were clasped together almost as if he had been praying. He didn’t turn to look at Tom, rather he continued to stare off into the distance with red rimmed eyes that blazed with anger and hurt and… sadness. Richard’s lips were slightly pursed and his jaw was clenched so tightly that the cords of his neck stood out plain to see. Tom waited, his heart pounding in his chest, the lump in his throat kept him silent.

“You… you were… You were my son.” Richard struggled to get the words out through his clenched teeth. His hands tightening on themselves as he struggled with his thoughts and emotions.

“I made a promise, long ago that I would look after you and raise you. You grew to be a fine young man. You made me proud…” Richard said in his gravelly voice, then hung his head and closed his eyes, and sighed deeply and wearily. Raising his head once more and staring off into the distance as if to avoid looking into Tom’s eyes, he continued.

“It’s best you leave now, and don’t come back. No one will ever know what happened tonight, you can start over somewhere else… I don’t wish ill for you son… but I don’t ever want to see you again. Now… just go.” The words, cold and fiery at the same time left Tom both stunned and relieved in some small measure.

The weight of his consequences hadn’t fully set in yet perhaps. Sensing that what was to be said had been said and no argument or plea would be entertained. Tom hung his head and turned to go back into the house. He walked through the house that he grew up in for the last time, through the little used parlor, through the dining room that had hosted so many family meals and happy events. Tom walked into the kitchen, the very heart of the old farmhouse. He stooped to pick up his duffel, then stood and slung the strap over his shoulder. With his head down, he walked the last time to the back door.

Teresa met him at the door. She looked up into his sad eyes with her own sad eyes. She reached out and took his free hand and put the paper bag into it, careful to close his fingers over it. She stood on her tip toes and kissed his cheek while still gripping his hand in both of hers. Stepping back, still holding his hand, she looked soulfully into Tom’s eyes and spoke quietly.

“He loves you more than you will ever know Tom… as do I. Please don’t think harshly of him. Wherever you go, know that. Please take care of yourself.” She released his hand and one went to her chest as if to still racing heart and the other to her trembling lips to cover them.

“Addy…” Tom began, more as a question but unable to add anything else, only her name, his eyes pleading.

“Only time will tell…” Teresa choked out the words as more tears streamed down her face.

Tom merely nodded and took a long slow deep breath and pushed the back door open and left the old farmhouse for the last time. He trudged as if in a nightmare across the distance from the house to the barn and climbed into his old pickup. He started the engine and sat motionless, his hands on the wheel and his gaze climbing the back of the house to that window. Addy’s bedroom window… and To Addy, who stood clutching both hands to her mouth looking out of her window down into to his own gaze. It would be the last time I laid eyes on his sister… his beloved. With cloudy tear-filled eyes Tom put the truck into gear and drove.

Addy watched from her window as the truck made its way down the muddy driveway and stopped briefly at the end before turning onto the road and driving away. Her whole world had just ended, she collapsed onto her bed and cried. She cried for the loss, she cried for the hole that now occupied the spot where here heart used to beat. She felt that even if she continued to live, her life was really over. Her hopes and dreams and happiness were now gone. Now she only existed.

Life went on of course. In a few weeks Addy graduated from high school, with honors. It would have been a happy time in any young woman’s life but it was hardly even a footnote to Addy. She went through the motions with the rest of her classmates, walked the stage and received her diploma. She didn’t celebrate or go to any parties. Richard and Teresa both attended and they were proud of her, she knew but everyday life was strained at best. The light had completely left Addy’s eyes and she was left in a zombie like state. She hardly talked unless directly asked a question, she never laughed or even cried, and she absolutely never smiled anymore. Her eyes were sullen and so sad.

The next fall, Addy began college in Kansas City. Richard and Teresa had moved her into the dorm, and it would be the last time in a very long time that she would see either of them. She studied as if her life depended on it. Never relaxing or having fun like the other freshmen. Even though she was approached by many young men, they soon quit even half-hearted attempts because she wouldn’t even give them the time of day. She had no interest in any social activities. Her grades were among the highest at the school.

When the school year ended, she took a part time job locally so that she could afford a small apartment, an efficiency really, and stayed in Kansans City. She studied even between semesters, worked and studied. She did get occasionally post cards from her brother Tom. He didn’t know she was living in Kansas City however, he’d addressed the cards to the farm but Teresa had forwarded them to her new address whenever they arrived. They always came in an envelope along with a handwritten letter from her telling her how much she and Addy’s father missed her and loved her. Bittersweet reminders, each and every letter and post card.

