From: Bistander <vallucanbe@gmail.com>

The History: Back in 2009, having never written a story before, and knowing little about grammar, punctuation, or how to create a story, I thought, let me give it a try. I had this stupid idea about a boy going up in the attic, so I wrote a few thousand word story. To my surprise and amazement, people read it and said there needed to be more. That’s how the saga of the writing of My Neighbor’s Incest started.

This is a great site that provides tons of free stories in many genres, except they're not really free. It cost money and time to keep Nifty going. I know I appreciate a platform to post, and the effort the admin puts in. If you can, please support this site. A little bit from a lot of us goes a long way.

My Neighbor's Incest Part XV

bistander

You Have To Choose

Five minutes after the phone rang, my mother was still chatting away, so all my hopes that it was for me had been lost. I had been waiting all morning for my girlfriend to call. Whichever one? That is if I actually had a girlfriend.

Everything about my long Thanksgiving weekend, leading up to Saturday night, had been like something penned by a schizophrenic novelist. Deeply moving love flourished between girl and boy, even cousins. A man had tossed his most sacred vow for a moment of pleasure with a seventeen-year-old goddess, his own niece. My love for Jasmine had finally been acknowledged without diminishing my love for Susan. Jasmine's confession had broken my heart while igniting my need to satisfy her. The whole weekend had been wrapped in their parent's dark family secret. Then, everything had blown apart Saturday night. It was like a truck full of mystery writers rammed headlong into a truckload of erotic fantasy novelists. I was still reeling from the sight of Susan giving herself away right before my eyes. Her own cousin used her like Jasmine's lawn boy of years past.

My love for Jasmine and my evil lust had acted as an anesthetic while I watched, but like Novocain, they left me with a lasting ache when they wore off. I spent two hours sitting between the two sisters after the depraved act of incest. The whole time my heart hurt like a tooth needing a root canal. My love for both of them acted like a hammer against my head, driving Cindy's prophetic words into my gray matter. Follow your heart.

I spent a sleepless night trying to choose between the two girls. Jasmine had turned into Susan and Susan into Jasmine. I had loved them both before their metamorphosis but only had one as my girlfriend. Now, I still loved both, yet they were both my girlfriend. How can I have two girlfriends when they are sisters?

"Joe, somebody wants to talk to you." My mother's unexpected words crashing into my mental war game did all but stop my heart.

I wasn't sure who to expect because my mother had been on the phone since it rang, and we didn't have call-waiting. I wondered if somehow my mother could have been talking to Mrs. Davis all that time. My nerves crackled as I reached for the phone. I tried to read my mother's face, but she was still in her secret agent mode, so I blindly spoke, "Hello."

The voice that came back sparked a warm glow in my troubled heart. That was until my brain fully engaged and comprehended the words, "So you think I'm hot?"

Jiminy Cricket, my mother had flipped it and embarrassed me. I showed my disapproval in the most defiant way I could, crashing down on the couch. "Cindy, I can explain."

Cindy was chuckling as if she could see the whole scene. "Please don't explain, just say, yes, you are."

I didn't say it because the whole hot cousin thing had gone far enough. "I am so glad to hear your voice." I took a long pause to collect my thoughts and make sure the secret agent woman was off on a new mission.

"How are you, stud muffin?"

My cousin's comical attempt struck a nerve. "Darn it, don't call me that. I wish nobody ever called me that." I took a deep breath and tried to remind myself that Cindy didn't do anything wrong.

"Jeez, I'm sorry. What's wrong with you? You're not upset because of what happened with us, are you?"

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just that I'm upside down like a pinata. Phew." I gave Cindy a second to respond. I wanted her to listen and even help me, yet there was so much I didn't want to say. So much I couldn't say over the phone.

"So, what's with hanging by your feet getting hit with broomsticks?" Cindy asked with a giggle.

"Just for the record, you were the best part of my weekend. I probably shouldn't even keep dragging you into my problems." I wanted Cindy's help, or maybe just her comfort, but how could I expect her to do anything?

"You better keep dragging me into it. Your life is better than any soap operas. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I still can't believe my twerp, goober head cousin has two girlfriends. And, one is a hot sixteen-year-old. Plus, you did it with her mother. Wow, you can't make this stuff up." Cindy once again had an in my face summation of my current life. Except, she didn't bother to mention what I had done with my own cousin.

"Cindy, it's not funny. I feel like my head is going to explode. I tried to follow my heart as you said, but now things are worse. Now, they both act like I'm their boyfriend, even while we're all in the same room." My words sounded worse out loud than when they were silently circling in my head.

