Tainted: Origins of a Psycho

The Talk

Vincent:

Daddy stared out of the windshield in complete silence as we rode away from the school, and I was beyond terrified.  My body trembled like a tree branch during a windy night and I prayed that he would break the silence before I went mad with worry.  There was no telling what kind of horrible punishment he would inflict on me for embarrassing him in front of the school principal.  He would probably start by beating the hell out of me, followed by forcing me to spend the night in the dark attic alone. 

The thought of it nearly sent me into a tear filled frenzy, but I held it together so he would not add to my punishment.  I pinched my eyes shut and prayed that he would have mercy on me until I felt the car come to a stop.  My eyes slowly reopened and I was shocked to find that we were in the parking lot of Buena Comida, my favorite Mexican restaurant in town. 

Daddy unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned his head back on his seat, his eyes falling on me as I sat in the passenger seat with a bewildered look on my face. "I want you to tell me exactly why you punched that little girl today, boy."

My stomach clenched and I hesitated before telling him the whole story; how I had worked so hard making her a Valentine, and how she laughed at me in front of the entire class. He listened intently to my story and waited until I was finished before putting his hand on my shoulder, a smile playing on his lips. "You did the right thing, son." He said, pride beaming in his eyes. "The bitch got what she deserved."

My mouth flung open.  "But....but at the school you said-"

He waved his hand in the air.  "Forget what I said earlier.  That was just to cover both of us."

He could see the confusion painted all over my face, so he explained himself.  "You were right in correcting Annie for what she did, but you made the mistake of doing it in front of other people.  That's what got you into trouble."

"So...you're not mad at me?"  I asked, my eyes narrowing.

"Of course not."  Daddy chuckled, "Let's grab a bite to eat and I'll tell you how to handle those kinds of situations in the future."

We climbed out of the car and found a table outside of the restaurant.  A pretty waitress came over with two menus in her hand, smiling at us as she set them on the table.  "Good afternoon.  My name is Kelly and I'll be serving you today.  What can I get you guys to drink?"

"Hello there, darlin'."  Daddy said, smiling back at her.  "A cup of coffee for me and a root beer for my son."

"You got it."  Kelly replied with a wink before scurrying off to fetch our drinks.

Daddy stared after her as she walked away, his eyebrows wiggling up and down.  "Damn, that gal has a tight ass.  I'd love to bend her over this table and explore every inch of it." 

My cheeks flushed red and I glanced down at the table.  It was a little weird hearing Daddy talk like that about another woman, especially since he was already married.  I always thought that once someone finds the person they want to spend the rest of their life with they should stop looking at other people.  I could be wrong.

Kelly returned with our drinks a few minutes later and took our food orders.  When she left again, Daddy laced his hands together and leaned forward to talk to me.  "Okay, let's get back to what you did wrong earlier.  Not only did you hit her in front of people, but you also hit her in the face.  That's a big no-no."

"Really?"  I asked, dipping a corn chip into a bowl of red salsa.  "How come?"

"People will see the bruises."  Daddy explained patiently, "You have to hit them in a spot where no one can see the evidence."

"Oh....so, it's okay to hit a girl as long as no one knows about it?"

"Yes."

I scratched my head as I considered this.  "But if it's okay...why do people go to jail for it?"

"The ones who get busted are usually drunken idiots who don't know how to control their women."  He answered, shaking his head.

"Wait....how do you control a woman?" I asked, hanging on every word.  This was all very new and fascinating to me.

Daddy opened his mouth to answer until our waitress returned with another bottle of root beer.  She handed it to me with a smile.  "Here you go, cutie.  I'll be back with your food in a minute."  She said before leaving us again.

"You have to make sure she's afraid of you." He said, taking a sip of his coffee.  "Not so much so that she runs away, but just enough for her to know that she should not cross you."

"Ooooh...." I repeated. 

Daddy chuckled.  "Any more questions?"

I thought about it for a moment, then nodded my head.  "Whenever I hit Annie she started screaming and crying.  What should I do if a girl gets too loud while I'm hitting her?"

"That all depends on where you are."  He said, setting his coffee cup down.  "If you're not around other people you can let her scream her head off, but if you're out in public you have to keep her quiet by any means necessary.  You can either cover her mouth or wrap your hand around her neck so she can't scream."

"Wow, you sure know a lot about this stuff."  I said happily.  "Thanks for teaching me."

"No problem, boy." He replied, patting me on the head. "Just remember to be smart with what I told you. Don't go around picking fights with girls just because you feel like it."

"Of course not. I would never hurt a girl unless she deserves it."

Kelly brought the food out and we spent the rest of our lunch time talking about different things.  I was having so much fun bonding with Daddy that I'd forgotten all about getting in trouble.  My whole life has been spent worrying that I was not a good enough son, so to know that I had pleased Daddy today was something very special to me.  I was sorry that I had to hurt Annie to make her see that she was wrong for laughing at me, but I decided it was worth it for this moment right here. 

Besides, it wasn't like I was ever going to have to do it again.  I would just ignore Annie and find another girl, one who likes me for who I am and who would never humiliate me.  It was hard to imagine finding such a girl, but I knew that if I was patient she would come along.

We finished our meal and climbed back into the car, leaving the restaurant and driving to our house.  Daddy pulled into the driveway and helped me out of the passenger side.  "Come on, boy.  Let's go see what the girls are up to."

I followed him into the house as he opened the front door; but if I would have known what horror awaited me....I would have stayed away.