The Man of the House

Chapter 16

"S-so, what are we doing here?” Anna asked.

“Just looking…” I brought my binoculars up to my face.

I didn’t have the wig on. In the end, I decided that it was too ridiculous, especially around a cute girl I didn’t know. Instead, I had my hood up and a pair of sunglasses. We were now parked in the middle school, watching as buses pulled up one after another.

They didn’t let the students into the school right away. Rather, they all had to wait outside until the first bell rang. Only then, someone unlocked the door and let them in. I remembered that from back when I was in middle school. It was a good chance to socialize with friends, but since I didn’t have any, I mostly remembered being forced to stand out there for ten minutes in the bitter cold because the teachers couldn’t be bothered to let us in right away.

There she was! I grew excited and leaned forward as I saw my little sister Bethany get off the bus. I understood her to be rather popular and have many female friends. Yet, at the moment, she wasn’t with anyone when she got off. In fact, she was completely alone. I couldn’t help but frown at the sight.

“Why do I feel like we’re doing something illegal?” She asked awkwardly to fill the silence.

I sighed and pointed. “That’s my little sister. Yesterday, I found out she was covered in bruises.”

“An adult is hitting her?” She asked with a gasp.

“No… some guy.”

She suddenly snorted a laugh, causing me to shoot her a glare. Her cheeks turned red.

“I’m sorry… it’s just, so? It’s just a boy.”

“And you’re just a girl!” I snapped back.

She blinked, her expression a mixture of confusion and bewilderment. She really just didn’t get it.

“Everyone would have the same attitude as you. It’s just a boy. Boys can’t hurt girls. They’re too weak! Bah!”

“Girls hurting boys is no laughing matter.” She said seriously. “But, I mean, how could a guy hurt a girl.”

“Agh! You know what I meant!’

She had an expression like she didn’t. It was still hard thinking and talking in reverse. I took a deep breath to relax my nerves.”

“You didn’t see the bruises on her. This guy is doing more than giving her playful love taps, okay?”

“Okay!” She held up her hands helplessly. “I get it. You really care about your sister.”

“Hm… sisters.”

“You have more than one? I have a sister too. How many do you have.”

“Six.”

“S-six!” Her face turned white.

“What’s with that face?” I asked as she looked at me strangely.

“Ah… it’s just… it must be a difficult guy to date.”

“Hmm? I always thought I was easy.”

She suddenly smirked, but then quickly looked away, not meeting my eyes. I glowered as my brain caught up to my words, and I shot her a stare.

“You just though… “That’s what I was hoping for.” Didn’t you?”

“Huh?” She spun with a shocked expression that gave everything away, but then immediately lowered her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who would think that?”

I knew it! The reason she thought something like that is because I probably would have thought the same thing if I was in her situation.  That actually pissed me off a bit. This girl I barely know skips school because she thinks that if I asked her out, she gets sex, and I’m the one who is easy?

She seemed to realize she had done wrong, as she quieted up and looked away. At that point, rather than joining the crowds near the door, Bethany was heading to the side. It took me a moment to realize someone was around the corner and had made a gesturing motion for her to come over.

I immediately got out of the car and began walking the other direction. I took a few steps before I moved into a light jog, running around the school so I’d approach from the back of where Bethany had gone.

“W-wait!” I heard Anna get out of her car, but at that point, I had already rounded the building and was almost running along the back of the school.

This part of the school faced a wooded area and offered a great deal of privacy, especially close to the building where you couldn’t see people out of the many windows. I continued at a fast pace until I reach the other corner. At this point, I could hear voices. I moved to the corner and turned my ear to listen.

“Did you bring it?” I heard a man’s voice ask.

He had a nasely voice filled with disdain and ridicule.

“Yes…” Bethany said quietly.

“Give it over!” I heard her grabbing something that sounded like papers. “What is this? This doesn’t look like my writing!”

“You’re supposed to copy it…”

“What did you say?” He demanded, sounded a bit like a gang member.

“You’re supposed to put it in your own writing before…”

“Rewrite it? Then what’s the point in having you do my homework in the first place? You’re so damn stupid!”

Slap! I jumped, not expecting him to already hit her. Rage started to fill me. I was just about to walk out when a hand grabbed me. I looked back to Anna, who was holding my arm. She had a questioning look on her face. I immediately turned back, sneaking a peak, but I remained in cover. Unfortunately, I could only see Bethany who was holding her arm defensively and the back of some guy’s head.

“Since you’re my girlfriend, you should take care of me better!” The guy said snobbishly. “You are my girlfriend, right?”

“O-of course.”

I was stunned for a moment. Were they actually dating? Bethany wasn’t into that kind of thing, was she? The look on her face was not someone who was pervertedly enjoying this.

