Monday Afternoon.

[Delta40]

Eve kicked and screamed as her older brother dragged her by the hair into the bedroom.

'Get in there now!' he yelled while Eve continued to twist and writhe under the control of his hand. She felt the hot flush of adrenalin pump through her body and the throbbing pain in her scalp. Still she fought.

'Please! No! I don't wanna go back there. Let me go!'

He yanked her harder as she desperately tried to lock her foot on the doorframe till she could no longer hold on and slid along the carpet, helpless. He slammed the door.

Monday afternoon after school. Somewhere in Eve's mixture of fear and hatred, she heard the magpie family outside the window. Mum, Dad and their two offspring sat on the fence peering through the yellowed lace curtains as if they were watching a weekly sitcom. Eve's body relaxed momentarily then her brother picked her up and flung her onto his unmade bed. He fixed his knee on her chest and started undoing his pants. Eve gasped at the pain pushing down on her and drew short breaths, her eyes bulging with terrified knowledge of what would happen next.

A slow, lecherous grin spread across his freckled face and for the first time, Eve noticed the soft light hair sprouting from his chin. He never had it when he first started molesting her. Back then though, Eve had never heard of the word 'molest' or 'incest' and her brother didn't have an appetite like he had now. At twelve, all Eve knew was the 'episodes' seemed more violent, more intense without really understanding why.

He took his penis out. and waved it around slowly as if he was an indian charming a snake with a pungi flute. Eve almost giggled and imagined the music as a temporary mode of escape. Dahdah dah dah dah, dahdah dahdah dahdah dah. He was already hard. He was always hard after the wrestling match. Eve had learnt this some time ago but she snapped each time he tried to kiss and fondle her. There was no other way than to make a point of resisting his advances as violently as she could.

Once, she threw a cup at him from across the kitchen in a bid to stop him in his tracks. After all, it wasn't like raping little sis was something that happened by chance. No. There was a pattern that led to the caveman club and conquer approach of her big brother and Eve knew when he got that look on his face, she was the only one in the house to receive whatever he meted out. Afterward, her dolls paid a dear price. She 'operated' on them, stuck them with dressmaking pins and even melted parts of their body with a lighter she had found. All of them were grossly deformed in one way or the other. Disfigured and misshapened, they were a mysterious symbol of Eve's chaos but she only felt the sheer relief in mutilating them after her brother released her.

Even as young child, Eve's eyes were opened to the murky world of sexual exploits because she watched her father slap filthy details across her mother's face at the dinner table when he 'felt' like picking on her.

'F uck your trials and tribulations woman! No bloody wonder I'm forced to handle a nicer juicier pair of tits in my hands when I have to listen to your crap!'

Her father regularly boasted of his affair with a barmaid at the local. When he finished work, he'd drive there for a few drinks then duck downstairs and root the pants off the woman between barrels of beer. Her mother would sit silent like Eve and her brother while her father rubbed a fat belly full of irish stew, reminiscing over what he got up to with the other woman that day.

Eve hated her mother. She worked full-time as a cleaner. Starting before dawn, arriving home at dusk, she barely had a word, let alone a minute to spare for Eve. In her mind Eve would scream her rage. 'Why can't you see what's happening to me?' Eve believed her mother should notice her distress and end it for her but that day had yet to arrive.

Now, lying on her brother's bed, she pleaded inwardly that tonight would be the night when her mother would look up from the kitchen sink and ask Eve, 'Is everything alright dear? You don't look so good.' She might dry her hands and sit down just long enough to ask Eve to tell her exactly what the matter is. Hopeless tears bled out the sides of her eyes as she tangled her way through emotions she could not express.

Eve was at least old enough to sense that her mother concerned herself purely with her own problems. She was surrounded by the blatant unfaithfulness of her abusive husband so whenever any sign of trouble rose from Eve, it was immediately stonewalled by her mother with the standard, 'For God's sake, whatever you do, don't tell your father.' Not because her father would be angry at his her. In fact, Eve was his pride and joy and she never felt safer than when she curled up beside him on the couch while her mother did the laundry and her brother sang to She's My Cherry Pie in his room. No. It was because her mother didn't want any more problems to deal with than she already had.

As her brothers intimate scent hit her nostrils, Eve thought perhaps one day, she would vomit it out all over her mother and watch her drown in it's disgusting truth.

