"Leave me alone!" The short albino boy shouted. He held up his fists, ready for a fight. "Don't make me fight you! Don't think I won't!"
"Ha!" The large, muscular bully laughed in the boy's face. "Don't make me laugh. Everyone knows that you aren't strong enough to even do a pushup."
"That's not true!" The boy shouted, trying to glare, but his fear showed in his eyes. "I am strong!"
"Oh yeah?" The bully pulled back his fist. "Prove it."
"Hey, fist head!" The bully's fist was grabbed by another hand. Both boys looked to see a tall girl with long blond hair standing with the bully's fist gripped in her hand. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Damn." The bully swore. He pulled his fist free from the girl's hand and turned to face her. She stood talker than he did, and he was too much of a coward to fight her. Instead, he spat at her feet and walked away, trying to hold his head high.
The albino boy fell to his knees, shaking.
"Come on, man." The girl said, crouching on one knee beside him. "Pull yourself together." She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Patricia!" The boy cried. He grabbed the girl's shoulders and buried his face in her neck. "Oh, Patricia, I was so scared!"
"God, Cole." The girl rested a hand on the boy's head, comforting him as he cried. "How many times are you going to get picked on?"
"I didn't ask for him to…" The boy sobbed. "I don't want to be bullied anymore!"
"It's alright." The girl told him. She helped him get to his feet. "Come on. Let's go home."
The two kids walked together, the girl's arm around the boy's shoulders. The two of them were siblings, Patricia and Cole Beilschmidt. They were the Canadian born children of Madeline Mathews and East German Gilbert Beilschmidt. Because of their mixed heritage, the two children, born two years apart, stuck together and looked out for each other.
"Want to know a secret?" The girl whispered to her brother as they turned onto their street.
The boy sniffled. "What?"
"Next time anyone messes with you," She told him. "If you can't sock them one, just tell them all about uncle Ludwig."
"Uncle Ludwig?" The boy's eyes started to shine. He idolized his tough, masculine uncle.
"Yeah." The girl ruffled his hair. "And don't forget to mention that he's staying with us for a month."
"He is?!" The boy gasped. He pulled away from his sister and ran down the sidewalk toward their house. When he reached the walkway, he turned to call to her. "Hurry up, Patricia!"
The girl smiled to herself as she picked up her pace. It was good to see her brother smiling again. Then her smile turned into a smirk. That bully won't be able to move after tomorrow. She vowed silently. She was her father's daughter, standing up for those she loved.