Tom returned half an hour later after he took a shower and changed his clothes. He saw his mother prepping the dinner table with plates and glasses. His mother saw him enter and smiled. "All freshened up, honey?"
"Yeah," Tom said, blushing. He was glad everything was back to normal. He would have dinner with his family, and then his aunt and cousins would go to their new apartment next door to unpack.
The door rang, and his sister opened it and picked up two boxes of pizza. She placed them on the table, and the whole family took their seats. As soon as Tom took his seat, his mother stopped him. "Not so fast, young man," she said. "You spat on the carpet earlier, remember? Go clean that up before you can eat."
"What?" Tom said, irritated. "But I didn't even have breakfast! The food would get cold if I don't eat now."
"If you don't clean it now, you never will. Better clean it fast before the pizza gets cold." His mother winked at him and then waved her hand, dismissing him.
Tom rolled his eyes but did as he was told. It was his fault for staining the carpet, he couldn't argue with that, but it annoyed him that she excluded him from lunch in front of everyone just to clean up his mess.
Tom grabbed a sponge and some tissues and started working on the stain. He managed to clean it by scrubbing it roughly with the sponge before patting it down with the tissues. When he was done, he returned to the table only to find a single slice of pizza left. "What the hell?"
"Sorry honey," Mom said, chewing loudly, "but you were too slow!"
Tom leaned in to take the last slice, but his cousin snatched it quickly. "Hey, that's mine!"
"Nuh-uh," Jenna said, taking a bite out of the pizza slice. "I grabbed it first."
Tom was furious; his family had lunch and didn't leave him a single bite. "I hate you!" he yelled. "I'm going out to eat, and I'm not coming back." Tom stormed off to his room to get his wallet, but when he got to the doorway to leave, he saw his mother standing there, blocking the door, hands on her hips. "Move," he said.
"Is that any way to talk to your mother?" His mom said, her voice loud and stern.
Tom shied away for a second but stood his ground. "I'm not taking this anymore."
"You embarrassed us in front of guests, and you raised your voice at me," his mother said, her tone commanding. "Go back in there and apologize, or you won't have a house to go back to."
Tom seldom saw his mother in such a bad mood, so he hung his head low and did as he was told. His mother reprimanding him almost brought him to tears, but he stifled his feelings and went to the living room to apologize.
In the living room, his cousins, sister, and aunt were all staring at him. They clearly heard his mother yell at him, and he was humiliated to face them. "I'm sorry for losing my temper," he mumbled.
"Well," Jenna said, smirking, "we forgive you. I mean, you still have to do the punishment for losing the card game."
"What?" Tom asked.
Mom nodded. "That's right. The punishment was that you would spend the rest of our day at our feet, not just an hour."
Tom was horrified by what his mom and cousin were implying. "No way. I did what you told me, now I'm out. I still haven't eaten anything since I woke up."
"Rules are rules, Tommy," Mom said. "If you go now, I'm posting that picture on my Facebook.'
Tom was speechless. He hated his mother more than ever at that moment. He was furious and hungry, but he couldn't do anything. His mother would probably not let him back in the house if he left now, so he couldn't just leave. That meant he had to stay and do what his horrendous family said.
Tom went into the living room with a slouched back and sat on the floor, away from everyone. His mom nodded and sat next to her sister. She gestured to Tom with her hand to sit in front of her on the floor. Tom didn't move at first, but when his mom gave him a stern glare, he complied.
He slid next to her feet and waited, looking away from her. He hated this, but he had no other choice, he had to suffer this day, or his mother would upload that picture of him beneath their feet and humiliate him for the rest of his life.
His mother extended her feet, resting them on Tom's lap. "So, now that I think about it, you licked everybody's feet except mine." She raised both her feet and rested them on Tom's face, pushing his head back. "Start licking, and press your face against my feet so they don't fall."
Tom pulled back when her feet touched his face. "I don't want to do anything related to feet anymore! They're disgusting."
"It's not up to you," Mom said. The cousins behind him nodded, poking his back with their toes.
"Yes it is," Tom said. "I agreed not to leave, but I didn't agree to more feet!"
"You did agree when you played the game," Jenna said from behind. "We all agreed that the loser has to do anything the others agree on."
"Still, your request is absurd!" Tom complained.