He started wanking over her face. 'You like that you filthy ***** don'tcha?' He snorted with each tug and Eve was torn whether to just lie still, cry or spit in his face. She had yet to 'win' one of these battles and had anyone asked her what winning might mean, Eve knew she would have no answer. He was her brother. Once, she trusted him. Now she didn't. But she was tied to him in a way that she could not identify.

Her brother used his free hand to grasp Eve's arm. She was losing again and at some point she knew it would be less painful to just give in. So she did. She let him place her hand around his penis and imitated the back and forth motion while he arched his back and moaned, 'faster *****, faster!' He always called her *****. Her father called her mother *****.

Eve jerked as fast as she could, feeling her arm get tired. Her brother shifted so he was straddling her chest, lost in his own hungry desire for release but Eve didn't have the energy to push him off her tender sprouting breasts and so she turned her head to the window and noticed the magpie family still gazing intently, when her brother abruptly yelled out and spurted his ecstatic pleasure over the right side of her face.

He immediately rolled off and left Eve on his bed utterly exhausted and humiliated. She listened to her heart beat slow as the tingling numbness in her hand came slowly back to life.

She watched Dad magpie fly off, followed by Mum, leaving two young offspring all alone on the fence.

[Steven Hunley]

This is tough stuff. It's one of those subjects that are hard to write about, both from the rape side of it, and the incest side too. As a writer, now that I've been reading your work for some time, it seems you often write about tough subjects. I see no moral judgment about the sister, and feel there's no need. It's written well and that's that. The magpie children, left alone by their parents, will have to fend for themselves.

[Delta40]

Mystyr - I'm sorry you deleted the ENTIRE review! You are welcome to re-post....

Steve - I guess as I get older, it becomes easier to write about the tough stuff. This is not autobiographical though. However I will say alot of my writing is from personal knowledge and experience.

I knew this story would not get many reviews because of it's content but I got a great deal of satisfaction from being someone willing to peel the lid off this taboo subject which is everywhere around us and protected by conspiracies of silence. I'm glad you like how it is written.

[cl154576]

It was extremely powerful. I wanted to review at first but I was afraid of offending you, or seeming callous ...

My only suggestion would be to mention the magpies one more time in the middle. It came slightly abruptly at the end.

[hillwalker]

It's a taboo subject, as you say, and you have tackled it with some degree of authenticity. However, I have a problem with your main characters and the way they behave.

If Eve is strong-willed enough to fight off her brother's advances as he tries to manouever her into the bedroom it makes me wonder why she keeps quiet about his abuse.
The more likely scenario (if this is a regular occurrence) is that she would give in without much of a fight. Many victims of repeated incest/child abuse fail to respond the way one would expect them to respond; partly because of the shame such an act engenders or the threats made by the abuser. But generally they develop coping strategies that remove them from the event -surrounding themselves by a shell as it were so that they almost become unaware of what is actually happening to them.
So the way you describe Eve here it's almost like she's playing hard to get - finally capitulating and willingly helping him reach a climax like in some cheesy sex movie. This is made worse by her brother's coarse language which again is more likely to appear in a porno film.
The story is supposedly written from Eve's perspective so it's unlikely everything he said during the assault would register anyway.
You also give her sociopathic tendencies - deflecting her anger onto her dolls. This is a bit of a psychological step into the dark since many sociopaths have a tendency to commit sexual offences when they get older but few if any victims of sexual abuse develop into sociopaths (quite the opposite in fact).

You have also drawn the father and brother as gross stereotypes of macho males. And you are implying (?) that Eve gives in to her brother's abuse because her mother is weak when verbally abused by her husband. But one is then left wondering why the son acts the way he does. Is it because dad is a complete bastard and he wants to copy dad? In the real world the more likely scenario is that the son would react in completely the opposite way - cautious of any sexual encounters because he has no desire to play dad's role.

What I'm trying to say without demolishing your audacious attempt at exploring this issue is that you have rather too many irons in this particular fire to make for a realistic story.
It might have been better to use your vivid imagination and focus on the behaviour of the brother and sister without trying to explain what brought it about. And as for the dialogue - that unfortunately brings it into a whole new genre of fiction.

H

[DocHeart]

Thanks, Delta, for sharing.

This isn't meant to be enjoyed, and not all literature is. But I read it hungrily, almost getting some kind of weird kick out of the sickness which is portrayed in detail. It emptied me.