“Hmph… good. Don’t even think of breaking it off. I’ll just tell everyone you raped me. You get it?” He snorted.

“I understand…” She responded, her eyes looking dead.

I reached my limit. Yanking my hand free of Anna’s grip, I immediately stormed out from my cover. As I rounded the corner, Bethany saw me. First confusion, then shock and finally shame filled her eyes as she looked away. Noticing her looking, the guy turned around and shot me a glare. My steps faltered as I realized this guy wasn’t in middle school.

Well, he probably wasn’t, but he shouldn’t have been. He was built like a football player. More than that, he was accompanied by two other guys on either side of him. They were both just as large. One of the three was about my size, and the other two were larger. They were playing on their cellphones, but as I approached, they looked up and stepped forward like bodyguards. I thought I’d just need to scare little middle schoolers, but these guys looked like they could kick my ass.

“Who the hell are you?” The guy in front, someone with blonde died hair, a pudgy face, and a permanent sneer demanded.

“H-he’s my b-“

“Boyfriend!” I said, ignoring the “huh?” from behind me and the shocked look on her face.

The guy’s expression turned incredulous. “What?”

“Oh? Didn’t you know she had a boyfriend in high school? Well, now, you do. So, fuck off!”

He raised an eyebrow and then looked at the two guys next to him and sneered. “You’re some high school loser who dates middle schoolers because you can’t find a girl your own age? Sorry, freak, she’s already mine.”

 Even though I was afraid, I couldn’t back down. This was my little sister I was talking about. This was the only thing I could do for her. In thirteen years of life, this was the first thing I had ever done for her. I couldn’t back down.

I took a breath and stepped forward, schooling my face with what I hoped looked cocky. “I don’t give a shit about some reject who couldn’t even get into high school. My girlfriend is my girlfriend. I came here to find out what slut dared to touch my woman.”

It was kind of fun trying to smack talk as a girl would. It was a bit tough, though. I had to stop and think. Fortunately, this guy was clearly a bit slow and gave me the time to think out my next words.

“Y-you… shut the hell up!”

“Leave… my woman… alone. Dick.” I punctuated each word and then held up my finger and shook it.

“Man… whatever. Beat this dick up!” He gestured for the other two men to come forward.

I held up my hands. This was my moment of truth. I wasn’t completely defenseless. Truth be told, when I was in middle school, I also had a bully. Perhaps that’s why this meant so much that I did something about Bethany’s problem. My bully beat the shit out of me every day. I eventually convinced mom to let me take martial arts. I ended up in Judo for about six months. I knew a few dozen throws. However, by the time I was confident I could at least escape my bully with what I knew, he had ended up thrown in juvey for stabbing a teacher in the butt with a pencil.

Now, I was trying to recall everything I had ever learned, while two men easily as big as my bully descended on me. I gulped, ready to try a move, but before I could do anything, one of the guys grabbed me and pulled me into a headlock. The other one moved forward, and then kicked my shin while the first one pulled my hair.

“Yeah! Beat his ass!”

“No!” Bethany tried to take a step forward, but then the boy casually pushed her back.

She fell to the ground, looking over at me tearfully as two men were all over me. As for me, I had a confused look on my face.

“Ow… Ow…!”

“Yeah, you stupid bitch. Take this!”

He scratched my arm, and my frown deepened. It hurt, sure… but it was also… really not much? My bully used to punch me in the gut until I puked blood. Their nails were very sharp, and a sharp pain went up my ankle whenever they kicked, leaving me dancing to try to avoid his kicks, but that was really it. Comparatively, this wasn’t the ass-kicking I had expected. But when I saw Bethany get pushed to the ground, I felt the rage in me renew.

Using a move that got me out of the headlock, I grabbed onto the arms of the boy holding me. He looked genuinely surprised to see me suddenly move. I brought my head forward and slammed my forehead into his nose. There was an immediate noise of crunching that sounded out for everyone to hear.

There was a moment of stunned silence as everyone stared. The guy stumbled back, clutching his nose, and blood immediately spurted from it. His eyes rolled up in his head, and he suddenly fainted.

“No…no…no!” The other guy suddenly looked afraid, backing away with his hands up, but I was really pissed at this point.

I grabbed him and brought up my knee. It slammed into his testicles. It didn’t matter what world this was, getting kneed in the groin hurt, even for tiny testicles.

“Ahhhh!” He cried out, falling to the ground.

I turned my glare to the final boy, the so-called boyfriend.

“You… you… bitch… what are you, a delinquent?” He said, half in disbelief and half in desperation. “I’m going to go tell…”

“No!” I barked, causing him to jerk in place, freezing. “I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen. You’re going to fuck off and leave my girlfriend alone. You won’t touch her, look at her, or even breath on her. If I here even a whiff of a rape allegation, I know girls who can make that a reality for you happily!”

