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“Erma, you leave him alone!” I shouted. Erma, still on her knees, twisted around and glared at me. “Why, you little bitch!” she said.

Lori heard the commotion and came running. I told Lori that Erma was touching Brian in a way she ought not to be. Erma said she was merely mending Brian’s inseam and that she shouldn’t have to defend herself against some lying little whore’s accusations.

Me hearing that it was like the energy in the house was crazy and how it went from 0 to 10 in the matter of 5 minutes and all they were trying to do was look out for there loved on and i dont know about other people but I respect them for bing outgoing to do that even though there all family.

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“Do you think she ever did something to Dad like what she did to Brian?”  I think Erma did touch the dad because he is not weird or yelling at Erma for touching his son he was just like "he is a man he can take it" like it was nothing wrong what she did to Brian. he should have went crazy on Erma. I would have went banana's if someone touched my son.

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“But we were just protecting ourselves,” I said.

“Brian’s a man, he can take it,” he said.

This one stands out to me because the father really felt that there was a man around the kids would be safe. When in reality that was incorrect. Brian didnt do absolutely anything but just jump up laughing about erma and lori fighting. It took the uncle to break them up but brian was there by himself enjoying the petty fight about erma being a perv.

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“Brian’s a man, he can take it,”
this stood out to me because just because he's a man doesn't mean he has to go through that or has to just hid the pain he could be going through

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“I don’t care what happened!” he yelled ... Brian’s a man, he can take it,”
> These lines stood out to me the most because it makes me wonder if Rex walls was put through the same thing as Brian , during his childhood. I feel like he Justified his mother actions because he was subjected to them and found her wrongdoings normal.

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I heard Brian weakly protesting. I went into Grandpa’s bedroom and saw Erma kneeling on the floor in front of Brian, grabbing at the crotch of his pants, squeezing and kneading while mumbling to herself and telling Brian to hold still, goddammit. Brian, his cheeks wet with tears, was holding his hands protectively between his legs.

this stood out because what the grandmother did was weird and wrong she scared Brian and he wanted her to stop and she kept doing whatever she was doing. and when Rex walls came and heard her story he didn't believe his own kids.

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"We weren’t even allowed to use Erma’s bathroom, which meant we either had to wait for school or go outside after dark".

this stood out to me because it seemed like erma was hiding something and being very mysterious

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"Erma kneeling on the floor in front of Brian, grabbing at the crotch of his pants, squeezing and kneading while mumbling to herself and telling Brian to hold still, goddammit. Brian, his cheeks wet with tears, was holding his hands protectively between his leg"
-This Line stood out to because whatever Erma was to Brian, Brian didn't want to do it. Another thing that stood out to me is when Lori and Jeanette try to confront her, she denied and fought with a 13 year old girl.

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"Why Dad left home as soon as he could. Why he drank so much and why he got so angry. Why he never wanted to visit Welch when we were younger. Why he at first refused to come to West Virginia with us and only at the last possible moment overcame his reluctance and jumped into the car. "

This stood out to me because it can show that Rex actions may reflect off the things that happened in the past with erma.

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"Erma reached over to slap me, but Lori caught her hand. “Let’s all calm down,” Lori said in the same voice she used when Mom and Dad got carried away, arguing. “Everybody. Calm down.”

Erma jerked her hand out of Lori’s grasp and slapped her so hard that Lori’s glasses went flying across the room."

This stands out to me because its one of many things that reveals how much of a bad grandmother she really is. She reached to slap Jeanette and then Lori caught her hand. Right after, she went after Lori and they were fighting each other. It even got to the point where the uncle had to break it up. How would a grandmother try to harm her own grandchildren? How did she get to this kind of level with them?

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We weren’t even allowed to use Erma’s bathroom, which meant we either had to wait for school or go outside after dark. Uncle Stanley sometimes sneaked down beans he’d boiled for us, but he was afraid if he stayed talking, Erma would think he’d taken our side and get mad at him, too.

This stands out to me because they weren't provide with a bathroom to use she Erma was being very bitter no letting them use her bathroom and Uncle Stanley sneaked beans he boiled for them

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It was gross and creepy to think about, but it would explain a lot. Why Dad left home as soon as he could. Why he drank so much and why he got so angry. Why he never wanted to visit Welch when we were younger. Why he at first refused to come to West Virginia with us and only at the last possible moment overcame his reluctance and jumped into the car. Why he was shaking his head so hard, almost like he wanted to put his hands over his ears, when I tried to explain what Erma had been doing to Brian.

I like how the pieces are being put together & what is being said does make a lot o sense.

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“Brian’s a man, he can take it,” he said. “I don’t want to hear another word of this. Do you hear me?” He was shaking his head, but wildly, almost as if he thought he could keep out the sound of my voice. He wouldn’t even look at me.

This stood out to me because Rex didn't even let the kids get thier side of the story he just assumed they were lying or making something up to make Erma look bad. And it's weird he said "Brian's a man he can take it" Yes he might be a man but maybe he froze and didn't know what to do. This also stood out to me because what if Erma did the same thing to Rex as she did to Brain.. What if she's done it to mutiple men?

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“Brian’s a man, he can take it,” he said. “I don’t want to hear another word of this. Do you hear me?” He was shaking his head, but wildly, almost as if he thought he could keep out the sound of my voice

This stood out the most to me because from the way Rex handled the situation you can tell that something about it must of triggered him. Assuming that Erma has had these abusive tendencies her entire life it could have caused Rex to experience it growing up. Which would more explain why he is the way he is being scarred by traumatic situations from his childhood. It also shows how the situation affected his perspective on it, as he says "Brian's a man, he can take it" justifying his mothers actions and knowing what happened before the situation was explained to him by his children.

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¨I heard Brian weakly protesting. I went into Grandpa’s bedroom and saw Erma kneeling on the floor in front of Brian, grabbing at the crotch of his pants, squeezing and kneading while mumbling to herself and telling Brian to hold still, goddammit. Brian, his cheeks wet with tears, was holding his hands protectively between his legs. ¨

This stood out to me the most because Erma is literally doing something that no kid should have to go through no kid deserves this or asked for this. Erma mindset was not in the right place she has been drinking all breakfast so she might not even realize what she is doing.

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“ 'Brian’s a man, he can take it,' he said."

I don't know why, but this stuck out to me. I guess it may be because Rex might want Brian to "man up" and just deal with whatever situations life puts him through. Maybe, Rex Walls wants Brian to deal with Erma's perverted activities because Rex himself had to deal with it, as hinted at the end of the passage.

"he can take it," just seems like an excuse to ignore something or bypass something, whether it'd be a traumatic experience or not.
I feel as though saying "oh, she/he/they/etc. can take it, they'll be fine" is not something we should say in society, because some people really can't take what happens. It can destroy people mentally, emotionally, physically, etc. in one way or more.