"Joe, you have to choose."

"I can't, I love both of them. Except, now they both know."

"Joe, they always both knew. You were the only one who didn't know. Susan told me you were in love with her sister. That's why I freaked out when we saw Jesselyn from the attic. I looked at her and thought, there is no way that isn't Susan's sister. I figured you'd flip seeing the other girl you loved with someone else."

My cousin's words chilled me to my bones. "You don't understand. I wish you were here." I could imagine her warm body huddled against mine as I fought off the tears that were trying to escape from my tightly shut eyes.

"I think that might cause more trouble for you. Although, it would be nice to be there. I feel for you because I have loved two boys before. Of course nothing happened with either of them, but it was still hard. But being in love with two girls who are sisters, and live next door, that's not gonna work. Not only will they get hurt, so will you. What does your heart tell you?"

I took a second to absorb the unbelievably obvious statement my cousin had passed off as wisdom. "How the hell am I supposed to know if my head or my heart is speaking? I want both of them, but I don't want them at the same time. Whichever one I'm with, I love that one the most. When we are all together, I just want to kill myself, so I don't have to figure it out."

"Don't do that, I wanna see you for Christmas. It will work out, you'll see. Just remember your heart will win in the end."

Cindy stopped talking and the silence was like thunder. I realized she wasn't going to tell me who to choose and that was what I had been hoping for. "What do you want for Christmas?" A change of subject seemed right.

"Wow, since when do you get me anything for Christmas?"

"I know we don't normally exchange presents, but we're growing up. You don't have to get me anything, but I want to get you something. You helped me more than you'll ever know, even if you didn't tell me who I should be in love with."

"I can't tell you. I can't be unbiased. I can't even tell you what I want for Christmas, not yet anyway."

"How about you tell me later and for now you tell me what to get Jasmine for her birthday?"

"Good luck you poor boy. Sweet sixteen is major, like turning thirteen, times one hundred. You got enough for a diamond?"

I hoped Cindy was being sarcastic. "I'm hoping her father will handle anything that big, but I'm going to break my bank open. I don't know how much is in it, but it should be enough to handle that and Christmas."

"No way. Not Ms. Wigney. You can't break her open." Cindy's screeching voice curved up my mouth slowly at first, but then made me crack up.

I have had my piggy bank since I was five. It was a present from my aunt and uncle and my speech impaired cousin, at that time, couldn't say Ms. Piggy correctly. Hence, my bank was Ms. Wigney. Later to be known as Kermit's bitch. I cracked up at the memory of my toothless best friend, spraying all her words. Then I felt sad, knowing I had promised my Uncle Jim I wouldn't open it until I was sixteen, and I'd buy my corvette.

"I know there will never be enough money in there for a car, so it's time, and this is a good cause. I feel like I'd do anything for Jasmine. I can't talk about what happened yesterday, but I will when I see you. For now, help me." My final words sent a shiver through me. Help me, I at least know I need help. Isn't that half the battle?

"I'll help you. I'll talk to Julie and we'll figure something out. From what you and Susan told me, Jasmine sounds a lot like Julie." Cindy's voice trailed off like she was deeply saddened by her current thoughts.

"I have to go soon, Susan and Jasmine's cousins leave today. It's amazing it only takes them an hour longer to get home than it took you, and they live in Pennsylvania. I think I'm going to ask my parents if I can come there on the bus and spend most of the Christmas break with your family. Maybe I just need time away to see who I miss more?" I could almost hear Cindy smiling through the phone.

"Joe, that sounds like a great idea. You think they'll let you?"

"I don't see why they wouldn't. I ride that stupid school bus four hours a week. It would just be like taking the whole week on the bus at one time." I actually had no idea where my brainstorm came from and wasn't sure it would fly with my parents, but I liked the feeling it gave me more every second.

"Don't get too excited, but I'll figure out some way to ask soon, and you call me back as soon as you can help with a birthday suggestion. Don't be afraid to tell Julie about Jasmine, but please try and leave my involvement out as much as possible." I hadn't realized until that moment that I was embarrassed by my lifestyle. The very things we all fantasized about since we knew what they were, bring me shame.

"I'll call as soon as I can. I can't wait to see you. Goodbye."

"If you'd like to make a call, please hang..." The squawk of the recording broke me from my blank stare at the phone receiver. I didn't want my cousin to be gone. I needed her to connect me to my previous life and help me from thinking about my girlfriends.

