Her Brother's Keeper
by M.C.
After a family tragedy, a young girl is forced to take responsibility for her large, older brother's upbringing and deal with a tough neighborhood bully.


"RING!, RING!" the phone sounded, breaking the serenity of the quiet late
afternoon and abruptly waking Debbie up from her nap; "RING!, RING!"

"Hold your horses, I'm coming," the pretty 15 year-old girl said as she
struggled - half asleep - down the stairs and made her way over to the phone.
Debbie had come home from the martial arts class she teaches just a little
while ago and really needed her afternoon 'beauty sleep'. "Can't a girl get
any rest around here?" she asked rethorically as she picked up the
receiver."Hello."

"Hello," a woman's voice on the other end of the line said,"is this the Nelson
residence?"

"Yes it is."

"And is this Ms. Nelson?"

Debbie was about to say that her mother was still at work but, after a moment
of reflection, thought that she is *Ms. Nelson* too....well, technically at
least. "Yes, it is," she answered after a pause,"who is this?"

"My name is Nancy Simmons, the principal of your son David's school. I'm
afraid I have some rather disturbing things to discuss with you. Do you have a
few minutes?"

Again Debbie was about to say that she wasn't the *Ms. Nelson* with whom the
principal obviously wanted to speak with. But she was also very curious as to
what these disturbing things regarding her older brother were and found
herself saying,"yes, I have some time," despite knowing that it was probably
wrong to do so.

"Well Ms. Nelson, where shall I begin? I know it must be very difficult for
you, your son and your daughter after the tragic death of your husband in that
automobile accident this past summer, but I would be remiss in my duties as
your son's principal if I didn't tell you about the disturbing trends that his
teachers and I have notice in his behavior and study habits ever since he
began his senior year last month..."

There was a long pause as if the principal was searching for a tactful way of
saying what she wanted to say next. "Give it to me straight Ms. Simmons!"
Debbie said forcefully,"I think it's very important that I hear the truth
about what's happening with my bro...(she caught herself at the last
moment)...with David."

"Well Ms. Nelson, as you know I've always liked your son. He's a very
intelligent boy who used to get excellent grades, undefeated in high school
wrestling last year, and - as I'm sure your very well aware - very handsome
and well behaved...until this semester that is. This semester his schoolwork
has fallen off dramatically; it's as if he doesn't seem to care anymore. And
equally troubling is that he started hanging out with the *bad boys* and has
become something of a bully."

"The bad boys?" Debbie interrupted.

"Yes. They're a group of strong, tough athletes who like to bully the weaker
students at our school. They've intimidated the other students to such a
degree that no one will even report them to me or any of the other members of
my staff because they're afraid of getting beaten up. We have a pretty good
idea as to who they are though. Their leader is a football player named Larry
Wilson (Debbie grimaced when she heard this) but we can't really do anything
about them until someone complains; which no one has yet. I believe it's their
influence on David that's partly responsible for the change in his behavior
and, I'm afraid, if he continues along his present course your son may ruin
his chances of getting an athletic schlorship to a good university.

"Ms. Nelson, I know it's been very hard on you and your children these past
few months after the untimely death of your husband, but David's future may
very well be at stake here. I've spoken with his teachers and they all say
he's not putting in the effort that he used to. Therefore I beseech you,
please do whatever you can to steer him back in the proper direction. I know
it's been very difficult on you and your family; but please, for David's sake,
you must try." There was a long pause on the other end of the line. "Ms.
Nelson, did you hear me?"

"Yes," Debbie said as she wiped the tears away from her eyes,"I got your
message - loud and clear. First Ms. Simmons, I'd like to thank you for
informing me about these very disturbing develpoments regarding David's
behavior; and second, you have my word that I will deal with
them....immediately!"

"I certainly hope so Ms. Nelson; for David's sake. He's a good boy and has a
great deal of potential. I'll check back with you in a couple of weeks...and
good luck."

Debbie hung up the phone, deep in thought. In fact, so consumed in her
thoughts was she that the pretty blond hardly even heard the front door open
when David and the three large boys that were with him (some of the *bad boys*
no doubt) entered the house and walked upstairs to his bedroom. David, whom
Debbie had always looked up to and loved dearly, seemed to be rudderless in a
rough sea. Their father was suddenly gone and their mother was forced to hold
down two jobs so that she can both support her family and save enough to send
them both to college.

