Echo

knew of the pain and torment that had been their companion as far back as he could remember.
    Their mother ran off when Kelly was born, never looking back, never heard from again. Kelly had been a toddler when their father, Abe, started locking them together, in a wooden box he kept in the cellar. The box, so small they could only lay at the bottom, consisted of rough planed wood that stabbed splinters into their tender skin. They would lie holding each other in the dark until Abe finished with the latest bar whore or neighborhood housewife on the prowl. He used to call them his juicy little piggies; didn’t want the piggies seeing his inconvenient brats.
    All they knew was their father and the wooden box. When Armoni turned eight, Abe occasionally sat him in the corner of the room while he and his drunken conquest did their business, amid much slobbering and animal sounds. Sometimes, Abe knocked them around a bit before they got the message. Armoni knew well his father’s philosophy about forking out good money to pay a piggy’s booze tab without a payback. Didn’t matter if they agreed or not. They eventually came around. Armoni thought that the little piggies were the most fun to watch. Just a simple, unknowingly frightening, observance from the funny looking unnoticed little boy in the corner, huddled and wild eyed, missing nothing. He felt a tug of sympathy for the young boy he had been, remembering being overwhelmed by the spiral of emotions confronting him as a boy and then later, as a teenager.
    As Kelly grew older, Abe started to notice her. Armoni also noticed. When she turned thirteen, she displayed a shadow of the attractive young woman she would grow into. Armoni was seventeen. And stone cold ugly. As of late, when they were locked up, things changed in the wooden box. Armoni started to look forward to it. He loved the way Kelly clung to him, softly weeping. He would stroke her budding breasts until she calmed down, kissing her hair, humming to her. His hands loved to explore, Kelly not understanding even when it was too late. She became his obsession. Until finally, he found himself sneaking into her bed at night to fondle her until she woke, then together they would finish the night with physical comfort of the most primal kind.
    Until the fateful night Abe came home without a juicy piggy. Armoni and Kelly had not heard him enter. They were fully engrossed, giggles masking Abe’s footsteps. The bare bulb hanging over Kelly’s bed snapped on. Armoni felt strong fingers digging at his throat, swinging him back over the mussed bed to crash him, naked, against the bedroom wall, leaving a hollow bulge where his shoulders cratered the cheap sheetrock. He lay panting on the floor as his father looked down on Kelly, slowly unbuckling his pants.
    “Don’t remember giving you permission ta touch something that belongs ta me, boy. Can’t say I blame you, though. With your looks, you ain’t ever gonna get yourself your own woman.” Disdain and contempt distorted Abe’s face as he taunted Armoni.
    Kelly tried to slip off the bed, her nakedness inflaming Abe. Grabbing her by the hair, he dragged her back to the bed, pinning her down with his weight, slapping her across the face.
    “You whore—lying with your own brother. Can’t help yourself, can you? Time for this juicy piggy to give her daddy a little payback.” He fumbled with his navy workpants, sliding them to his ankles. Kicking them to the side, he stood with his erection, engorged and craving satisfaction, his dissipated face a tribute to greed and mad fervor. Plunging into his daughter, he slapped her face again.
    “Let’s see a little enthusiasm, piggy.” Kelly lay still, clearly in shock while her father raped her until he was satisfied. Suddenly, Armoni plowed into him, knocking him off balance, allowing Kelly to twist out from under him, escaping the room.
    “You mongrel, after all I did for you.” Rubbing his arm and rising, he shot Armoni a vicious look. “Time to teach the pups some lessons.” Raising his fist he struck down violently, landing on Armoni’s nose, busting it, blood splattering them both. Armoni staggered back, his father pressing forward aggressively, then suddenly freezing. His eyes flared briefly, valuable air with a spot of blood retching from his lungs over his curled lips as he turned in time to see Kelly, having yanked out the kitchen butcher knife she gleefully stabbed him in the back with, plunge it into