Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: GLUTTONY (overindulgence and overconsumption) (01/15/15)
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TITLE: Vice or Victim? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Paula Richards
01/19/15 -
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ADD TO MY FAVORITES
I stared at him in disbelief. “Tim, you just ate five slices of pizza already! I’ve only had two slices so far. If you touch my pizza, I am going to break your hand.”
He gave me a coy grin and cocked his head to one side. “I am appalled at such violence coming from your mouth.”
I glared daggers at him, feeling emotions that would send me to jail. “You need to get your eating under control. You are already 250 lbs and climbing. This is not healthy.”
My twin brother seemed to have a well in his stomach that was never satisfied. Every time we passed each other in the corridors between classes he always had something in his mouth. This excessive eating which started three months ago was very out of character for him and every time I tried to discuss it with him he passed it off by saying he was a growing boy. On top of that his grades were falling miserably, yet he did not appear to be too concerned about that either.
“Tim, we really must talk about this and your grades. I heard you have had meetings with Principal Lee several times. What is going on?”
As usual, Tim shrugged me off. “I’m cool, sis. Relax. Principal Lee and I came to an understanding. It’s really only two subjects that are a struggle for me now. And I already told you, it’s that new vitamin I’ve been taking that’s causing me to eat so much. I’m going to be fine.”
I still was not convinced. It was the same tired story every time.
“Tim, you need help. I am worried...”
“Just drop it, Sarah.” Everything about his demeanour changed then and I was too shocked to respond. This was not my brother; this was someone else. Just as quickly as it appeared, the strange look on his face disappeared.
I returned to class with a heavy heart. He was not depressed, and was always upbeat, always joking, yet, undoubtedly there was something going on in Tim’s life that he was not telling me about and I was determined to find out what it was. I was not however prepared for the truth.
* * *
The incessant knocking at my door caused me to drift reluctantly from the fog of my dream and I crawled wearily out of bed. I opened the door to find Tammy Lange, the faculty counsellor, standing there with a sad look on her face.
I stifled a yawn. “What’s going on, Tammy?”
“I’m afraid something has happened to Tim.”
All traces of sleep immediately fled from me and gut-wrenching fear gripped my heart.
“Tammy, what’s wrong?”
I could see the despair on her face and I feared the worse.
“Tim is dead. He committed suicide.”
I did not know what happened after that. I woke up to find myself in a hospital bed and my parents sitting beside me.
“How long have I been here?”
“Twenty-four hours,” my mother said. “The doctors had to sedate you. You were hysterical.”
Immediately I remembered the last thing Tammy said to me and I started to cry. My mom was the first to her feet and she gathered me in her arms and wept with me. My dad remained seated, with a sombre expression on his face.
“Why did he do it, Mom?” I bawled. “Why? I knew something was wrong, but he wouldn’t tell me.”
“Sweetheart, you need to rest, don’t...”
My father’s booming voice filled the room. “Martha, stop coddling the child; she needs to know. She will find out eventually and it is best she hears it from us.”
I still felt slightly groggy from the sedative, but I managed to raise myself to a sitting position and stared at my parents. I could not speak.
“He left a note."
The bluntness of my father's next statement caused a pain in my soul that would take months to go away.
"He was being sexually abused by one of the teachers. A Mr. Jameson. The note was very detailed. Mr. Jameson has been arrested and it appears Tim was not the only one.”
I stared in horror at my parents. In an instant, I knew. My brother’s gluttony was not a vice, but simply a way to medicate his pain and silent cry for help.
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Well done.
Suicide is a terrible thing for all parties concerned, the ones left behind deal with guilt of "not seeing the signs" or "what could I have done to prevent this?" A friend of mine in grade school killed himself, and there were no tell-tale signs at all. He was a happy boy...so it was quite the shock, just as it was to your MC.
Well done! I thought this was outstanding!
God bless~
Well done