My Uncle Steve was a total bastard. A mean man, lazy, always eager to start trouble for someone else just to amuse himself. He was my mother's brother and even she didn't have anything good to say about him. There were times when he tried to be the "good uncle" and would take my fishing or show me how to play basketball, but he would usually just bully and insult me and shove me around. Playing catch he once threw a baseball that broke my nose, another time we were waiting in line at a football game and he shoved this big kid in front of me, and then told the kid I shoved him. I got into a fight with this kid and three of his friends and got the shit kicked out of me, while Uncle Steve just stood there and let them beat me and then called me a pussy afterwards. I hated the man. People always mentioned that I bore a striking resemblance to Steve, and I guess I did, but when anyone said that I always acted offended. Because I was.
Women loved him, though. He was tall, dark and handsome, and he blew every cent he earned making sure he drove a nice car and had a closet full of sharp clothes. He always had an attractive woman by his side. He was always getting into fights, with his women, or over his women. He was in and out of the courts, bar fights, domestic assault. A true asshole.
But he was married three times. The last time was to a woman named Kathi, who he had met at what he called a "gentleman's club". He had courted her by putting on an act that he was a kind and caring man, eager to start a family. Kathi was a former dancer, and she definitely looked the part. She was gorgeous, a stunner. Tall, with honey blonde hair and dark brown eyes, and a body that was curve after perfect curve.
Her breasts were big and firm and perfectly round, and when my mother met her the first time she whispered to my father, "I wonder how much THEY cost?" Yes, they were fake, but they weren't huge, gross implants, just a little lift to make what she had look even better.
I lusted after Aunt Kathi terribly, but I also came to adore her. She was a kind, gentle, sweet-natured woman. She married my Uncle Steve when she was 36 and he was 48. Her dancing days were done, and I think she just wanted to settle down and thought Steve could take care of her and they would be happy.
It only took a few months for her to realize that Steve was a piece of shit. He stayed out all night. He blew his paycheck gambling. He got phone calls from women at all hours. Kathi was devastated by all this, but she took her vows seriously. She confessed her fears and worries to a person who really cared about her and would listen—me, her 18-year-old nephew..
We became confidants. I begged her to divorce Steve, that he would never change. But she wanted to try, and most of all, she wanted a child. She wanted to be a mother, even if the child would be Steve's.
I went off to college. Aunt Kathi and I would write to each other every week. Her letters were always cheery and upbeat, but when I would ask my mother about her she would say that Kathi was miserable. My mother and father had changed their views about Kathi and became close to her, which Uncle Steve resented.
One night during my last semester, drunk and emotional, I wrote a long impassioned letter to Aunt Kathi, confessing my love for her, my desire to protect her from my uncle, how I worshipped her and wanted to be more than just a nephew to her. I mailed it that night and instantly regretted it. I actually called Aunt Kathi to say that she should throw the letter away, I begged her to. But she said that anything I had to say she wanted to hear. A week went by, and she didn't write, didn't call. Then I got a letter, just a friendly letter, that didn't mention anything I had written to her. She'd ignored it, and I was thankful. But also disappointed, because I hoped that she might feel the same way.
I did very well in school, and when I graduated I got a good job in my home town. I decided to live with my parents for a year or so to save up some money, and so I could be near Aunt Kathi. My uncle had become more unstable. He was in debt, he was drinking more, and on one occasion had threatened to beat the shit of my Aunt Kathi in front of our whole family. And when I talked to Kathi when I got home she confessed she was finally thinking about getting out. Her fortieth birthday was looming and she confessed that she felt that her dream of becoming a mother was dead. I took her hand and gently stroked it, telling her that she shouldn't think that way.
Just then Uncle Steve walked in. "Well, isn't this nice?" he said viciously. "Don't you know that incest is a sin? I guess I'm not the only one in this family who's a sinner, huh?" He walked over to me and shoved me out of my chair. "Don't you ever fucking talk to my wife again."
I had left for school as a boy; I came home a man. A man 6'2" and 215 pounds and easily a match for this burned-out bully. I stood up and moved toward him, murder on my mind. Steve saw this and shrank back, afraid. But Aunt Kathi stepped between us and she said, "Danny, go home, please, please,"
I did as she asked. But I knew I wanted revenge on Steve. I didn't know how soon it would come. The next day Aunt Kathi called and asked if I wanted to meet for dinner. I said sure, and we met at a nice Italian place in our neighborhood. She looked stunning. She was just wearing a pair of jeans and a black sleeveless blouse, but she'd had her hair done and her nails done and her makeup was perfect and she looked…happy. Like she'd finally made a decision about something.
We sat down, ordered wine, drank. She said. "I wanted to talk to you about that letter you sent me."
My mouth went dry. "What letter?" I asked, thinking that it was forgotten.
"The letter you wrote where you told me that you loved me. That I was the most beautiful woman in the world. That when you made love to your girlfriend that you imagined you were making love to me. Remember?"
"Oh, that letter," I joked. I drank my glass in one gulp.
She laughed. "That letter. I never told you that I loved that letter. That I loved what you said to me. That I love you. Because I do."
My face was burning. "I know you do."
"No," she said. "I mean I love you the way a woman loves a man. Not like an aunt loves a nephew. I want you. Right now. Tonight."
I was shaking. "When you stood up to Steve, I knew I could leave him. And I'm going to, soon. But I want to make love to you while I'm still married to him, I want him humiliated."
The waiter came and asked if we were ready for dinner. "No," Kathi said, "we've decided to just have drinks. Can we have our bill, please?"