The doorbell jarred my brain away from trying to think of the perfect way to ask my parents about going to Cindy's. That was what I needed, time away from what had consumed me for six months. I swung the door open to a very somber-looking Susan. The girl whose infectious joy normally bubbled over onto every living thing in her vicinity instantly increased the void in my happiness. Is it me not knowing how to see her?

"Are you okay? You sad because they have to go? Is it school tomorrow? Is it, me?" I waited silently for an answer, hoping to see some sign of life.

"It's nothing, or maybe it's everything. I guess it's them going. I don't know, but you have to say goodbye. There's no telling when we'll see them again." Susan seemed more confused than I felt, but I knew she wasn't good at talking about her feelings, so I just smiled and slipped on my sneakers.

The previous day's warm sun had been overtaken by low gray skies and a damp cool that sank in deep. Susan's uncharacteristic mood was displayed vividly as she took one step at a time off the porch. Her arm moved around my waist and pulled me to her side. I followed her lead and dropped my arm around her shoulders. A familiar warmth eased over my body and my heart. We walked without words at a snail's pace toward her yard.

As we rounded the corner of the house, a crowd of people was standing around the back of the car, loading stuff and talking. My immediate response at the sight of Susan's mother was to pull away, but her fingers grasped at my flesh and tugged me to her.

"Next time mail your clothes home," Jeremy said, struggling to get Jesselyn's swollen suitcase inside the trunk.

"If I knew we were going to buy so much, I would have brought less." Jesselyn tried to give assistance, but it seemed more like moral support than actual help.

"Yeah, that will be the day." Jeremy put up his hand to show his sister she didn't need to help.

Mrs. Davis and Aunt Jane were standing together, talking. The difference in their demeanor was night and day compared to the day Jane arrived. Jasmine blankly observed the whole scene, like she was invisible. Susan never removed her arm from my waist. Is she sending a message to Jasmine, her mother, or both?

Mrs. Davis turned, rounded the back of the car, and looked right at me as she approached. I stepped away from Susan a couple of inches out of respect more than fear, but fear existed.

Mrs. Davis's loving eyes embraced my nervous face as she closed the distance between us. I wasn't sure if it was the new life in her belly or her swelling in all the right places, but somehow her beauty had been enhanced. I was suddenly terrified when she stood inches from me.

"Hey, sweetheart. Don't worry, I already knew. Why do kids think their parents are so stupid?" Mrs. Davis smiled in the direction of Aunt Jane. "I hope you enjoyed having Susan over for Thanksgiving as much as she seemed to enjoy it. Make sure you thank your mother for me. Oh, and don't underestimate her, either." Mrs. Davis kissed my cheek and gave Susan a look I didn't understand.

After a few more minutes, everything was in the car, I realized Mr. Davis's car wasn't anywhere to be seen. Which was pretty much all right with me after Jasmine's meltdown yesterday. "Okay, that's it, we're ready to go," Jeremy said.

It dawned on me that the reason everyone wasn't saying goodbye was that they were all going. Susan faced me and forced a lame smile. "Say goodbye, and I need to see you when we get back from the airport."

Jesselyn's rattlesnake eyes cut into me as her lips approached mine. Hers were soft and moist pressed against my mouth long enough to make me uncomfortable. She hugged me and pulled back to look into my eyes. I saw the face of a troubled young lady, Susan in five years. She kissed me again with even more uncalled for passion and whispered in my ear, "You're special to them, and they're really going to need you to be there for them, now."

Jesselyn stepped back and spoke at a normal volume, "It was really nice getting to meet you. I hope we meet again, soon." She smiled with a genuine warmth that made me want to hug her again.

Jasmine's glance was that of a person stinging from painful news. Her silence was uncharacteristic and sickening. My heart broke as she climbed into the car. Jeremy gave me a quick guy hug and a cordial, "Nice to meet you," then he entered the car next to Jasmine.

Once everyone had boarded the large Cadillac, and the engine was cranked, I knew for sure there was no Mr. Davis going on this trip. The scene seemed more like a funeral run than a drive to the airport. The cool gray day set the stage perfectly for the end of act one of a family drama. Act two opened with a worried and sad young man questioning everything, with his heart feeling as cold as the November drizzle that started falling on his head.

I started toward my house, playing a rerun of their expressions in my mind, trying to figure out what it all meant. Everyone could have been a little down because the visit was over, but I couldn't fathom Jasmine's great love for me from yesterday could have been turned off overnight. Why didn't she talk to me? How much does my mother know? What did Jesselyn mean by "now"? I reached my house with a brain full of questions and a heart crushed by a love that seemed more dangerous than hate.

