Maternal Bondage (standard:drama, 4403 words)
Author: Tim Callaway	Added: Aug 30 2002	Views/Reads: 3840/3206	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Sonia Broadhurst is a single mother struggling to bring up four boys prior to a divorce. She stumbles across a revelation and her life takes on a new dimension. A must for all adults bringing up teenagers!

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

through the programme for the morning within her tired mind. It was a 
school day and she had managed to prepare the boys' uniform late the 
previous evening but had they done their homework? Had she signed their 
homework logs? She couldn't remember but re-categorised this problem to 
a lower level wondering how she would get them all out of bed in time 
for school. Sonia fell out of bed and climbed into her power shower. 
The water pounded her into reality and the shower gel released her 
night born tension disposing it swiftly down the drain preparing her 
for the next few hours of commands, persuasion and threats. She dried 
her self and got dressed in her smart work clothes. 

"Jez, wake up, it's time to get up," she whispered gently into her
favourite son's ear. Jez stirred and smiled at her. 

"Sure thing, mum. Shall I get the breakfast things ready?" he asked
stretching the sleep from his slender, tanned body. 

"Yes please. Don't forget to get the milk in from the front door will
you?" 

"No, mum," Jez replied throwing back his bed covers. Sonia went into
Jake's room. The smell of an unwashed teenage boy hit her olfactory 
senses. His room was a tip and he had clearly not tidied it as asked. 
This angered her and Sonia shook him violently to stir him. One brown, 
bloodshot eye opened and then shut quickly once more. 

"Get up you slob! You will tidy this bedroom before breakfast, do I make
myself clear?" she thundered. 

"Yeah, yeah, get off my case!" he groaned rolling over placing his broad
back and tattoo in her direction. Sonia pulled back the curtains and 
opened the window to allow the autumnal morning air into his room. 

"I mean it, Jake. Don't wind me up, a refusal often offends," she added
lightly trying to dispel the growing tension. Sonia then went into 
Josh's room, which was tidy but a bra lay causally abandoned on the 
floor. 

"What have you been up to? Where's the girl?" Sonia inquired pulling
back the blinds. Josh stirred revealing a love bite on his neck and 
fresh scratches on his broad, muscular back. 

"What are you talking about, old woman?" he grunted with his eyes shut. 

"You bloody well know what I'm talking about. What's this?" Sonia boomed
holding up the bra. Josh opened his brown eyes and stared at the under 
garment. 

"One of the guys put it in my school bag for a joke," he added feebly. 

"You expect me to believe that in conjunction with a love bite and
scratches on your back?" she responded. 

"OK, you've got me. You win, now can I go back to sleep, mum?" 

"We will talk about this later, my boy and mark my words!" Sonia
announced as she walked into Jamie's room. He was wearing his school 
uniform and was playing with his train set on the floor. 

"Morning mum! What's for breakfast," asked Jamie as he changed the
points to reverse his goods train into a siding. 

"Have you cleaned your teeth?" she asked. No answer came. "Show me?"
Jamie stood up and proudly showed his mum. "You haven't, you little 
devil and come to think of it you haven't washed! Now take off your 
uniform and get in the shower!" Sonia smacked him lightly on the behind 
and he skipped into the hallway liberally throwing his clean uniform to 
the floor as he passed. Sonia followed him to the bathroom door picking 
up the final garments and relocating them in his bedroom. She went 
downstairs after shouting once more at her eldest boys. 

In the kitchen Jez had laid the table for breakfast and was making a
start on the toast. Five different varieties of cereal were placed 
symmetrically on the table and Jez was finishing unloading the 
dishwasher. 

"What would I do without you, Jez?" Sonia said as she started to butter
the toast. 

"Have a nervous breakdown?" suggested Jez humorously. His humour hit a
raw nerve; little did he know how close his mum was to a complete 
breakdown if something didn't happen to change their lives. Sonia 
dropped the butter dish and Jez came to her instant aid offering her 
words of comfort and solace. 

One by one Josh, Jake and Jamie appeared at the breakfast table in
different states of dress. Although conversation didn't usually feature 
much at the breakfast table today was rather different. Josh accused 
Jake of wearing his best shirt without asking and Sonia had to directly 
intervene before the testosterone erupted causing damage to the 
kitchen. Jamie said that he felt sick but this information was lost 
amongst the growing argument. Jez tried to tell his brothers about his 
latest painting which he considered to be the finest to date but his 
final sentence was disrupted as Jake dived across the table towards 
Josh as Sonia fought to restrain them. 

