Chapter #15Slip-Ins, Slip-Outs and Slip-Ups by: Nostrum   You have no idea how curiosity can beat your utter disgust (maybe it’s why “morbidity” and “curiosity” rhyme), but you’re driven to see what your parents are doing. And almost immediately, you regret it.
It’s burnt into your mind and refuses to leave – the image of your father, in all fours, pounding your mother in the dim light. It’s further revolting when you know the moans and spicy words are muttered by a gaunt, disheveled man posing as her, wearing her flesh like a costume.
And as the image is burnt into your retina, the words echo in your skull, refusing to leave. “Oh! Right there, my big man!” “Good Lord, Marie – you're... Oof! So hungry today!” “Shouldn’t have kept you so pent-up, Paulie. Mmm! We could keep doing this all night.” “We’ve got to go to church tomorrow.” “God won’t punish us if we skip one day.”
I hope it’s even worse, you think to yourself as you slowly make your way into your room. Sipping the water just makes your stomach churn, and it’s only by sheer willpower that you hold yourself from emptying your guts.
The scene replays in your mind as you close your eyes, ruining your sleep. Each time you check your phone, time passes slower and slower. You struggle so much with the thought that you finally fall asleep through sheer mental exhaustion – but not for long, as you’re jolted awake by a pounding on your door.
“Davey!” Tina barks. “Wake up! We’re gonna miss Sunday service!”
“Ugh...” You rub your head, yawning. You check the phone – if you managed to sleep two hours, it’s a miracle. “Going, going...”
You’re slow and sluggish as you take a shower and dress up, and you lose your struggle to remain awake during service. (Doesn’t help the pastor’s preaching is the most boring you’ve heard in your entire life.) You know, as you feel a bump from Claire, tapping you to look at Tina.
“Have some respect!” she chews you. “You’re in God’s house.”
I might be, you respond in your mind, but I can’t help feeling drowsy because I saw the Devil’s work.
And speaking of the devil that did it, your eyes turn to the impostor. She’s holding hands with your father, wearing a surprisingly modest dress complete with shawl and applying the simplest of make-up. You’re not sure if he was a faithful man before, or if it’s your mother’s (forced) guidance, but he’s faking it well. You’re even surprised he’s wide awake, compared to you.
As the service ends, you’re met by your girlfriend Jessica, alongside her mother and sister. You immediately glance at your “mother”, fearing the attention paying to them, but your beau intercepts you. “David? What’s wrong?”
“I...” You scratch your eyes, groaning. “I barely slept yesterday.”
She grabs your hands, rubbing them. (You know she’d hug you instead, but that’s unbecoming while inside the chapel.) “Aww... What made you sleepless?”
Your eyes escape to your mother once more. “Don’t wanna say anything.”
“Is it something happening on your home? I could always ask your parents--”
“It’s alright...” You try to dissuade her energetically, but the most you can muster is a desperate try. “Thanks for the offer.”
“You can always find an excuse to come,” she tells you, then finishes with a whisper. “I’ll make it up for you.”
You muster enough strength for a grin and a rub of hands. “Maybe when I rest a little.” You stifle a yawn, scratching your eyes. “I need it.”
“Well,” she sends you away with a pat on your hands. “Call me when you need to talk.”
As you move away, you notice your “mother” approaching. She’s alone, but Claire’s nearby, restricting your reactions. You notice she’s grinning, giving you a conspiratorial look. You respond with a tired yet stern look, hoping he gets the message.
For the last thing you want is for him to choose to switch into the Hunts – least of all, your own girlfriend.
--
You wake up barely refreshed. You were too tired to even think of this morning’s incident, though it haunts your mind as soon as you wonder why it didn’t.
After changing up to comfier clothes, you check up on Claire, recalling what she told you. Your knock distracts her from whatever she does with her phone. “You good?”
“For?”
“What we talked yesterday.”
She stretches and approaches. “I thought you forgot.”
“I’m gonna have a talk with that asshole,” you tell her after checking the corridor. “Start with Mom and Dad’s room – she's gotta keep them somewhere she thinks we wouldn’t check.”
“Tell me if she has her purse downstairs. Knowing him, it’s possible he always keeps at least one of them on himself, and the other somewhere close.”
“What’s gonna happen if you find them?”
She makes an uneasy grin. “I dunno. I’m leaving that to you.”