Debbie had found solace through her martial arts training, something she had
been studying ever since she was five years old (it was David who first
suggested to her that she start as a way of being able to defend herself
against the neighborhood bullies). David however sought out a new group of
friends who, it appeared, seemed to be leading him in the wrong direction.
Principal Simmons was right, her brother's future was hanging in the balance.
But with their father gone, their mother forced to work twelve hours a day and
no close family living near-by, who could the 15 year-old girl turn to in this
family emergency?

As Debbie pondered this predicament, one answer kept recurring to her - she
would have to deal with the situation herself. She, Debbie - all five feet-two
inches and 120 pounds of her - would have to take charge of her six foot, 200
pound varsity wrestling brother's unbringing and guide him safely through his
senior year in high school. The pretty ninth grader sighed as she slowly rose
from the chair. Debbie knew what had to be done and, as distasteful as it was,
she also knew that she was the only one who could do it. Reluctantly she began
to walk up the stairs. On her way to her brother's bedroom, Debbie went into
hers and got her hairbrush, then proceeded down the hall to his. "KNOCK,
KNOCK."

"Who's there?" she heard her brother ask.

"It's me...Debbie. You, your new friends and I...well, we need to have a
little *talk*." The brave girl opened the door to her brother's bedroom,
entered and locked it from the inside. Debbie stood in front of the four
large, strong boys with her hands on her hips. "David," she began in a strong,
firm voice (she was speaking to him in a tone that a mother would use with a
wayward child, not a 15 year-old girl looking up at her much bigger 17
year-old brother in front of his equally large friends), "your principal
called a few minutes ago and told me about all the bad things you've been
doing since the new semester began. With dad gone and mom having to work two
jobs, somebody's going to have to 'straighten you out'...and it looks like
that somebody is going to have to be me. So kindly send your friends home and
please start your doing your homework."

Debbie's *request* was met with laughter all around. Indeed, when you think
about it, the scene must have looked pretty bizarre. A five foot-two inch, 120
pound girl was standing in front of her big, strong athletic brother and
demanding that he send his friends home and start his homework. With her
pretty blond hair tied back into two long ponytails, Debbie looked every bit
the 15 year-old girl she was - and the fact that she was holding her hairbrush
in her right hand didn't make her look any more intimidating. Did Debbie
really expect David to comply with her request? She hoped so, but wasn't
really surprised when he didn't."I'm going to ask you nicely one more time
David," the intrepid ninth grader repeated, "please send your friends home and
start your homework...or else I'm afraid I'm going to have to get rough with
you."

The four boys continued laughing. "Oh, I'm so scared," George, the power
hitting third baseman of the high school's baseball team said.

"You'd better watch out George," Ray, the track team's shot putt and discuss
thrower giggled,"or she'll hit you with her hairbrush."

"I brought my hairbrush along for another reason," Debbie said, trying hard to
control her temper,"and if you boys will leave now, you won't have to find out
what it is."

"David, why don't you toss this little pipsqueek sister of yours out of your
room so we can get back to what we were doing?" Larry Wilson chimed in
angrily. The boys had been playing a game on David's computer and it was
Larry's turn when the young girl entered the room. The muscular, six
foot-three inch, 220 pound tight end was clearly agitated by her intrusion.

"Why don't *you* toss me out yourself tough guy?" Debbie said. Her patience
was clearly running out and, as she looked over at the boy who lived right
across the street from her, the small girl suddenly found herself getting very
angry. She put her hairbrush down on top of David's bed, stared at Larry and
added sarcastically,"if you think you can that is." The pretty blond then held
out her hands towards the strong high school football player and motioned with
her fingers for him to come forward."I'm ready whenever you are big
boy...unless, of course, you're afraid of me."

Challenged to a fight by a little girl, the large, strong leader of the *bad
boys* felt he had no choice but to accept; to do otherwise would be to lose
face in front of his friends. Larry rose from the chair and began to make his
way across the room to where Debbie was standing."Let's put an end to this
bullshit right now!" he barked out.

"My sentiments exactly," the brave girl replied in a surprisingly calm
voice,"so let's get it on big boy!"

David, George and Ray looked on with smiles on their faces as Larry approached
the much smaller girl. The muscular 17 year-old football star was not only one
of the strongest boys in their school, but also one of the toughest; he'd toss
Debbie out into the hallway and put her on her ass in no time...or would he?
"WHAM!" "POW!" "SMASH! "THUD!"

