Elaine

My brother Richard was born in 1950 and I in '55. We didn't play together as kids and we didn't share the same friends. I was never known as Dave, I was 'Richard Jr'. We both resembled each other, although there was nothing special about us. As we were growing up, he was taller than me, smarter than I was, more athletic and charismatic. The teachers in school used to compare me to him all the time and I always found myself on the short end of the stick. I never hated him for it. He was just being Richard.

One thing that I envied him about was his ability to always have a girlfriend or two or three. They were all great looking and they all had huge breasts.

I, on the other hand, couldn't find a date with any girl. I even went to the prom alone.

I just didn't have Richard's charm.

By the time I was graduating high school, Richard had finished college and was actively seeking a teaching position. He majored in French and History and landed a position in our old school district and thus able to get his own apartment. No sooner did he move in, he managed to find a live-in girlfriend. He invited me over one evening to celebrate his new job and to meet his new girl.

Her name was Elaine. She was about 5' 5" tall, brown shoulder length hair, brown eyes, a little on the chunky side and had tremendous breasts. Although she matched the overall criteria that Richard used to pick his girls, there was something a bit off about Elaine. When I spoke to her, she chuckled a lot but didn't really answer any of my questions. Sometimes Richard answered them for her.

I thought she might be deaf, but at one point she jumped at the sound of Richard dropping a pot in the kitchen. When she finally did speak, she sounded a bit childish. When I got up to get a soda, I noticed a shopping list stuck to the refrigerator door. It was obviously in her handwriting since I had seen my brother's all my life. It looked like a grade school kid wrote it. It finally dawned on me that Elaine might be slow.

When I went back into the living room I decided to find out. I waited for Richard to go to the bathroom and I hit her with a bunch of questions all at once. She managed to answer them all, but took an unusually long time to do so. She had to think about every answer. It was like taking an hour and a half to watch '60 minutes'. Elaine wasn't stupid, just slow.

When she used the bathroom, I asked Richard about her. He confirmed that she was a bit slow, but he just couldn't resist her in the sack. As long as she was putting out, she could stay with him.

I listened to him in disbelief. As long as she put out? He was able to date anyone he wanted. They all flocked to him. He was now narrowing it down to who put out the most? I still couldn't find any real relationship with girls. I'd managed to date some but most were a one-date wonder, meaning they were wondering why they bothered to date me at all. As the evening ended, I wished them luck and Elaine gave me a hug as I left. As I drove home, my thoughts went to Elaine. I knew that sooner or later she was going to get tossed out when Richard got tired of her, and someone new that 'put-out' came along. I felt sorry for her not being able to see it coming.

* * *

Three colleges I sent applications to turned me down. I had a choice. I could apply again to other schools and work till I was accepted at one, or start the following fall in the community college. Unlike Richard, my chosen career path was Business Management. I'd worked in a supermarket since I turned 16 and had advanced about as far as I could without a degree. I decided to work and wait for acceptance at a better school. In the mean time, I was making good money without anything to spend it on. I pretty much saved every dime I had made to that point and had a little over $5,000 in the bank (a huge sum for an 18 year old kid in '73). When the next five schools turned me down, I decided to get an apartment myself. I wound up getting an apartment in the same building as Richard. Not that it was planned, it just happened that way.

Over the fall, we got together and watched the Eagles lose every Sunday and Elaine would be there, laughing at all the wrong things and still managing to be as sweet as could be.

On Christmas Eve, they invited me over for dinner, so I went after finishing work and a fast change in my own apartment. When I arrived, I noticed that the mood had changed and Elaine was not her usual self. As the evening progressed, I could tell that it was the beginning of the end for her. Richard never talked to her directly, and she never sat near him. In fact, she spent more time fussing over me than him. At one point the phone rang and Richard answered it in the kitchen. I could hear him say "hey, baby" and "love you, too". I looked at Elaine and could tell she had heard it as well.

"Time to leave!" I said as I hopped up and headed out. "Merry Christmas!" I said as I closed the door.

* * *

Around one in the morning, I had a knock at my door. I never had any visitors so I assumed it was someone knocking on the wrong door.

