Skeeter
By Merz
Skeeter coaches Annie in family relations

Skeeter guessed the woman holding the sign at the top of the university's 
freeway entrance was about his size and age.  He was lightly built and stood 
five feet seven inches tall.  Because he wasn't very big, Skeeter had tried 
to stay in shape with regular jogging and workouts a couple times a week, 
when he found the time, but in his senior year at college finding time was 
getting harder and harder.  The woman wore a bulky letterman's jacket so he 
thought if nothing else he might be able to talk sports with her to break up 
the long drive.  While he rarely picked up hitchhikers, her sign indicated 
she was heading the same way he was so he braked beside her and unlocked the 
car door.  

Her name was Annie Tollefson.  She was heading home for the semester break 
just as Skeeter was, to a town twenty miles from where he grew up.  Sports 
never came up as they found conversation easy and entertaining.  Annie was 
studying to be a teacher and found Skeeter's major in psychology touched many 
of the areas she had concentrated on in looking for ways to interest 
adolescents in topics that were good for them rather than merely popular.  
The miles disappeared quickly as they drove through the afternoon and into 
the evening.

"I need to go home for a visit.  I haven't been in four years, and that was 
as awful as when I was growing up.  There are just some issues from childhood 
I have to deal with before I'll feel I can really move out on my own, before 
I can feel free.  Does this make any sense to you?"

"I guess so.  You've told me your parents were pretty strict and pretty 
harsh, and that your brother was a bully.  Is that what you mean?"

"It wasn't my parents, just my father.  He could be pretty violent to us kids 
and to my mom.  And . . . and I guess you'd have to say some of what he did 
to me and my mom and my little sister was abuse.  The beatings, the 
humiliation. . .  And my brother just picked up the same bullshit and was 
maybe even worse.  Anyway, that's my past and I've been in some situations 
lately where I realized I'm carrying a lot of baggage from how I was raised.  
I need to confront them so I can get free of feeling so helpless, like such a 
victim."

"If you feel so hurt by your family, wouldn't it be easier just to get on 
with your life and try to forget all that?"

"I've tried.  But whenever I run up against a tough situation or any kind of 
confrontation I feel like I need to run away and hide, to curl up and let the 
other person do whatever he or she wants.  They just run right over me 
because I'm too weak to stand up for myself.  I learned that at home, and I 
need to confront that part of me there or I'll never get past it."

"You took the basic counseling course.  How about trying some of those 
techniques on your family?  Look, I'm ahead of schedule because of splitting 
the driving with you.  And I don't have anything planned for when I get home 
except just to hang out.  Would you like me to spend the first night at your 
house, for moral support?  I could sleep on the floor or anywhere.  Really, I 
wouldn't mind."

They had split the driving into three-hour shifts throughout the day, eating 
up the miles until well after dark.  Finally they stopped at a chain motel 
and checked into a single room.  It had two large beds and they agreed they 
were adult enough that sharing a room was the natural, innocent arrangement.

"I'll use the bathroom first," Skeeter offered, "then you can take as long as 
you need.  He quickly washed up and brushed his teeth, then slid into the bed 
near the window.  Annie took her toilet kit into the bathroom and closed the 
door.  

Skeeter looked over to wish her good night when he heard the door open again.  
He nearly choked as Annie emerged wearing just a tank top and panties.  "My 
God, Annie, É..?"

"What?  What's the matter?"

"Your arms . . . and your legs.  How did you get so muscular?"  

"What?  You don't like it either?  Being strong was why I was ever good at 
any sport, and competing was the only time I felt worth anything when I lived 
at home.  I've been working really hard on track this year, and some on 
diving.  But mostly I've focused on the weights."  Annie looked down 
nervously at her thick upper arms, then crossed them in a vain attempt to 
conceal them from Skeeter's incredulous stare.

