Tainted: Origins of a Psycho

Sunday Evening

Vincent:

Daddy returned home a few hours later and we were once again sitting around the table for another family meal.  My face was burning hot from anger because Jordan was sitting across from me, smiling and laughing like nothing in the world was wrong.  I wanted so badly to yell at her for trying to steal Daddy away from us, but if I made a scene Daddy would probably beat me until I was black and blue.  All I could do for now was pretend everything was normal, silently hoping that Jordan would drop dead.

Mommy scooped some macaroni on to my plate, looking down at me with the same sad smile she wore everyday. I knew that she was unhappy because of the way Daddy and Violet treated her, always putting her down because it made them feel better about themselves. There were lots of days that I found myself wondering if she would wake up one morning and decide to leave us, to go to a place where she could be loved like she deserved to be loved. It would break my heart if she was gone, but I would be happy that she was in a better place than here.

"What are you thinking about?"  Jordan asked, smiling at me as she took a bite of her food.

I wanted to reach across the table and slap the smile from her stupid face. "Nothing..." I said, stirring the macaroni with my fork.

Daddy frowned at me from across the table and I could tell that he wanted to scold me for my rudeness, but he just shook his head and began talking about his favorite baseball team until I excused myself from the table.  I went into my bedroom and shut the door, then I fell to my knees and began to pray.  "Dear God, I know this might seem like a bad thing to pray about, but would you please kill Jordan?"  I paused for a moment to make sure no one was outside of the door, then I continued.  "You don't have to give her a painful death or anything.  Maybe just a heart attack or something.  Thanks."

I changed into my pajamas and climbed into my bed, scowling as I thought about the kiss shared between Daddy and Jordan. The image played in my mind over and over again, like a bad song on repeat. I closed my eyes and tried to think about something else until the sound of my door creaking open startled me so badly that I nearly fell out of bed.  Violet stood in the doorway with her arms crossed in front of her chest and a wicked looking smile on her face.

She stepped into my bedroom, locking the door behind herself and sitting at the foot of my bed before I had a chance to protest.  "You really shouldn't have left in the middle of dinner like that.  Daddy is super mad at you.  I'll bet he's gonna spank you good after Jordan leaves."

My stomach twisted into a nervous knot.  The beating he gave me at church still had my butt feeling sore.  There was no way I could handle another spanking so soon.

"Why is he mad at me?"  I whispered, "I asked if I could leave and he said it was okay."

"Yeah, but it was your turn to clear the dishes from the table." She answered, the smile on her face growing twice as big. "Daddy is gonna think you wanted to leave so you wouldn't have to do it, and you know he hates lazy people."

"Oh no...." I wailed, throwing my hands over my face to hide the fear that showed. My mind was so focused on my anger towards Jordan that I had completely forgotten it was my turn to help Mommy clean the table.

I was going to be in trouble for sure!

"What am I going to do!?" I cried, grabbing Violet by her arms and shaking her.

"Stop freaking out!" She growled, pushing me away from her. "I have something that will help you."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out twelve small pink pieces of what I thought may have been candy. "These are some magic pills I found in Mommy's purse. If you eat all of them you will become invisible and Daddy won't be able to punish you ever again."

I glanced down at the magic pills and shook my head. "Nuh-uh. You're making that up."

"No, I'm not. I swear they really work." She said, putting the pills in my hand. The smile left her face, replaced by a look of worry. "You have to take them so you don't get in trouble again. I'm afraid Daddy is gonna kill you."

My hand closed around the magic pills and I took a deep breath. Violet was really serious about making sure I became invisible, which was weird because she usually enjoyed seeing me get punished.  I was sure she hated me, but here she was trying to protect me from Daddy.

Maybe I was wrong about her, after all.

"Thank you, Sissy."  I said, throwing my arms around her for a big bear hug.  She smiled at me and kissed my cheek before pushing my hand towards my face, silently urging me to eat the magic pills.

I smiled back at her and popped them into my mouth, frowning at the nasty taste. "How long before these things start to work?"

"Just a couple of minutes."

"Cool." I said, looking down at my arm to see if I was invisible yet. "What are the magic pills called anyway?"

"Benadryl."

We sat on my bed for several minutes waiting for me to become invisible, but nothing ever happened. Sweat began to pour down my face like a water fountain and I was becoming sick to my stomach. Violet watched as my face turned pale and she started laughing. It was then that I realized she had tricked me again.

"I can't believe you fell for that!  You are so stupid!"  She said, tears rolling down her cheeks as she continued to laugh at me.

Tears swelled in my own eyes and I wiped them away with my arm.  Something was wrong with me, but I was too afraid to tell on her because she would find a way to make it seem like it was my fault.  I laid back down on my bed and threw the blanket over my head, hoping that whatever was happening to me would stop so I would not get into anymore trouble.

But Violet dashed out of my room and began running down the hallway.  "Daddy, Daddy!"  I heard her screaming, "Vincent stole some pills from Mommy's purse and ate them!  I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen to me!"

"WHAT!?"  Daddy roared from across the house, making my heart pound even harder.  I clutched on to the blanket as his loud footsteps stomped towards my room.  He yanked the blanket away and wrapped his hand around my arm, pulling me off of the bed.  "What kind of pills did you take, boy!?  And how many!?"

I opened my mouth to answer him and pink vomit poured out, drenching his white shirt.

"Oh, good God!" He growled, scooping me into his arms and running towards the front door.

We arrived at the hospital ten minutes later, and I was immediately rushed into a cold room by two doctors.  One of them asked Daddy lots of questions about the pills I swallowed, while the other one attempted to shove a plastic tube down my throat.  It hurt so bad that I tried to pull it out, so they had to call in two nurses to hold down my hands and feet as they stuck a second tube into my nose. 

The nurses turned me on my side and assured me everything was going to be alright before the doctors started to pump my stomach to get all of the pills out.  Daddy watched from across the room with a scowl on his face, and I found myself wishing that they would just let me die.

That way I wouldn't be afraid anymore.