Joe and Katie were close as they grew up together in a small town. Katie was one year older but even closer in terms of shared experience. At the time of this tale, Katie was nineteen, and Joe was eighteen, having recently graduated High School.
They grew up in a broken home with an abusive father who drank a lot and beat up their mother. The situation at home left the two of them to fend for themselves, and they often kept each other company as they hid to escape their father's abuse.
Maybe it was due to the violence at home, but Katie began to skip school and became rebellious, making her an outcast at their school. Joe always found ways to fit in and make his way, but he always looked out for Katie the way she did for him.
As they grew up, they developed in their own unique ways.
Joe was ambitious from a young age, always starting businesses and trying to find a way to turn a dollar into two. Katie, on the other hand, blossomed into an unusual beauty. It was hard not to notice her once she matured into womanhood.
Joe, of course, knew thinking about his sister in the way he thought about other women was wrong. She didn't make it easy, though. She was a taller-than-average blonde with strong and beautiful Nordic features.
With her soft, blue eyes and her supple, full lips, she was a beauty that caught men's gazes wherever she went. Her fit body was blessed with an athletic build that included shapely legs, admirable breasts, and a big, well-proportioned butt that drew attention.
From high school on, Katie dressed provocatively, enjoying the attention and admiration of boys and adult men. Joe couldn't blame her, as the temptation to leverage her assets had to be great. Katie didn't get good grades at school or play sports like he did, so it was her way of standing out.
It was not lost on Joe that his big sister had a harder time at home, as she was her father's main target for abuse. That was saying a lot since Joe didn't have it easy himself.
Joe knew Katie in ways others didn't. They had shared time in the trenches dealing with their father's abuse. As small children, Joe would step in any time their father, Dwayne, tried to hit Katie, usually taking a considerable beating in the process.
Luckily Joe grew big and strong, and by the time they were in high school, he could protect Katie from their father most of the time, assuming Joe was there to witness his father's indiscretions.
Dwayne talked big but feared Joe since he got his ass whooped during one of his drunken tirades. Joe, just sixteen at the time, told their father to "shut the fuck up" when he kept harassing Katie for how she dressed, saying she was a "slut."
Dwayne said, "Oh, you think you're a man now. You're going to get a man-sized ass-whoopin'!"
Katie watched in horror as her brother struggled with their father but was shocked when Joe overpowered him. Joe had a lot of pent-up rage, and by the time he was done, Dwayne was bleeding on the floor, unconscious.
They were so used to living in terror with their father; seeing him subdued so definitively was revelatory.
"What are we going to do," Katie asked, her eyes big with surprise.
"We'll let him sleep it off. He'll just be drunk anyway. Let's get out of here so we're not around when he wakes."
They went to the nearby river and had one of the happiest and most carefree days of their lives as they used the rope swing and made a fire. It was their private place under an old bridge that nobody seemed to know about.
They sat on the edge of an old mattress they had put there years before. They kept the mattress covered so it stayed in good condition -- they had used it to sleep when things were really bad at home.
Sitting there under the stars amidst the crackle of flames, Katie looked at Joe intently.
"Joe, I know you know this...but...I don't know how I would have made it this long without you."
"Katie...it's nothing, I--"
"No, Joe, listen. What you've done for me...to protect and keep me safe...I can never repay you. All the beatings you took in my place growing up...I just..." Tears streamed down Katie's lovely face as she sobbed.
Shuffling over the remaining foot between them, Joe put his arms around Katie and held her as she cried. She felt so safe, wrapped in his embrace.
"I'm the luckiest girl...you've always protected and cared for me. Joe, I love you so much..."
Joe felt his heart swell, hearing Katie's admission.
He responded, "Thank you...but it's not much of a sacrifice to keep you safe. You're worth protecting...and easy to love." Katie blushed and glowed with inner joy.
After the emotional outpour, Katie had some sobering news.
"I didn't want to tell you this, but he's been looking at me and saying things...things about...my body." Katie looked ashamed.
"It's not ok for anyone to look at you that way. You can't help how you look; besides, your outside will never be able to match what you have going on, on the inside."
Katie felt grateful for how Joe always saw her the way she wanted to be seen, unlike pretty much everyone else.
Joe continued. "If he ever lays a hand on you ever again, he'll wish he hadn't. I can promise you that!"
After that night, Joe and Katie were careful to steer clear of their father, especially when he was drunk.
Dwayne's pride had been irreparably damaged the day he was finally taken to task by his much stronger son.
There was always a chance that their father could snap and hurt Katie or their mom when Joe wasn't around.
Eventually, their father started coming on to Katie more often when she became an adult woman. Joe made sure he was around when Katie was home, keeping an eye on his lewd father.
Joe truly loved his sister and her beauty was not lost on him. He knew she was a knockout blonde and that her extraordinary figure was easy to sexualize.
Since the siblings lived in close proximity inside their little house, it was inevitable that Joe would see Katie at various levels of undress and vice versa.
The very last thing Joe wanted to do in the world was to view his sister from that narrow lens, and he worked hard not to allow himself to think of her in that way.
He tried hard to push any everyday male thoughts directed at her out of his head and saw himself as her protector.
He may have been a horny teenager with raging hormones, but ever since he became an adult, he was able to keep pictures of his pretty sister out of his head.
On occasion, if an image of her cleavage or that body of hers snuck in, he didn't beat himself up about it. She was that hot. But he always reigned it in and felt guilty if he harbored any secret thoughts toward her.
Because she was attractive and sexy, men would give Katie almost anything. Unfortunately, most of those men were bad. Katie was always in a bad relationship. It was as though she were destined to repeat her father's abuse with new men.
Joe was always there for Katie when her relationships fell through, or she needed support. She loved him for it and knew Joe would be there for her, unlike anyone else.
The only constant for each of them, coming from that broken home, was each other.
* * * * * * * Trouble at Home
The summer after Joe graduated from high school proved to be a time of transition in more ways than one.
Katie still lived at home since her menial job at the local superstore was insufficient to support herself independently. Joe had done well with his online business and investments and was planning on purchasing his own place and moving out in the fall.
His timeline escalated when he came home that one summer night.
Joe knew something was wrong right away. His mother was even more despondent than usual, lying on the couch in a drug-induced stupor.
Neither his father nor Katie was anywhere to be found. Katie was usually home by then, and they had plans to hang out and go to a movie that night.
Out of pure instinct, Joe went quietly up the old staircase to the second floor of their rundown home. He thought he heard Katie's voice but couldn't make it out.
As he neared his father's room, he heard not words but guttural sounds. He carefully opened the door and looked in.
