Crying Uncle

Note to readers: I won't share her name, but someone who enjoys my stories sent me an email expressing her appreciation for the way they slowly build with sexual tension. She said they were 'juicy and delectable' and that women enjoy that. I thanked her then received a follow-on email asking if I take requests. She said she'd like to read about a young girl living with her uncle who learns to pick up on his sexual cues as he gradually seduces her. She's resistant at first but finds herself wanting him more and more until she can no longer resist. Her name is Olivia and this is her story.

*****

"Oh...my...God! What is that?"

"That's the new girl."

"Eeew! I mean, most of the time I say there's hope for anyone but there really is an exception to every rule and she's standing right there. Who is she?"

"Olivia something-or-other. I heard her mom's really sick. I guess her uncle moved them here so he could help out or whatever."

"If he wants to help out, he should start with his niece. My God. Look at her! Her hair looks like it was just chopped off with an axe and it's all like greasy and...nasty. And those clothes! And those shoes! And that...bag. If you can even call it a bag. I bet she smells as bad as she looks. Did I saw 'eeew' yet?"

The two biggest snobs in the senior class were always ready, willing, and able to size up any new member of the student body—free of charge, of course. They'd just given Olivia Wilson the once-over and found her wanting in every category.

Olivia knew exactly what they were doing. She was used to it. It was the same thing girls like them did to her at the Catholic school she'd attended in her old home town where she'd lived all her life. This was only her first day in public school and she'd already been declared 'unclean' by the Sanhedrin of Sumner High School which was located about 35 miles due south of Seattle.

Moving hadn't been a big deal for her. Olivia didn't really have any friends growing up and she definitely didn't have a boyfriend. Her mother was a very strict Catholic woman and she'd kept Olivia under her thumb her entire life. Her dream for her daughter was that she would enter a convent directly after high school and avoid the pitfalls of boys, marriage, and...sex...which was a four-letter word in their home.

Olivia had grown up without a dad. In fact, she had no idea who her father even was. The only time her mother had even mentioned him she made an oblique reference to 'that dirty boy who did that to me' and that was that. One day she hoped to find out who he was and maybe even have a relationship with her. For now, she was content to try and get to know her Uncle Lucas who was five years younger than her mother. She'd met him once before when she and her mother took the bus from Portland to Seattle to go to his wife's funeral. They'd been married just five years when she lost her battle with breast cancer and Olivia was much too young to understand any of it. All she remembered was her mother telling her she was not to cry for any reason. She hadn't cried, but she did feel bad for her Uncle Luke. He seemed like such a kind man and she remembered wishing he could be her daddy. She innocently mentioned that to her mother and had received a sharp slap across the face followed by a diatribe about her proclivity for harlotry or something like that.

Olivia was now 19 having been held back once in the second grade. Her mother was 42 and her Uncle Luke had just turned 37. He had a very large, very nice house and he'd taken her and her mother in and given them each their own room. He was also paying for the nursing care that was now required 'round the clock which she knew had to be very expensive. She didn't know exactly what he did, but she knew he had money. And judging by his home and the car he drove, he had a lot of it.

The two things she loved most about living there were having her own room and having someone to talk to. Her mother had no interest in trivial things like chatting with her daughter or offering affection. Her role, she'd told Olivia many times, was to instill a love of Holy Mother Church, The Holy Father, The Blessed Virgin, the Saints and the fear of God. Over the years Olivia learned that really meant a fear of boys and that horrible, no-good, four-letter word her mother refused to say or allow to be spoken in their home.

Her Uncle Luke was different. He'd also been raised Catholic but never went to mass or confession. He laughed often, smiled a lot, and seemed to really enjoy talking with his niece. In all honesty, he did nearly all of the talking. Olivia mostly nodded and answered in one or two-word sentences. She'd never had a father, never had a boyfriend, and never even been on a date so talking to men—any man—was something that made her very uncomfortable. Uncle Luke was not just a father figure to her now, he was also a kind of secret fantasy about which she had vowed never to speak. He was so tall and handsome and she loved his dark hair and his warm smile almost as much as his gentle eyes. He was kind and caring and he made sure she had real food and a warm place to sleep where she was safe from the outside world.

