My Sister is a Piece of Work

[I'm submitting this in the incest/taboo section. There is lots of tenderness and not much sex in this story. The names of the characters are fictional. I only know one person with a name that shows up in this story who is anything like any of the people in the story. Some families communicate love in different ways. This is what worked for this family.]

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My sister is a piece of work. When we were growing up she followed me around like a puppy. Mom had me take her with me almost everywhere I went. She became our mascot. I played baseball in Little League and high school and she became the team scorekeeper. All the guys liked her. She could talk baseball as well as any guy in the school and she was both fun and cute.

As a student she was smart. Not overbearing about being smart, but all the guys knew she was smart. When I was a junior, she was a freshman and Harvey Kronner played third base. She tutored him in Algebra so he could get good enough grades to stay on the team. We never told anyone she was his tutor. Harvey was shy, but he was comfortable with Sam. My sister Sam was one of the guys.

We got along great, more like best friends than the way I saw other brother-sister pairs at school. She steered me away from the girls who were bad news and all the guys in my circle protected her from the guys who were bad news. When she was a junior I was at El Camino Community College. She dated George Sanchez for almost the whole school year. George played center field. He hit .388 that year, 29 home runs and 14 stolen bases. I saw George at our house a lot.

After Community College I went away to Arizona on a baseball scholarship. Sam stayed at home and went to El Camino. We talked on the phone at least once a month and we hung out together during vacations. Every time I came home I was surprised by how she was changing.

All the way through high school she was a slender, girl wearing blue jeans and a baseball shirt with barely a body. She developed a chest late. I think she wore a cheater bra until she was a senior, just so people would know she was a girl. But her senior year she began showing signs of womanhood. I came home for Christmas and she was a cute, slender girl with hips and small breasts, but definitely breasts.

At Christmas the next year she was taller, still slender but smoother, and her chest was at least a "C" cup. She still favored baseball shirts, jeans and athletic shoes as her normal day-to-day dress but during that Christmas vacation she invited me to go to a dance at her college and I was knocked on my ass when I saw her in that slinky, shiny black dress! It hugged her body all the way to mid thigh and showed beautiful legs. The top of the dress was not slutty but there was no denying she was all woman.

I reminded myself twenty or more times that evening that Samantha was my sister and I shouldn't hit on her. Lots of other men did hit on her. I danced with lots of Sam's friends and a few acted interested in me. We both had a great time and talked and laughed on the way back to our parents house.

The summer I graduated I had hoped baseball would have a job for me. It didn't. So I took a job with a good company and started working. I was in San Diego while Mom, Dad and Sam were in L.A. Things went well that first year. I got promoted, moved to a nicer apartment near the ocean and played on a team in an adult league.

Sam and I talked on the phone, staying in touch. During her spring break it would be Mom and Dad's twenty-fifth anniversary. We were going on a cruise down to Mexico as a family. We talked often and both of us were looking forward to the trip. We would be sharing a cabin for the four day cruise. That was the only drawback either of us could see. We said it was a drawback, but neither of really thought so.

We were scheduled to leave on Saturday. I was supposed to drive up to L.A. after work on Friday. Early Friday morning everything changed.

I'd been at my desk for five minutes when the phone rang. "PPK Industries. This is Pete, how can I help you?"

"Come home right now!" She sounded in pain.

"Sam! What's wrong?"

"I've been beaten and raped. I'm at Centenella Hospital. Can you come?"

"I'll be on the road in ten minutes. Are you gonna be Ok?"

"When you get here, I'll be better. Don't call home! Promise me!"

I promised. My mind raced. I was all packed and ready. My car was full of gas and my little sister was hurt. I told my boss what was up and he sent me on my way.

It was the first time I had made the drive without stopping for fast food. I watched for cops and watched my speed. I didn't see a cop. I pulled into the lot of the hospital and went inside. Minutes later I walked into the treatment area where Sam was waiting for me. She was dressed and at first glance she looked tired but not hurt. Then she moved and I could tell she was in lots of pain.

"Thanks for coming, Pete. I don't want Mom and Dad to know I was raped." Tears flowed down her cheeks. "We can tell them I got beat up. I did. We can still go on vacation and they will still have a fun anniversary. If we tell them I was raped we'll ruin it for them. Ok?"