After a few minutes with my mother asking questions, I got a light jacket, I told her I was going for a bike ride. She looked out the window and stated the obvious. I said, "I don't care if I get wet."

She countered with, "What about lunch? I could make you something."

"I'll eat turkey or one of the green moldy things in the back of the refrig." My humor was more for my down mood than my mother's entertainment.

"You sure? I'm going out, so."

"I promise, Mom," I said. "I'll be fine, and no I don't want to volunteer at the nursing home. I know I'll be old and smell funny one day, too, but for now, I'd rather ride my bike in the rain."

My mother's concern might have made me fall for her tactic, but I heard Mrs. Davis's words play in my head. I wouldn't underestimate my mother, and it wasn't as if I could tell her about my life spiraling towards the pit of hell, anyway. Plus, not knowing how much my mother knew made it impossible to share any part of my pain. I'd eventually have to solve my own problems, might as well start now.

I resisted the urge to kiss my mother as I headed for my trusty steed. I hadn't mounted my Schwinn for months, and I was sure it wasn't going to compare to what I had been mounting, but I needed to clear my head. In the old days, I could ride my bicycle for endless hours. In my imagination, I was a cowboy on a horse or a tough biker dude on a Hog. I'd race through plains rescuing beautiful Indian squaws, or save women from mean members of opposing gangs. I'd see a girl like Jasmine and in my dream world, I'd swoop in and lift her to the back of my speeding horse. I'd carry her away and kiss her, then we'd fall in love.

The rain pelting my face acted as a cleansing for my soul as I screamed down the hill we called the widow maker. The first time I dared to take the dirt hill without using the breaks, I didn't even know what a widow was. I had wrecked and skinned my knee so bad I cried. Now, even knowing what a widow was, I pedaled hard for extra speed. There was no fear to be found. It's amazing how things change. Not long ago, Jasmine was as intimidating as the daunting hill. Now, she had to be stolen away on horseback and raced to safety where we could fall in love and live happily ever after. Things were so different, and in many ways, things were exactly the same.

I cranked hard as I pushed up the incline in front of the Primdales' large house. I couldn't help notice Allison's fine ass as she leaned into the trunk of the car. Their nanny, or whatever she was, made my heart pound. Her skirt wasn't enough to contain all of her luscious rump as she stretched. I almost hit their mailbox as I gawked, thinking I was getting a glimpse of her panties.

My memory took me to the patch of woods just down the road, where I had ducked in once and jerked off. The thrill of that frightful act of perversion rushed up my spine like the trail of water spraying from my rear wheel. I couldn't help wonder what purpose my lust served. It had saved me from a jealous explosion the night before when the love of my life got drilled by her cousin. It had also blinded me to the potential consequences of fucking the mother of my girlfriend.

Is lust my friend, protection from my emotions, or like a destructive drug addiction? I knew I couldn't answer my own questions as I sailed through the increasing rain. Instead, I pondered all the events of the past weekend. I was in over my head, drowning in lust and emotions while grasping at the life preserver of love.

When I rounded the last corner and headed down the home stretch toward my house, my thoughts revolved around Susan, Jasmine and Cindy. Each had a place in my heart. I could picture myself holding each of them in my arms and loving them. I could burn with passion for any of them. I enjoyed their company equally. Cindy was simple and presented no challenges, yet she was my cousin and lived hours away. Susan was officially my girlfriend, and I thought she would be for a long time. Until I saw her in that different light. Jasmine was my troubled secret who had seemed unattainable. Then, she became a thief who stole her way into my heart.

Susan was on the front porch when I rode across the wet grass. I was soaked to my skin and speckled with mud as I dropped my bike against the bush. "You looking for someone?"

"No, I'm just standing at your front door because I have nothing better to do. Those spots all over your face are a nice touch. An improvement actually." Susan giggled as she ducked under my karate chop. "Hey, I'm cold, can we go inside?"

Susan's cute face reminded me that she was still the little girl I loved before I had seen her acting out the very thing she told me she didn't want to become. "I'm nasty, I got to take a shower."

"Ooh, that sounds like fun. Can I watch?" Susan's tone was playful, but I heard more.

"Sure, but you gotta wash my back." I turned and showed her the streak of mud that ran from my ass to my shoulders.