He'd offered to let her go shopping with his credit card once, but her mother overhead him and forbid it. Although she was barely able to speak she called out in her small voice, "She doesn't need new clothes, Lucas! Nuns don't need clothes. They need piety and humility. She'd just end up dressing like a harlot and before you know it she'd be living in sin. She has everything she needs so no..." She began coughing so hard she could no longer speak. Her nurse gave her an injection of some kind and she was able to stop coughing but it also caused her to fall asleep. Mercifully, the latest round of berating ended.

Her uncle had taken her aside and said, "I can't imagine how difficult it's been for you, Olivia. Your mom is my sister and I love her dearly, but she's been so deeply indoctrinated she can't help but see sin and the devil everywhere she looks."

Olivia told him, "But isn't he always out there, tempting us to sin?"

He went to put his strong hand on her shoulder and she reflexively pulled away. "Sorry, honey. I didn't mean to startle you. Listen, it's not my place to contradict what your mother teaches you. All I'll say is don't believe in things like that."

"You don't?" Olivia asked with incredulity. "But you do believe in God and in Holy Mother Church, right?"

He smiled politely and said, "No, actually I don't, sweetheart. Not anymore. I gave up on all of that several years ago." He said, "I went to church every morning when your Aunt Kelli was sick and I lit candles and prayed for her right up until the day she died. After that, I realized there wasn't anyone 'up there' listening. I've never been back and I'll never set foot inside a church again." He realized she must be wondering about what he'd do when her mother passed away because he said, "I will however, make an exception to that rule when the time comes."

Olivia didn't know how long her mother had left, but she knew it couldn't be long. She mostly slept all of the time now and she barely ate. She had pancreatic cancer and she was tiny and frail and as much as Olivia feared her, she loved her mother and the thought of losing her made her incredibly sad. She was just thankful she now had someone she could talk to and lean on when the time came.

One week later she learned the answer. Her uncle had asked her to stay home from school when he gently informed her just how bad things were. "The doctor was here around 4am, Olivia. He told me it's just a matter of hours now. I didn't want to wake you up to tell you that, but now that you're up, it might be best if you went and said goodbye to her."

Olivia knew this day would come, but it still made her sick to her stomach when she heard the news. She walked into her mother's bedroom and heard the repetitious sound of the ventilating machine filling her lungs with air followed by a hissing sound. The nurse was taking her pulse when she walked in.

"Good morning, dear," the RN said. "I'm assuming your uncle talked to you already?"

"Yes," she said weakly. "May I come in?"

"Of course. I'm afraid she may not be able to hear you, Olivia. She's slipped into a coma and I'm very concerned she has very little time left. I'll leave you alone with her for a few minutes, okay?"

Olivia stood next to the bed and looked at her mother. She was much too young to die. Then again, so was her Aunt Kelli. The cancer was blocking her bile duct and her skin was a deep yellow. It had spread to her liver and bones and she'd wasted away to the point she looked like a human skeleton. She couldn't weigh over 80 pounds and her eyes were deeply jaundiced and sunken. She reached out and held her mother's bony hand then realized she had nothing to say. A part of her wanted to tell her she loved her while another part, a part she never let out, wanted to scream at her for being so cold and unfeeling. Instead, she laid her hand back down and said, "Goodbye, Mom."

She turned around and walked out and went back to her room. Just after noon, the nurse knocked on her door and said, "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. She's gone."

True to his word, her Uncle Lucas did attend her wake and burial mass but she noticed he never genuflected nor made the sign of the cross. He just sat there staring without emotion until the service was over.

Back at their home he asked her, "How are you doing, Olivia? Is there anything I can do? Anything at all?"

Olivia sat cross-legged on her bed. She didn't speak, she just sat there and shook her head. "Well, you let me know if there is, okay? Will you at least do that?" he asked kindly.

She nodded without speaking or looking up. Just as he was about to leave he said, "Listen, I don't mean to be disrespectful to your mother, but if you'd like to go looking for some new things well, I'd be happy to take you or let you go alone. Maybe think about it over the weekend?"

