Sex Addict
by Pan
Chapter 1
Saya's heart almost broke when she caught her son crying.
He'd been trying to hide it, but she'd been passing his room and noticed his room was closed. Always a bad sign, when your teenage son has his door closed, and so Saya had acted without thinking, bursting in, prepared to berate Adnan for whatever sinful thing he was doing behind closed doors.
But he wasn't doing pot or smoking cigarettes; he was on his bed, clutching a pillow, tears streaming down his face.
"Mom!" he cried out, turning away, but - ignoring her son's objections - Saya crossed the room and held her son tight. After a moment of resistance, he allowed himself to be hugged and comforted by his mother for the first time since puberty had struck.
His sobs eventually subsided as she stroked his hair, and gently asked: "What happened, sweetie?"
Adnan sniffled quietly. "Nothing."
Saya gripped her son tighter. He was proud, like his father, although he hadn't inherited any of his athleticism. Saya's husband was tall, with a thick beard and a naturally muscular frame. Adnan, meanwhile, had always been a little short and skinny.
If she was being honest, Saya would have admitted that he was more than a little spoiled; she'd never forced him into team sports, and even though he was still a teenager, he'd already developed the beginnings of a belly.
She probed further. "You can tell me, paΕam. Is it a girl?"
Adnan didn't say anything, just shook his head. She kissed his forehead, before freezing.
"A...boy?"
Saya was only thirty-five; even in her own high school days, there had been gay students. She'd even been friends with some of them. But none of them had been Turkish, and she knew that if her son was...like that...he had a difficult path ahead of him.
"No," he spat, and Saya felt guilty at how relieved she was.
"What is it, bir tanim? Tell me."
Adnan pulled away, suddenly awkward. "It's Darren..."
Saya's entire body slumped. Of course. She should've known.
Darren was the school bully. He wasn't violent - he never hit anyone - but he had earned a reputation among the mothers of the school for his cutting words. Adnan's best friend was a boy called Jamie, and Saya was close with his mother. Kathryn had confided in her that Darren had tormented her son for a while, though she'd never shared exactly the exact subject of his harassment.
About a month ago, it had stopped, though Saya had never gotten the full story. She made a mental note to ask Kathryn exactly what she'd done to resolve it.
Her son's eyes were red. "I'm sorry..."
The words caught in Saya's throat. "It's not your fault, darling," she said softly. "We're outsiders here, and..."
Adnan threw her a look. "Mom, it's not the 90's. No one cares that my grandma is from Turkiye."
Saya's cheeks went slightly red at the admonishment. "So what is he saying?"
Her son's complexion matched her own. "I don't want to tell you."
With a sigh, she put her hand on Adnan's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "If I'm going to help you with this, I need to know what he's saying."
Adnan tried to shrug off her hand, but Saya refused to budge. She could see the shame in his eyes.
"PaΕam, we can fix this. But I need to know everything."
When her son replied, it was in a strangled voice. "It was about you."
Saya's eyes widened, but she held firm. "What did he say?"
"He said...Mom, it's embarrassing."
"I need to know."
Adnan's gaze fell to the side, and his voice was small.
"He said you were a sex addict."
Saya's hand fell to her side. Her son's last two words hit her like a hammer, resonating through her body like an earthquake.
All the air left Saya's lungs; she felt her legs go weak, and it took several moments for the room to stop spinning.
"W-what?" she finally gasped, and her son looked at her, concerned.
"Your face is grey..."
She ignored his concern, grabbing his shoulders, tighter than before.
"What did Darren say about me?"
"I didn't want to tell you," her son replied, shifting uncomfortably under her gaze.
"Say it," she insisted, and he looked her in the eyes and said it again.
"He said you were a sex addict."
When Saya's husband got home that night, he was immediately accosted by his wife. She was shorter than him by almost two feet; her hair was long and brown, and she was slight in build, with a narrow nose and bright green eyes. Aside from her (lack of) height, her most prominent feature was her full chest, which she worked hard to hide beneath her clothes.
They'd met during his undergraduate years, when she was still in high-school, and they'd fallen in love quickly. As soon as Saya had graduated, they'd gotten married. They had two children together, and even though her husband was secular, he'd allowed his children to be raised in Islam, assuming - correctly - that it wouldn't stick.
He was a thoroughly Westernised Turk, but both their families had been overjoyed by their union. Her husband had never considered himself Muslim, but after meeting his wife, he'd been happy to compromise, and now went to mosque with the rest of the family, though he didn't pray five times a day or give zakat.
Saya, meanwhile, was still heavily religious. And so her husband was thoroughly surprised by the words that came out of her mouth.
"Sevgilim," she said, eyes wide, brow furrowed. "Do you think I'm a sex addict?"
He rubbed his forehead. "Of course not, my sun."
Saya stared at him, and he stared back.
Finally, she spoke, her voice shaky. "Are you sure?"
"Why would you ask such a thing? It doesn't make sense. You're not a sex addict."