"Yeah. I'll take care of you. Can you go?"

"No. The doctor wants to talk to you first."

A few minutes later the doctor came in. She was beautiful. Tall red head with short hair, great legs and a body hiding inside a white coat.

"You're Pete, her brother?"

"Yes."

"You'll be taking care of her for the next week or so?"

"As long as it takes."

"Ok." She told me what was needed and I realized how badly Sam was hurt. Four broken ribs, lots of bruises and small cuts on her body and legs and tears to both her vagina and anus. She gave me a big bag of bandages, antiseptic cream and tape. I got the pain killers and antibiotics from the pharmacy. A nurse wheeled her out to my car and we went home. Mom and Dad weren't home. A note on the kitchen table told us they were out for brunch with some friends.

We sat in the living room and she told me the story. She had already told the police. She had gone with three girl-friends to a college party at one of the bigger Universities in L.A. By midnight Sam was pretty sure two of her friends had disappeared with guys. She danced and had fun and by three was ready to leave. She went looking for her friends and found lots of couples in beds, but not her friends. She went out to where they had parked and the car they arrived in was gone. She was fifteen miles from home and her friends and ride were gone.

One of the guys followed her out when she went looking for her friends and he offered to bring her home. She didn't want to accept, but she also didn't want to wake Dad to come rescue her. She accepted and he got her into his car. She told him where to go and when he got on the freeway she fell asleep. She stopped the story and cried some more. Crying with broken ribs hurts even more than breathing.

I waited. She resumed the story. "When I woke up we were parked. We were under a bridge. My dress was off, my bra was off and he was working on getting my panties off. I screamed at him and hit him. He said he never gave sluts a ride for free. I screamed again and he hit me in the chest. It knocked the wind out of me. He ripped my panties off and got my legs apart. His pants were open and I saw his thing sticking out. I knew he intended to rape me. He spit on me, down there and shoved in, hard. It hurt so bad I passed out!" I gave her some more tissues and she blew her nose and wiped tears from her face.

"When I came to again he was inside my ass! God, it hurt so bad! I cried and begged him to stop. Then he hit me again and threw me out of the car onto the ground. My dress and bra were beside me on the ground and he kicked me in the chest. I heard and felt the ribs crack. He knelt down close to me and said, "Tell your asshole brother this was payback for him taking my girl when he was a senior." Then he got in the car and drove off."

It took a while but I figured out who it was. Tommy Simons. He was three years younger than me and had a thing for Carla Morone. When I got interested in her he was pissed. He held a grudge for years. Amazing.

"Pete, I told the cops the whole story. They weren't hopeful that they would find him, unless the DNA they recovered leads them to him."

"I know where to find him."

"Pete, promise me you won't ruin your life over this. I'll heal. I don't want you in prison for doing something to him."

"I'm not going to prison, jail or anywhere bad because of Tommy. I promise."

We heard a car door close and figured Mom and Dad were back. They weren't. It was two detectives and they wanted to talk with me. They wanted to know about the girls I dated in high school and college. Sam smiled as I recounted the list. Most of them were girls Sam knew. They wanted to know about any fights I'd been in, especially if the fight was over a girl. There were none. The older detective said it might be that the guy who did Sam thought she was someone else's sister.

They had been gone about ten minutes when we heard a car door close and this time it was Mom and Dad. It took a while but we convinced them that we should go on the cruise anyway. Healing on a deck chair would be better than the couch in the living room.

I slipped Sam her pills just before dinner. At bed time I snuck into her room and changed the bandages. I'd never seen Sam naked before, well, not since she was six. I applied the creams and bandages carefully and then tucked her into bed.

Saturday morning we loaded Dad's car with our stuff and were at the dock by one thirty in the afternoon. I helped Sam walk aboard. We found a great place to sit as a family and where we could watch as the ship pulled out of L.A. harbor.

When we could go to our cabins Sam wanted to lie down and take a nap. I helped her get comfortable and gave her more pills. I left her to sleep a while and went to explore the ship. My cell still worked so I called a friend from high school and swore him to secrecy, then I asked him to find out where Tommy lived. No questions asked. He said he'd have the information when I got back.