Her mother had passed away on Monday and she was buried on Thursday. She'd been out of school all week and her Uncle Luke told her she could stay home again on Friday. For the first time in her life, she was literally by herself. It seemed like she should cry, but she couldn't. She was sad, but she wasn't sorrowful. In fact, the emotion she felt the strongest was...relief, yet feeling relieved somehow seemed wrong. It seemed...wicked. She thought about going to confession on Sunday when she realized she didn't have to and that realization caused another wave of relief to wash over her. It was too much to sort through at one time, but she felt something she'd never felt before. She felt...hope.

She was sitting in the kitchen trying to force herself to eat a piece of buttered toast when her uncle said, "Hey, there. I really need to get back to work today. Will you be okay here by yourself all day?"

"Oh, sure. I'll be fine. You go ahead."

He looked very handsome in his dark suit and red tie. Olivia felt ashamed for even noticing, but it didn't change the fact that he was very handsome. It made her wish she was pretty enough to get some nice boy at school to ask her out. She dreamed of going to prom or homecoming or even just out to dinner. When she heard the word 'dinner' at the same time she was thinking it, it startled her.

"What's that?" she said.

"I was asking if you'd like to maybe go out for dinner this evening. You haven't been eating and well, you and I have never really had a chance to talk. And frankly, I would really enjoy getting of the house. So...?"

"I guess," Olivia said quietly.

He picked up his briefcase and said, "Great! We'll leave around 6 o'clock if that's okay."

"Sure," was all she said in reply.

"Um...Olivia? Listen, I've never been able to bring myself to go through your Aunt Kelli's things. I would really like it if you'd take a look and see if she had anything you might like. You know, clothes, shoes, jewelry. Anything. Whatever you don't want, I'm going to go ahead and put in storage. I can't stand the thought of throwing it away, but as much as I loved her, I just think it's time. You're about her size, you know. She was small like you. Maybe you could wear one of her outfits tonight. I mean, if you'd like to, that is."

"Okay, I'll try and look through them today," she said. Olivia spoke so softly it was often hard to hear her and Luke knew it was from years of having been beaten down by his sister. It made him feel bad because his niece was really a very pretty girl underneath the plain, shabby clothes and the mop of hair on her head.

"There is one other thing I'd like you to consider doing today. I'm not sure how to say this so I'll just make the offer. I know a woman who still works where your Aunt Kelli used to go to get her hair done. If I call her and let her know you're coming, would you be willing to let her cut and style your hair?" Olivia looked up for the first time and the look on her face was one of disbelief.

Thinking she may have been offended, her uncle quickly added, "You can choose the length and style and even the color. I just thought, well, you're such a pretty girl and you deserve to have some nice things." She didn't smile but her eyes softened and he could tell she wasn't used to hearing kind words let alone receiving compliments.

"So what do you think?"

"I guess I could do that. Is it far away?" she asked.

Luke called the salon from work and had a taxi go by the house and pick up Olivia. He made sure she knew how to call for the driver to come back when she was done.

It was around 3 o'clock when Olivia walked in. She'd never had anyone but her mother cut her hair before and when she did she simply announced it was time. She'd pull out a pair of scissors and cut off several inches leaving it jagged and uneven. That was because she knew boys were tempted by girls with pretty hair and there was no need to give any boy any reason to lust after her daughter since she would one day be married to her Lord and Savior who looked only on the inside.

When she walked in an older lady said, "Hello, there! You must be Olivia. Come in and let's see what we want do with your hair." The lady took a look at it and said, "Oh, my. This is going to be a bit of a challenge, dear. I think we're going to have to go shorter than most girls your age like, but the good news is you have the perfect face for a shorter style!"

"Really?" Olivia asked. She had no idea what the woman meant so she pulled out some magazines and explained how some faces were shaped like a heart, others were more square, while some were oval, etc.

The older woman stepped back and said, "You know what? Your face looks an awful lot like that Hillary Swank girl on TV. Do you know who she is, hon?"

"No, I don't watch a lot of TV," she said truthfully. Television was forbidden in her mother's home as it was filled with nothing but lust and sex and other wickedness.

