It’s Okay To Kiss Me Sug - I’m Yer Uncle

      Dennis and I slept in the same room, and my cousin Sammy was assigned the living room which was on the far side of the house, the farthest from Uncle Quasimodo’s bedroom. About three in the morning, I woke to the whispering intense tones of Uncle Quasimodo and Sammy’s conversation.

      Sammy was whining fearfully, “Please Uncle, I don’t want to. Please I need to sleep.”

      He was whispering urgently, trying to keep her quiet, and I heard him saying. ‘Give me a kiss on the lips Sug!” “Come on, just a kiss on the lips fer yur uncle.”

She was doing her best to keep from crying.

      I went over to where Dennis was sleeping and I woke him.

      I put my finger to my lips and said “Shhh, come with me, I think Uncle Quasimodo trying to molest Sammy.”

      Sammy and Dennis both had told me of some of the things he had been trying to do when I was not around. He mainly tried things when Dennis wasn’t around either, but he had been growing increasingly bolder. Even though Dennis was older than me Uncle Quasimodo started to push things to bolder levels in front of Dennis. I can only surmise that Uncle Quasimodo did this because Dennis was not as husky as me. Whatever the reason, Uncle Quasimodo was more careful around me. Perhaps that is why he thought he would do the bonding thing by taking me to a cathouse and giving me beer.

      I told Dennis that we might have to be prepared to physically subdue Uncle Quasimodo. I felt my familiar enemy of fear as we rushed quietly to the living room. Once Dennis and I entered the living room I could make both of them out by the light of the moon and the very dim light of the porch. Sammy was sitting in a recliner and Dennis’s uncle was leaning into Sammy with his face brushing hers trying to kiss her on the lips. He was leaning in so far toward her that he had to support himself with his hands on the arms of the chair. Sammy was frantically moving her head left and right, back and forth.

      He kept on hissing more intensely, “Come on Sug, just a kiss.”

      I came into the room and as I tried to bury my fear and internal conflicts with regards to confronting an adult who was also a relative.

      I approached Uncle Quasimodo, “Okay uncle Quas, that’s enough, you’re scaring Sammy.”

      He certainly was scaring me! I think that my earlier imprinting to protect my siblings and woman forced me to stay the course. Also the nagging guilt of hesitating to protect my mother when my dad hit her inspired me to feel protective of my cousin Sammy.

      Uncle Quasimodo kept on insisting that it was alright for him to kiss her. Dennis was behind me, fidgeting, shifting back and forth nervously.

      Uncle Quasimodo acted like he was becoming prone to violence. He turned away from me and he went back leaning into Sammy trying to kiss her as tears were starting to stream down her face. Finally I put both of my hands on Uncle’s traps. (Muscles near his neck).

      Despite my terror and other conflicting emotions, I gripped him with firm pressure and said, “That’s enough… you’re scaring her.”

      Years later, a term that became popular would often bring me back to this incident, “No means no!!”

He kept moving his lips, trying to catch hers, like a giraffe seeking a tender stalk; I squeezed even harder, but not so hard as to encourage violence from him

      In a tremulous voice I spoke very loud, “Uncle Quas, enough, and I mean it.” 

He stood up and turned to face me. Adrenaline and fear radiated from my solar plexus. For an instant we all thought that he was going to attack me. At that moment I thought that if he had been armed with a knife he would have gutted me if he thought he could get away with it.

      However, despite his decisions making capacities being clouded by alcohol, he seemed realize that two things would happen if he kept pursuing his lust; one that I was ready to assault him if I had to, and two, he knew that the ruckus would wake up his wife. I suspected that he wanted to avoid both of those possibilities, especially the latter.

      He dropped his eyes and mumbled, “I’m sorry, I think I had too much to drink.” He mumbled again to each of us, “I’m sorry, I meant no harm.”

He tried to put his hand on Sammy’s shoulder. She whimpered in fear and cringed from his touch.

His hand fell away lamely. He shuffled off to bed. Sammy begged us to stay with her.

      I said to Dennis, “Look, I got to get some sleep.” “We can take turns staying awake to stay with Sammy in case Uncle changes his mind.”

      Sammy was crying saying, “I want both of you with me, please!”

      I tried to console Sammy, “Look, I need to sleep.” “I don’t want all of us to fall asleep.” “We will take turns.” “Tomorrow we go back to Uncle VD’s and Aunt Trudie’s place.”

      I went to the room to sleep. Despite Dennis being with Sammy, she started to wail and cry uncontrollably, barely able to gasp her breath. Finally Dennis’s aunt wakes up. She came out and saw Dennis holding Sammy. She thought that Sammy was crying because Dennis was trying to put the hit on her. She ordered Dennis to the bedroom while she tried to calm Sammy.

      The next day uncle had gotten up early to do some chores, and Dennis’s aunt was chewing him out for being bad. We all looked at each other and we were all cowards, for not telling her or any of our other relatives about what happened.