Tom had not had any idea what he would do or where he would go the day he drove away from the farm and the only life he had ever known. He wandered aimlessly for the first day, just driving but not really seeing anything around him. It was early the next morning when he had pulled off the road at a rest area the night before because he couldn’t keep his eyes open, he slept in the cab of the truck. Waking up to his new reality, somber, and heart sick, he realized that he was hungry. Not having eaten anything at all since the night before last, the fish fry. The memory brought another bitter heart wrenching pang to his thoughts. Then he remembered the paper sack that Teresa had pressed into his hands that fateful morning.

Tom reached for the sack that sat on the truck’s dashboard. He unfolded the top and reached into the sack, he felt a familiar shape of a wrapped sandwich and pulled it out. Even the stale peanut butter sandwich tasted good at that point, making him think back to happier times. After finishing the sandwich, he reached again into the sack and found an apple, but there was something else as well. Curious, he pulled the apple out and set it in his lap and then looked into the sack. Inside he saw first a folded piece of paper, a note of some kind. Tom drew it out and then saw the plastic sandwich bag in the bottom of the sack.

The shock of seeing that wad of bills when he pulled it from the brown paper sack gave Tom pause. His mouth hung open and his brows knitted in question. Setting the bag on the seat next to the apple he picked the note back up and opened it up to read it. Tom’s hands began to tremble and his eyes clouded with tears as the words sank into his mind.

Dearest Tom:

First of all, and most importantly, I love you. Despite what has happened, Richard loves you as well. You know that Addy loves you, more than anyone can even begin to understand or explain. I have known this since the day she first saw you, the day we brought her home from the hospital when she was born. I know too that you love her just as deeply and there is nothing on this earth that will ever change that. I have suspected for some time that that love had been consummated between the two of you and I am okay with that. Really, I know that what you two share is beyond measure. I don’t agree with Richard’s decision to send you away. We argued about it but he is my husband and Addy’s father and I must honor his will, even if it breaks our hearts.

I’m sure you found the money I packed in your bag. It’s all I had, it’s not much but it should hold you over for a little while if you spend it wisely. I wish I could give you more of course. There was something else I need to let you know. I had planned on telling you and Addy both sometime soon, but I guess it’ll have to be in this letter now. The last doctor’s visit confirmed what we had suspected for a while. I’m dying.

I have ovarian cancer. I’ve had it for some time now but we didn’t know it. It’s too late now to do anything about it, I’m what they call terminal. Of course, there were offers of chemo therapy and exploratory surgery but none of that would have been any use. I would still end up dying just the same and I would have lost so much time away from my family, away from my husband and you and Addy. The doctors say I may have somewhere between six months to a year left, maybe a little longer, God willing.

Part of the reason we, Richard and I, went to see your aunt Deeny was to let her know and to set up plans for the future. She’s going to move to the farm when I get bad, to help take care of Richard and Addy. I hope you are able to bring yourself to keep in touch at least by letting us know where you end up.

Wherever you go, go with the knowledge that you are loved, Tom. Never forget that. I hope someday you can forgive Richard for sending you away. Please be careful my son.

Love always, Teresa

Tom had thought that nothing could make him feel any worse than having to leave his life and Addy behind. He was wrong, again. Tears ran down his cheeks as his hand holding the letter dropped into his lap.

Halfway through Addy’s sophomore year of college she got a phone call, via her landlord. Richard had called to let her know that her momma was in the hospital in Kansas City. Of course, as soon as she got the message, she rushed to the hospital. Addy found Richard in the waiting room, hunched over, sitting on the edge of his seat, his elbows on his knees, his face buried in his hands. Next to him was her aunt Deeny, one hand with a tissue held to her face dabbing away tears, the other gently rubbing Richards hunched shoulders and back.

Addy rushed to her father’s side, kneeling next to him and hugged him fiercely. She looked at Deeny questioningly as if to find any clue or answers. Deeny sadly shook her head and nodded towards Richard. Turning back to her father, Addy took his hands in hers and got him to turn his weary sad face towards her.

“Daddy? What’s wrong… Is momma okay? Talk to me… please.” She pleaded haltingly, almost afraid of what he might say.

