Jason had nearly forgotten about his encounter with the old woman by the end of the day. At this point in his life, he was really too old to believe in witches and magic so it was easy for him to dismiss the whole idea of being cursed without very much thought, and besides that fact, the woman didn’t seem particularly mean-spirited. She was probably just using her elderly eccentricity to get a rise out of him; just another doddy, old senior trying to play petty mind games with an impressionable youth.
He’d spent the bulk of the afternoon playing with his younger sisters while Elizabeth was busy painting her nails; Jason couldn’t stand the powerful chemical smell of nail polish. It made him feel like his brain cells were literally melting in his head wherever he got the faintest whiff, so he was always eager to make himself scarce whenever a nail polish bottle made its way out of ‘the caboodle’... The younger girls had somehow roped him into baking a tiny birthday cake using Marcy’s mini, plastic play-oven for Mr. Sparkles, the pet cat that they had rescued from an abandoned litter they found in a storm drain the previous year. The resulting “cake” was rather disappointing, and not merely because of the cat food chunks embedded in the frosting. It was dry on the outside and raw in the middle. Jason figured it was on account of the sixty watt light bulb they had used when the instructions had specifically called for the use of a hundred watt bulb, but they didn’t care. They hadn’t intended for anyone to eat the cake anyway; they were just having fun. Jason really enjoyed playing with his sisters, even though they made him do things he’d be embarrassed to do around his friends.
When it came time to turn in for the night, Jason retrieved a clean T-Shirt and a fresh set of pajama pants from his dresser and pulled them on tiredly before sliding into his immaculately made queen-sized bed. As he did, he remembered the old crone’s warning that his family would be CURSED when he fell asleep that night, and had a little laugh at the thought. He really wasn’t worried in the slightest… After all, magic was totally bogus! He loved his family and his place in it and he was secure in the certainty that nothing would change.
Jason wasn’t blind to the fact that he was in a rather privileged position as the only son in the family. His sisters all had to share a room together and he got his very own space! Sometimes he felt bad for Elizabeth having to share a room with two little kids, but his parents insisted that girls and boys couldn’t share the same room together, so there was really nothing he could do to help her out of her situation, even if he wanted to. He just had to make the best of things as they were, same as her… Well, you know...
While basking in the soft, warm covers encircling his body, he pulled out his phone and dutifully read through some of his friends’ most recent social media posts until his growing desire for rest became more alluring. Then he poked his left foot out from under the corner of his covers into the chilly, air-conditioned breeze of his ceiling fan, as was his customary method for getting himself to the perfect temperature for a comfortable night’s rest, and curled up nice and cozy in the dark, ready to surrender to unconsciousness.
Just then, he was jolted back to a sudden state of alertness by the sound of a creaking door. He gazed into the blindingly bright band of light that was projecting onto his face from the doorway and slowly came to recognize his mother’s face peeking through the crack. His unwarranted alarm immediately gave way to contentment as he reflexively reciprocated his mother’s dreamy smile. He knew his mom would sometimes peek into his room just to watch him sleep, and he always tried to let her get away with it whenever he happened to still be awake. It was obvious how important it was for her to have those little moments of parental indulgence, she just couldn’t help loving her precious boy!
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” She whispered softly as she slowly closed the door, returning the room to a state of complete darkness. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight” “Goodnight, Mom” “Night, Mom” “Goodnight” “Night.” “NIGHT, MOM!”
Jason was shocked to hear his own response inexplicably joined by a chorus of masculine voices! They were close by, as though there were actually other people in bed with him! He tried to get up and move, to get away from them, to find a way to reach the lightswitch to expose the intruders around him, but he was only successful in rolling onto his back. The covers seemed to weigh him down, pinning him to the spot. He tried to call out for help but he found himself unable to make a sound.