"Well, she is a very beautiful young woman and she has a longer face just like you. And by 'long' I don't mean sad." Her attempt at humor was lost on Olivia who just nodded politely.

"I'm thinking something like...this," she told her as she showed her several pages of the kinds of cuts she thought would look good on Olivia. She could see the girl was on overload and told her, "There really are a lot of options, aren't there, hon? I have one in mind I think will be perfect for you. Let me show it to you."

Unlike most of the photos she'd shown her, this one didn't look like boy's haircut. It looked soft and feminine. Olivia thought it looked...pretty...and that made her wonder if it was possible for her to ever look...pretty. "Um...okay, we can try that one," she said in her ultra-quiet voice.

"Wonderful!" the lady said. "So now we just need to decide what color you want and we'll be all set!"

"Color?" Olivia asked.

"Well, yes. Do you want to keep in light brown or go lighter or possibly even darker? Your hair is light enough we could easily go all the way to platinum blonde or as dark as a rich coffee color. That's just up to you, hon." She stepped back and scanned her face before saying, "You know, with your eyes I think we could go a little lighter than ash blonde, but I wouldn't recommend going as light as platinum or even golden. I'm thinking butterscotch blonde would be perfect for you."

Again, Olivia's reply was one word long. "Okay."

It took a couple of hours to wash, cut, then bleach her hair. When she was finished, Olivia was nearly in shock when she looked in the mirror. "Do you like it, hon?" the lady asked. "I think it really is perfect for you. What do you think?"

Her dark, stringy, uneven hair was now a soft, silky blonde and she couldn't believe how short it was. But it did look exactly like the girl in the magazine. It was...pretty.

"Well, it's all paid for, hon, so if you're happy with it...Are you happy with it?" The woman had never had a customer who didn't provide her with feedback let alone barely say two words the whole time.

Olivia had to pull herself away from the mirror and every time she passed something that reflected light she stopped to see if something had changed. She looked into the little mirror on the visor all the way home in the cab. "You look like a whole other person, young lady!" the driver told her. "I don't think I'd have recognized you if I didn't know where you'd been."

"I do?" Olivia asked not knowing what that meant.

"You sure do. It's uh, very...flattering on you. You look really pretty. Do you have a date or something tonight?" he asked her.

"Who—me? A date? Oh, no. I'm just having dinner with my Uncle Luke," she said innocently.

"Well, you're sure to attract a lot of attention. If you don't have yourself a boyfriend now you will very soon!" he told her honestly.

When she got back to the house she decided to take a look through her Aunt Kelli's things even though she had no idea what to even look for. Her closet was across from her Uncles Luke's. His door was open while her's was closed.

She opened it and turned on the light and couldn't believe what she saw. It was a huge walk-in closet filled with beautiful dresses, skirts, blouses, pants, jeans, sweaters, scarves, and shoes. There were rows and rows of shoes of every kind and color. There was also an armoire at the other end with several drawers. Each of them was filled with beautiful jewelry of gold, silver, onyx, turquoise, and pearls. There were necklaces, bracelets, earrings, broaches, chokers, and things she'd never seen. Olivia's mother had pierced her ears when she was very little and had always and only wore tiny gold studs in them. In fact, they were the only jewelry she'd ever had.

She had no idea what to choose as everything she saw looked beautiful to her. She stepped out and walked around the bedroom and looked at the many pictures of her Aunt Kelli and Uncle Lucas. In one of them, she was dressed in white and holding a tennis racket. Her smile was amazing and she was so pretty. Olivia picked it up and noticed her hair looked very much like hers did now. It was darker but it was short and styled similarly to the way hers had just been done. In another photo, she was wearing a gorgeous formal gown and her uncle was in a black tux. They looked so happy and so beautiful together. She saw another one of just Aunt Kelli at a restaurant with a friend. Both of them were wearing a very pretty sweater and skirt and she loved how they were smiling. She wondered if maybe her Uncle Luke had taken the picture.

She went back inside the closet and looked around and there it was. The pretty black sweater with the long sleeves. The neckline was very low and Olivia thought about putting it back. She kept looking and found the gray skirt her aunt had worn with it and decided it must the kind of thing a woman would wear to dinner at a restaurant.