“Babygirl, your momma… your momma is dying. She has the cancer in her lady parts.” Richard managed to get the words out without choking, but it was a near thing. Taking Addy’s stunned hands in his own he took a deep breath and continued.

“She’s been sick with the cancer for a long while now. It was too far gone when they found it to be able to do anything for her but to make her as comfortable as possible… for the time she had left. She had wanted to tell you… tell you both…” Richard faltered, still not able to mention Tom’s name.

“But… why? Why didn’t she say anything? Why didn’t you say anything? What… why?” Addy pleaded the news overwhelming her. Her world once again crumbling further around her.

“Your momma is a strong woman, Addy. She wanted to tell you… but there was that trouble of yours… then…” He gasped once more before steeling himself to go on. “Then the other… She just couldn’t bring herself to trouble you with more than you already had. She swore me to silence. I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” He faltered at the end, his eyes squeezed shut from pain or shame or a mixture of everything.

Even stunned and shaken as she was, Addy cradled her father’s head to her chest. She stroked the back of his head even as the tears rolled down her own cheeks. It was hard to tell who was shaking more, herself, or her father. Deeny looked on with sadness, this was not the first time she had sat in this very hospital and waited for someone deer to her to succumb to cancer. That Tom was not here, hurt her nearly as much as the loss before and the eminent loss of Teresa. The girl, the woman she had grown to love as dearly as her own late sister.

Tom knew, of course, that Teresa was dying, but he had no idea it was at this very time that she was about to expire. He had been wandering from place to place and from job to job since leaving home that fateful day over a year ago. He had missed so much. He wasn’t there when Addy graduated, he was not there when she began her college studies. He was not there to see Teresa wither and decline as the cancer progressed and claimed her life a little more each day. He was not there to see Richard struggle with the coming loss of yet another loving wife, or to see him lament his decision to send Tom away in the first place. So much he had missed out on.

Through his travels and wanderings, however, Tom had tried to reach out to at least let Addy know that he was still alive and missing her. He would find a job for a while, and settle in wherever, he would send her a post card. He would send many cards over the time he was away. He had worked on a barge tug on the Mississippi River. He had worked on various construction crews up and down the river. At the time that Addy was comforting her father in the hospital, he was out in the Gulf of Mexico onboard an oil rig. Any mail sent to him, which was very little indeed, hadn’t caught up to him from his last known address. The old truck was in storage while he spent weeks at a time on the rig.

Every penny Tom made was put into a savings account, well, less what little he needed for food and rent when he was staying somewhere. He had barely used half of what Teresa had put in his lunch bag the day he left the farm so long ago. He vowed that if he were ever able to get back to the farm, he would return it to her. The rest, that was for Addy, or at least himself and Addy. He held on to the dream that they had shared so long ago, about going off somewhere together, where people didn’t know them as brother and sister. God, he missed her so much. Tom had not dated anyone or slept with anyone since that fateful night. Even when co-workers would try to fix him up from time to time. He politely declined and kept to himself. His only escape had been reading.

“…from ashes, to ashes… from dust, to dust…” The words rang in Addy’s mind as the preacher droned on and on with the traditional funeral rites, the day they gathered to lay her mother, Teresa, to her final rest. Addy was all cried out at this point, but her eyes were still red rimmed and puffy, as were those of her father, Richard. The stood beside the grave as they lowered Teresa’s casket into the cold ground. It was sad tableau, one that would be repeated two more times in less than three months from this day. Addy’s great grandparents, Teresa’s grandparents, the owners of the hardware shop would pass as well. More and more sadness it would seem.

Richard would withdraw from the world that remained. With Addy away at college and his dear Teresa gone by this point for over three years, he didn’t have much interest in anything else anymore. Work around the farm slipped into neglect. He found solace more and more often in a bottle. He would drink till he didn’t feel anything anymore or pass out. Usually, it was to pass out. Geraldine, Deeny, still lived on the farm with him. She managed to keep the house up, even as old as she was too. She would clean up after Richard. She would help him to bed and take off his boots if he were passed out. She couldn’t, however, get him to admit that he had a problem or to see a doctor.

One morning, Richard didn’t get up. It was not uncommon for him to rise late after a particularly long drinking binge the night before, but this was even later than that. With food on the stove being kept warm, Deeny finally went to Richard’s room to check on him. She found him lying there with a picture frame clutched to his chest. A chest that was not rising and falling as it should, it was perfectly still. Deeny knew that he was gone.