Suddenly it felt as though the blankets were lifting away from his right leg. He eagerly grasped at the opportunity for freedom by discretely sliding his leg toward the edge of the bed, but it quickly collided with some kind of obstacle that felt like... a hairy leg!? Before he could pull himself back, the firm, course object moved to pin his leg to the bed, leaving him immobilized anew. Once more the covers seemed to pull away from him, leaving his torso totally uncovered, but before he could sit upright, a heavy arm plopped inelegantly across his chest, weighing him down firmly. He could feel the arm plainly on his skin as though he were shirtless. He tried to wiggle from side to side but he felt too weak, as though his body had already resigned itself to a state of unshakeable dormancy in spite of the desperate pleas from his racing mind.
As he struggled, the room seemed to rock from side to side and Jason slowly grew to possess an awareness of the drastic change in atmosphere that had occurred around him. The air was muggy and stale, the cool breeze he had been enjoying was completely gone. The air was stagnant and heavy while heat was radiating from his back and from the fleshy weights that held him captive. Sweat was seeping into the blankets that covered the left side of his body until they were so saturated that they seemingly dissolved away into nothing, but instead of feeling relief at the welcomed lack of insulation, Jason’s extremities actually felt even more uncomfortably hot, dank, and clammy. He tried, of course, to lift his newly exposed leg away from the increasingly sweat-drenched mattress beneath him, but another arm wrapped around his ankle and pulled his foot into some unknown fleshy body, as though his leg were some kind of teddy bear.
Jason was surrounded. He was exposed. He was trapped!
“AAAhhh!” He was finally able to scream.
“SHUT UP!.” “Go to SLEEP!” “The fuck?!” “MORON!” - came the chorus of irate, butch voices around him, seemingly punctuated by what felt like the bottom of a clenched fist violently slamming into to top of his head like a hammer….
… then there was calm…
------------------------------------------
Time seemed to slow to a crawl... Jason’s mind drifted through a river of disconnected thoughts and ideas, consistently failing to weigh anchor among coherent dreams. In the distance he thought he heard a faint cry, like the sound of a gleefully screaming child that seemed to grow nearer and louder by the second. Before long he felt the ground sink beneath him and then, all at once, spring back up again, jolting his pelvis into a sort of haphazard oscillation that ran intermittently contrary to the now constant rhythm of the needle-points of mass that seemed to dance between his legs.
“Wake up guys! Come on!” A voice shouted above him. “Keith is here!”
Jason groggily opened his eyes to find a small boy running in place right between his legs. His little feet repeatedly compressed the mattress beneath him while his adorable face beamed with endless excitement and energy. The boy met Jason’s gaze and nodded triumphantly, clearly pleased that he had fulfilled his purpose by rousing his unwitting target from slumber. He then effortlessly launched himself from the bed and scurried out of the room without another word beyond his unrestrained shouts of glee.
Jason sat himself up, dismissing the dead weight of another guy’s arm from his chest.
He looked around at the mass of entangled bodies surrounding him with bewildered disgust and surprise... Somehow he’d been joined in the night by four other boys of varying ages, ranging from about twelve to fifteen. Nobody in the bed was wearing anything more than underpants. The smallest of the boys was still half asleep, wrapping his arm around Jason’s left ankle and drooling out a growing puddle of saliva that had already spread beneath Jason’s now slimy heel.
“What are you doing in my bed?!” He cried with mounting frustration as he yanked his leg away from the sleeping little man and attempted to wipe his foot clean on a seemingly rare patch of dry fabric.
“Hey!” The boy shouted angrily, shaking the sleep from his mind as he quickly snapped to life.
“It’s my bed too now, JASON!” he continued to shout indignantly, his voice cracking uncontrollably with the effort. “I’m not going back to the bunk bed with the LITTLE kids just because Keith is back from college for the week! This is MY bed!… OK?!”
“Settle down, He knows it’s your bed, Jacob.” A calm male voice interjected from the side of the room.
Jason turned to see that the owner of the voice was another shirtless boy, about seventeen years old and a few inches taller than him with a lean, muscular build, wavy blond hair and dazzling green eyes who was standing in the corner lifting weights. Jason was sure he’d never seen this guy before but he looked incredibly familiar…
“Elizabeth?!” He questioned, almost without thinking.
“Who’s Elizabeth?” The boy responded with a face scrunched in confusion. “Is that one of your Asian cartoon-porn girls?” He teased with a grin. “Is that who you were dreaming about?”