Skeeter nervously pulled his own thin arms under the covers.  "Do you do 
anything but exercise?"  He was becoming aroused seeing his passenger in a 
new light.  Just from the appearance of her bulging upper arms he concluded 
Annie was stronger than he was.  He simultaneously wanted to feel her muscles 
and have her demonstrate her strength, and to conceal how puny she made him 
feel in comparison.

Annie straightened her arms again and examined them.  "Yeah,  I've been so 
nervous about this trip that I'm in the gym for a few hours every day all 
term.  I guess building muscle is part of my compensation for how I feel 
inside.  Are they too much?"  She tensed her arms and thick biceps and 
deltoids sprang up in sharp relief.  "God, I guess I might have gotten 
carried away."

"Jesus, Annie, they're huge.  Have you measured them?  How much can you lift?  
Could I feel your arms?  Would you flex for me?"  Skeeter hopped out of bed 
before he realized his undershorts were distorted by an enormous hard-on.  
Glancing down, he crawled quickly back under the covers, hoping Annie hadn't 
noticed.  "I mean, you really seem to be in good shape.  Maybe in the morning 
you could tell me more about what you've been doing."

Annie hadn't missed seeing the effect she had had on Skeeter, but figured it 
was a natural result of his being male in a room with a young woman, no 
matter who it was.  She was careful not to comment to avoid embarrassing him.  
Trying to divert the conversation away from his arousal, which seemed the 
source of Skeeter's discomfort, Annie twisted her arms to bring the triceps 
into rippling view, then flexed her right bicep.  "Uh, no, I haven't measured 
my arms.  I've just been channeling so much nervous energy into lifting that 
I may have gone overboard since track season ended."  

Skeeter squirmed in torment as Annie placed her left hand on top of the round 
ball of her bicep.  She barely covered the peak of the muscle, leaving many 
inches of hard flesh beyond the span of her hand.  

It took Skeeter hours to drop off to sleep.  Even then he dreamt of her 
powerful physique, of the feats she could perform and the ways she might 
humiliate him with her superior strength.  When he awoke he didn't feel 
rested.  He heard Annie in the bathroom so he got up and quickly pulled on 
his jeans.  To recover a bit of self-confidence he began doing pushups in the 
cramped room.  Annie watched him cycling up and down for a few moments when 
she opened the door.  Her  presence motivated him to keep going until he had 
done fifteen.

Thinking that his arms must be nicely pumped from the exercise he stood up to 
face her, and immediately felt his ego deflate once more.  Up close Annie 
looked even more muscular than he had remembered from the previous night.  
This morning she stood before him in a singlet and running shorts, her thighs 
swelling with power to match her wide shoulders and imposing arms.

"Skeeter, I'm feeling so antsy I'd like to go for a run this morning.  I'm 
all packed, and I thought I'd just run along the freeway for a while and you 
can pick me up.  Give me maybe half an hour before you start, then you can 
pick me up beside the road and we'll grab breakfast at the first place we 
come to.  I'll wash up and change there.  Would that be okay?"  Annie began 
stretching her legs, putting the quadriceps muscles at attention, the ropes 
of strength dividing themselves under her pink skin.  Her flat-sided buttocks 
thrust against the thin nylon of her shorts and her powerful chest threw her 
modest breasts straight out, exaggerating their size.

"Uh, uh, sure.  No problem.  Thirty minutes it is.  I'll need to shower and 
get packed anyway so that will work out fine."  He didn't mention his acute 
need to spend fifteen minutes masturbating as soon as Annie took her strong, 
lovely body out of the room.

Their drive that day was largely a repeat of the first, the freeway miles 
rolling beneath the wheels for hours on end.  Annie had the wheel as sunset 
approached and they neared the end of their journey.  She exited the freeway, 
drove through some secondary highways, then pulled the car over to the 
shoulder at the top of a rise overlooking a suburban town where she got out 
to stand by the side of the road.

The sun was setting as she looked down at her home town.  "Is anything 
wrong?" Skeeter asked as he came up behind her.