You check one last time, then whisper in her ear. “Leave ‘em on the bottom drawer. I’ll see what I can do with them.”
As you step downstairs, you see your dad relaxing as Tina talks over the phone while having all her books laid on the table. “...I know I took my notes, but I don’t remember Mr. Feegler’s example very well. Can’t you go step-by-step on it?”
You ignore her, crossing towards your mother, but she intercepts you. “Hold on. Stay in line.” She grabs your arm, her face growing very stern. “Davey, what happened this morning?”
“I couldn’t sleep well.”
“Knowing we’d go to church? Davey, you’re not a little kid anymore!”
“I didn’t plan for it! I tried, but I couldn’t fall asleep!”
“Let me check him up.” You wanted an excuse, and Providence is more than happy to provide. “Come in.”
Before she takes you upstairs, you outmaneuver her. “Mom, can we talk at the basement?” You notice her purse is near Tina, meaning you’ll need a lengthier distraction.
“Sure.” She follows you, though not before a warning. “Though if it’s fever, I can’t get a good reading down there – it's too hot.”
“I think you’ll do,” you tell her as you lead her down the stairs. Then, you face her. “Before anything – remember our deal? It extends to my girlfriend, her mom and her sister.”
“What deal, Davey?”
“Whaddya mean ‘what deal’? Y’know which! No messing up with my sisters!”
“David,” she says in a very stern tone. “Tina’s been worried about you. I know you’re not a very faithful person, but sleeping on a sermon?”
“Blame it on what you were doing yesterday.”
“And may I ask what was I doing yesterday?” she demands, resting her closed fists on her waist.
You look at her warily, then sigh. “I was gonna get a glass of water, then I noticed...” Then, you groan. “You guys were doing it, alright?”
“Doing what?” she asks. “And by ‘you guys’, you mean your father and I?”
“Exactly! Doing... well, that!” You shake your head suggestively. “That!”
“David, I don’t get what ‘that’ means.”
You get closer, hissing. “You two were having sex! That’s so disgusting! Don’t you have any modesty!?”
That brings her a hearty laugh. “David! Paul and I are married! Why can’t we enjoy a night of passion every now and then?”
You try to stare her down, resisting the feeling that you’re being disrespectful. “Stop it. I can’t believe you’re so disgusting to sleep with my dad after playing with my sisters.”
Almost immediately, you feel the basement’s temperature dropping sharply. “David? What are you implying?” You notice she’s very, very mad at you. “I get the shock, but I didn’t raise you to be a slanderer!”
“Do you really need me to tell you? You were masturbating to them--” You notice very late how your mother was winding up, but the slap she gives you knocks you down.
“David, Gregory, Anderson. What has gotten into you!?”
You stare at her with fear, slowly crawling away. “Mom? You remember what happened yesterday?”
“What about yesterday?” she asks. “I went with your father to his party.”
“Mom,” you tell her. “That was Friday. Today’s Sunday. You remember what happened Saturday?”
She looks at you, scowling. “David, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I hope you don’t take it on me. If it’s what happened with Tina, fix it between yourselves.” She leans closer, digging her finger on you. “And this better be the last time you talk to me that way.”
She leaves you on the dust, full of questions. Does that mean he changed into someone else while I was sleeping?
--
Seeing your mother’s reaction makes the rest of the day tense and draining. If the impostor isn’t in your mother’s skin, then where he could be?
You carefully study all three, looking for anything that may seem odd. Your mother’s still very cozy with your father, something you haven’t seen in months. Tina’s still trying to work out all the time she missed, but she’s being very distant to everyone. And Claire?
She appears by night, in her pajamas, grabbing a pair of pens. It seems that, for as little as you could distract your mother, she found them. “I’m leaving them with you,” she says. “Tomorrow, we figure out how to take him down.”
That relieves you. It seems he hasn’t changed into Claire. Which means it’s either Tina, your mother, or he decided to leave you alone. “Alright. We’re gonna do it after school.”
“Good. We’re gonna save everyone, Davey. Just you wait.”
As your little sister closes your door (and you lock it up, dragging some weights behind it), you study them carefully. They seem the real deal, but unless you find a way to test them, you can’t be sure. Perhaps that man made them useless. Perhaps they’re fakes.
But if they’re the real deal? You won’t hesitate to claim your mother and sister back.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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