“What?! No!” Jason shouted with insecurity. *Nobody knows about my thing for Asian cartoon girls!* he added silently in his mind.
“Well you were obviously dreaming about someone special.” He continued, gesturing toward Jason’s crotch while he completed another set of arm curls with his 35 lb weights.
Jason looked down with embarrassment at his obscenely tented boxers and rushed to cover himself. Even when he slept alone he would always keep a heavy pillow over his crotch just in case someone happened to come in while he was sleeping and now there were half-a-dozen people freely ogling his tented man-bits.
“Good one, Eli!” Jacob cheered with satisfaction.
“Shut up, you toad.” The oldest of the four other boys in the bed shot back. “You wake up with a boner every day, but I’ve never seen Jason cuddling YOUR god-damned foot all night!”
“Hey! Stay out of this, Scott!” Jacob whined. “I can’t help what I do when I’m asleep!”
“MMMM… Were you dreaming about sucking Jason’s hairy-ass toes, Jacob? Nothing like curling up in bed with a nice smelly foot!” The next oldest boy teased.
“I’ll kill you, Cody!” Jacob screamed as he dove headlong into Cody’s stomach. The two wrestled around on the bed until Cody shifted Jacob into a tight binding hold that he couldn’t escape from.
Having no further options to advance a physical attack, Jacob decided to return to the realm of verbal abuse instead. “You… You get morning boners too Cody!”
“We all do, fart face! This bed is tent-pole city every fucking morning!” Cody said laughing, continuing to hold Jacob’s face plastered against the headboard.
“Come on, let him go!” The last boy demanded.
“You wanna join him, Spencer?” Scott asked with a scowl before recklessly launching into the boy. The two rolled wildly around in the sheets like savages, quickly striping the meager bedding from the well-worn mattress. At some point Jason found himself in the midst of the action and caught a stray foot to the jaw.
“Jesus Christ!” He shouted with irritation.
“Cut it out, guys!” Eli shouted with authority, causing everyone to stop in mid-tumble.
“Jason...” Eli continued, “Tell Jacob this is ALL of our bed and that he’s welcome to sleep here with us.”
Jason seemed to ignore Eli for the moment, taking the opportunity to cast his awestruck gaze around the room in order to get a better sense of his surroundings. The room had the same basic dimensions and layout as his own room, but this place was in absolute shambles. The walls were peeling, the floorboards were loose, there were dents and holes in the walls and the ceiling fan looked like a wilted flower. The door had come off its hinges and was lying against the wall behind the dresser and there were scribble marks and gashes peppered over every surface. The room was miserably stuffy and wreaked of fermented sweat. There were mounds of dirty clothes and sports equipment and piles of dishes and empty food containers heaped in every corner. The bed looked ancient, and was visibly partitioned into six teen-sized divots that were so deep, it would be almost impossible to lay on the bed without finding yourself sliding into one of them. With the mattress having been denuded of bedding, it was painfully clear how unsanitary it really was. There were stains of every kind (mostly yellow), random tears and even a few exposed springs. Having finally taken everything in, Jason’s eyes at last came to rest on the frozen pairs of bodies still staring expectantly back at him.
“You freaks can keep the bed!” He finally shouted. “I’m out of here!”
Having said his peace he swiftly proceeded to leave the room while the other boys chatted amongst themselves behind him, each making known their own personal reactions to the situation. Jacob was curious to know if he could possibly occupy one of the bed’s larger body indentations if Jason wasn’t going to be around any more. Everyone else was broadly aloof and unaffected by what they perceived to be Jason acting over-dramatically and ultimately insincerely…
When Jason crossed the threshold into the hallway, he was immediately stricken speechless by what he saw. The same brand of destruction that had tap-danced across the face of his poor bedroom had clearly continued its chaotic two-step over the rest of the entire house. It looked like a hurricane and a mudslide collided together inside the house and that a pack of wild baboons were tasked with cleaning everything up using nothing but a spade, gasoline and steel wool. There wasn’t a single intact surface in pristine condition to be found and not even a single door had been left standing. There was a metal fork inexplicably embedded in one of the floorboards, jutting out at a 45 degree angle. There was even, curiously, a random tire-swing hanging in the middle of the hallway along with long, arching, skid marks and deep, wrecking-ball style cavities pocked all around its immediate vicinity. His house was a total disaster area!