I changed the bandages twice a day. I bathed her. I helped her walk and helped her in the bathroom. I'd loved her all her life and every time I saw her hurt I got madder. The bruises changed color. The smaller cuts healed and the larger ones got smaller. She sobbed and cried for an hour after her first bowel movement. She bled too.

By the time our cruise was almost over Sam was walking pretty well and Mom thought she was pretty well healed. Mom had wanted to see the damage. Sam showed Mom her chest and back. She didn't show her or tell her about the damage done to her ass and vagina.

The third night of the cruise I got Sam ready for bed with fresh bandages and pills. I tucked her in and then took care of me. I slept in boxers during the cruise. In the middle of the night Sam lifted the covers from me and slid in beside me. She was wearing only the bandages.

She wrapped her arms around me and relaxed. Nothing was said. It felt comfortable and I went back to sleep.

In the morning I opened my eyes and Sam was watching me sleep.

"Morning."

"Morning. Is it Ok that I slept here?"

"Ok with me. I hope I didn't hurt you while I was asleep."

"No. You made me feel better. Thank you, big brother, for taking such good care of me."

"You're my sister. I love you."

"I think I love you too." It hit me like a baseball bat! She wasn't talking sisterly love! I stayed quiet for a minute, thinking. No wonder none of the women I dated worked out. I was already in love. My best friend from the day she was born had always been Sam.

I pulled her a little bit closer and kissed her. Her mouth didn't respond right away. A few seconds passed and her lips parted a tiny bit. My tongue touched her lips and she started crying.

I backed away and said, "I'm sorry."

Her eyes flashed and she said, "You should be! You are one of the slowest men on the planet! I've known I was in love with you since the seventh grade! I've known you love me for almost that long."

"Oh. Now that we both know, what do we do about it?"

"I'd invite you into my pussy, but Tommy forced that issue and I'm not available for a while."

"You're my sister."

"And, you are my brother. You are the man I love. You love me. What is left for us is to figure out what we do with all that... and the surprise."

"What surprise? You mean there's another one?"

"Dad wanted us to take this trip not just to celebrate their anniversary but to say good-bye. Mom has cancer. It's all over her insides and treatment won't work."

"They didn't tell me!"

"They didn't tell me either. I tend to be nosey. I read the emails from the doctors and the reports that came in the mail. Mom has maybe three months."

I cried. All these years she and Dad have been like the foundation for how I am in the world. Now, she was leaving. I held on to Sam and sobbed like when I was seven and learned about death. Our dog had been hit by a truck and I held her while she died. This felt a hundred times worse. Sam cried with me.

The phone rang. I quickly and carefully climbed over Sam and answered. It was Dad. "Have you two eaten?"

"Not yet."

"Mom and I would like to have breakfast with you. Can we meet at the buffet?"

"Sure. Give us fifteen minutes. Ok?"

"Sure." We hung up. I turned back to Sam and she was on her back with her arms open, tears filled her eyes. I climbed back into bed and held her.

"I don't want to eat breakfast, or lunch. I want to stay right here in bed with you, Sam."

"I want to eat breakfast and lunch with Mom and Dad. They need us right now. We can help them make this transition. We can love them through it and love each other at the same time." We kissed and it was filled with emotion and promises.

We got up, fresh bandages and clothes and were only ten minutes late to breakfast. We spent the rest of the day with Mom and Dad. I had not noticed anything off about Mom until that morning. My focus had been on Sam. I noticed Mom's hair was thinner than it had been. She was losing weight. She moved slower.

We laughed, remembered things from vacations we took when Sam and I were little, and got Mom and Dad to talk about things they remembered from when they were children. We sat on deck in the shade. We could see the ocean, smell it and taste the salt air. Being there and being together helped all of us heal.

At dinner that night Sam was in a dress for the first time since the beating. She glowed. Mom and Dad both told her how beautiful she was. After dinner we walked a little and at one point we were on the promenade deck near a room where a dance was being held. I took Sam in my arms and we danced, ever so slowly and carefully. She put her mouth near my ear and whispered, "Sometime, bring me on another cruise when I can openly be your lover."

"Deal."