"No, I'm just so nervous about being with my family again.  And about talking 
through all the old issues with them.  I have to burn off some of my nervous 
energy or I'm going to explode.  The way I feel now I couldn't remember my 
own name if my father asked.  Just give me a sec to do some push ups and we 
can finish the drive."  She dropped to the ground, her legs spread a couple 
of feet apart and began cranking off swift pushups.  

"This isn't working.  Not enough resistance." Annie stopped at the top of a 
pushup.  "Here, lie down on my back.  I need some weight to work against."  

Skeeter swallowed hard and complied, stretching himself at full length along 
the strong body suspended above the pavement.  He became acutely aware of his 
hard dick pressing against the crack of Annie's ass, and was unsure what to 
do with his hands.  She didn't wait for him, but resumed lowering herself and  
pushing back up again.  To keep from being tossed off Skeeter grabbed just 
below the powerful shoulders and felt a shock like electricity when the stone 
hardness of the muscles registered through his gripping fingers, seething and 
coiling as Annie continued her exercise.

"Okay, good enough" she commented.  Skeeter rolled off and stood upright as 
she hopped crisply back to her feet.  She avoided looking at or mentioning 
the boner she had felt through his trousers.  "Let's get this over with.  I'm 
sure I'm making way too much of this and everything will go fine."  

"Just remember what I said about not falling into any immature patterns, and 
treat your family as you would any group of people you were getting to know."  
Annie nodded and took the wheel to drive the familiar streets to her parents' 
door.

Introductions were awkward after Skeeter and Annie rolled up at her family's 
modest ranch style house.  Her mother, Lois, was noncommittally welcoming and 
asked  no questions.  She told Annie that her husband, Harold, had gone to a 
lodge meeting after dinner and would be back late that evening.  When she 
left the room. a slim, teenaged version of Annie came forward from a bedroom 
and exchanged a long hug with Annie and introduced herself to Skeeter as 
Jennie.  She was a pretty girl, promising to bloom into a  real beauty in the 
next year or two.  She and Skeeter had just begun exchanging small talk to 
get acquainted when a shadow filled the doorway.  Jennie took one look and 
quickly fled back to her room.

Annie's brother Jason turned out to be even larger than Annie had described, 
well over six feet tall and looking to weigh about two hundred and forty 
pounds or more.  He gave Skeeter one dismissive glance, then sneeringly 
remarked to Annie, "I hope you're learning something more at that school than 
how to get into bed with the first guy who comes along.  You weren't very 
particular in high school and it doesn't look like that's changed.  If I'd 
had my chance to go to college I'd have found something to bring home worth 
showing off ."
 
"Your chance to go to college?"  Annie turned bright red from embarrassment 
and anger as her brother launched insults at both her and Skeeter.  "Jason, 
you hated high school.  You only got a diploma by going to summer school, and 
you barely managed it then.  Have you read even one book since high school?"  
She planted herself in front of her taller sibling and met his glare.

"You mean one entire book, or that many pages?  I read all the time," the big 
youth replied, his face starting to turn red.

"You read the TV schedule."  She glanced at Skeeter and remembered his advice 
to maintain an adult tone in dealing with her family.  "I take that back, it 
was out of line.  Look, I refuse to get into an argument.  I'd be happy if 
you wanted to get more education, but nobody sent me to college.  I'm making 
my own way through by earning scholarships, and borrowing a lot of money.  
You can't blame me for the sort of job and life you're choosing."  Annie was 
managing her temper than her brother seemed to be doing.

"I'm a security guard, an important link in the chain of law enforcement.  I 
expect the county sheriff or the state cops will pick me up any day.  If they 
can get around all the affirmative action crap that's ruining every 
department and letting crooks run wild."

"Maybe if you took some classes you could qualify to apply for a real police 
job, but you know you're too much of a bigot to get hired anywhere."

Skeeter took this opportunity to play the diplomat.  "Annie, don't you think 
it would be better to stick with describing behaviors rather than calling 
names?"