"That's it. I've had enough. I slave away for you horrible lot all day
and this is how you repay me. I have no life; you have taken away that 
from me. I have, or soon will have no husband but I cannot blame you 
for that. Who would have thought that your bloody father would have 
turned out to be a closet raving queen! I've got no friends; well none 
that want to see me when you're around and you always are like the 
proverbial thorn in my bosom!" 

"Don't you mean side, mum?" interrupted Jake with some arrogance. 

"Don't interrupt me in full flight! I've got this huge house to keep
clean and the most unhelpful boys, with the exception of Jez and what 
do you ever give me?" Brief, stunned silence followed. "Bloody grief! 
Well I'm sick of it," screamed Sonia as she left the kitchen before she 
lost it completely. The boys looked at each other in stunned belief and 
continued to eat their cereal and toast absolved (in their eyes) of all 
blame. Sonia locked herself in the downstairs cloakroom and sobbed 
profusely. 

"That was your fault, you git!" suggested Jake aimed towards his older
brother. 

"Was not, skunk face! It was you nicking my shirt," he replied. 

"Pass the jam please Jez," asked Jamie. Jez complied with the request
and stood to cautiously address his brothers. 

"Look, you guys, we've got to help mum more. The divorce is due at the
end of this month and she needs our support." 

"Change the record or you'll turn out like dad, gay boy," sniggered
Jake. Jez ignored their comments and pursued his theme further. 

"If you continue as you're doing Mum will leave and where will we be
then?" 

"Can I be adopted?" asked Jamie innocently as he emptied the entire
contents of the jam pot onto his plate in one dollop. 

"Everything is possible, little guy," teased Jake twisting his ear
gently then he turned to respond. "Shut up, Jez and change the record!" 
Jez sat down and finished his breakfast trying to hide his anger and 
disappointment. 

Deep within their hearts the boys knew that they should help their
mother through this difficult time but they were not prepared to make 
the sacrifice. Life was OK for them, why change anything. 

Ten minutes Sonia emerged from the cloakroom after re-applying her eye
make up. She returned to the empty kitchen with the plates, cups and 
bowls left on the table for the magic fairy to clear away. Well this 
magic fairy was about to change so she shut the kitchen door and went 
to get the car out of the garage. 

A few minutes later, one by one, the boys emerged through the front door
and secured their usual seats in the large people carrier clutching 
their various school bags. Josh started to read his 'Viz' magazine on 
the back seat. Jez came last and locked the front door placing the 
empty milk bottles on the doorstep. The school and work run had begun 
and was completed in total silence following the eruption at dawn. No 
one knew what to say thereby silence and denial reigned supreme within 
the leather, air conditioned interior of the prestige family vehicle. 

After dropping Jamie off at school, still complaining of feeling unwell,
Sonia headed for the office. During the journey she switched her 
attention to her other role, that of the main breadwinner. She listened 
to the messages on her hands free mobile phone and began to prioritise 
them for action. As she pulled into the car park she felt prepared for 
the challenges of her job as the Managing Director of a successful 
fashion house. 

At 11.30am, as Sonia was about to meet with her senior managers, a
message was handed to her by her personal assistant. Sonia read it 
quickly and saw that it was from Jamie's school. She excused herself 
from her subordinates, leaving them a task to complete and rang the 
school from her office. 

"This is Mrs Broadhurst, Jamie's mum. What's the matter with Jamie?"
Sonia asked as she scanned through her e-mails. 

"He really isn't very well. He was sick during assembly and is running a
high temperature. Could you please come and get him?" asked the school 
secretary. 

"I'm afraid that I can't at the moment as I am about to go into an
important meeting but I will ring my eldest son and get him to pick 
Jamie up. Is that OK?" 

"Thank you. What's the name of your son?" 

"Josh Broadhurst. He did go to your school a few years ago, you'll
probably remember him," Sonia added. 

"Yes, I do! Good day, Mrs Broadhurst." 

Sonia dialled Josh's mobile number and gave him his instructions before
returning to her urgent meeting. 

Sonia's meeting lasted nearly two hours and was rather challenging. As
Managing Director she wanted to launch three new lines simultaneously 
but her directors did not share her optimism or enthusiasm. They took 
some convincing but Sonia finally secured their agreement in the last 
ten minutes of the meeting using her powers of persuasion and feminine 
charm. 