Deeny reached out and picked up the picture and turned it over to see what it was. It was a split frame, one photo to the left was an old one of Richard and Teresa right after their wedding. The right-hand side held a photo of Addy and Tom, the night of her senior prom. Richard had passed holding the three dearest people close to his heart. Deeny wiped the tears from her eyes and sighed deeply. Patting Richard’s still chest, she set the picture frame back into his hands and then pulled his sheet up over his face. She turned and left the room to make some phone calls.

Addy found a note taped to the door of her efficiency apartment when she got home from class that evening. Her landlord had taken a call for her and the message was for her to call her aunt Geraldine when she got this message. Instead of going in her apartment, Addy walked to her landlord’s door and knocked. She was let in and allowed to use the house phone to make the call. She collapsed when she heard what her aunt Deeny told her about her father. How she managed to get to her room and onto her bed she would never know for certain, but it would seem that she lay there on her bed, crying for over a day. So alone, so very alone… now, more than ever, she longed for Tom. Her heart ached so much she even entertained thoughts of just ending her own existence. Wouldn’t that solve all her problems?

Two weeks later, and hundreds of miles away, a helicopter landed on the oil rig that Tom was working on. The copter brought, among other things like supplies and parts, mail for many of the crew. It was so unusual for Tom to receive mail that he hadn’t even bothered to check if there was anything for him. Another crew member had seen a letter addressed to Tom when he had picked up his own mail and mentioned it to Tom. Curious, Tom went to the office and found the letter waiting. Seeing who the sender was, Tom felt a cold chill pass through him, it had been years since he had seen his aunt.

Tom waited till he had climbed into his bunk to open the letter and read the letter. As much as he might have had reason to hate or despise Richard for his banishment, Tom just couldn’t. He was after all the only father he had. The news of his passing still hurt deeply. Tom knew that it was time to go home. He had to find his sister and be there for her.

Tom’s employers were understanding and he was released from his crew contract, but the nature of working on an oil rig meant getting back to the mainland was a slow process. It was three days before he could catch a ride on another supply copter, then another day or so before he could get his truck out of storage and settle up with the seedy hotel where he rented a room when he wasn’t on the rig. It was a full week after getting the letter from his aunt Deeny before Tom hit the road… to go home. Richard had been dead and gone for nearly a month by this point.

Addy had been there, for the funeral for her father. He had been laid to rest next to his beloved wife Teresa. Addy had been there all alone with the exception of Deeny. Deeny had also accompanied her to the lawyers’ office for the reading of Richard’s will. It was something that Addy had desperately not wanted to do but as she was the only heir available, she had been talked into attending. Deeny held her hand and tried to comfort her as best she could.

Richard had left a small sum of money to Geraldine, but the house, the farm and everything else in his estate had been left jointly to Tom and Addy. A stipulation in the will also made clear that if Tom could not be located or if he were deceased, all of it would go to Addy. What many would have seen as a blessing, Addy saw as a burden. Just one more yoke to keep her bound to the memories that she would sooner forget so as not to suffer the pain they brought with them. She told Deeny all this after they had left the lawyers’ office.

Addy had returned home to the farm with Deeny that day. She spent the night, in her old room but she didn’t sleep a wink. What she did do was write a letter. A letter to her beloved, Tom. She told him that she had thought of him every day since he had left, that she had longed for him to return to her and for them to be together forever. She had held onto the dream of them being a couple and of having a family of their own. There would never be anyone else for her, even if it meant being alone for the rest of her life… she would wait.

The letter also mentioned that she had finished her studies at the university and was going to spread her wings at last. She still wanted to see the ocean at least once, so she was going to travel to the sea and explore the coast. Perhaps she’d start with the Gulf of Mexico. White sand and sunshine, it had looked nice in the post card from Panama City Florida that tom had sent once. She might even find a job doing something there and stay a while.

Addy had left the letter in a sealed envelope in Tom’s old bedroom. The last place that she had experienced any happiness in her life. The letter sat atop other letters she had written from time to time while he had been gone, along with birthday cards, a valentine or two, and an old newspaper. The headline on the paper read of a gruesome discovery of a submerged car in Arrowhead Lake and the remains of a missing man. While the body was badly decomposed, the cold deep water of the lake had preserved much of the corpse. There was even skin on the chest that had been covered by some material that spelled out the words “I am a rapist” in what looked like gravel and ground glass. Local authorities were perplexed. Another clipped article lay with that paper, it detailed the autopsy results and DNA confirmation that the body that had been found was indeed the long missing Delbert Evans.