“Mom?... MOM!” he called out as he made his way to the stairwell. He was caught off guard by the child-proof gate that blocked the stairway and had to pause for a moment to try to figure out its locking mechanism so he could get past it and look for his mother downstairs.
“Mom!” He shouted again.
“Keep it down, Jay!” Said a deep voice from across the hall where his sister’s room used to be. The voice belonged to a tall 18-year-old man who looked a lot like a youthful version of Jason’s father. He was standing braced against the doorway with a bunch of younger kids practically glued to his side behind him. “Mom can’t deal with you guys in her condition. She’s about to pop, man! Remember? That's why I’m here this week… To help out.”
“Hey Keith!” Came the brotherly chorus from Jason’s wrecked room.
“Hey you guys! How’s it been?” Keith asked cheerfully.
“Same old, same old.” Eli replied, brushing his long wavy hair back from his eyes in an effortlessly cool motion. “‘Cept Jason has kind of lost it this morning...”
“I noticed that.” Keith agreed. “What’s wrong, Jay?”
“I gotta talk to my Mom… What are you people doing in my house?”
“I told you man, I’m here to help her finish her pregnancy.”
“My mom is NOT pregnant.” Jason insisted firmly.
“She’s wicked pregnant dude…” Keith said solemnly. “More pregnant than you’ll EVER be.” He added with a chuckle.
“What?” Jason said in confusion.
“Whatever. Like I said, Mom’s resting so just forget about bugging her. I’m in charge and I’m supposed to get you all to school ON TIME, so anybody who doesn’t do what I say is going to get punished “Keith style”… You remember what that means, don’t you?”
Jason was ready to shoot down any notion that he had even the faintest memory of any of these strange people when suddenly... he DID remember what it meant to be punished “Keith Style”. Vivid images flashed through his mind… Memories of being punished repeatedly by Keith over the years… It was unspeakable… Disgusting… Inhuman! He’d do anything to avoid going through that again.
“Oh god, Keith… No… Please, GOD No! You wouldn’t!!” Jason begged.
“Oh yes I would.” Keith replied with a shit-eating grin… And I learned some new shit in college that’ll make it even worse!
“Fine, but I’m talking to mom before I leave.” Jason insisted.
“What’s that?” Keith said cautioningly as he started to loom over Jason.
“I mean, after school?” Jason pleaded.
“One last chance!” Keith warned…
“Fine. Forget it!” Jason relented, shrinking down a bit and praying he’d be spared.
“That’s what I like to hear… Don’t look so sad, Jason. We’re your brothers and we love you!” Keith uttered patronizingly with a giant smile. “Now let's get this show on the road. We’re already running really late bros, the first bus arrives in 35 minutes so I want everyone 11-and-up to get in line right here to take a shower.”
Eli, Scott, Cody, Spencer, Jacob and even Jason all lined up dutifully by the bathroom door where Keith had instructed them to. Then Keith passed out a tattered towel to each of the boys. Jason was disgusted by the slightly moist towel he’d received. It was threadbare, mossy green, badly frayed along the edges and had a giant hole where one of the corners should be, but he wasn’t about to make waves over it, not after remembering a fraction of his new life with an older brother.
“Hey, wait! Tanner is eleven years old, Keith!” One of the younger boys said in a tattle-tale voice.
“Shut up, Caleb!” Tanner whined.
“Sorry Tanner, but you’re one of the stinky boy’s now.” Caleb chanted remorselessly.
“Oh you’re all stinky boys” Keith assured them with a smile. “It’s just that the 11-and-ups smell the worst.”
“Better get in line quick Tanner.” Keith added seriously.
Tanner reluctantly joined the line with his brothers and Keith brought him his very own moth-eaten towel, adding a congratulatory punch to the arm as he sarcastically exclaimed “Happy Birthday!” The way he always did whenever he got caught not knowing one of his brother’s exact age.