When Sonia returned to her office she realised that lunch had passed
without sustenance. She glanced at the clock, it was 3.35pm, and there 
was no time for lunch so she pressed on with her work. A pile of 
messages had been placed on her computer keyboard and she started to 
read them before sending some urgent e-mails. Three of the messages 
were from school and it appeared that Josh had not picked Jamie up as 
requested and the final message asked Mrs Broadhurst to pick up her son 
immediately. The message was received almost an hour ago. Sonia cursed 
under her breath and informed her personal assistant that she was going 
to work from home and would be leaving in the next ten minutes. 

When Sonia arrived at school most of the children, except those
attending clubs had gone home. She was met by a very irate headteacher 
who reminded her severely of her parental duties. Sonia took the flack 
on her broad shoulders and made her apologies. She found a very sorry 
looking Jamie sitting outside the medical room. His uniform was 
splattered with dried vomit and he was very pale. She comforted him and 
led her youngest son to the car. 

On her journey home Jamie fell asleep and Sonia started to feel very
guilty about her feelings for her sons. She was going to be honest with 
herself and considered who they are to her. With honest clarity they 
were a burden to her, they had stripped her of her youth, figure, 
energy and happiness. On one level she loved them but on another they 
stopped her from being the woman she had always wanted to be. She felt 
resigned to the situation and knew that things would get worse when the 
divorce came through. She had tried to get the boys to see their father 
but they refused point blank as they couldn't take his new sexual 
preference and partner. Sonia felt a smile come across her face as she 
considered the sexuality of her former husband, the macho ex-football 
player and socialite. Brian had destroyed his career for what lay 
between his legs - the situation was ludicrous but of his own making 
and she was innocent of all blame. It was clear that he would fight for 
every penny during the divorce proceedings as she clearly had the 
largest salary and rights to half of the family home. 

As Sonia sat at the traffic lights she looked into the newsagent's
window. She wanted some chocolate (her greatest friend) so she parked 
her large wagon on double yellow lines around the corner. Sonia entered 
the shop and perused the display of chocolate bars but something caught 
her eye on the magazine rack. 

'Are you fed up with life? Do you need a change? Well buy this magazine
and free CD and learn about your subconscious desires.' 

Sonia picked up the American publication and started to read more. She
examined the CD and decided to buy it for the sheer hell of it as it 
would pass away a few moments and allow herself an escape from the 
tribulation of bringing up four boys on her own. She paid the 
proprietor for the magazine and four bars of chocolate and returned to 
her car. A parking ticket was placed under her wiper blade and the 
smug, self-satisfied traffic warden offered her a sly smile as he 
processed another parking ticket on an adjacent automobile. Sonia 
decided that it wasn't worth the effort to argue her case so she threw 
the ticket onto the back seat and drove off. 

After placing Jamie in bed she went to the kitchen to start clearing up
the breakfast things and to start supper. At times she felt her life 
was a conveyor belt of meals, washing and unnatural maternal demands. 
She could not remember a time when they shared something as a family or 
even a simple joke. It was true that they had enough money but there is 
more to life for a dysfunctional family. Sonia loaded the dishwasher 
and opened the freezer to see what she could prepare as a quick supper. 
It was empty after its raiding during the weekend, the locusts had 
attacked leaving their trail of destruction. Sonia didn't mind the boys 
helping themselves but she drew a line when they placed the empty 
cartons back into the fridge or freezer. She threw them into the bin 
and opened her emergency cupboard of provisions. From its contents of 
tins and packages she selected beans, hotdogs, sweet corn and pasta and 
threw them towards the cooker hoping that they might just cook 
themselves. She knew that this was an idle fantasy as she went upstairs 
to check upon Jamie. He was asleep but had been sick again upon the 
floor. Why hadn't he called out? Was she a bad mother? She went to the 
bathroom to get the bucket and disinfectant. She heard Jez come in and 
shouted down to him. 

"Jez, be a dear, I'm looking after Jamie, could you make a start on
supper?" 

Jez replied in the affirmative and went into the kitchen to commence his
duties. Sonia heard Josh and Jake come in and walk straight into the 
living room to watch TV. She summoned Josh and gave him a piece of her 
mind.  He gave her some sob story about work, a detention and some 
other crap but she dismissed him without listening. He stormed out and 
slammed his bedroom door in teenage displeasure. 

When Sonia emerged from the bathroom she found the bra cut up into
little pieces left outside her bedroom door. She wondered if Josh was 
going to turn out like his father, the misogynist. Looking at his track 
record and filofax full of girl's names she considered this to be most 
unlikely. She placed the pieces in the bin and went downstairs to help 
Jez. 

