Act 5: Helen’s Frustration

Vince woke the next morning, sore and feeling like he’d run a marathon. As his head began to clear the guilt suddenly crept back into his mind. When he looked, Claire was lying next to him, still soundly sleeping. He’d gone twice more after her confession. Vince was sure she would also be sore and decided not to wake her. He gathered his clothes and walked out of the room, not conscious of the fact he was still stark naked. He closed the door and started toward his room when he heard her.

“Wow!” came Helen’s surprised utterance. “I didn’t know you had a pet Boa Constrictor,” she began tittering wildly after that. Not sure if he just no longer cared or if Helen’s teasing upset him, he walked straight up to her.

“Sure,” he said in an emotionless voice. “You wanna pet it?” His sudden grin made Helen shiver, visibly and she took a step back. “Good morning, Helen,” he said in a more pleasant voice. “I’ll order up some breakfast then take a shower.”

“Was she good?” Helen called after him as he walked away. “She’s been so grumpy, I always tell her she needs to get laid,” That stopped Vince cold.

“You really shouldn’t tease people about that kind of thing,” he said, calmly. “One day, someone might uncover your secrets and tease you about them,” Vince smiled at the look of horror that crossed Helen’s face and continued to his room.

Moments later he re-emerged wearing a robe and carrying a large towel and some bath products. “I Door-Dashed breakfast from Boulevard Cafe,” he said with a smile, stopping in front of Helen, who hadn’t seemed to move since his implied threat.

He looked down at her and concern crossed his face. There were tears in her eyes. He laid a hand on her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. “Runny eggs, bacon, and swajigs, still your favorite, Hell-Raiser?” then he walked toward the bathroom.

He could hear Helen start to cry out in the hall. He purposely used her nickname from when she was a baby and the fact that she couldn’t pronounce “Sausage” as an additional jab. He was already too frustrated by his guilt.

He didn’t intend to hurt Helen, but he couldn’t have her teasing Claire about getting fucked by her Brother. He also didn’t want to bear the snorts and snickers he’d get from her about doing the deed.

When Vince stepped out of the bathroom, Claire was there. She was dressed in modest clothes and looked as if she’d cleaned up as well. She had a grim look in her eyes. Vince only just saw the movement as her arm swung up to slap him.

He blocked the swing with his arm and shoved it down, grimacing at her. “What the hell did you do to Helen?!” she demanded. “Why was she sitting on the steps crying?”

Vince took Claire by the hand and pushed her into his room and closed the door. “First, you need to curb that violent streak of yours,” he said through gritted teeth. “I don’t know where you got it from, but I’m not going to put up with it!”

Claire’s face became fixed. “Oh, and what will you do if I don’t?” Vince sighed and then looked at Claire with deep regret.

“Claire, I love you, and Helen,” he placed a hand on her shoulder. “This is the second time and two days you’ve used some kind of violence against me,” He could see the growing fear on her face. She knew what he was about to say.

“If you can’t be civil. If you can’t talk about problems in an adult manner, I’ll just go back to Tokyo,” Tears immediately sprang to her eyes and she was about to start crying, but Vince laid a hand on her cheek to stop her.