“I’m putting you in charge of the stop-watch, Caleb.” Keith instructed, “Make sure each Bro finishes their shower in less than a minute, that’s sixty seconds, OK?”
“Sure thing, Keith!” Caleb exclaimed with pride.
“Marty and Dustin, I’m going to need you two to watch the triplets while Kyle, Nathan and I put together everybody’s lunches.” Keith went on to explain. “Does everybody know their job?”
“Yep.” they all replied
“Ok. Let’s do it!” He exclaimed as everyone broke into action.
In the fleeting instant that everyone was grouped around him Jason did a quick head count of the boy’s that had invaded his home… 5 boys from the bed, plus 9 younger kids, plus Keith… That’s 15 brothers!
“I have Fifteen brothers?” Jason whispered quietly to himself.
“Seventeen” Scott corrected flatly. “Don’t forget Derek and Alex in the army.”
“Eighteen if you count the baby on the way.” Tanner observed.
“With me included, that's 19 boys total!” Jason realized… “Jesus Christ.”
“You’ve got 20 seconds left for your shower, Eli.” Caleb warned as he kept a meticulous account of the running time.
Eventually Eli strode out of the shower still soaking wet with his towel draped around his waist and he proceeded to return to the older boy’s shared bedroom making wet slapping sounds against the floor with his feet while Scott rushed to take his place in the shower and Caleb restarted the timer.
While Scott was taking his turn in the shower, the twins Marty and Dustin bounded up the stairs and ran past the shower line looking for something.
“Whatcha lookin’ for, Marty?” Tanner asked.
“The cat! We wanna feed him the last piece of the Tuna-Fish birthday cake Jason helped us make yesterday so Keith can see!” Marty replied while his twin brother Dustin reached behind a display case and pulled a frayed-looking feline out from hiding. The cat had wild looking fur and kinked-up whiskers. It looked like it had lived through war.
“Mr. Sparkles?” Jason asked in shock. Realizing the nine-year-old fraternal twin boys in front of him with their pet cat were the spitting image of his sisters Marcy and Darcy.
“Mr. Sparkles?” Dustin replied with a laugh… “That’s a dumb name for a cat…”
“Yeah.” Marty agreed with an exaggerated nod. “His name is BLOOD LUST!” He added with a radical sounding imitation of a pro-wrestler announcer’s voice.
The twins bounded back down the stairs with the cat slung over Dustin’s shoulders like a backpack, looking scared out of his wits.
When Jason's turn to shower finally came, he quickly ducked into the bathroom, not knowing quite what he was expected to accomplish in a single minute. He instinctively turned to close the door behind him before remembering the bathroom didn’t have a door anymore, which immediately presented an array of privacy and logistical concerns that he didn’t have any time to solve… If he hid behind the shower curtain to take his boxers off he’d get hit with cold water when he turned the shower on. If he warmed up the water first he’d either have to get his boxers wet or undress in front of the others… He was ill equipped to figure out how to deal with those issues on such a tight deadline so he made a quick compromise and turned the shower water on, waited patiently for it to heat back up, and then hopped inside, stripping off his wet underwear in privacy.
*25 seconds!*
He quickly grabbed the shampoo bottle and squirted out a dime-sized dab of product and began to lather his hair.
*5 seconds!*
He quickly tried to rinse the suds from his scalp but the water pressure left a lot to be desired. It was barely a soft spray and it was shooting out at extreme angles with a giant cone of dryness in the very center of the stream where he was standing. He had to place his head close to the shower head and roll it from side to side to catch what amounted to a gentle mist of moisture.
*Come on, Jason! You should be done by now!*
“Just a second!” Jason called out to Caleb as he felt more suds still clinging behind his ears.
*You’re 25 Seconds over, Jay*
Jason decided to give up on getting the shampoo all out and frantically smeared in a dollop of conditioner trying frantically to wash it all out together.
*You’re past 2 Minutes, Jason!*
“I’m close, just give me a second!” He shouted.