During the meagre supper Sonia discussed their family situation with the
boys. She tried to explain how she felt and how they would need to help 
her if they were to function properly and remain as a family. Her 
requests and protestations fell on deaf ears and her new rota for 
cleaning duties was left impotently on the kitchen table once the boys 
left the room devoid of all responsibility. 

By 9.30pm Sonia had finished her office work and sat on the sofa to
drink her single glass of wine. She accompanied this with a bar of 
chocolate and listened to the sound of four different TVs and channels 
emerging from various bedrooms. How she hated that but preferred this 
to sitting in the same room as her brood arguing over TV programmes. 
She sipped her wine and closed her tired eyes. Jamie burst into the 
room, 

"Mum, I'm feeling better now. What's for supper?" asked Jamie who woke
his mother up from the comfort of the sofa. 

"What? What time is it?" She looked at the video clock; it was 11.30pm.
"Get ready for bed and I'll bring you up a sandwich. Tuna and mayo will 
that do you?" 

"Yes, thanks mum." Jamie ran up the stairs finding his former energy
following illness. 

Feeling exhausted Sonia poured herself a long, hot bath. She took in the
portable CD player and placed the new CD into the tray. Once settled in 
her bath she pressed play using her only dry hand and listened to the 
opening introduction. 

'You have probably made one of the most important decisions in your life
by purchasing the New Life Transformation Pack. We at NLE (New Life 
Enterprises) have prepared a program of meditation that will empower 
you to be the person you have always wanted to be...' 

Sonia smiled at the phoney American accent as she started to wax her
legs. 

'Did you know that many of the decisions you have made in the past, even
as a child affect how you view the world today? Are you aware that you 
see our world through sets of filters? By following this program all 
will be revealed to you. Our ten-part program will show you how to 
transform your life and map out a future leaving behind the baggage 
from the past for ever. You will identify what is missing in your life 
and discover what could make the difference. You will invent a new 
possibility and discover a new way of being...' 

Sonia listened with a growing interest as she pulled the last piece of
cold wax from her right leg. A specific phrase grabbed her attention. 

'If you are a housewife you are the manager of that house. You may not
feel like the manager but the victim of the house - your prison. Your 
partner and children may not be pulling their weight. This program will 
offer you advise on how to deal with them. Once you have listened to 
this CD call one of our advisers who will talk you through the 
registration process...' 

Sonia decided to listen to the rest of the CD in the comfort of her own
bed free from distraction. 

On the 29th September Sonia was still in bed after a busy week at the
office. She was dozing comfortably enjoying the boundless opportunities 
that lay before her, the product of her recent intensive training from 
NLE. The course was expensive but it gave her a new outlook and 
confidence in life. There was a knock at the door. It was Josh. 

"Sorry to wake you mum but I've brought you some breakfast," Josh
announced as he entered her freshly decorated bedroom carrying a large 
tray of breakfast garnished with a single red rose. 

"Oh, darling that is kind of you." 

"No problem!" 

There was a second knock at the door. Jake came in carrying an envelope.
Sonia examined his recent hair growth and healing scar on his arm 
following the removal of his tattoo. 

"Sorry to disturb you mum but there is a letter from your solicitor. I
thought that you would like to read it," said Jake as he placed it on 
her white linen sheets. 

"Thanks, Jake. It's the divorce papers. I'm a free woman now and ready
to kick some arse!" she chuckled. The boys looked at each other and 
dreaded the possible consequences. They had coped so far with the 
significant changes to their lifestyle but felt anxious about the 
future. Whose arse was mum going to kick first? They had completed 
their chores and homework. The kitchen was tidy and the dishwasher 
emptied as per her request. The boys waited for her to open the letter 
and Jez walked in with some fresh flowers for her bedroom. 

"That's kind, Jez. They're beautiful and such a lovely fragrance. Now to
the letter." Sonia opened it casually and read its contents. "Oh the 
dear man, your father has left me the entire house and has promised to 
give you each a substantial allowance and an individual trust fund. 
He's just so generous!" she smirked. 

"How did you get that, mum?" asked Josh as he started to clean her
bathroom as per the rota. 

"I am not at liberty to reveal my secrets! Has the car been cleaned
yet?" 

"Jamie's doing it now. We had to give him a step ladder to reach the
roof," replied Jake as he placed her dirty clothes into the linen 
basket. 

"Was that wise? He might fall?" commented Sonia as she started to eat
her breakfast from her throne of power and individual freedom. 

Tim Callaway 29th August 2002. 

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