The person was persistent.

After they knocked six different times, I finally got up, put on a robe and answered the door. There stood Elaine with blood coming out of her mouth, a swelling eye and what appeared to be a broken nose. She had no coat on and was still in the same clothes I saw her in earlier in the evening. In her hand was a piece of paper with my apartment number, written in her own choppy writing.

"Oh my God, Elaine!" I said in shock.

"Can I come in?" she asked, shaking.

I put my arm around her and walked her over to my sofa and had her sit. I went to the closet and got a spare blanket and wrapped her in it. She looked awful! I knew my brother had a temper. I found that out the hard way growing up with him. I knew he even slugged our Dad once, but I never dreamed he was capable of doing this.

"Do you want me to take you to the hospital? It's five minutes down the road." I asked, very concerned.

She shook her head.

"What happened?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"He hit me."

"I know that, Elaine. Why did he hit you?"

A moment went by and then she replied, "After you left, I asked him who was on the phone. He wouldn't tell me. Then he left for a while. When he came back, he had a..." she pointed to her neck.

"A hickey?" I asked.

She nodded her head. "I asked him who he went to see. He called me a fucking moron and told me to shut up. When I asked him again, he told me to get out. I told him I had nowhere to go and he hit me and hit me until I left."

'Merry Christmas', I thought to myself.

"Look, Elaine, I think I should take you to the hospital. Your nose looks broken."

Again, she shook her head and pulled the blanket tighter around her.

"Okay. Let me at least clean the wounds a bit."

She nodded her head and I got the first aid kit and an ice bag.

She held the bag over her eye, as I looked at her other wounds. She was turning purple all over her face as I examined her busted lip. He had hit her so hard, that one of her teeth had almost gone right through. After cleaning up the blood I turned my attention to her nose. I squeezed the bridge of it and she didn't react. When I touched lower she flinched. She had a simple busted nose, nothing serious. It was swelling, but it was still strait. I gave her some aspirin and asked if she wanted to go to sleep. She nodded and I took her to my bed. I tried to sleep on the couch, but the anger i felt toward my brother prevented that from happening.

* * *

Late Christmas Morning I checked on her and she was still asleep. I didn't have any decorations up because I didn't actually expect company. Now I wished I would have at least gotten a small tree.

I made some coffee and soon she was sitting at the kitchen table, looking even worse than a few hours ago. Her eye was now swollen shut and turning into a massive shiner and the right side of her face was fully bruised. She kept shifting a bit in her seat and I asked her why. She pulled open her shirt at the shoulder and showed me a bruise that went from her neck all the way down to her upper arm. Then she stood and turned her back to me and lifted her shirt up to reveal several bruises on her lower back.

I felt sick to my stomach.

After she drank her coffee I asked her if she was hungry. She nodded and I started breakfast. While I was cooking, I decided to ask a few questions.

"Elaine, where do your parents live?"

"They're dead."

"Any aunts or uncles?"

She slowly shook her head.

"How about brothers or sisters?"

She kept shaking her head.

"Where did you live before you lived with Richard?"

"I stayed with other people like me at a state school."

I wasn't getting anywhere, so I changed my line of questioning, as I continued cooking.

"How did you meet Richard?"

"At school."

"You were in college?" I asked, not believing.

"No, I was one of his students at the school he teaches at."

Now I really was confused. Richard is 23, and I doubt he would risk his new teaching job having one of the students live with him. Besides, there way no way Elaine was in high school.

Is there anyone I could call for you?

Again she shook her head.

After breakfast, I had her go and try to clean herself up a bit. I called my brother.

"What's the matter with you, Richard?" I hissed into the phone.

"What's wrong?" he asked, as I heard someone else giggling in the background.

"Why did you beat the crap out of Elaine?"

"Did she tell you?"

"She didn't have to. She's here now. If that were anyone else, you'd be in jail right now."

"Maybe," he said, simply not giving a shit.

"Okay, I need to know who I can contact for her," trying to remember this is my brother I was talking to.

