The Forest

Chapter Two - Flashback from Earlier

"Benjamin, get your sorry ass in here!"

"Yes, Mom?"

"Do you see this mess?"

"I did my best to cl-"

"I didn't fucking ask if you 'did your best to clean' I asked if you see this fucking mess?" Ben stands silent. "Do you hear me?" Ben nods. "Then please tell me why there is a dirty fork in the sink and a spot on the floor when I told you to clean the fucking kitchen?"

"I-" Ben starts.

"You know what? I don't want to hear your damn excuses."

Ben flinches as his mother walks toward him. She grabs Ben by the wrist and tightens her fist around it as hard as she can. She uses it as leverage to throw him to the ground. He lands hard on his left hip and his left elbow smashes on the floor. Ben begins to cry.

"What the hell are you crying for? Why don't you be a man and take it?"

Ben sniffles. "I'm only 15... and you've been beating on me for as long as I can remember."

"I've been beating you?" You think I've been BEATING you? I'm teaching you to be the man you already should be and to quit crying like a little baby about it." His mother scowls at him. "You're unbelievable. Stand your ass back up and get over here."

Ben stands up hesitantly and slowly walks over to her, still shedding tears. His mother starts swinging her fists at him and he immediately puts his arms up to block her punches. His arms can only take and block so much. Her fists pass up his arms every few punches and hits his face and chest.

His mothers then stops and pauses to look at him. "You look like shit." She scrunches her face. "Now clean up this fucking mess like I asked and then go straight to your room." She walks out of the kitchen and to the living room. He can hear her flip on the tv.

Ben collapses to the floor and cries. He hears her pause the tv and she starts stomping back to the kitchen. He scrambles to get back on his feet and back to cleaning. His mother walks in and sees him cleaning. She scowls and walks back to the living room.

Ben silently cries as he cleans what he was told. He puts the fork in with the clean dishes after washing it and goes to the spot on the floor. He keeps scrubbing it and scrubbing it as if he were in some sort of Cinderella movie. The spot just won't come off.

Ben gets up off the floor and sets the rag down beside the sink. He hesitantly walks to the living room and faces his mother, who is sitting contently in a rocking chair in front of the tv. "It won't come off..."

"What won't come off?" Shes gritting her teeth.

"Th-the spot... on the floor..."

She jumps to her feet nearly knocking the chair over in the process. Ben's eyes widen as he gets more and more frightened. His mother snatches him by the ear and drags him back into the kitchen. She walks him over to the spot, still pinching his ear, and throws him back down on the floor. She grabs the wet rag from the counter near the sink and whips it in his face. She then throws it on the floor in front of him. "Get that spot off the floor, or else. Don't come out of this room until it's gone." She goes back into the living room.

Ben continues to cry and scrub the floor. He waits for his mother to go to bed. The spot still has not gone away. He quietly wanders up to his room and shuts the door and sleeps in pain after a day of torture.

As morning arises, pounding on his bedroom door awakes Ben. He springs up from his bed and tries to barricade the door with his body. "BENJAMIN OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR." She turns the knob and slams the door open pushing Ben out of the way. Ben's body hits the wall behind the door. Ben's mother goes around the door to look at him.

She forcefully grabs his chin and points his face to hers. He looks frightened. "WHY is that spot STILL on the floor?"

Ben quivers and then shyly raises his hands to her chest while she's still staring him in the eyes. He forcefully pushes his hands to her chest to push her off and away from him. His mother is caught off guard by his strength and stumbles backwards as he sprints past her and down the stairs toward the front door.