Their smug smiles suddenly turned to looks of surprise however as the pretty
little blond whurled around and slammed her right foot hard against the side
of Larry's face. Her foot moved so fast that Larry never even knew what hit
him. Debbie then sent her small, but powerful, right fist deep into his solar
plexes and followed that up with with another solid, well placed kick
underneath his jaw. The force of her foot - which can turn thick boards into
toothpicks - snapped Larry's head back and sent him sailing clear across the
room where he landed flat on his back; right in front of David and his two
stunned friends. "That's one down and three to go," Debbie giggled,"who wants
to be next?"

When they hesitated, she began to tease them. "Oh come on tough guys, surely
three big, strong boys can beat one little girl. Wait until I tell everyone in
your school tomorrow how the dreaded *bad boys* were afraid of one little girl
(because she was only 15, Debbie attended the middle school which was located
across the street from the high school her brother and his friends went to).
I'll bet they'll never be afraid of the *bad boys* again; tee, hee, hee."

After another few moments of silence the still stunned boys made no move
against her. Debbie sighed and said,"very well then, I'll take all three of
you on at the same time." With that, the second degree black belt in Kung Fu
charged forward into the three large boys. The 15 year-old girl became like a
tornado as she quickly spun around - ponytails flying - smashing her feet and
fists into the totally outclassed boys.

Ten years of intensive martial arts training had transformed the pretty
ninth-grade girl into a brutally efficient fighting machine - but only when
she had to be. She knew how and where to place her vicious blows and was
trained to move with catlike quickness. Against this female hellcat, David,
Ray and George were no match; their combined weight of nearly 600 pounds being
nothing more than targets for Debbie's lethal hands and feet.

Despite pulling her punches and kicks - especially on her brother - Debbie
easily pounded the three of them all over the room. When she saw Larry trying
to get up, she went over to him and "SMACK!" knocked him to the floor again.
"Little pipsqueek eh." Though she wasn't a cruel girl by nature, the young
martial arts wiz had to admit - to herself at least - that she was getting a
great deal of satisfaction in beating up the four large, tough, arrogant
boys."These are mean bullies who pick on other kids simply because they're
stronger," she said to herself,"and they need to be taught a good lesson; it's
just too bad that David became a part of them. Well, it won't happen again;
not while I'm around."

"WHAM!" with a hard kick to Ray's jaw, Debbie sent the strong shot putt and
discus thrower down, right next to Larry. "SOCK!" A solid punch to George's
stomach and he joined his friends on the floor. David, stunned at watching how
easily his little sister pounded three of the toughest guys in his school, had
backed himself into a corner. He was bleeding from the nose and holding his
stomach; and when his little sister started moving towards him, a look of
sheer terror came across his face. Debbie saw the look of fear in his eyes and
stopped a few feet away from him."David," she said in a soft voice, "if you
come over here right now, I won't beat you up anymore." Trembling from head to
toe, the 200 pound wrestler approached his 120 pound *supersister*. "That's a
good boy, now go lie down next to your friends." Meekly, he did as he was
told.

"Nobody says anything without my permission!" Debbie said firmly. "And anyone
who does, I'll pound again!" To emphasize her point, Debbie smacked her right
fist hard into her left palm. Pausing briefly to catch her breath, the pretty
ninth grader looked down and smiled in satisfaction at the four high school
athletes lying on their backs in front of her. Four big, strong, tough boys -
all beaten up by her. "Girlpower," she giggled to herself, then went back to
*work*.

Debbie took her hairbrush from David's bed and walked over to where the boys
were lying. "All right tough guys, I want you to all get up and face the wall.
And if any of you gives me any shit, I'm going to come to your school tomorrow
and kick the crap out of you in front of everybody; understand? And that goes
for you too David!" The humbled boys stood up and faced the wall. "Now, pull
down your pants and boxer shorts and bend over!"

When they had done so, Debbie walked over to where Larry stood. "Little
pipsqueek eh?" she said smugly,"well, perhaps you'll think differently after
this." Smiling thiumphantly, Debbie began to whack Larry's behind hard with
her wooden hairbrush while the large boy stood still; petrified of what she
might do to him if he didn't. It wasn't long before the 120 pound girl had the
tough football player crying like a baby; begging her to stop.

"Do you apologise for calling me a pipsqueek?" she asked.

"Yes," Larry cried,"yes, please stop spanking me."