"Sorry, guy. There isn't anyone," he answered, as the giggling continued in the background.

"How did you meet her?" I asked, becoming frustrated.

"She was a student at the school I teach at."

I was more confused than ever. "You had an underage girl move in with you?"

"What do you think, I'm stupid? Elaine's 20. She's an orphan and has been raised by the state since she was 10. As you can tell, she isn't the smartest kid on the block. She was in a car accident and her parents and siblings were killed. She had some serious injuries but managed to survive. These worst injuries were to her pelvic region and her head. She can't have any kids because of those injuries."

"She also lost some brain function. She's still got an average IQ, but barely. It just takes longer for her to put two and two together."

"When she turned 18, the state told her she could stay with them in their facility as long as she still tried to get through high school. She was still in the 9th grade. The first day of school I met her in one of my social study classes. It was lust at first sight for me. I talked her into quitting school and moving in with me."

"Is there anyway to get her back with the state and back in school?" I asked hopefully.

"Sorry, guy. That was a one-way ticket. She's your problem now," he said with a chuckle.

Still desperately clutching to the fact that this was my brother, I simply asked, "When can she pick up her things?"

"I'll have them ready by noon and I'm home all day," came the reply with the giggling getting louder.

"Fine," I said, and hung up.

Elaine came out of the bathroom looking a little brighter and we sat and watched TV till the early afternoon.

* * *

Around two o'clock I knocked on my brother's door. He answered in his bathrobe.

"Oh, hi! Come on in."

I walked in and there sat a girl I never saw before.

"Brenda, This is my brother Dave."

I nodded to her and asked where the stuff was.

He showed me a large box in the hall. That was all there was. I picked it up and headed back to the living room. I turned and stood by the hall leading to the door and said, "If you come across anything else, let me know."

I noticed that Brenda wasn't looking at me, but past me. I turned and saw that Elaine had entered the apartment. Richard ignored her. Brenda had the look of a deer caught in the headlights. I motioned to Elaine to go and we left, leaving them to close the door.

We no sooner got back to my apartment, when the phone rang.

"Thanks a lot, asshole," Richard said. "You and moron just scared off a great piece of ass."

"There'll be more, I'm sure," I said, and hung up.

I looked at Elaine, who was sitting on the couch going through her things, wondering what I was going to do with her.

"Elaine, I guess you can stay here until we figure out what's best for you."

She looked up at me and nodded. "Thank you," she said.

* * *

The next day, I called the SSI office to see if Elaine had any benefits that she could qualify for. I made enough money to live on and to put some aside for college, but there was no way I could support us both. Besides, she needed funds to look after herself. They told me that she was already getting benefits and they were being sent to my brother's address.

This was news to Elaine. I guess he was cashing her checks and keeping it. We drove to SSI and had them change the address. It was only $120.00 a month, but it was something. Her January '74 check would come to my apartment.

* * *

New Year's Eve, Elaine was looking and acting better. While I was working, she was doing the cleaning and cooking for me. It was a nice trade off. I got a couple of magnums of champagne, (it was legal in '74 for 18 year olds) and some snacks for the evening. I had a surprise for her as well. I had gotten her a job at my supermarket as a bagger and sweeper. She could start as soon as she felt well enough and could work the same hours as I did so she would have a ride. I waited to tell her the news.

We watched the ball drop and I opened the first bottle of champagne. We sat on the couch drinking and watching Carson, When the first bottle was empty, I popped the second one and poured us each another glass.

"I'm going to get drunk," said Elaine, already a little tipsy.

"Go ahead. You've got something to celebrate," I said, sipping my drink.

After a moment, she said, "What am I celebrating?"

I told her about the job. She blinked a few times and asked if I was joking. I made it clear that I wasn't. She grabbed me and gave me a bear hug, mashing her huge breasts into my chest.

She let me go and said, "I don't believe it. No one has ever hired me before. Oh, thank you," she said as I got crushed again.

She downed her drink, poured another and downed that one as well.

"Whoa!" I said. "I don't want to be cleaning up puke."

"Don't worry," she said, "I don't get sick."