Even though when I said it I had only been joking, Susan stood next to me in the bathroom. I looked at her and felt strange. There was an invisible barrier between us that made me uneasy. Yet, at the same time, I wanted to wrap my arms around her. I didn't move, I searched her, trying to find a connection to my heart.

"You going to shower with your clothes on, or what?" Susan acted like the previous day hadn't happened. Like she hadn't seen me lovingly embracing her sister. Like I hadn't seen someone other than me filling her body with their dick.

I undressed like a kid taking off his clothes for the first time in the school locker room. My wet shirt gave way to goosebumps all over my chest and arms. I peeled my jeans off my legs, and they had the same reaction to the cool air.

"Wow, I have never seen your thing like that. It's always standing up when I see it. How does it get so small?" I looked down at my shriveled package and felt even more uncomfortable. "What did you think, it stays hard all the time?" I didn't want to explain the whole shrinkage thing; I wanted to get in the warm water.

Susan smiled like a curious kid as she started to take off her clothes. She really is a little girl, isn't she? "What are you doing?" I scanned my eyes up and down her body as she stripped.

"Did you think I was going to wash your back from out here?" She finished undressing and neatly piled her clothes on the toilet tank.

It was a very unusual experience entering the shower with another person. I turned my face up and let the hot water blast it. Susan's body pressed against my dirty back, and her hands circled my chest. A spark went through me as her lips kissed my shoulders and neck. I remained still as the hot water sank deep into my chilled body. My eyes remained closed as Susan's soapy hands moved over my chest, stomach, and swelling dick. At that moment, only the size of her breasts on my back distinguished her from Jasmine. My body responds to touch, but does my heart know the difference? I wondered if it even mattered as my cock stiffened without my say-so?

Susan's hands massaged my shoulders with a gentleness that sent a warm feeling through me. She touched places between my shoulders that I had never touched. Her slippery hands tried to get a grip of my flexing ass cheeks. Each time the soapy finger squeezed, my muscles tightened, causing them to slip off. My heart raced when her palm washed over my asshole and under my balls.

"Not so small now," Susan said and stroked the length of my rod.

The front of her lathered body slid against my back while one hand worked up and down my hard cock. Her other hand soaped up my balls. It could have been my own hands doing the same thing, but it wouldn't have felt like the most amazing thing I had ever felt. Still, something was missing.

I turned around and faced Susan. She looked beautiful and the missing pieces started to fill in. Her nipples tingled against my body as I pulled her tight. My lips knew the difference between the sisters and sent a message to my heart. My soapy cock pulsed between us while our lips and tongues bypassed all the sad events of the holiday weekend.

Susan bent forward to shut off the water but remained there with her hands on the faucets. Her tiny butt smiled at me with suds slowly drooling down to her thighs. My fingers slipped between her cheeks and poked at the brown circle at the center. I let my index finger trace the rim of her puckered hole. Susan sighed softly when I let the tip dip into the hot flesh. She bent her left leg and raised her foot to the edge of the tub.

Her hand bumped into mine as we shared the slit between her legs. My finger slipped inside her body as hers tossed her swollen nub. Her panting increased as our hands switched places, and I roughly flicked her sensitive clit. My other hand gently massaged her pussy mound, stomach, and soapy tits. I pinched hard at her slippery tit top, but the harder I tried to squeeze it, the more it squirted out of my grasp.

A shiver ran up Susan's legs, trembles quaked in her gut, and a groan passed her lips as my fingers finally captured a nipple. I squeezed it hard. "Oh, fuck me Joe, fuck me."

The guttural pleas surprised and excited me. My rock-hard dick pushed against Susan's pussy hole as her thin fingers guided it. Before I could gently work my bulbous head through the resistance, Susan shoved her ass back, forcing the full length of my dick inside her smoldering body. She snapped upright and screamed with a powerful orgasm. My dick popped out of her body with a gush of hot juices. I placed my hand between her dripping lips and smeared her fluid against her convulsing pussy.

After her ecstasy subsided, Susan took my wrist and raised my hand to her mouth and sucked my fingers. Her tongue rejected the mix of suds and female cum. She spit. "Don't stop, finish fucking me." Susan pushed her ass back and lifted her leg again.

What happened to, we don't fuck, we make love, I wondered? My heart's questions would have to wait because my head just wanted to finish what was started. I shoved my cock back into Susan's body. I was totally indifferent toward whose hole I was ramming my dick into, I just wanted to feel my balls let loose and spray their cum. Susan put one foot outside the tub and spread her legs further. With her hands on the hot and cold knobs, she forced her ass backward in time with my forward thrusts.