Addy left the next day. She hugged Deeny and told her that she was to consider the old house and the farm her home for as long as she wanted. Deeny had pleaded with her to stay on a while in hopes that word had reached Tom and he would be getting here soon. Addy only smiled sadly and said that she’d come back sometime, but that if Tom did come home, he would know where to find her. So, with the hug goodbye, Addy left the old farm once more and didn’t look back. Deeny, wiped a tear from her eye and prayed that Tom would come home soon. Things had to be set right, so much misunderstanding and pain.

Almost two weeks later, Deeny was standing at the kitchen sink washing her dirty plate after eating dinner. She happened to glance out the window over the sink and saw an old battered pickup slow on the road and turn into the end of the long driveway. The truck stopped just past the gate and just sat there a while. Her old eyes couldn’t make out who the lone person in the truck was but her old heart beat a little faster as if it already knew who it was. The truck slowly began to move again, coming up the drive towards the old farmhouse. Deeny dried her hands off on a dish towel and walked to the back door and went out onto the porch.

Tom slowed his old truck near the back porch and turned it off. He sat for a moment looking at the old woman who emerged from the house. He hadn’t seen her in years but the eyes and the smile were still the same. His heart swelled just a bit before he opened his door and got out. We walked to the back porch and climbed two steps to bring himself eye level with her. There were no words needed, Deeny merely opened her arms wide and they embraced as only long-lost family can. The tears flowed and both sobbed a mixture of sadness and happiness at the same time.

Hours later the two sat across the kitchen table from one another sipping coffee after a light dinner. It had been a long time since Tom had enjoyed a good home cooked meal. He and Deeny had been deep in conversation the entire time. She updated him on so many of the things he had missed while he was away. Each little bit of news seemed to drive home the pain and loss he had been dealing with since he had left this house so long ago.

Tom knew of course that Teresa had cancer, from the letter she had slipped into that brown paper bag along with her meager savings that fateful day. He hadn’t realized, however how long she had held on, desperately it seems in hopes that he would return. He was disheartened to hear of how woeful and sad that his beloved sister had been since that day. It made his heart hurt to hear about it. What he was surprised to learn was that Richard, too, had had cancer. To be honest though, no one knew until after he had died and the autopsy had discovered it. Deeny had thought it was liver disease brought on by his heavy drinking. It would seem that the old man had lost all will to live after losing Teresa and Addy moving away. For the first time Tom thought of Richard in a new light. Especially after Deeny went on to tell Tom of his own history, that he hadn’t known.

Apparently, the memories of a young child, himself, were full of blanks and missing important facts. Tom learned or was told by his aunt Deeny that Richard had suffered loss before. Tom’s own mother, his real biological mother, had also died of cancer when Tom himself was just barely a toddler. Of course, he only had vague memories of that age, it was understandable that he had imprinted on Teresa and he had always thought of her as his mother. She did, in fact, love him as her very own. But Richard had promised his real mother to take care of her son, and he had lived up to that promise. The lump in Tom’s throat prevented him from speaking for a while. So, Deeny continued to reeducate him.

Tom was not an anyway at all blood related to Richard. Tom’s father had died in a training accident in the army even before Tom was born. Richard had met Tom’s mother at the old diner, now long closed, and had fallen in love with her. They were soon married, a memory that Tom only vaguely recollected. Richard had in fact adopted Tom, explaining why his last name was the same. Sadly, it was as short-lived marriage as she quickly succumbed to ovarian cancer and passed away. It was a little over a year later that Richard had met Teresa. They fell in love and were soon married… From that point Tom could pretty much remember the rest. All these years… The revelations were overwhelming. Tom had to get away to be alone and think.

At first Tom went upstairs. He stood in the doorway of Addy’s old room and looked into the past. His eyes misting over with memories both sweet and sad. It was nearly too much, taking a deep breath he continued on to his own room. The very place where his world began falling apart so long ago. Pushing open the door he slowly entered the room and looked around. It all seemed so familiar, as if nothing had changed. There were still the same posters on the wall, by the door was the stick figure drawing in crayon that Addy had made for him when she was five. The pang in his heart was palpable.