Before Jason could think of a reply to Annie's last comment, she turned her 
back on him.  "You're right.  I apologize for saying that.  I don't want to 
start my visit like this.  Skeeter and I are going downstairs to the family 
room."  She led Skeeter down a stairway to the finished basement.

They turned on the news channel as a way to avoid discussing Skeeter's first 
impressions of Annie's family.  Annie's mother came down and silently joined 
them on the couch.  Five minutes later, however, Jason clattered down the 
stairs.

"Time for wrestling!" the beefy fellow announced as he sprawled in the 
recliner and snatched up the remote control. He flicked two buttons and 
grinned broadly as a raucous crowd scene filled the screen.  "In the main 
event Triple H will be taking on the Russian.  NO contest."

"Jason, you can't just come in here and change the channel when we're all 
watching something else!  And this is so dumb and fake, anyway.  Switch it 
back!"  Skeeter was surprised at how whiney Annie's voice sounded as she 
protested.  "We have company and you should show a few manners."

"So you brought some geek home with you.  What's it to me?  And dad won't let 
you get any under his roof.  The geek sleeps here on the couch, after I've 
watched my wrestling."

Annie jumped to her feet.  "This is just why I hate coming here.  Give me the 
remote."  She reached, but Jason snatched the channel changer out of range 
and grabbed Annie's wrist.  He stood up from the recliner and pointed at the 
television set.  "Look, Tito has the Mexican in an arm bar."  Imitating the 
action that had started on the tube Jason twisted Annie's arm painfully, then 
brought his elbow sharply down on it.

"Ow!  That really hurt.  Stop it Jason, you're acting like an ape in front of 
my friend."  Skeeter was embarrassed for Annie, seeing her brother carrying 
on in such a rude and juvenile manner.  And he was amazed that Annie's mother 
just averted her eyes so she wouldn't see the torment her son was inflicting 
on her daughter.

"Come on, Annie," he offered, rising and approaching the siblings.  "Let's 
take a walk.  Perhaps you and Jason can discuss this more calmly later."

Jason shoved Annie roughly down and turned his attention to Skeeter.  "Yeah, 
listen to the geek.  He'll show you how to run away from a real man, just 
like the Mexican is running from Tito."  No detail of the professional 
wrestling match had gotten past Jason despite his assault on Annie.  


As Skeeter glanced at the screen Jason seized him roughly in a sleeper hold.  
Skeeter struggled as he felt the arms tighten around his neck and began to 
see dark spots within seconds.

"See, this hold isn't a fake.  They taught it to us in security guard 
training," Jason giggled behind the fading Skeeter.  Annie gathered herself 
together and tried to rescue her friend.  As soon as she was in range Jason 
dropped the groggy young man and grabbed Annie right between her legs, 
squeezing the tender region in his big hand.  

Annie screamed at the pain inflicted on her womanhood and stood helplessly 
pleading with Jason to let her go.   Skeeter was slowly recovering as the 
blood returned to his brain following the sleeper hold.  He was unable to 
offer any assistance.

With a final squeeze Jason again pushed Annie from him and placed one of his 
large tennis shoes on Skeeter's chest.  "It's like this, sis.  I'm champion 
of the world around here.  If you don't want to see the geek get squashed 
you'll get out of the house like he suggested.  Get it?"

Annie looked at Skeeter lying flat beneath her brother's foot and meekly 
agreed.  "All right, we're going.  Now get off him.  I hate you, and I hate 
myself because I get trapped playing your stupid games."  She helped Skeeter 
to his feet and led the way from the family room and into the darkness 
outside.

"You don't happen to have a baseball bat, do you?  I'd like to take a few 
practice swings on your brother's head.  He's way over the top, and ought to 
learn he's in danger of being arrested if he puts his hands on me again."  
Skeeter was still feeling whoozy and weak after Jason's assault on him.