His expression turned white. “I… I…”

“You can shut the fuck up!” I continued to approach him one step at a time. “Because I’ll tell you what will happen if you don’t. I’ll write on every wall in every boy’s bathroom at high school your name. I’ll say you have a yeast infection and genital warts. It’ll be a year before you step into that high school, but by then, everyone will know your name. No guy will be your friend, and no girl will look at you. I will ruin you before you can even start. Do you understand me?”

He nodded, his eyes widened, and I realized he was peeing himself as I saw a wet spot running down his pant.

“Y-you’re crazy!” he finally got out defiantly.

“I love Bethany! So, say what you want about me, but I will burn the world for her.” I pulled out a letter opener. I love her so much. I carved her name in my leg. How about you? I think… I’ll carve her name into your forehead!”

At this point, the distance between us was bridged, and at the end of my words, I let the letter opener fall forward, hitting his forehead with a thump.

“Ah…ahhhh…ahhhhgggg…” His eyes were widened, and he started to scream, but then his eyes rolled up in his head, and he passed out in a puddle of his own piss.

I kneeled down, patted his pants, and then pulled out his cellphone. The other two men I similarly grabbed their cellphones. Then I took pictures. One of them on the ground unconscious and another with their shirts lifted up. As soon as I did it, Bethany, and Anna, who had approached but looked like they wanted to jump back in hiding, looked away with blushes on their faces.

“I think they’ll get the message,” I said, making sure that I had a copy of each photo before dropping them on their unconscious bodies.

Only at this point did Bethany come forward. “B-brother.”

It was my turn to blush. “S-sorry… I overdid it, huh?”

She didn’t pull away or look disgusted. Instead, she was looking at me with an expression I’d never seen before. It was an expression like wonderment.

“You have blood on your cheek.” She reached out and wiped it.

Our bodies were very close. We moved a bit closer.

“Ahem.” Anna suddenly coughed, “We might want to get out of here… quickly?”

I pulled away. “Get going, Bethany. I’ll see you at home.”

I turned away. She had her hand out like she wanted to say more, but then a tearful smile formed on her face and she spun around, running back around the corner. Anna was right, in the end. We made too much noise, and it was only a matter of time before someone investigated this mess. Anna walked beside me as we headed the opposite direction from Bethany. It was at this point; I could hear the bell ringing to start school too.

“That’s your sister, right?” Anna asked a slight bit of doubt in her voice.

“It is,” I responded curtly. “Did you think to help me at all?”

She stiffened. “Ah! It looked like you had everything handled. Besides, how could I fight a boy?”

“Hmmm…. Fuuuuuu…”the word came out just as we turned a corner and saw a teacher standing there.

We had already left the crime scene behind by a bit, but this woman had her arms crossed and was glaring at us. She immediately stormed our way. She looked like a gym teacher to me. Her eyes immediately went to Anna.

“You… you’re not a middle school student!”

“I-I’m not! I go to the high school!” She said honestly, clearly too nervous to lie.

“You damn older kids… coming to pick on the younger classmen and cause trouble! I heard a suspicious person was sneaking around the school! That was clearly you!”

“Ahh…I… I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it!” She accepted the accusation instantly.

Her expression softened slightly. “Fine, I remember what it was like being a young girl too. Used the spy on the middle school guys in gymnastics… cough… I mean, get lost kid, or I’ll call the cops.”

“I’m gone!” She immediately ran, taking off without me.

I tried to follow, but the woman held up her hand. “You sure you okay, mister? She didn’t do anything funny, did she?”

I noticed her hand was very close to touching my chest. This motion would have meant nothing to me a few days ago, but suddenly I was noticing things like this.

“No, I’m fine.”

She broke into a smile. “Good, you be a good boy and move on.”

No lecture for me at all. In fact, I had though the suspicious person would be me. My sunglasses had fallen off in the fight, but I was still wearing the hoodie and had binoculars hanging from my neck. Yet, I received not a single accusation. As I passed, I noticed she looked back and down. It took me a moment to realize she had been checking out my ass.

Thankfully, Anna hadn’t taken off without me, and her car was still waiting in the parking lot. I got in the passenger side, and the two of us sat for a moment in silence. Suddenly, Anna broke into laughter. She just started laughing nervously like she had just escaped death. A moment later, I joined her. The two of us just sat in the car in the middle of a parking lot laughing at nothing. When I finally caught my breath, I turned over to Anna.

“We probably should get out of here before they connect us with the beaten-up middle schoolers.”

Her laugh stopped like it hit a brick wall. She sobered up extremely quickly.

“Yeah… let’s go.”