For the next hour or so, she would be watching TV, start jumping up and down and repeating, "I don't believe it, I don't believe it," and mashing those monsters on me.

I guess I really made her day.

* * *

Elaine started work two weeks later. Most of the bruising had faded and she did an excellent job after convincing her that bread and eggs should go on top of the bag, not the bottom. A few times that day, I noticed some men getting close to her and trying to 'accidentally' get a cheap feel of her boobs. One guy was so bold, that he literally reached out with both hands and fondled them. Elaine just kept bagging. I walked over and strong-armed the guy out the door telling him to stay out.

That evening, over dinner, I asked Elaine about the incidents and why she never protested.

"You told me the customer is always right, no matter what, and never argue with them. I don't want to lose my first job already."

"Yeah, but Elaine, they can't do that to you. Sometimes the customer is wrong and you have to say something."

"But the customer is always right."

"Okay, look at it this way. If anyone does that to you again, they are no longer a customer, and they are wrong. If it happens again, I want you to scream as loud as you can. No one can do that to you without your permission."

She sat there chewing her food and thought for a while. Finally she said, "I like my boobs rubbed."

That was unsolicited. Welcome, but unsolicited.

"Don't let it happen at work," I responded quickly.

"Okay," she said, as she picked up her plate and cleared the dinner table.

After dinner we went to the movies and saw "Blazing Saddles". When the campfire scene came on, I thought Elaine was going to wet herself laughing. It was good to finally see her laugh again.

When we got back to my apartment, she said that that was the most fun she had in a while, and gave me another bear hug. I turned on the TV and flopped down on the sofa. She did the same, causing her breasts to bounce several times.

Damn they were big.

There were a few questions on my mind that I wanted answers to, so I started a conversation with her and then steered her to the questions.

"Was Richard the first guy you slept with?"

If she had a problem with that question, she didn't show it.

"Nope," she said, half watching the tube.

"You slept with someone before?"

"Yep," she said, full of information.

"Who was that?"

"Some kid at the state home," she replied.

"Was that kid the first guy you slept with?"

"Yep."

I decided to change the direction of my questioning. I waited for a commercial to come on and then started again.

"You do remember what to do if some man touches you again at work?"

"Scream," she replied. "But I do like my boobs rubbed."

That was the second time she said that today. I wasn't sure if she was stating a fact, or was trying to tell me something.

When the show was over, she gave me a bear hug and said, "Good night."

I guess she was stating a fact.

* * *

Two days later, I was in the stock room at work when I heard someone screaming. After a moment of confusion, I realized that that had to be Elaine. I ran up to the check out lines and found three men holding the same guy from the other day. Elaine was still hollering. I took her by the arm and led her away, telling her she could stop screaming. The police came and took the guy away. The manager came over to us and apologized for the incident and asked if Elaine wanted to go home for the rest of the day. She said yes, and he told me to take her home.

On the drive home, Elaine said nothing. I asked if she wanted to talk about it and she said yes, but when we got back to the apartment.

After letting her in, I went to the kitchen to get her a soda. I sat down next to her on the couch and asked her again what had happened.

"The same guy was in line. When I handed him his bag, he went like this," and she grabbed my hands, mashed them into her breasts and moved them all over.

"I remembered what you said and screamed," she said, still holding my hands on her boobs. I tried to pull them off, but she held them there.

I finally managed to free myself. She got up and started to pace around the room.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," she said, still pacing. "You like me, don't you?"

"Sure," I said, starting to figure out where this was going.

"That man grabbing my boobs," she said, waving her hands in the air, "It makes me want to have them rubbed," she said now pacing faster. "You like me but don't want to rub them. Am I too stupid for you to like me?"

That hurt, because even though she was slow, I never treated her that way. Rather than starting a debate, I tried to calm her down. I stood and the next time she passed me while pacing I stopped her and faced her, holding her by the arms. Her eyes were tearing from frustration.

"Elaine, I'm not going to take advantage of you like my brother did. All he wanted you for was for sex. You're better than that."

"What do you want me for?" she asked, rather nasty.