@Hillwalker,

I cannot fault your overall analysis, and I would have to agree with your critique. But I reckon that Delta's focus is the ugliness of the act, not its causes. Would I have felt better about the whole thing if it was explained in a manner more fitting to current social / psychological thinking? I doubt it. Would it have made it a "better" story? Perhaps. I, for one, would rather the act wasn't explained at all.

Good health to all.

DH

[Delta40]

It's a taboo subject, as you say, and you have tackled it with some degree of authenticity. However, I have a problem with your main characters and the way they behave.

If Eve is strong-willed enough to fight off her brother's advances as he tries to manouever her into the bedroom it makes me wonder why she keeps quiet about his abuse.
The more likely scenario (if this is a regular occurrence) is that she would give in without much of a fight. Many victims of repeated incest/child abuse fail to respond the way one would expect them to respond; partly because of the shame such an act engenders or the threats made by the abuser. But generally they develop coping strategies that remove them from the event -surrounding themselves by a shell as it were so that they almost become unaware of what is actually happening to them.
So the way you describe Eve here it's almost like she's playing hard to get - finally capitulating and willingly helping him reach a climax like in some cheesy sex movie. This is made worse by her brother's coarse language which again is more likely to appear in a porno film.
The story is supposedly written from Eve's perspective so it's unlikely everything he said during the assault would register anyway.
You also give her sociopathic tendencies - deflecting her anger onto her dolls. This is a bit of a psychological step into the dark since many sociopaths have a tendency to commit sexual offences when they get older but few if any victims of sexual abuse develop into sociopaths (quite the opposite in fact).

You have also drawn the father and brother as gross stereotypes of macho males. And you are implying (?) that Eve gives in to her brother's abuse because her mother is weak when verbally abused by her husband. But one is then left wondering why the son acts the way he does. Is it because dad is a complete bastard and he wants to copy dad? In the real world the more likely scenario is that the son would react in completely the opposite way - cautious of any sexual encounters because he has no desire to play dad's role.

What I'm trying to say without demolishing your audacious attempt at exploring this issue is that you have rather too many irons in this particular fire to make for a realistic story.
It might have been better to use your vivid imagination and focus on the behaviour of the brother and sister without trying to explain what brought it about. And as for the dialogue - that unfortunately brings it into a whole new genre of fiction.

H

Thanks for your comments Hill. I believe this: Write what you know. I just did that. If you want an analysis of why some children respond in some ways and why others don't seem to match your perception, then perhaps undertake some in depth research on family structures, dynamics and dysfunction. It's a deep, muddy pool and this story doesn't claim to be a 'one size fits all' act of incest. Some abuses are extremely tender and loving and at odds with the word taboo. Has it occurred to you that the son might be powerless in his own father's shadow and needs to feel powerful himself so he turns to the next sibling to take it out on? Are you suggesting that isn't realistic?

I did use my imagination, combined with experience and I will assume that your perceived idea of an incestuous act between brother and sister in a family such as this one doesn't 'smell right' to you. You're welcome to your opinion. It is presumptious to imply that son's don't follow in the footsteps of their ******* Dads. They may resent their fathers but family patterns of behaviour are very strong and they often get acted out again and again, unless somebody seeks to break the cycle. We could cross our fingers and assume that bad behaviour by adults teaches children to be good. If it is supposed to, then I assume all the rioters in London recently were being raised by 'good' parents? lol.

Eve used her imagination and the magpie family to 'escape' the episode that had become all too familiar. Her heart didn't cry over being called a b itch. Her emotional fragility was focused on who was supposed to save her without her ever telling.

I don't think the story would have profited from a greater background information and I don't subscribe to holding the hand of the reader every step of the way. This is an authentic scenario. Based on the relationship, incest is taking abuse to the next intensive level and not all girls lie back and take it. That may or may not be to their detriment. Since she feels powerless to stop what is happening despite her efforts, her anger is taken out on those that cannot defend themselves. Her dolls. It could have been the family cat but abuse pours from the hierarchy, all the way down to the most defenseless so I fail to see that her behaviour is not 'logical' and nobody is suggesting she may become an abuser. An enabler perhaps but who knows since everyone is different. Anyway, as I said before it is a deep murky pool and there is no single explanation.

I'm satisfied with the chain of events which occurred in this story and appreciate your feedback as ever.

[Delta40]

Thanks, Delta, for sharing.