"Now you see what my home life has been as long as I can remember.  My father 
comes home grumpy and yells at my mother and the kids, and sometimes slaps us 
around.  And sometimes it got worse.  And Jason bullies me and my sister.  
Like you said, if he did any of that outside the house he'd be arrested for 
it.  And on my first day back I feel like I'm getting sucked into the same 
old patterns.  Even a psych major like you can't reason do anything with 
him."  

"If he won't discuss things like an adult, why don't you do something about 
it?  You aren't a kid anymore, and you know you can call for help from the 
police or social services.  He's bigger than you are, but I know you're in 
much better shape than he is if you decided to fight back."  

"Oh, Skeeter, Jason's so big I couldn't fight him.  I saw what he did to you, 
and you're a man like he is."  Annie was getting more depressed as they 
talked about the situation, while Skeeter felt himself becoming more and more 
angry, especially with this reminder that Jason had dominated him in front of 
Annie.

"Like I said, if he touches me again I'll either call the police and have him 
arrested or I'll hit him with the first weapon I get my hands on."  Skeeter 
felt guilty about setting aside all the counseling techniques he had studied, 
but was still angry and embarrassed.  "Are you willing to fight back, or do 
you want this to continue?"  On a sudden impulse Skeeter reached his arm 
across Annie's broad shoulders.  He was thrilled to feel how solid her upper 
body was, and couldn't believe his fortune when she leaned against him.

"Of course I want to stop it.  Could you show me what to do?"

"I'm no expert, but I can show you some basic things.  Do you know how to 
throw a punch?"  Skeeter let his hand drift down to her upper arm, its 
thickness causing only the slightest bend in his fingers as he tried to 
encompass as much as he could.

For the next hour Skeeter demonstrated and coached Annie in some basics of 
fighting.  He felt like a fraud because he sounded much more experienced and 
knowledgeable than he actually was, but despite her great strength Annie had 
never had any interest or training in fighting.  It was all new to her, but 
Skeeter was forced to raise his estimate of her strength whenever he touched 
her to correct her posture and to improve her guard.  In twenty minutes his 
estimate of her weight had increased by as many pounds, and everywhere he 
touched he found muscle as hard as granite.  He felt a twinge of conscience 
that he was finding so many opportunities to touch that magnificent body by 
way of instruction, but it was a very small twinge.

"Oh thanks, Skeeter.  Maybe he'll listen to reason, but at least I'm not 
helpless.  We better get back before they start worrying."  Skeeter nearly 
melted to the ground when Annie caught him in a warm hug, and yelped when he 
felt his ribs compress, but he returned the embrace as tightly as he was 
able.

Back at the house they learned Annie's father had come home and retreated to 
watch television in his bedroom.  He wouldn't emerge again that night.  Annie 
shared her sister's room and Skeeter accepted a place on the couch as Jason 
had foreseen.  For him it was another night of little sleep.

*	*	*	

The friends spent the next day visiting places in Annie's hometown.  Skeeter 
decided this wasn't so much because any place held an attraction, but because 
it was more comfortable not to be in the Tollefson house.  Annie confirmed 
this when he asked her directly.  She studied Skeeter for a moment, squared 
her shoulders, and took them back home.  They spent the rest of the afternoon 
drawing Lois into conversation almost against her will, and talking with 
Jennie about what college was like.  The younger girl clearly had ambitions 
for her own education and was working hard for good grades and at a part time 
job so she could save some money. Skeeter decided he would accept Annie's 
request to spend one more night with her family, and called his own parents 
to let them know he had been delayed.  He didn't mention how close to home he 
was calling from, but said he thought he could arrive the next day.

The evening meal was painfully awkward for Skeeter.  His attempts to make 
conversation with either of the Tollefson men were met with monosyllables or 
sometimes with ridicule from Jason.  After helping Lois to clean up they 
decided to again watch television for a couple of hours.

"But you watched wrestling last night!"  Annie protested. 

"Welcome to the twenty-first century.  Thanks to satellite TV I get to watch 
wrestling every night."  

