My mom always looked up to uncle Nathaniel. He was like her hero. When she was bullied, he was there. When a guy tried to flirt with her, he was there. He was her Spiderman. And she was his Mary Jane. 

Things changed when they got to middle school. She was the apple of nearly every man's eye. It only made Nathaniel's protective duties as a brother more challenging. I couldn't really blame all of those guys. My mom was really pretty.

She had to learn how to defend herself, of course. Sooner or later, Nathaniel went out of his way to get my mom a pocket knife. At first, it really confused my mom. She didn't think that she would ever need it. But when Ben Stanford came into the picture, it only became more important to have that knife.