Tom then saw the pile of envelopes on his bed near the pillow. Walking over to the bed he reached down and pushed them around seeing they were all addressed to him. Tom saw the newspaper and the clipping about Delbert’s car and finding the body. Tom had to sit down for a moment. He had to wonder how the car and Delbert had ended up in the lake. What had that fool done? Those thoughts faded though as he held the stack of envelopes in his hands. Thinking of his dear Addy, he decided he would take them to a special place and read them. Where else but by the pond?

Tom went back downstairs to find Deeny still sitting at the kitchen table. She saw that he was carrying the stack of envelopes and nodded. Tom told her he was going to go out by the pond and do a little reading. Standing up, Deeny walked over to the fridge and reached in to grab a paper carton, a six pack of beer. She took one bottle out for herself and then handed Tom the rest.

“I shouldn’t be promoting drinking, especially after dealing with Richard for so long… but this might just hit the spot. Take your time son… I’ll be here when you get back. I know you have a lot to think about.” Deeny said and patted Tom on his arm before turning back to sit down at the table again.

Tom nodded silently then left out the back door. He climbed into his old truck and started it up and turned towards the barn. The gate was already open so he just drove on back the rutted dirt trail, knocking over the tall grass and weeds. Pulling up to the pond, Tom felt his breath catch in his chest as the poignant memories leapt to mind once more. Endless days of fishing, swimming, or just lying on the bank looking up at the clouds or if at night, the stars above. Of course, there was the one very special night that stood out among all the other memories.

He climbed out of the cab carrying the carton of beer and the stack of envelopes. He opened his tailgate and hopped up on it as he had done countless times in the past. Tom opened a bottle of beer and took a long pull before picking up the first envelope. Since they were all dated, he decided he would open them up in order, from oldest to most recent. And so, he began to read, it was almost as if he were reading a diary… Addy’s diary. She detailed everything that had happened from day in and day out since the morning that he had been made to leave.

The tears soon began to flow freely, page after page. There were birthday cards, Christmas cards, Valentines, and always the love that she felt for him just as he felt for her. Tom read of her high school graduation. He read about her applying for college and being accepted, about moving into the dorm at first and later of finding a small efficiency apartment and a part time job. Addy told of her classes and the wonderful things she was learning. She also told of the devastation and heartbreak of Teresa’s illness and passing. How she hadn’t known anything until just before the end. She relayed that Teresa had told Addy to make sure Tom knew that she had loved him so very much.

Tom had to stop reading for a few minutes after that. Seeing that the first bottle of beer was now empty, Tom leaned back and put the empty bottle in the plastic milk crate he used as a trash can, then grabbed a second beer from the carton and twisted off the cap. He drained almost half of the bottle before setting it aside and picking up the last letter, the most recent one. With shaky hands, Tom carefully opened up the envelope and pulled out the folded letter from within.

This letter had been written the night before Addy had left the farm after burying her father, and dealing with the lawyers and the will. The same will that Deeny had told him about and he now knew that Richard had left everything to himself and Addy. In the letter Addy told Tom that without him, she had no use for the farm and would likely not return. She still longed to see the ocean and to walk in the sand on a beach just as they had both talked and dreamed of doing. His post cards had inspired her to venture out on her own in search of those very things. Tom finished the second beer and absentmindedly put the bottle in the garbage crate. He opened a third bottle and took a pull from that one as he continued reading.

Tom finished reading the letter and carefully refolded it and put it back into its envelope. He placed the envelope in his breast pocket and then picked the bottle of beer back up. For what seemed like ages, he just sat there on the tailgate listening to the frogs and crickets warming up for their nightly chorus. The sky was beginning to darken as the sun began to settle on the horizon to the west. Tom lifted the bottle but paused to look at it. The long neck had long since lost its chill, even if it was only half full.

Tipping the bottle over and watching the lukewarm contents pour out into the grass at the edge of the pond… until it was only a sad slow drip or two. Too often that same elixir had deadened the pain, pushed it aside so that it could be forgotten, if only for a little while. It made it easier to do things that were hard to do when the mind wasn’t fogged with alcohol, like forget and pretend. Pretend that what happened hadn’t happened, that it was all just imagination or a bad dream. Yeah… but it was neither, it was all true and too real to keep pushing away and forgetting. Sobriety, like the sunrise of the new day always brought back the clarity and the pain.