Annie glanced at Skeeter and tried a different approach.  "We need to make 
some adult arrangements about sharing the television time."

"No sharing to it.  I live here and you don't so I make the rules, and the 
rules say we watch wrestling.  With you here, I even get to practice it."  
Jason abruptly stood up and made a grab for Annie's crotch.  This time she 
was ready and turned her hips out of his reach, and at the same time 
administered a sharp slap to his face.  Skeeter saw a distinct red hand print 
on Jason's cheek before the rest of his face flushed the same bright color.

"That's the last time, Jason.  Don't ever even think of touching me or any 
other woman there again."  Annie's voice was cold and even as she stared 
daggers into her brother.  Her fists were clenched at her sides and she stood 
balanced on the balls of her feet in front of her larger brother.

Jason gave a roar of anger and reached one hand toward Annie while cocking 
his other fist back for a crushing blow.  This was exactly what Annie was 
waiting for.  Her own fist flashed out, connecting solidly with the side of 
Jason's face before he could begin his clumsy swing.  The force of the blow 
whipped his head around.  Pow!  Annie slammed a fist into the other side of 
Jason's face, staggering him.  Following up she smashed him in the rib cage 
and he went down onto one knee with an audible grunt of pain..

"Children!

Annie stepped in front of Jason and fired two stinging fists into his nose.  
She was sickened and at the same time jubilant to see blood begin trickling 
down.  "We aren't children, Mother.  Some of us are victims of assault and 
are defending ourselves against an attacker.  Do you understand, Jason?  You 
aren't playing a game, you've been committing a crime."  Jason started to 
charge up and forward into Annie but was halted by two more fast, hard 
punches to his face below his eyes.

Annie stepped back and quickly peeled off her warm-up jacket.  She was ready 
again before Jason's head had cleared enough for him to think about launching 
another attack.  He shook his head and drew himself to his full height so he 
towered above his sister.

"Watch him!  Get inside if he comes at you, like we talked about."  Skeeter 
offered coaching and encouragement as he moved to stand next to Jennie and 
Lois Tollefson.  He was thrilled as well as terrified by the violence 
unfolding.  

His own fists were clenched as Jason lurched forward, and he instinctively 
pulled back in defense.  Annie, however, stood her ground and followed 
Skeeter's advice to dart in under her brother's groping arms and slam blows 
into his soft midsection.  He grunted from the impact but was able to wrap up 
her arms and push her backward, trying to throw her to the ground.  Skeeter 
started forward to help, but Annie proved more capable than even he had 
expected.   With a sharp twist she loosened the imprisoning grasp, freed her 
left arm and managed to bring it up and over Jason's, then caught his wrist 
and managed to twist it sharply before he could react. 

"I give!  I give!"  Skeeter felt like cheering as he heard the pleading note 
in Jason's cries of pain when Annie forced him to the floor with a well 
applied hammer lock.  "Just let me go or you'll really get it!"  Somehow, 
Skeeter thought, the big lug still didn't grasp the situation.  He was in no 
position to make threats.

Annie clearly agreed, as she tightened her grip on Jason's arm and added to 
the pressure.  "No, Jason, you're the one who will really get it.  If you 
ever try touching me or any woman there again, I promise I will break your 
arm."  Her voice was steady but seemed to boil with emotion.  "Now ask me 
nicely to let you leave the room so we can go back to watching television."

Jason hesitated only a moment.  "Please.  Let me go.  I'm sorry."  He could 
barely choke out the words and left the room quickly, wiping at the blood 
dribbling from his nose, when Annie released him.  Skeeter was disappointed 
that he didn't get to deliver a couple of profound thoughts to help Jason 
derive the proper lesson from the confrontation.

"Mom!  Look at her muscles!  How cool!"  Apparently Jennie and her mother had 
not seen Annie's powerful body in a t-shirt since she had built up her body.  
Annie glanced down as she brought her breathing back under control and nodded 
her appreciation at what her powerful arms and shoulders had allowed her to 
accomplish.