He grabbed the soap and tried his best to lather all of the most important places as fast as he could. Face, pits, bits, and butt. Then rinse off what he could as fast as possible. But when he moved to lather his junk he made a startling discovery… It looked all weird, longer, and kind of droopy.
“Oh God, My Dick!” He screamed as he realized he was no longer circumcised.
*Get out of there! You’re past 3 minutes for Christ’s sake. I’m telling Keith!*
Jason could hear a rumble shudder through the walls as Caleb dashed down the stairwell accompanied by muffled shouting.
“What’s going on in there, Jason?” Keith bellowed from the bottom of the stairway. “Are you seriously masturbating in there, or what?”
“What?! No!” Jason screamed with indignant frustration. “This shower head is a piece of shit I’m just trying to get clean.”
“Well you’d better be done before I get up there, or you’re gonna get it!”
Jason’s heart was racing and he felt himself growing more and more uncoordinated while he attempted to cut every conceivable corner to get himself fully rinsed as fast as possible, but in his haste he managed to get a little soap into his left eye. He clutched at it in pain before trying to collect enough spray from the showerhead in his hands to clear the soap and tears from his vision, all the while Keith’s heavy footfalls were growing louder and the walls were shaking more and more intimidatingly until they suddenly grew quiet… Jason could only hope that meant Keith had stopped short of the landing, but he knew better.
*THWAP*
The shower curtain suddenly jerked inward as a wet towel rapidly uncoiled itself around the liner’s left edge. The whip-like cloth violently extended its reach, sending its terrible corner lashing fiercely at Jason’s naked backside.
*THWAP*
*THWAP*
*THWAP*
“STOP! Please! I’ve...” *THWAP* “OW!... I’ve got soap in my eyes!.” *THWAP* *Thwap* *THWAP*
“YHAA!”
Jason was still slick and sudsy, causing the shower curtain to stick to him uncomfortably. He tried to use it as a shield against the stinging bite of Keith’s menacing towel whip, but it merely dulled the sting. Then, in an ill-timed attempt to flee, Jason slipped and slid gracelessly out of the shower and onto the cracked tile floor where he continued to slip and stumble like a wobbly fawn on ice, but Keith didn’t stop. He continued snapping the towel and herding Jason’s sudsy ass right down the hallway back to his room.
By then enough of the water had come off from his feet that he was able to stand without fear of slipping, but he figured his best defense now was to cower in a ball on a pile of dirty laundry, try to cover his naked body, and hope he’d already felt the last painful sting.
“Four Minutes!?” Keith hollered. “FOUR!... What the hell is that about? I could have washed TWO cars in four minutes!”
“Sorry.” Jason replied meekly. “I don’t know how to shower that fast.”
“Bullshit!” Keith shouted. “You’re fifteen; you should know how to take a shower just like the others... Tanner is new to it, and even he could take a shower faster than that… Right, Tanner?”
“Yeah, yeah!” Tanner nodded eagerly with fear. “Thirty seconds!”
“Then do it!” Keith replied with a huff before Tanner sped from the room.
“...No…” Keith began again, turning to Jason. “You’re doing something... You’re still trying to get your way or somethin’.. You’re trying to make me screw up morning prep so you can get to see Mom...”
“No. I don’t know why it took so long, I’m sorry. Please. Let’s just forget it. I’ll get dressed fast. I’ll still be on time, I promise.” Jason begged.
“You better! I’ve got my own shit to do. I don’t have time to change your diapers for you… You’re not one of the triplets!... Everyone had better be dressed, downstairs, and ready to go in 5 minutes! Got it?!” Keith bellowed.
“Yeah.” “Got it.” “Yep.” “Uh huh.” “Got it.” “Got it.” Everyone affirmed.
Keith noticed Spencer standing to the side, motionless, with a queasy expression on his face, and with a finger raised oddly in the air, as if to hesitantly interject.
“You have something to say, Spencer?” Keith asked, unamused.
“Uh… Well… Jason is sixteen, not fifteen… That’s all.” Spencer admitted awkwardly, immediately regretting having made the needless correction.
Keith rolled his eyes and bent down, punching Jason in the shoulder before turning to leave.
“Happy Birthday.”