"Very well then; you can go stand next to David's door. I'm not through with
you yet tough guy...(evil grin) not by a longshot." His pride completely
broken, the large, powerful athlete did as the young girl demanded. Debbie
then turned her attention to the other three boys now and, one-by-one,
proceeded to gave each a good, hard spanking; her brother she saved for last.
"I know you're going to hate me now for this David, but I hope that someday
you'll come to understand that I did it for your own good." Debbie resisted
the urge to say,"this is going to hurt me more than it'll hurt you," as being
too tacky, even though there was a measure of truth to it. She did softly
say,"I'm sorry," though; then spanked her older brother to tears.

After she was finished spanking them, Debbie lined the four large crying boys
up against the wall, facing her. Standing before them with her hands on her
hips, the small, blond supergirl began to give them a stern lecture. "O.K.
tough guys, this is how things are going to be from now on..." The ninth grade
girl then proceeded to lay down the law. The *bad boys* would be disbanded
immediately. There would be no more bullying of any kind in their school. If
she even heard of anybody bullying, she'd come over to their school and beat
the crap out of whomever it was...and give him a good spanking as well. While
George, Ray and Larry could continue to be David's friend (if they still
wanted to be that is) they had to ask her permission before coming over; least
they disturb him while he was doing his homework. And if they went out, they'd
have to tell her exactly where they were going and what time they'd be back -
no later than 11 PM on a school night or 1:30 a.m. on the weekends.

"Very well then," the tough girl concluded,"you can go now. David, I believe
you have some homework to do, don't you?" He nodded. "Well then, go into the
bathroom, get yourself cleaned up and then get started. I'll expect you to
have it completed by the time mom comes home so we can all have dinner
together." As the battered, beaten and humiliated boys turned to leave, the
pretty blond smiled up at Larry and said,"not you tough guy, there's something
else you and I need to discuss...follow me."

Debbie first escorted George and Ray downstairs to the front door where she
gave them both a cheerie "good-bye". Then, taking Larry firmly by the hand,
she led the six foot-three inch, 220 pound all-league tight end back up the
stairs to her bedroom. Once inside, she kicked the door closed behind her and
flipped Larry over her shoulder and unto her bed. Then she leaped on top of
him.

"Wha...what do you want with me Debbie?" the chastized former leader of the
*bad boys* asked as he trembeled beneath the mighty 15 year-old girl.

"You don't know?" she giggled."Larry, I've had a crush on you since I was ten
years old. And since David told me that you recently broke up with your
girlfriend that makes you available. So, tough guy, from now on this 'little
pipsqueek' is going to be your girlfriend, until I decide otherwise." When she
saw the surprised look on Larry's face after he heard her say this, Debbie
added,"unless, of course, you want to fight about it." She made a fist and
began to lightly punch Larry in the jaw."Punchy, punchy, punchy," she giggled.
By now Larry was so intimidated by Debbie that he didn't dare try to offer any
resistance; he just lay there on his back with the 15 year-old girl straddling
him."Punchy, punchy, punchy; tee, hee, hee."

After about a minute of playfully punching him, Debbie leaned over so that her
pretty face was directly above Larry's. She let her long, blond ponytails hang
down and began to slowly sway from side to side, gently stroking Larry's face
with her hair. "It's going to be nice having you for a boyfriend," she cooed,
then added in a more serious tone,"and if any of the guys on the football team
tease you about dating a girl from middle school you be sure and tell me who
they are and I'll *straighten them out* (that last statement sent shivers down
Larry's spine). Now, since I made a promise to my father when he was alive
that I wouldn't have sex before I'm sixteen, we're going to have to settle for
cuddling. But come my next birthday on January 12th, well...(smirk)."

As she sat on top of the handsome, powerful boy that she had a crush on (a
position the pretty girl had fantasized about for the past five years), Debbie
felt it was now time for a sister/brother/boyfriend talk. She called David
into her room and, while still sitting on Larry's chest, began: "O.K. guys,
here's how things are going to be...

"Larry, you're to be over here no later than 7:30 every morning. You'll brush
my hair and tell me how pretty I look. Then you, David and I will walk to
school together. In the afternoon, after your wrestling practice David, and
your football practice Larry, you boys will swing by my karate dojo so we can
all walk home together. Then the three of us will sit down do our
homework...all of it.