"I suppose we should all sit back down," Lois Tollefson suggested. "I'll look 
in on Jason later."  While he wanted to give Annie a hug of congratulations, 
Skeeter followed her lead when she sat down and switched the TV back to the 
public broadcasting program they had begun watching only a few eventful 
minutes ago.  He sat next to Annie on the couch and was thrilled when she 
took his hand in hers and gave it a quick squeeze.  Feeling bold, he waited a 
few minutes and then slipped his arm around her shoulders and was thrilled 
when she moved more closely against him.

Mr. Tollefson slowly descended the stairs to the family room a little later 
and silently surveyed the scene.  He stared coldly until Annie shifted and 
Skeeter removed his arm from around her.  Shaking his head  he returned to 
the upper part of the house when Annie and Skeeter continued to hold hands.  
Only when the local news ended and she rose to go read in her room did 
Skeeter reluctantly let go.

Breakfast the next morning began with the same awkward silence Skeeter was 
learning to expect.  Mr. Tollefson held the newspaper between himself and the 
other four people who sat at the table.  Thinking neither of them could 
maintain their sanity much longer in this household, Skeeter started 
discussing his plan to drive to his own house that day and was about to 
invite Annie to come as his guest when Jason shuffled into the room and sank 
into a chair.

"Wow!  Look what she did!"  If Jennie had not called attention to the 
bruises, Mr. Tollefson might not have looked over his paper to notice the 
battering his son had received.

Jason was clearly embarrassed by his black eye, swollen lip and other 
bruises.  He glared at his younger sister but wouldn't even look in the 
direction of Annie or Skeeter.  Jennie swallowed her final bite of toast and 
quickly rose to leave as he slumped into the chair next to her.

"What in the world happened, son?  I'll bet the other guy looks a lot worse," 
Mr. Tollefson spoke two sentences together for the first time since Skeeter's 
arrival.

"Other guy, hah!" Jennie chirped.  "Annie taught him a good lesson he won't 
forget."

With a snarl of anger Jason made his favorite move, grabbing Jennie's crotch 
and squeezing painfully at the same moment Mr. Tollefson slammed his paper on 
the table and jumped up to glower down at Annie.  "Did you dare attack your 
own family!" he roared at her.

Tears of pain were beginning to run down Jennie's cheeks as Jason stood up 
and seemed about to hit her.  As Harold Tollefson reached to grab Annie, 
Skeeter suddenly found himself at the eye of a hurricane.  Annie exploded 
from her chair just as Mr. Tollefson reached her.  She delivered a smashing 
kick to the arm Jason held Jennie with, but then she was spun around to face 
her father.  As he was about to deliver a hard slap, Lois Tollefson stepped 
in front of him, cocked back her bony fist and smashed it into his chin.  The 
middle-aged man sat down hard, stunned by the blow and by the thought that 
his wife had been the one to deliver it.  In the same instant Jason released 
Jennie and clutched his arm against his chest.  Jennie stepped up and kicked 
him squarely in the balls, causing him to slowly crumple down next to his 
father.

"I think this would be a good time for me to leave and let all of you digest 
this moment," Skeeter offered quietly, before any of the shocked combatants 
had a chance to move or speak.  "If you would like my observations, it seems 
the people who started the violence here are the ones who got hurt.  I think 
this family needs some professional counseling before the men of the house 
find themselves having to find other living quarters.  Mr. Tollefson, Jason, 
it seems the women here have discovered alternatives to simply accepting 
abuse."  He stood and started to leave.

"Oh, Skeeter," Annie exclaimed as she gave him a crushing hug.  "I can't go 
another day without fucking you.  Mom, would it be all right if we went to my 
room while you talk about all this with Dad and Jason?  Maybe on the way to 
get Jason's arm x-rayed?  I think they might be in the mood to listen for the 
first time.  And it looked like you know what to do if they aren't!"

The rest of Skeeter's vacation was quite pleasant from then on.