Jeremy's huge cock hadn't taken anything away from Susan's tight body. Her pussy grabbed at my engorged flesh and made demands on my nuts. I knew the forceful pounding against her body was going to make me get off quickly, but I didn't care, I just wanted to finish. I wanted my needs met. "Shit, I'm gonna cum."

"Oh, Joe, mmm, keep going. Don't pull out, I wanna feel your cum in me. Please." Susan pushed back against me.

"Are you crazy? You want to end up like your mother?" I hadn't even considered the potential implications of my words, but I knew what my point was.

"Then put it in my ass. I want to feel someone cum in me." Susan's needy voice was that of a spoiled child ready to cry but also screamed for help.

The suction on my head as I extracted it was almost enough to send my load rushing up my dick. I quickly poked the head against Susan's tiny asshole. She pulled her cheeks apart, and I thrust. My cock tried to bend, then all at once broke through the tight ring. It closed down tight on my shaft, trying to keep me from going deeper.

Three times I shoved forward, each time going a little deeper. The fourth thrust sent a flood of sperm racing through my cock. My hips inadvertently jerked forward, forcing my squirting dick even deeper. Stream after stream of cream flowed into her bowels.

I didn't care to speak as my slumping flesh spilled from Susan's stretched ass. When I stood her up, tears were in her eyes. I knew if I felt bad about the loveless act of dumping my sperm inside her ass, she must have felt like a piece of shit. I held my words and my tears and turned on the water. We silently washed off the evidence of our actions, but I knew there was no way we could wash long enough to rid ourselves of the feelings.

I tried to help Susan wash, but she resisted my touch like I was a stranger. I stepped out of the shower and started drying off. Susan continued washing her already clean body while she sobbed quietly. I wanted to help her, but her reaction in the shower left me wondering how I could do anything? I patiently waited for her as the room filled with dense steam.

When Susan's towel-wrapped body led the way down the hall to my bedroom, it seemed grown-up. Two lovers covered only in towels after sharing a shower like you’d see in a movie. Shouldn't I feel grown up and in love?

Susan dried her hair with the large terry cloth towel that had been covering her body. I stood silently clutching my towel in front of my chest. I felt modest as it draped my middle section. Susan was as gorgeous as any girl I had ever seen. Her breasts had grown so much over the last six months. They now had a swollen base to support the large red nipple sacks. I imagined one day her large tits would be crowned with big dark circles, the size of her current red caps. Her straight legs and mildly curved hips would soon scream sexy like Jesselyn's. And, her blond pubic hair would turn to a wonderful strawberry color. Will she be a distant, confused young woman who has sex with her family members while staring blankly into space? I felt sad because I figured I knew the answer to my own questions.

I couldn't help getting a thrill as Susan dried herself. She pulled the towel between her legs, front to back, wiping both cracks at the same time. I felt grown up watching a beautiful girl as she stood naked in my room. I dropped my cover as she stepped into the little white panties. When she wiggled them over her hips and pulled them tight, leaving her pouting pussy well outlined, I smiled. She rarely wore underwear, and it looked nice on her.

"Those look good on you." I held her shirt out in front of me.

"Yeah, I figured I'd dress like less of a slut today." Susan didn't look up as she reached for her shirt.

I pulled it away and put it behind my back as I stepped close to her. My nude body was just an inch from hers. I lifted her chin with my free hand as I spoke, "You're not a slut, and you don't dress like one."

All the glorious energy and joy that normally streaked across the girl's face was gone. I felt like a cowboy stealing the endangered Indian goddess from harm as my arms wrapped around Susan. I squeezed her even though her stiff frame remained motionless. I breathed in her damp hair as I whispered in her ears, "I still love you. No matter what, I promise."

I lifted her arms and carefully lowered her shirt down over her head. She extracted her wet hair and I tugged the shirt down her body. When my hands tilted her head back, her eyes were oozing tears. I pressed my lips to her forehead and held them there.

Susan's tears were running down her cheeks when I pulled my lips away from her head. She grabbed her pants, sat on the edge of my bed, and pulled them up both legs at the same time. I threw on a pair of jeans while Susan tugged her belt loops side to side and got her lovely flesh completely covered. I pulled on a sweatshirt just in time to help Susan to her feet. She seemed like she wanted to run, but I stood in front of her. I had seen her upset, crying, and even sobbing wildly before, but I had never seen her like this.