When the music ended we didn't let go. We looked and Dad was holding Mom and they were swaying to their own music. I saw a tear slide down Dad's cheek. It broke my heart. He was saying good-bye a little bit every hour. The music played another slow song and we stayed right there holding the women we loved. Dad at the end of their lives together and us at the beginning of a new phase.

We walked them back to their cabin and kissed them both good-night. We walked back to our cabin hand in hand. Sam kept looking up at me and smiling. I opened the door and went inside. The cabin steward had pushed both beds together. We undressed and did our nightly ritual. Fresh bandages, pills and kisses. We fell asleep in each other's arms.

Getting to the phone was easier in the morning. I answered and heard Dad's broken voice say, "She's gone." He hung up.

"Sam get dressed. That was Dad, he needs us right now! Mom died last night!" I have no idea how we got dressed and down to their cabin so fast. We were there when the medical staff was taking Mom out on a gurney. Dad sat on the side of the bed and held his head in his hands. Sam sat on one side and I the other. A few minutes later a ships officer said, "We can disembark you all as soon as you are ready. We will need some release forms signed."

I took care of everything. The cabin stewards packed both cabins and transported the bags out for us. I signed the paperwork and called the mortuary. They sent a car to pick up Mom's remains. We waited until they arrived and then I drove us home. Sam and Dad sat in the back seat.

At home I found a list Mom had made of who to call when she went. I made the calls. I spoke with the people at the mortuary again and found that Mom and Dad had everything planned and paid for. We set a time for the service for Friday afternoon. My boss understood and gave me enough vacation that I didn't need to be back in San Diego for another week.

When I got a chance I sat with Dad and Sam. Dad looked at me and said, "You gave her the best night. It was so romantic to see her children dancing and loving each other. She told me. She said she could go happy because her children were happy."

I didn't speak. There were no words. Sam reached over and took my hand. Her other hand held Dad's hand.

The phone rang many times that day. All the calls but one were about Mom and the service. The other call was to give me an address. Tommy's address.

I wrote it down and put the paper in my wallet.

After the service I stayed for three more days. Sam went back to school and Dad's friends came to be with him while we went back to life. It wasn't the same. My apartment was hollow. I loved my job and I kept wondering what Sam was doing. I spoke with Dad almost daily.

On a Saturday morning less than a month after Mom left us, my phone rang. Early. I answered and Sam's voice said, "Come home. Dad's gone. I need you."

Two hours later she was in my arms. Dad had gone in his sleep. The mortuary people had already been there and taken him. I held Sam and she cried for over an hour. In between sobs she talked to me.

"He knew he was going. He spent all week making arrangements. The phone list is over there by the phone. Everything was ready. He called Goodwill and they are coming on Wednesday to get his things. He had the lawyers transfer title to the house to us. Yesterday he gave me the wedding rings Mom wore for twenty-five years and he gave me his ring, for you." She put it in my hand.

That evening some neighbors brought us supper. We ate it but only because they told us to. We were both still in shock and loss. Late that evening we shut off the lights and went to Sam's bedroom, undressed and got into bed together.

We held on to each other all night long. I woke up often. When I did I tenderly kissed Sam. When she did, she kissed me.

The banging on the front door got us up. I pulled on my slacks and went to the door. It was my Dad's brother, Jack.

I hadn't seen Jack in ten years. I opened the door and he said, "Where's my brother?"

"Forest Lawn. Why?"

"I want to pay my respects. How do I get to Forest Lawn?" I looked beyond him and saw his wife, Aunt Helen, sitting in their car. The car door was open.

"Would you like to come in? Have some breakfast? Coffee?"

"No. I want to go see my brother."

"Where were you for the last ten years, Uncle Jack? Where were the visits then?"

"We didn't get along."

I gave him directions to Forest Lawn and after they were gone I called Forest Lawn. I told them about Uncle Jack headed their way and I asked that they tell him no one could visit or view the body until the funeral on Tuesday. They agreed.

Sam had heard the entire event and she had put a robe on, in case Uncle Jack had accepted my invitation. I helped her take it off and we went back to bed.

We spent most of the day in bed together, holding, touching and talking. We ordered a pizza delivered. We ate it in bed. I did make all the calls Dad wanted me to make.