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of sex went far beyond her fourteen years. She envied Rhonda for having a mother who cared enough about her daughter to teach her things she needed to know. Even if the “things” involved methods of having protected sex.
    On Sunday night, Alessa was lying in bed trying to sleep, when she heard Uncle Danny creep into her bedroom. This man, she thought, was someone she had adored before he began abusing her seven years ago. Now he was the most despicable creature in the world, where she was concerned. He slipped under her covers and began undressing her with his large, rough hands. As he licked at her breasts, which were small for a fourteen-year-old’s, the sweat from his forehead dripped onto her chest, making her skin crawl. The unpleasant sensation paled in comparison, however, to the feeling of rug burn that her young skin suffered as his fat belly rubbed against it when he climbed on top of her and began thrusting his penis inside her. She stared up at the ceiling, mentally trying to escape this hell, until he collapsed on her like a dead whale. Everything about him repulsed her—his look, his smell, his touch. Just the fact that he breathed at all enraged her.
    “You know,” Alessa ventured, “I think we need to stop this. I could get pregnant. How would I explain that to Mom?”
    Uncle Danny sat up on the edge of the small bed. “You will never need to explain anything, because I’m sterile. So if you ever get pregnant, it certainly won’t be by me. You think I’m stupid or something? I know what you’re trying to do. You’re looking for a reason to break this thing off. Well, listen good: you will always belong to me, until you move out of here or I die, whichever comes first. If you tell your mother about us, she will never believe you anyway. I’m her brother. She will always believe me over you. And if you try any tricks, I will deny everything. Don’t start any shit with me. I have been good to you all your life. I have bought you things and paid for stuff you needed. If it weren’t for me, your mom and dad would have lost this house. You’re an ungrateful little bitch!”
    With that, he rose to his big cinderblock feet and thumped out of the bedroom. Alessa lay there and thought to herself: what the hell does “sterile” mean? She would ask Rhonda at school.
    “Hey Rhonda,” she called out, when she saw her friend the next morning.
    “Hey Alessa, what’s going on?”
    “Nothing’s going on. Just another stupid Monday. I hate Mondays.”
    Rhonda moved up close to prevent anyone passing by from overhearing what she had to say. “When is your period due?” she asked. “You will want to keep an eye on the date, because they won’t do abortions after you’ve been pregnant for a while. If you are pregnant, which I doubt.”
    “It’s due in a week. By the way, do you know what it means when a man is sterile?” Alessa asked.
    “Yeah, it means they can’t get women pregnant, because their fish are dead,” Rhonda giggled.
    “Their fish are dead? What does that mean?”
    “Their sperm doesn’t have whatever it takes to get a girl pregnant. Why? Who is sterile?” Rhonda asked, barely suppressing curiosity.
    “No one we know,” Alessa quickly replied. “I heard my parents talking about one of their friends last night and they said he was sterile and I just figured you would know what that meant.” This answer put a halt to their conversation.
    As Alessa left Rhonda to rush to her first-period class, she thought to herself: so the fucking bastard can’t get me pregnant? That’s why he never wears rubbers or even cares if I get my period. Motherfucker! She knew she would just have to wait until next week to see if she got her period. If she didn’t, she would take care of it. For now, she would try to put it out of her mind and avoid Carl at all costs. She didn’t feel like seeing him again. She was annoyed with him and his lack of self-control. Even though he had been nice to her