The Broken Circle
ReasonableTurnip
“Paul, we need to talk.” Martha, his mother, said.
“Yes, mom?”
“Paul, you know about our family lifestyle, do you?”
“What kind of question was that?” He thought. “With you being so noisy, how can I not know? I mean, yes mom, and I’m so excited about it. I can't wait to join.”
His mother sighed. It would not be easy to tell him the news. “Well, it makes it harder for me to say this, so I’ll say it anyway. You won’t be allowed to join.”
Paul felt like the walls of the room were falling on him.
“What? But, why? Mom, if I did something wrong, I won’t do it again, I swear!”
“That’s not it, Paul. You’re a great son and I’m very proud of you. Your dad would be very proud of you.”
“Then why?” he asked.
“Because I think you deserve a chance to be normal. To have a normal relationship, with a normal girlfriend, to break the circle.”
“But I don’t want to be normal! I want to join the family!” he insisted, almost in tears.
“Please Paul, don’t make this harder than it is. You won’t join us, and that’s final!” sentenced his mom.
Paul ran out of the room and went to the garden. There, he fell on his knees and threw up his breakfast.
“Do you like my tits, bro? A pity you won’t ever touch them” sing-songed Emily. She was the archetypical high-school cheerleader, blonde, slender and big-titted. Her 18-year-old body was barely covered by her cheerleading uniform.
“A pity indeed,” said her twin Mike, putting his hand on their sister’s tit. Mike was a jock, lettering in football and other sports.
“Kids, stop teasing your brother!” barked their mom. It was already hard for Paul to accept that he wouldn’t be joining the circle, they shouldn’t do it harder for him.
Paul didn’t answer. In fact, he didn’t say a thing, just turned and ran to his bedroom.
“Paul!” Said Martha, to no avail. She looked at his retreating back and again wondered about the wisdom of her decision. “It’s for the best”, she thought.
“Paul! It’s late, wake up!” Shouted Martha, while opening his bedroom’s door. “I swear, this boy is worse than a hibernating bear. He will have to skip breakfast if he doesn’t want to be late for...” She stopped. Paul wasn’t there. In fact, the bed was still made from last night.
“Paul?” She called. No answer. “Perhaps he left early, maybe to avoid his siblings’ teasing,” she thought. But then she saw the closet door ajar. She opened it and saw that a lot of clothes were missing. With greater concern, she opened his drawers. No underwear, no T-shirts, no socks. The travel bag they stored in his closet was also missing.
“No, Paul!” Martha cried. “Emily, Mike! Paul is gone!”
“What do you mean gone, Mom?” asked Emily.
“He’s not home and his clothes and the travel bag are missing. He’s gone!”
“Don’t worry Mom,” said Mike. “He’s probably trying to guilt us into letting him join the orgies.”
“Yes”, said Emily. “He can’t attract a girlfriend so he’s trying to get sex with us instead.”
“What do you mean he can’t attract a girlfriend?” asked Martha.
“Come on, mom. Have you seen him? He’s short, chubby and friendless. My friends call him “Tubby.” Last summer he asked Shirley Blake out and she laughed in his face. Why do you think he never brings any friends home?”
Martha was shocked. “How come I never heard of this?”
“Well...” started Mike, “There are things you won’t share with the parents, you know?”
“But he’s your brother!” said Martha
“Yes, but we’re so different, can’t you see it? We ignore each other at school, I have my friends and he doesn’t have his friends.” He looked pleased with his pun.
She sat on the bed, aghast. As every mom since the dawn of time, she saw her children with mom’s eyes. She saw a smart and caring young man, instead of the chubby reject everybody else saw.
“So,” said Martha softly, “he’s a reject at school. He’s a reject with the two of you ... and now I made him a reject with the whole family.”
“Don’t worry Mom”, said Emily. “I’m sure he will come back as soon as he finishes his tantrum.”
“No,” said Martha. “He won’t come back. He has nothing to come back to.” And a single tear ran down her face.