This isn't meant to be enjoyed, and not all literature is. But I read it hungrily, almost getting some kind of weird kick out of the sickness which is portrayed in detail. It emptied me.

@Hillwalker,

I cannot fault your overall analysis, and I would have to agree with your critique. But I reckon that Delta's focus is the ugliness of the act, not its causes. Would I have felt better about the whole thing if it was explained in a manner more fitting to current social / psychological thinking? I doubt it. Would it have made it a "better" story? Perhaps. I, for one, would rather the act wasn't explained at all.

Good health to all.

DH

Thanks Doc. I aspired to portray an incestuous act in its stark brutality. Since 1 in 3 kids are molested by a family member or family friend, I don't see why it shouldn't be hung out for the world to read.

[J Kelley]

I think Hillwalker makes some valid points. Overall, I would really encourage you to shift the focus to internal and external sensory details rather than the graphic porno-esque visuals of the rape. I'm thinking Eve would probably be trying not to look at her brother. Every situation is different, and I'm not saying anything about this scene couldn't happen or wouldn't happen. So this is just a suggestion.

Generally speaking, the brother would not be violently raping his little sister just because the father is disrespectful to women and speaking inappropriately at the dinner table, so there has to be more going on there. If there was more going on--like mom being raped in front of the kids or severe domestic violence--it wasn't clear, and in that case, it might be useful to pair down the background information and let the reader wonder about it. Most likely, for this to happen, someone's molested the brother. Probably a male relative. If he were exposed to a lot of pornography by the father, or whoever, then he might be acting out sexually or talking a lot about sex and being fixated, but the molestation would be more coerced and not as violent. The brother really takes it to the next level here. The relationships could be more complex, and her reaction should be more internal to have the impact I think you're intending. Providing some kind of glimpse into the other side of their relationship could help, like instead of saying that she used to trust her brother but not anymore...give us an example. Some kind of memory where she wasn't scared because her big brother was there, or a time he protected her, as a contrast to her current emotional state and to communicate her sense of loss. Then have her try not to think of that memory because it's too painful. He's stealing that relationship from her with his betrayal.

I disagree with this statement.

>>You also give her sociopathic tendencies - deflecting her anger onto her dolls. This is a bit of a psychological step into the dark since many sociopaths have a tendency to commit sexual offences when they get older but few if any victims of sexual abuse develop into sociopaths (quite the opposite in fact).<<

The part where she takes it out on her dolls is SPOT ON. It doesn't make her a sociopath. Children express themselves through play, and based on my experience working with abused children as a therapist and a social worker, I found this part believable. Although most sexual abuse victims don't become sociopaths, pretty much all sociopaths have been severely abused or neglected, and there's tons of research on this. Absolutely there are abused kids who turn into sociopaths; that's how sociopaths are made. However, it's her dolls, not the family pet, so this isn't sociopath behavior at all. It's a common reaction.

The fact that she blames her mother and has those kinds of thoughts, wishing her mother would ask...perfect. I think the father's character and the whole dynamic around him needs to be adjusted a little bit. It just doesn't ring as true as the rest of it. Also, I agree that the wrestling matches are too much of a contrast to Eve giving in and just trying to get it over with and done. I think it would be better if he could overpower her more easily, that her struggle is futile or she freezes up like in a dream when you're trying to run away from the monster but your legs are like jello. This has happened again and again, so Eve knows there's no point in fighting. If she's still playing with dolls, Eve is probably about 7 or 8 years old, or 10 at the most, and the brother is already getting peach fuzz...so maybe 13 years old at least? I would expect more hiding and less wrestling, maybe trying to scream but her voice goes hoarse and nobody would hear her anyway. If she's got bruises from fighting with her brother, the parents are going to see them, so it can't be an all-out brawl. Maybe the brother grabs her by the pressure points, twists her arm, grabs her by the hair but instead of dragging her caveman style into his bedroom, he points out that it will only hurt more if she struggles, and in this way, he shifts the blame to her. So yeah, I would suggest providing less visual on the physical act.

[Delta40]

Thanks for your comments J Kelley. I knew the brutality between the brother and sister would cause some angst and I didn't want to hide behind other stuff. Having not undertaken research on incest and how the acts most commonly play out, I can only go by what I know. This is what I know. It is a shame that others feel it lacks authenticity but as I said before, that is more to do with their idea (or experience) of an incestuous act.

Thanks very much for reading it and I'm happy not to edit it.