Protect the Family

Through the tiny sliver of an opening of the barn door, I saw a sight that made me clench my fist, trying with all my might not to do something that would get me in trouble with both the law and my sister.

When the guy I grew up with started getting involved with my baby sister, I tried my best to stay out of it. He was an okay enough guy---the small-town rumor mill would call us best friends, but that's a bit of a stretch. My little sister was my best friend. Still is. She has been for as long as I can remember.

Most big brothers wouldn't want their sister tagging along, but I loved Maggie. She was funny and cooler than I was by a landslide. Being six years apart and having two brothers between us, I was always protective of her. And I knew the best way to protect her was to just have her hanging around. Our mom was a drunk and our father was more of a dictator than a dad. We only really had each other---me, Maggie, and our brothers, Hank and Scott---so we did our best to have each other's backs.

Guys knew not to mess with her or they'd have to deal with me. Maggie didn't want anything to do with them anyway; she was smarter than that. But years have passed, and Maggie and Tyler are both adults. Tyler and I hung around one another a lot. We were both involved in ag and began bull riding around the same time. Like I said, he was nice enough. He got into a it of trouble in our teenage years, but who of us wasn't guilty of that?

Maggie came to me tearfully, prepared to plead her case. I should have taken it as a sign---that fact that she came to me. Not him. Instead of stepping up like a man and facing me, he sent my terrified baby sister to do his bidding. I stopped her before she could grovel. She was smart enough to make her own decisions and figure out her own relationships. I just told her to be careful.

Now, with a baby on the way for me and my fiancée, I needed to be careful. I didn't need to storm into the stalls where Tyler was having sex with some random woman. I needed to handle this wisely and tell my sister as gently as possible that her boyfriend is a scumbag. So I walked away.

I drove straight to my sister's place. Well, actually, I stopped at DQ, bought a banana split, and then drove to her place. She looked sad, but mostly resigned. I'm not a monster, so I didn't tell her explicitly what I saw. But she got the gist.

"Can I please kill him?" I asked her. "Or at least beat the shit out of him?"

"He's not worth it. You have too much going for you to go to jail." She was right.

She told me she was going to go break up with him the next day, and I just told her to be careful.

Tyler approached me the next afternoon as I worked on my truck. He stumbled through some kind of non-apology as he stood tense, like he was waiting for my fist to fly toward his face at any moment.

When he finally stopped talking, I raised up from my work to look at him in all his sweaty glory. "So, why exactly are you here, Tyler?"

He visibly gulped. "I was hopin' you'd forgive me."

Sighing, I turned back under my hood, continuing to work as I spoke to him. "Buddy, we’ve known each other a long time. And you know I’m a very forgiving person. I’ve forgiven people for unforgivable things before. I forgave Gary Thorn when he tried to screw me out competing. I forgave Sadie when she cheated on me. Hell, I even think I can forgive my dad at this point." Dad being dead probably made this easier. "All that being said..." Slamming the hood, I wiped my hands on my jeans, and faced him one final time. "Go fuck yourself."

Maggie never asked me if I was responsible for slashed tires, I think she just assumed. He probably did too. It wasn't me, actually. Bad things happen to you when you're an asshole and a cheater. That's why you just have to be careful. Come to think of it, maybe my careful sister never asked me because it was her own handywork. Maybe she could protect herself.

Or maybe it was done by the woman he was banging in the barn. That would make sense, too.