"David, you're my brother and I love you, and I want the best for you. Ever
since dad died and mom was forced to work two jobs there hasn't been anyone
around to offer you any guidence or discipline. I admit that I got so hung up
with my martial arts after dad's death that I wasn't the sister I should have
been. Well, all that's going to change now. Because as of this moment I'm
taking charge of your life; at least until I've decided you're mature enough
to do make the right decisions.

"Larry, as I mentioned earlier I've had a crush on you since I was ten years
old. You're devilishly handsome, extremely athletic and - though a lazy
student - very intelligent. You have, I've been told, an excellent shot at
getting a football scholarship to a major university. But you've always been
something of a bully and a troublemaker. You used to always pick on me and my
friends when we were much younger (in fact, it was Larry's bullying that
convinced Debbie to start studying martial arts in the first place; irony of
ironies) and I seriously doubt that any major university will be interested in
a troublemaker. So, as of this moment, your hellraising days are over. I'll
expect my boyfriend to be a nice, well-behaved and responsible person.

"Now, I know that you rough, tough macho boys probably won't like taking
orders from a little girl like me, but I love you both too much to let you
guys screw up. Both of you need discipline in your lives, and if it takes
*tough love* for me to get you guys into shape, then tough love it will be. Is
that clear?"

When they didn't answer her right away, the tough little girl asked again in a
much sterner tone, "IS THAT CLEAR?"

"Yes," they replied.

"Good," Debbie smiled. "And if ever you big, strong macho guys want to contest
this, I'll be more than happy to accommodate you." She bunched her hand into a
tight fist and playfully punched Larry in the nose a few more times."In fact,
I think you guys could use a little martial arts training yourselves, you were
way too easy to beat up. Now David, it's back to your homework for you... and
Larry, time for some serious cuddling..."

TWO WEEKS LATER

"RING! RING!" The pretty blond sighed as she began walking over to the
phone."RING! RING!" "Hold your horses, I'm coming." She moved slowly as she
was holding both her large boyfriend and almost equally large brother in tight
headlocks and was dragging them along with her. When she reached the phone,
she released her brother and picked up the reciever."Hello."

"Hello, is this Ms. Nelson?"

"Speaking."

"Hi, this is Nancy Simmons again, your son's principal. We spoke a couple of
weeks ago."

"Yes, I remember."

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that whatever it was that you said or did to
David, it apparently worked wonders. He's back to being his old self again;
hard working, studious and extremely well behaved."

"I'm very glad to hear that Ms. Simmons (Debbie looked over at her brother
winked), and what about those *bad boys* you mentioned?"

"It's funny you should mention that. Shortly after our conversation two weeks
ago, several of the leaders of the group came to school rather badly beaten
up; especially their leader, Larry Wilson. None of them would tell me what had
happened, but the amazing thing is they've been behaving like little angels
ever since and the rest of the group have disbanded. Strange, isn't it?"

"Err...yes, that is rather strange (pinning the phone in-between her neck and
shoulder, Debbie gently began to pat Larry on the head), but I'm certainly
glad to hear this Ms. Simmons."

"There's something I wanted to ask you Ms. Nelson. As I was driving to the
school this morning, I couldn't help but notice your son David and Larry
Wilson walking together. Skipping in-between them, holding each one by the
hand, was a rather small girl who appeared to be around 15 or so. She wore her
hair in two long blond ponytails and appeared to be giggling as she skipped
along. Would you happen to know who she was?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. That would be Debbie, David's sister and
my...daughter. She's known Larry for many years. They're quite good friends."

"She seemed like a nice girl. But what was odd about it is that she seemed to
have the two, much larger boys completely under her control."

"Is that so? And what gave you that impression Ms. Simmons?"

"Well, just before they parted, the small girl pointed to her cheeks and both
boys immediately bent over and kissed them. Understand Ms. Nelson, these are
large, tough boys and you wouldn't expect them to do that sort of thing; not
in public at least. They have this *pride* thing you know."

"Well, sometimes you never know what happens behind closed doors (giggles).
Anyway, thank you very much for updating me. It appears that the *talk* I had
with David helped. Please let me know if he should ever require another."

"Will do Ms. Nelson."

Debbie hung up the phone and grinned at the two men in her life. "Well boys,
that was your principal, Ms. Simmons. And you'll be happy to know that since
you're both doing so well in school, I won't have to beat you up again...at
least not today. So, let's get back to our little wrestling match shall we?"
As the two large boys closed in on the much smaller girl she began to giggle,"
and do try to give me a bit more competition this time; tee, hee, hee."