Her arms lightly held my waist as I hugged her with all my might. "Susan, what is it? Please don't keep anything from me. We agreed that no matter what we wouldn't let anything affect us."

Susan's grip tightened slightly. "I know, I need to, I just can't do it now. I need time, Joe. Can you give me time?"

Susan didn't wait for an answer. She broke off the hug and looked up sobbing. "I'll talk to you later. I got to go."

I would have stopped the girl I knew and forced her to tell me what was wrong, but the girl bolting from my room was a complete stranger. I listened for the slam of the back door and sat on my bed, holding my head. Was it me? I thought about her attitude earlier in the day. It had been down, but not sedated. Jasmine's disposition had been a greater concern for me then. What happened at the airport? I couldn't just sit there and wait. I headed for the phone.

"Jasmine, are you okay? Is Susan there? Is she okay? What happened at the airport? Did I do something wrong?" I sucked in some air, ready to ask more questions.

"Joe, take it easy. One thing at a time. I'll be there in a minute." Jasmine hung up.

I stood with my head hanging out the door watching for Jasmine. Within a few seconds, a giant red umbrella was cutting through the southern downpour.

Jasmine ran up the front porch steps."Phew, what a gully washer." She shook her umbrella before closing it. "Don't need any more bad luck." She leaned it against the wall and stepped inside the house.

I looked her up and down. The top of her head was covered with a strange, flat, plaid-colored hat. It had a tiny bill that snapped to the front flap of material. It was a cross between a hippie, artist, and pimp hat, yet it was sexy on the girl's head. The weather had given her long blond hair a crazy crumpled look. Her legs were covered with black spandex-looking material and her thick wool sweater stretched all the way down over her ass.

I was really too upset to care what she was wearing, but she was so uncharacteristically dressed that I had to say something. "Are those the new clothes you got Friday? Um, you look nice."

"Yes, thank you." Jasmine walked past me and grabbed my arm as she headed towards the living room.

It was a little eerie when I looked across at her from the ottoman. She sat exactly where Susan had sat on two previous occasions while we talked about serious stuff. Jasmine compounded the strange feeling when she took both of my hands in hers and supported them on her knees. Her beautiful blue eyes were bloodshot like someone who drank all night or had been crying all day.

A deeply serious expression set in Jasmine's eyes. "Joe, I'm sorry about earlier."

I moved next to Jasmine and put my arm around her as tears cascaded down onto her black leggings. I forced my face against hers as my own tears started flowing. An atmosphere of doom filled the room and my heart. I had seen my troubled friend crumble before under the massive weight of her destructive past, but this seemed worse. I was deeply pained by her obvious state of hopelessness and terrified in anticipation of her words if she was even able to speak. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear about the events that had finally completely broken her. I wondered if they were the same events that sent Susan into her shell. I hate the thought that it could have been the very events I had participated in.

Jasmine's arm moved behind my back and clung to my waist as both of our tears soaked her leg. When we turned to face each other, I could only look at her pain for a second. I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead against hers. "Jasmine." I drew in a deep breath and pulled her wet face across mine. Her face tucked against my neck. Our mixed tears on my face burned my skin like a harmful acid as I tried to say something that would stop her sobbing. "It's alright. It's going to be alright. I, I love, I really love you."

The girl's body jerked each time she tried to suck in some air. Her tears and snot now soaked my shoulder as her weak arms squeezed me. "Jasmine, was it me, did I do something?"

My question turned Jasmine's noisy emotional breakdown into a silent stream of tears that lacked even a break for oxygen. I decided to wait for her to speak for fear my next words might cause her to die. I gently rubbed her back hoping she would breathe soon.

One giant gasp of air rushed out of her lungs, and she made a horrible sound sniffing her snot. "No, damn it, no. Not you. I love you." More air was gasped in between words. "You, you help me. You do nothing but care for me."

"That's what people do when they love you."

Jasmine hit me several times. "I know that. I want to know . . . believe that, and I wanna let you love me, but I'm scared."

I held her until my arms hurt and her tears ran out. I was still terrified of what was coming, but I knew I couldn't abandon my love. My heart knew I loved them both, but only in my imagination could I save them from the opposing gang's leader.

"Joe, it's my father. That's why Susan couldn't talk to you. He's out again. My mother threw him out again." Jasmine's undeserved shame forced her eyes downward.

"What happened? Was it his sister? Did he break his promise?" There wouldn't have been any surprise if it was Jane, but I wondered if Jesselyn had been caught with her uncle.