Tom now had a new clarity though. What aunt Deeny had revealed to him was nothing short of a miracle he thought. Now things could be different, he didn’t have to feel shame or any kind of fear or regret for being in love with his sister… she wasn’t really his sister, at least not by blood. They had the wrong blood! Yes, they had grown up together as brother and sister, but they were not related in fact. And in the eyes of the law and any logical thinking person they could be together… they could… get married! They could be and have a family! Now all Tom had to do was to find Addy and let her know as well. She had left over two weeks ago… she could be anywhere. Tom slowly smiled for the first time in what seemed like ages. His right hand reached up and tapped the breast pocket of his shirt that contained the last letter Addy had written to him.

Three weeks later…

It was another beautiful sunset, the shushing sound of the surf washing in and out on the white sandy beach. Addy squinted her eyes as she looked towards the fiery red ball descending on the horizon. The keening sound of gulls gliding along on the salty breeze blowing in from the gulf was almost like music to her ears. Addy walked barefoot in the warm sand along the break line where the surf ended its advance onto the shore. She had discovered that it was easier to walk on the wet sand, and earlier in the day she would have been there because the water cooled her feet. But as evening approached the dry sand was warmer and felt better. Her walk was slow, ambling and almost listless. As beautiful as all this was, it just couldn’t fill the void she still felt in her heart. If only…

It was the fifteenth time he’d come to this beach, the fifteenth day he had spent going up and down the shore visiting all the beaches along this stretch of the coast. Tom was beginning to think that perhaps he had got it wrong. Maybe She hadn’t come to Panama City after all. His hopes were beginning to fade into despair… a feeling he was all too familiar with. “One more day.” He had told himself, “One more day and then I’ll move down the coast and look some more.

With his hands stuffed despondently into the front pockets of his jeans, Tom walked along the edge of the dunes. The sand in his shoes was a barely noticed nuisance after over two weeks. He kept reminding himself to raise his hanging head and look around now and then. So far there had only been a couple of fleetingly hopeful sightings… only to be dashed when he neared a girl who looked like his sister from a distance. Although it pained his heart each time this happened, he vowed to keep looking. He no longer heard the keening sounds of the gulls overhead, or even the shushing sound of the surf washing ashore and receding again into the gulf… just the muffled sound of his shoes trudging through the soft white sand. The sun was at his back and he was sure by now that his neck was turning to leather after being exposed day in and day out.

Tom nearly tripped over his own feet when his foot came down on the edge of a fair-sized sand crab. The disturbed shellfish raised his claws defensively and skittered sideways out of Tom’s path. Somewhat amused, Tom stood still and followed it with his eyes as the crab moved towards the water several yards away. It was then that he saw the woman clutching a gauzy scarf about her neck walking slowly at the edge of the wet/dry sand divide towards him. Something about the capris pants that had rolled cuffs at just below her knees, and the baggy sweatshirt drew his eyes for a closer inspection. The site of the fiery untamed curls of strawberry blonde locks flitting about in the breeze made Tom’s heart skip a beat. He blinked his eyes and tried to focus them more intently on the woman still some fifty yards or so away but moving closer.

Addy closed her eyes for a moment as a chill climbed her back, her exposed forearms broke out in gooseflesh. She could remember the last time she had felt that, it was the night… the night that everything went wrong. She took a long stuttering breath in and held it for a moment before letting it out again in a long sigh. When she opened her eyes again to look once more towards the setting sun, she saw a shadowy silhouette in the near distance walking towards her from further up in the dry sand along the dunes. There was something about the figure’s gate, that was… familiar.

Now only twenty yards apart, the woman looked up towards him, or more likely towards the setting sun at his back. Tom’s breath caught in his chest. His heart began racing… is it? Could it be? A gusting breeze blew the curly loose hair from her face.

Addy’s brows knitted and she cocked her head slightly to one side. She reached up and pulled her glasses down from her hair into place over her dazzling blue eyes. She squinted against the glare of the setting sun… and she stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart skipped a beat then two… then it began to race excitedly. Her hand clutching the scarf went lax and the scarf flew off on the blustery breeze.

Tom’s slow advance sped up. Halting steps became strides… each step bringing him closer and his vision became clearer.

Addy’s bottom lip began to tremble, her dazzling blue eyes grew cloudy as they filled with tears… and then she was running…

Like a scene from many a romantic movie, so cliché and overdone but so very real… Tom and Addy collided. Tom swept her up in his arms and twirled her around and around. When they stopped spinning, they were locked in a lovers’ embrace, lips trying to consume each other, laughing and crying at the same time… time… time stood still.

