Editor's note: this story contains scenes of incest or incest content.
*
She knocked timidly on her son's bedroom door. She was especially respectful of his privacy ever since she'd walked in and caught him...well, boys need their privacy. "Boy?" She thought sadly; her baby was now a man... as she was forced to recall. And yet, a year after graduating high school and still with no plans for further school, training or employment, she wondered if he knew he was a man and would be expected to begin acting like one.
"Sweetie, can I come in? I, ah... I have something I have to tell you."
"Sure," her son replied distractedly.
She found him propped up on his bed, sketching more of the violent and -- to her mind at least -- risquΓ© drawings in imitation of those he found in the adult-oriented graphic novels he horded. She shuddered at how he must view women, given the images of submissive, semi-nude and often bound females that filled those publications.
Her stomach seemed to do a flip and drop toward the floor when she realized his attitude would not be improved by what she had to tell him now.
There was an old stuffed chair in the corner, which she eyed with longing; her knees were weak and wobbly just thinking of what she was about to say. Although the chair looked so inviting, even covered as it was in layers of both clean and dirty laundry, she knew she needed to be standing for this odious task. She took a position a few feet to one side of the end of the bed, fidgeting nervously, trying to find her courage.
Taking note of his mother's agitation, the young man reluctantly set aside his pad and pencil.
"What's up, Mom?" he asked with a tinge of irritation.
"I have something important to tell you, but first, I'm going to ask you to take your phone and video me telling you...well, what I'm going to tell you, I need you to record. Please don't ask why right now. In fact, please, please don't ask me anything until I'm done, you'll...well, you'll understand more -- a lot more -- when I'm finished.
Puzzled, he reluctantly agreed and picked up his mobile and began recording when she told him to prop the phone on the nightstand.
"It needs to be a steady video throughout," she explained, "and some of the things I'm going to tell you might... well, you might get upset and you might jostle the phone. Besides, I'm afraid that this won't be very quick."
"Okay; shoot," he said once the device was in place, her image filling the screen from the knees up.
She took a deep breath as she tried to dry her damp palms by rubbing them on her thighs.
"As you know there, were some... 'entanglements'... surrounding your father's estate... some from his business, some from... other things... not to mention the insurance company dragging their feet with the death benefit right when we are going to need that money most. Remember I told you at one point it looked as if we might not get a dime? Well, Mr. Rand, the lawyer handling your father's estate, told me that he could make all the entanglements disappear, but I would have to trust him and do everything he said. And I will say, he was as good as his word; I'm happy to say we won't have to worry about any of that stuff any longer. Dad's Will should be though probate court this week and we should have the check from the insurance company this week as well."
She paused and bit her lower lip, "What I didn't tell you was that Mr. Rand and I...we've been seeing each other. Yes, I know; he's a bit young for me -- I mean, he just turned thirty. And I know it doesn't look right somehow, a lawyer dating his client, a very recent widow, especially in an inheritance situation -- which is one reason why Rick...I mean Mr. Rand...was so careful, having us meet at his office or at his apartment. Very discrete.
"I'll be honest; I didn't want to become involved with Mr. Rand. It didn't seem right, didn't seem decent. I mean, I'm almost old enough to be his mother. Besides, I was grieving my husband of 21 years, and worried sick about how I was going to take care of myself and my son."
She closed her eyes and took another deep, calming breath as she prepared to recite the lines she had rehearsed in the car driving home.
"Still," she said, "Mr. Reed showed me -- in no uncertain terms -- what a debt of gratitude we both owe him; how, without his help, we'd be ruined... well, when he showed me just what he intended to do for us, my heart just went out to him."
She found it easier than she thought to fabricate a smile. Her tolerance for humiliation must be rising. She silently prayed that trend would continue for the duration of this current ordeal.
"He asked me to trust him and do as he said, and he would take care of all my problems... our problems. I didn't see how I could refuse. All I could do was to say yes."
To her tremulous smile were now added tears.
"I told him I would obey, no matter what. Now he wants me to tell you, in some...ah, detail...what happened that first night...the night he made me...when we came to our 'understanding'. He says I need to record this so I can show him proof... proof I was...proof I was a good girl and did what Master told me. There's... there's another reason for the recording, but I'll get to that...at the end.