"He broke his fuckin' promise. My mother's pregnant and the shithead couldn't act like a father." Jasmine found a few more tears but mostly she gasped for air and tried to hold herself together.

"It's okay baby, I'll be here for you. No matter what, I'll be here for you. It's going to be alright." I removed her hat and stroked her hair.

"No, it's not, it's never going to be right. We're all fucked up and we'll never be okay. I can't, I don't even know if I want to be. If it wasn't for your stupid love, I wouldn't even know something was wrong. I was broken and I didn't even know it. How the fuck will it ever be right, Joe? Tell me, please tell me."

I hadn't prayed for a long time, but I knew I needed help beyond, way beyond my own ability. The most wonderful, funny, beautiful girl I knew had almost killed me the day before with her troubles. This was ten thousand times worse. God help her. Help me, please.

After begging for help, I spoke the only words that came to my mind. "Anyone can change, you don't have to stay the way you are. I'll love you, even if you hate me."

"Maybe you can help me if you love me, but I can't make any promises. Look what we do. My dad promised. How come he couldn't keep his promise? How could he fuck his own daughter? How, how the fuck could he do that?"

My heart stopped. "Mother fucker. No, please tell me he didn't do that to you." My heart restarted and anger like I never knew soared through my body.

"Not me." Jasmine's sobbing prevented her from continuing. My heart stopped again and my tears burst like a river. I pictured Susan's depraved acts in a new light as I tried to not scream.

"His, his daughter, Jesselyn, he did it with Jesselyn." Jasmine took short, fast breaths like she was hyperventilating while I tried to understand.

I saw their faces side by side in my mind. Sisters, they are sisters. "Jesselyn is Susan's sister?" Susan was with her brother, not her cousin. Is that worse?

"Di-did, didn't Susie tell you?" Jasmine's look of surprise and confusion was piled on top of emotionally distraught.

"No, she didn't tell me. Is she okay? Is Jesselyn?"

Jasmine kissed my cheek, moved to my lips, grabbed me around my neck, and shoved her tongue in my mouth. Our kiss was not passionate like it would have normally been, but it was way more than I expected. She pulled away, still holding my face. "I'm sorry, it helps when you kiss me. I normally act like a slut when I'm hurting, but I want to change. I'm scared, Joe. The reason I like girls is that they don't hurt me but neither do you, you never hurt me. I wanna let you love me, but I need time. Can you give me time?"

"Whatever you need, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." My own promise scared me.

"Jasmine, my parents are going to be home soon. I don't care if you stay, I just don't want you to have to be uncomfortable. Just say it's a boyfriend who broke your heart and that's why you're upset."

"Thanks, but I gotta go soon. My mom is upset, I need to be there for her. Susie too." Jasmine tried to put on a strong face, but it didn't fool me. She had used Susan's little kid name for the second time.

"What are we going to do about Susan? She was, she seems. Um . . . "

"I don't know what happened over here before, and I don't want to, but last night. I can't tell you for sure what is going to happen, but I know what I did when I was her age. I'm sorry, Joe, I tried to help her, or maybe I made her worse. I didn't want to see her go through what I went through, but she may have to find out for herself." Jasmine's pain for her sister was as real on her face as it was in my heart, but she forced herself to continue. "She might break your heart. She might change and act in ways you hate, but you got to love her. Can you do that?"

Before I could make another promise, Jasmine plunged further into herself. "If it wasn't for you, I would have destroyed my life here just like before. I was on the brink of giving up, but you made me feel special and cared for. You are the first person I have ever loved. You gave me hope. I don't know what will happen with us, but you helped me." Jasmine's painful confession squeezed a few more tears from her red eyes.

"I'll do anything for you, anything." I made the first promise I could believe and trust myself with.

"I better get home. I'd rather not see your parents like this." Jasmine wobbled as she stood.

"You look nice. Thanks for dressing up for me." I wrapped my arms around her itchy wool body, my heart pounding with purpose.

Our salty lips embraced and sealed my promise. "I'll see you at school tomorrow. Are you going to school tomorrow? Maybe you should stay home?" I wanted to save her and carry her away to a safe place.

The rain had stopped by the time Jasmine headed back to her broken home. I put my two-wheeled escape machine behind the house where it belonged. My parents would be proud of me.

Later that night, I got up from my TV trance and headed toward my room. At the last minute, I turned back and gave my mom that kiss and hug I held back earlier. "I love you, good night." I left her with her shocked face staring at my dad.

Sleep was something that the problems of the whole world couldn't keep me from. I flopped on my bed and passed out.