Hey Folks, This one is a little bit off of the beaten track. It's a little bit darker than most , but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. This is actually the lighter pf two versions of this story. Most of you know where the other version is and my thanks to whomever mentions it for those who don't. This story was edited by the legendary Barney-R. I've been re-reading some of his work, so expect something a bit lighter and peppier as well as shorter next time. I know this one isn't everyone's cup of tea and some parts of it will probably enflame those of you with more gentle constitutions. Sorry in advance for that but remember that I warned you and remember also that this is supposedly an adult site. So there is going to be sex and violence in these stories. And always remember you can always just STOP READING. Anyway thanks again to those of you who don't (stop reading that is) SS06
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Most people don't remember much of their lives before they were seven or eight. I can remember almost every detail of my life from the age of four on. I'm particularly fond of the years when I was four and five. The memories are particularly vivid fifteen years later. I cherish them and guard them like jewels, sharing them with no one. After all they're all I have to call my own.
I drop to the floor and crank out twenty-five perfect pushups. Rising I do twenty-five squats. The mini workout takes me all of two minutes to complete. I'm constantly doing little workouts whenever I have time. I must become stronger.
I can hear the sounds of people; walking, talking and doing other things that normal people do only a few yards away from me. I hear his honeyed tones talking to them. He sounds so nice, so compassionate. He sounds like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. If only they knew him as I do.
I peeked out the door and saw the line of people filing out the door getting smaller and smaller. Somehow the organist always managed to be the last one. The fifty-something, bird-like woman smiled up at him through her gigantic glasses as he slipped a small roll of bills into her hand, unobtrusively.
As she tried to engage him in conversation, he promised to call her later and closed the door behind her, locking it securely. His mask was beginning to fade. He leaned with his back against the door, as if reflecting on what had just occurred. I slipped through the door into the church and began sweeping the floor. Only scant seconds had passed since he closed the door.
"Why the fuck does it take you so God damned long to start cleaning?" he bellowed.
"I'm sorry," I said. I said it very loudly and very clearly.
"Stop that God damned mumbling," he spat. He looked at me as if he was analyzing the way I swept. "Why the fuck are you using diagonal strokes to sweep?" he asked angrily.
"Because you said that straight left to right strokes damaged the floor and you beat me for using them, sir?" I said. "You also told me that straight back to front strokes looked queer and God doesn't like them. So you beat me."
"That doesn't mean that it's okay to use fucking diagonal strokes," he said. He reached up with his arms so fast that I almost couldn't see them. His left arm grabbed me around my throat choking me. His right arm punched me in the face so hard that my head snapped back and I fell to the floor.
"The Lord hates stupidity and stupid people," he screamed as he gleefully kicked me in my side. "The Lord hates people who don't take pride in their work and do a good job!" Pain shot through me with each kick and my own anger grew. And then suddenly, fifteen years of torture and abuse ... ended. As he reached to kick me yet again, I rolled away from him.
For the last two years I'd been doing pushups, sit ups, squats and any other exercise that I could think of, any chance I got. He was older and bigger than I was. But I was younger and stronger and more determined. I grabbed his descending foot, caught it in my hands, and twisted it, spilling him to the floor beside me.
He was so shocked that he couldn't find the words to express it. He raised his hands to strike me again. And he had mayhem in his eyes. I rolled on top of him and grabbed both of his hands in mine. I put my knees over his torso and forced his arms above his head. He sputtered in frustration. He tried to move his arms, but as I've mentioned, I've been working out a lot. Meanwhile he's been lying back on his fat old ass eating bonbons, and cupcakes.
My strength, fueled by the built up anger from over a decade of abuse overwhelmed his. I held his hands down with only one of mine and then for the first time in my life. I hit him back. The punch was solid. His head bounced uselessly off of the hardwood floor. He tried to scream but it came out as a short gurgling sound. My anger grew and I punched him again and again. As he tried to get up, I continued to punch him. When he tried to shake me off, I continued to hit him. My fist glanced off of his blood slicked face, but I continued to hit him. His resistance grew more and futile as it weakened because, I CONTINUED TO HIT HIM. I continued to hit him until he stopped moving and beyond that. Long after he lost consciousness, I continued to hit him.
I hit him in the mouth. I hit him in the jaw. I hit him in the nose, the eye and on his chin. I punched him in the eye and then turned his other cheek to make Jesus proud of him. Bones snapped, blood flowed, cartilage gave way, but I continued to hit him. I only stopped when I could no longer move my arms. Then I stood up and started to kick him.
Every so often, he groaned and then renewed by anger, I would increase my efforts. Anyone walking into the small southern church at that moment would have seen me and sworn that I was a monster.
They would see only a large muscular twenty year old man beating the fuck out of a beloved small town southern preacher. His blood was all over me. It was on my face, my clothing, and the floor around where I continued pummeling him. It was on the wall beside us and on the back of the pews closest to us.
My knuckles were bruised and bloody and beginning to swell, but I didn't consider stopping. The pain from my injuries would be transitory. The pain the man I beat had caused me had been never ending.
At twenty years old, I hadn't been to school in the last fifteen years. I had no friends because no one had been allowed to know that I existed. I had been beaten severely for any and every slight infraction of his ever changing rules. Sometimes he changed the rules without telling me just so he could beat me. I had no actual knowledge of the passing of time. I only knew that sometimes, he'd spit at me, and tell me it was my birthday. Then two years ago, for no reason, he had awakened me in the middle of the night and blackened both of my eyes. He's split my lip, kicked me, and then just laughed at me as I cowered in the corner wondering how I could have done anything wrong while I was asleep.
"What did I do wrong sir?" I asked in a terrified voice.