I would like to thank LaRascasse for editing and my beta readers for their input. As always, any remaining errors are mine. Please vote and comment!
Stephen awoke the next morning to an empty bed and a stiff dick. He thought about the previous night, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. "I fucked my mother! My god! How could I do that?" He shook his head as if to clear it. Slowly, he got out of bed. He wanted a cup of coffee and a long shower, but he also didn't want to run into his mother right then.
He realized, though, that his mother was not home when he passed the garage door and saw her car was gone. That focused his thoughts on her reaction to them having sex. He hoped she was not feeling bad about it, even as he was. "What a fucking screw-up I am!" Stephen castigated himself.
Stephen drank his perfectly-prepared coffee but didn't taste it.
*****
Gail arose early that morning with a happy body and disturbed mind. Her body acknowledged the best sex she'd ever had, but her mind couldn't come to terms with the fact that it had been with her own son. She felt a rising wave of guilt as she looked at her precious son lying beside her. "What have I done?" she cried to herself.
She ran to her bathroom and turned the shower on full-force to drown out her crying. "What if he wakes up and hates me?" Gail couldn't rid herself of the thought. She felt the urge to hurt herself and looked about wildly for something to do the job. She saw her paddle brush and grabbed it up gratefully. She leaned over the toilet as she felt she could throw up at any moment and began whacking her ass and upper thighs with the brush. The sting began to take the place of the ache in her heart.
After several minutes, she couldn't raise her arm again. Tears, snot, and saliva streamed down her face as she tried to catch her breath. She moved into the hot shower without looking at herself in the mirror.
As the hot water began working its magic, Gail was able to calm enough that she could make a plan for the day. She would make Stephen his coffee then leave the house. Maybe one of her friends knew a divorce lawyer to recommend. She tried out her voice and marveled when she was able to speak without bursting into tears.
*****
When Stephen got back home late that night, he went straight to his own bed. He had spent the greater part of the day at the pool and the gym trying to work out the disgust and anger he felt towards himself. "It's so wrong! You're a sick motherfucker--literally! She'll never forgive me! What if she can't bear to look at me? She probably hates me!" On and on his thoughts assaulted him. The workout succeeded only in tiring him enough that the thoughts slowed down instead of coming at him rapid-fire style. Gradually, he drifted into a fitful sleep.
The next week followed the same pattern as Gail and Stephen avoided each other, each sure the other regretted their night of passion, possibly to the point of hatred. The sleepless nights and self-recriminations began to take their toll, though, and by the end of the week their friends were asking, "What's wrong?" with irritating regularity.
Jack was the most persistent of Stephen's friends. He cornered Stephen as he left the campus one day and followed him to Stephen's car. "Something IS wrong, Bro. C'mon! You know you can tell me anything."
"I appreciate that Jack, but it's okay. Don't worry." Stephen got into his car.
Jack ran around and jumped into the passenger seat. "Stephen. Seriously. What happened?"
Stephen sighed heavily. Maybe he could appease Jack with a half-truth. "My parents have split. Dad's moved out and they're gonna get a divorce."
"That's grea...I mean, sorry about that." Jack looked at Stephen expectantly. He knew that was not what was bothering Stephen.
Stephen started his car. "I, uh, gotta go, Jack. Don't you have class, or something?"
"Nah. Nothing that can't wait."
Stephen pounded the steering wheel. "Dammit, man! All right, yeah, there's something wrong! But I ain't tellin' you!" He dropped his head to the steering wheel. "I can't, Jack, I just can't," he said quietly.
Jack was disturbed at his friend's distress, but dropped it. He reached for the door handle and got out. He hoped for the best.
As a second week passed, however, Jack was driven to intervene. Stephen looked like hell; unkempt, dark circles under his eyes, skipping classes, punishing himself in the weight room and the pool. Jack decided to try from another angle, though, and went to see Gail.
Gail opened the door and gave Jack a weak smile. "He's not here" she said, not quite meeting Jack's eyes.
Jack was aghast at Gail's appearance. She had lost a shocking amount of weight and her clothes hung on her as if she were a child playing dress-up with her mother's clothes. Jack gathered Gail into a hug, closing the door behind him, and walking them into the living room. Gail allowed him to almost carry her--she felt particularly fragile upon seeing Stephen's closest friend.
Jack understood that something had happened between Stephen and Gail. He felt partially responsible and guilt settled on his shoulders. "I know he's not here. I came to see you. I'm worried about Stephen and since he won't talk about it, I thought I'd see if you knew what's bothering him."
Tears silently slid down Gail's face. She felt Jack was confirming that Stephen hated her. "Oh, Jack!" Her shoulders began to shake. Jack rubbed her back and made soothing sounds. "I do know what's wrong and it's all my fault, Jack!"
"Ahh, Gail, I doubt that. Tell me and let me help," Jack pleaded.
"I just can't, Jack! It's too, too terrible! It's unforgivable and he hates me and--and I don't blame him!"
Gail turned quickly away from Jack. As she did, her shirt rode up in the back revealing her spine in stark relief, but even more disturbing were the bruises. He could see older yellowed ones and newer purple ones, and there was a red stripe across her back as well. He yanked the shirt up, gasping in shock.
"My god, Gail! What happened to you? Did Stephen do this to you? I knew he was into spanking, but this is--this is wrong!"
Gail frantically pulled at her shirt, as if pulling it back down would make Jack's knowledge of the marks go away. She shook her head violently. "No! Of course not, Jack! How could you say such a thing?"
'Well, who is beating you? Is it that asshole you're married to? I'll kill him!"
"No, no! It wasn't him, either. It wasn't anyone. I just--I fell. That's all."
Jack didn't believe that at all. "Gail! C'mon! This is me you're talking to."
Gail just shook her head.
"Look, you can not expect me to believe you fell on your back, what, like every day for the last two weeks? Let me help you, Gail. Please?"
Tears streamed down Gail's face. She loved Jack for his concern, but if she couldn't talk to her own son, how was she going to talk to anyone else?
Jack looked at Gail and knew she wouldn't talk. He thought surely she would tell Stephen. Eventually. Damn, he thought, Stephen's got to know about this!