….. The toe headed little boy sat dejectedly on the steps of the back porch. His little elbows propped on his knees, his frowning bored little face rested in his upturned palms. He was still cross that he hadn’t been allowed to go with his momma and daddy. Instead, he had had to stay home with his aunt. Oh, she was nice enough, and she had made cookies for him, his favorites even, chocolate chip. Still though, momma and daddy had said today was the big day, daddy was especially excited about it. He’d never seen his daddy so excited. It was funny to see him running around the house and back and forth from the car, he’d almost driven off without momma. He got halfway down the driveway before he realized momma was still standing on the porch talking to aunty. That had been early this morning. Now the sun was going down and he was getting tired of waiting.

He took another deep breath and sighed, puffing out his cherubic little cheeks, his chocolate brown eyes seemed to glaze over. Then, he noticed… a car slowed on the road and turned into the driveway. His little chocolate chip-stained mouth fell open a little as his head raised up to get a better look. It WAS THEM! Leaping to his feet, he darted to the screen door and yelled inside.

“Deeny! Deeny! It’s them! They’re home! Deeny come quick!” little Tommy shouted in his falsetto like voice before turning and darting down the steps to stand in the driveway just off the porch.

From inside the house, a soft chuckling laughter could be heard as the old woman made her way towards the back door limping along with the use of her cane.

“Like father, like son.” The old woman said with a sardonic grin as she pushed the screen door open and stepped to the handrail at the edge of the back porch. “Mind the car, Tommy!” She said in a louder voice to warn the rambunctious four-year-old.

The dusty sedan pulled to a stop about ten feet from the porch. Tom killed the engine before opening his door and walking quickly around to the passenger side of the car and opening the door for Addy. She turned haltingly in her seat to put her legs out of the car and then with bundle in her arms she stood up slowly with Tom’s help at her elbow. Tom was still nervous and excited, almost spastic in his caution trying to protect both mother… and baby.

Little Tommy was hopping up and down, bobbing left and right trying desperately to get a glimpse of this bundled up curiosity that everyone was making such a fuss over. Holding onto Addy’s elbow, Tom helped her climb the steps on the back porch and they paused outside the back door for Deeny to lean in and have a peek inside the bundled pink blanket. Her smile was sheer delight and her old eyes twinkled just before they began to fill with tears. Tears of happiness of course.

Meanwhile Tommy was still trying to get a glimpse, and not having any success at all. His little lips puckered up in an aggravated pout and his little hands were balled into little fists. It would have been fitting if he had stomped his little sneaker covered foot, but he didn’t. Instead, he followed his momma and daddy, and aunt Deeny into the house. They went through the kitchen and the dining room to the parlor. Momma eased down onto the couch as if she were sore. She cradled the little pink bundled blanket and for the first time Tommy heard a noise. It almost sounded like a frog to him and that made him even more curious and desperate to see this thing that has everyone so excited.

Tom saw little Tommy eyeing the blanket and knew just what his son was thinking. He glanced into Addy’s eyes and she smiled knowingly and nodded her head. Tom knelt down next to the couch and put his big hand on little Tommy’s shoulder and eased the boy closer to his momma’s side.

“Tommy… we’d like you to meet someone. This is your little sister, Madeleine. She’s brand new and a little scared. She’s going to need someone to look after her…” Tom said softly as Tommy edged a little closer, timidly but even more curious.

Addy gently pulled the soft pink blanket aside uncovering a squirming pink little miniature person. There was thin hair, as red as fire atop of the little head, thin little red eyebrows, a button nose and tiny little pink lips that were slobbery and little pink tongue stuck out. Two little balled up tiny tiny little hands waved about. The little head turned a little this way and that and that sound came out again, only now Tommy knew it wasn’t from a frog after all.

Leaning a little closer Tommy reached out his little right hand to gently touch this squirmy little creature. It was so soft, and warm… then a tiny hand opened up and those tiny little fingers wrapped around his little index finger. Tommy froze… and then the eyes opened up and looked right at him… It was as if he looked into the rising sun. Those little eyes were so bright and clear and so dazzlingly blue… Tommy stopped breathing, his little mouth hung slack as his whole world compressed into the sensation of his finger being held by that tiny little hand and those dazzling blue eyes staring into his.

“H… Hi… Madelu… Madali… Maddy.” Tommy all but whispered in hushed amazement.

~finis~