Chapter 3: I'm in trouble

            So there I am laying rather uncomfortably on my back as I couldn't catch myself right because of my hands. I'm starting to realize just how bad this might be.

            "Mom why did you do that?" I wheeze, still struggling to catch my breath.

            "So you can't escape." She states matter of factly.

            "Can't escape..." I think. Oh shit.

            "That's right I'm leaving you this way." She looks down at me. "You do nothing around here it seems except eat, sleep and watch that damn TV." She's still a little angry. I'm more than a little surprised though, that she could even think of doing this to me.

            "I've been trying harder Mom I really have--"

            "Oh, shut up. It's just words to you. I don't believe anything you say anymore." She sneers at me. "You're barely a son to me."

            That hit me right me in the heart because it rather sounds like one of her lectures. She might not have been yelling at me for my best interests, she really just wants me gone as she put it when she was screaming at me. I start to get even more uneasy. This situation is getting worse every minute.

            "Mom..." I start weakly.

            "What did I just say! I don't care and I don't believe anything you have to say! Be quiet." She carries on a bit but she doesn't seem as mad. I'd judge this new mood more...playful? I can't say for sure though because it doesn't fit what she's saying. It will soon become clear however.

            "Now...what to do with you first?" She eyes me all over. I just numbly watch because I can't seem to reason with her. I see a flash in her eyes and she kicks off her flip flops.

            "What do you think of my pedicure?" She asks coyly. Her feet have been scrubbed and are very clean looking. She walks over to me and waves them in front of my face and I can see they've been painted purple of all colors. Purple! What was that stuff Judith spilled on me that disappeared? Did it soak into me and change me somehow? I'm mulling over all this when suddenly I'm snapped back to reality by an unreal pain in my right leg.

            I cry out and see that my mother has walked over to my feet and stepped on to my shin.

            "How's that feel?" She asks. I just look at her with tears forming it's so painful. "Here's some more..." With that pronouncement she rocks her full weight onto it. God! It's even worse than before. I grit my teeth and look down at my feet. Where she stepped has been flattened down just like the other parts. It's not quite as thin as my wrists and ankle are though.

            "That's for lying to me all the time." She says. I don't detect much sympathy from her for my pain. In fact I'd say she's rather enjoying this.

            "Don't you care about h-how I'm hurting I'm yuh-your son!" I somewhat scream at her. I kind of choke on the words because my self esteem issues come back into play. I almost never talk louder than a mumble and yelling is fairly foreign to me.

            "You don't listen at all do you? I don't care and if you talk without my asking you one more time, I'm gonna step on your face." She states. I immediately cower from that thought. How much that would hurt. I open my mouth to beg for her not to do that then realize how stupid that would be.

            "Smart boy. Now that you're ready to listen, I'm gonna tell you why I don't care."

            Over the next hour she talks about how much of a disappointment I became after high school. How she tried for a while to understand but when I wouldn't change she gave up and stopped caring. During this monologue, she punctuated her points with pain and slowly walked her way up and down my legs, feet, and lower chest. It felt every bit as real if my body was still at full function. This was not a nice evening for me. I curled up inside my own head and waited as best I could for it to pass. Eventually she seemed to stop and I looked down at my body.

            It was not a pretty sight. Her feet treading all over me had left foot prints everywhere the eye could see. My thighs and chest weren't nearly as thin as my lower legs. They seemed to have maintained proportion to each other. It's like my lower body was just a flatter version of itself. At least I didn't go paper thin. Something to be happy about.

            "This is wonderful I love it." She smiles and laughs. I start to pay attention to my mother again because I forgot for one moment why I was in this situation.

            "Next we're going to--" my mother is interrupted as the doorbell rings. "Who could it be at this hour?" She asks irritably. My hopes leap up. I'm rescued! I'm in the middle of the kitchen floor no way whoever it is misses me. But, I hoped too soon.

            "Think you're getting away?" She says nastily. She opens a kitchen drawer and grabs out a roll of duct tape.

            "Noo...!" I start to scream but she tapes my mouth shut.  I can only glare at her in my useless fury. She pauses to chuckle and admire her handiwork but then the doorbell rings again.

            She glances at the door and goes back to business. She bends down and lifts me up quite easily. It seems my flattened legs weigh less now too. "That's useful." She mutters as she carries me to the living room.

            I can imagine why we're here and I'm not proven wrong. We have this old sofa that has room underneath it. It's not a lot but she manages to shove me under there and says "Stay put." I can barely move but I can still thump on the couch and hope whoever this is hears me.

            My mother who I am pretty sure is never going to let me go then smiles at me, pulls the flap that hides the underside of the couch back into position and goes to answer the door.