Chapter 4
“What is the meaning of this!” I awoke to find Grandfather standing in my bedroom doorway, looking furious. Before I could answer, he marched in and yanked me out of the bed. “Get to your room and get ready for breakfast, Zachary!” he ordered. Zachary ran out, with a frightened look across his face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, not knowing what he was so upset about.
“That woman you lived with may have allowed you to be free with your body, but that filth will not be allowed in this house!” Grandfather yelled.
I was so confused. What filth?
“Zack…I mean, Zachary, fell asleep in here while we were doing our homework…” I tried to explain, but was cut off.
“I saw what you were doing! You were pressed up against your brother in a sinful way. Incest and homosexuality are a sin, and you will not sin in this house!”
What was my Grandfather talking about?
“Bend over,” Grandfather said, as if I was supposed to know what he meant. When I didn’t move fast enough, he yanked me by the hair, and pushed me over the edge of the footboard on my bed. “I said bend over now!” I was shocked at what was happening. Grandfather yanked down my pants and boxer-briefs, and started spanking my bare rear end. “This will rid you of your sinful ways!” he yelled as he was hitting me over and over.
I had been spanked as a child, but never to this extreme. I felt like his spankings were tearing my skin. He wore a ring, that I think actually was scraping me with each spank. I wouldn’t let him see me cry though. When he finished, I heard the door slam and he was gone. I wasn’t sure whether I should go down for breakfast after getting cleaned up, or not. The next sound I heard, though, was a key turning in the lock of my bedroom door. I was locked in the room.
I didn’t have an alarm clock, or even a watch. Mine was taken off of me when I was taken to the hospital, and I never got it back. Without knowing the time, there was no way of telling how long I was locked in my room. I knew that it was at least 6pm, because I could see through the window that the sun had already set.
I expected to be called or released for dinner, but I didn’t see or hear from anyone for several more hours. I finally fell asleep, but was soon woken by the sound of my door being unlocked. It was my father. He entered my room, with a plate of food.
“I’ll just set this down over here,” he said as he laid the plate of cold food on my night stand. “I’m sure you’re hungry.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong…,” I attempted to explain.
“I know. I know.” He said, “Zachary told me you two just fell asleep.”
I asked him why I was being punished then, and he told me that Grandfather said I had my arms around Zachary in an unnatural way. I was too exhausted to argue about it anymore. They were going to see me however they wanted, but I wanted to know why Grandfather was punishing me and my parents never seemed to be around to parent me. “Your Grandfather is the head of this family. We live in his house, so we must follow his rules,” was my father’s explanation.
“Why do we have to live in his house?” I pressed.
“That’s the way things are,” was all he would say.
Can you say, cryptic?
“Are you okay?” my father asked, referring to my spankings.
“Yeah. My butt is a little sore, but I’ll live,” I answered.
“Let me see,” were my father’s next words. I’ve always been a shy guy, so it was a little weird to show my rear end to a complete stranger, even if he was my father. He could see my hesitation, and explained that he had some first aid cream and needed to see if I needed any. Reluctantly, I slid my pants down, and my boxer briefs. It was the second time today I was bent over with my butt in the air and a strange man behind me. My father said that there were some deep scratches, and applied some of the first aid cream. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but as my father was rubbing in the cream, he started rubbing harder, and I heard a moan escape his lips.
“I think that’s good enough!” I exclaimed, as I jumped off the bed and pulled up my briefs and pants.
“Don’t be like that, James,” was my father’s reply. “It’s okay. It’s natural for a father and son to bond. Who’s going to teach you about things like sex?” What was he talking about? There was definitely nothing natural about the way he was touching my butt. I tried to back away, but I inadvertently backed myself into a corner. My father leaned in and tried to kiss me on the lips, as his hand started groping my crotch. I squirmed so his lips couldn’t find mine, and eventually screamed at him to get off of me.
“Okay, James. This will be our little secret,” he said with a devilish wink as he left my room. Again, I heard the sound of my door being locked.
What is wrong with this family? Did my father really just try to rape me?
I decided to take my mind off of it by writing letters to my Mom and sister.
Mom,
How are you? I know this must be some kind of mistake. I know you could never kidnap a child. I am now living with the people they tell me are my real family in Georgia. They are rich, but I don’t care about that. I just want to be back with you and Sarah. Hopefully, this will all be straightened out, and we can all be together again. I haven’t really gotten to know the woman they say is my real mother. I do have a brother, Zack. He’s almost my age and we have all of the same classes together. I’ve been hanging around with his two best friends at school: Chris and Mark. They are twins, and pretty good guys. I miss Connor, though…and Mikey. Where is Sarah? I’m going to put a letter for her with this one, so you can get it to her for me. I hope you know I love you and always will. Write back soon.
Love,
Jimmy
I waited until the following day to write my sister. It just made me sad and homesick, wondering what was happening with her and my Mom.