The young man merely sighed again.
"Yes, miss nags-a-lot," the teen called in a monotonous tone, hoping to drive her away. He'd be in there for at least another fifteen minutes, just trying to get the maddening stress that his aunt seemed to breed free from his flesh, though he wasn't quite sure how that was going to work out, while he lived with her.

she ignored his insolent response. instead, she spoke very sweetly to him encouraging his submission and compliance.

"sweetie, if you need help scrubbing that back of yours just say so. i'll gladly come in and scrub it like it never was scrubbed before. and it will feel so good! i promise it you will never have felt so good!"

she readied the bottle of castor oil and huge tablespoon she would pour it in. little did he suspect what she'd do to him for the night.

"I don't think I'll need that help," Joe called awkwardly, clearly finding this bath wasn't helping, while the old bat of an aunt sat there at the door, calling to him every moment in that condescending tone for preschoolers. Either way, fifteen minutes had passed, the boy's bath water had started cooling to the point where he couldn't ward off the stress any longer. Rising from the bathtub, the sound of water falling into the knee deep water, wrapping a towel about his waist. Realizing that he doubted his aunt had any clothing in his size, which was going to end badly.

The door to his bedroom opened slightly, trying to catch sight of his aunt, in fear that she might have some other juvenile trick up her sleeve.

"oh Joe! i'm so glad you opened the door! now, let's look you over! ah ha! just as i thought! you've hardly made a dent in that filth!"

she looked in the tub and saw very little scum remaining. the Lufa brushes weren't even wet!

"well Joe, i can plainly see you don't know how to take a proper bath!" she drew fresh water and motioned him to get back in.

"now get back in there and your auntie will not only show you how to take a proper bath, she'll show you how to 'exfoliate! that shouldn't be too much of a challenge for a big boy like you!"

she readied her Lufa brush to scrub him properly down. she was going to make a brand new boy of him when she got finished.

"Julie, I'm not getting back in that tub," Joe spat rather quickly, moving into his bedroom, and only further away from the tub. He had no intent to let his aunt start bothering him, and he'd have to get used to choking down the preschool talk. It seemed that was all she seemed to know how to talk like. He flopped onto the quilted bed, ensuring that the towel remained in place while he did so.

"Ya know, you really should think about a softer mattress," he called, trying to get comfortable.

"......and Joe, you really should think about having softer manners and a softer heart. you've really hurt me with those insensitive words. i had hoped my sister's boy had better manners of a proper gentleman; and i didn't appreciate your spitting in my home! and you shan't address me by my first name. i'm either 'auntie' or 'aunt Julie! shame on you!!"

Joe's auntie was really hurt by his careless display of insolence. she had done everything in her heart to give this boy a life, a second chance, a vision of hope for his future. she wanted him to be a happy child and she was concerned for his well being.


"now, you're not going to lay there in that bed covered by just a damp towel. you'll catch your death of cold, then you and i will really have problems. you'll show some proper manners, and politely come with me back to your bath tub and be bathed properly, or you won't get your clothes back, and you won't have supper either. i've provided a nice clean bed for you and you won't lay in it covered with all that crust!!"

"come now. a big strong tall boy like you shouldn't be threatened by your little auntie who loves and cares about you. i know very well you can manage to pick yourself up off that bed to get a proper bath, a fresh pair of clean clothes, and a good warm meal; then you'll sleep so comfortably through the night, with a happy tummy, you'll never want to do otherwise."

"now come on sweetie, give your auntie a little hug and lets start over." Julie gently took his hand and beckoned him with a sweet smile.

Julie seemed to think that she was going to fix the teenage boy by simply guilting him and lecturing him, it seemed. The very idea of the stupid lecture getting underneath his skin was something that was laughable, and that was exactly what he did. Joe was clean enough, and he wasn't going to sit there and let his aunt dictate his cleanliness, nor would he let her see him stripped like a small child.

"Julie, that's not happening. Once a year, I've dealt with pleasantries in the past, but now it isn't happening. I'm going to either find some clothes, or I'll go home to find some clothes," Joe commented, his voice seething. She wasn't a major part of his life, and the only reason he'd stuck around this long was to make sure he didn't have the cops chasing him down.

Julie took the recalcitrant boy in her arms despite his protest. this had been the first time the woman had given the boy the hug of a loving embrace since her original encounter with him at the police station, under the auspices of Officer Fairsworth.

"Joe, from what you've said thus far, your auntie senses that inside and underneath this tough and hardened defensive wall you are so insistently putting up, lives a very a very frightened but special person your auntie would love to care for in a very special way. when i took custody of you from the police officer, i promised i would meet the obligations of not only my words with him, but the speech of my heart as well."

"i understand all this maternal caring is foreign to you sweetie, and perhaps causing you discomfort, but i'm so driven and inclined to care for a lost little soul, your auntie can neither hide, disguise it, nor ignore it. it would break my heart even worse than your previous words to me if you were to return back to Officer Fairsworth and ultimately the hardened life you had been subjected to for so much of your youth."

"i'm merely asking you to give us both a chance to choose a different path in this crossroads of life, and allow your auntie to care for her sister's child with her heart and soul. it's not my nature to give up on any of life's challenges, especially a boy that i see hiding and afraid deep inside."

she held him in her arms and soothed him to reassure she wouldn't let him go from her genuine care and concern for his well being.

Before Joe knew it, his aunt was by the bed, and her arms had already snaked around his person, and she had another small speech lined up. Another irritating speech, which would have inspired some other child, however it wasn't going to do what his aunt had planned for him, in this case. The boy stayed still for a moment, his aunt attempting to reassure him that he was just some type of child at heart, but he knew that his aunt was just not all there. There wasn't any other explanation for him. An older woman who was so obsessed with being a mom, having lost her marbles since she wouldn't be carrying.

"Oh auntie Julie," the boy called, attempting to sound sincere about it, as he buried his face in her shoulder a moment, "I know I've been such a snot! Oh I know! Oh me! Oh my! Now get off me, because this is getting a little too intimate for you and me." Quite the snide remark, as he moved to slip from her grasp, oddly though, he had thought she had encompassed him in that hug, but he slipped free, grasping the towel in his hands to prevent it from falling free.

Joe's auntie was determined to maintain the high moral ground and not to respond in kind to her nephew's obvious crass remarks and behavior. instead, she insisted on keeping in focus the loving care the boy had been cheated from as a young child growing up in a dysfunctional home plagued with alcoholism. he had never experienced a mother's love and it would take time for him to trust such a thing from his auntie, that had been foreign to him. thus far.

"now dear child," she said, addressing the boy she saw in Joe he had not seen in himself, "if you are going to live in my home then we must come together in agreement as to what you plan to do productively with your time each day. i know we've never had this discussion at the outset, and i admit your auntie may have been too over enthused to welcome you in her life without having this discussion. i've been childless all my life, as you know, and i've been told the future looks rather grim otherwise. i have to admit my heart may have over jumped your expectations of me, and now i'd like you to share with me what your expectations are for me and the home i'm sharing with you, aside and apart from the hard mattress you claim you're lying on. i will say that the mattresses in a prison or a correctional institution would be lots harder. and in tandem with that thought, unlike a prison, i will not chain you to your bed nor lock you in your room. your stay here is a two-way street, and you're not my captive, so if you've thoughts that you're being detained or imprisoned, then perish those thoughts. when i signed to take custody of you at the police station, it was legally implied consent by both parties."

"you tell me what you expect of me, then i'll tell you what i expect of you in return along with my ground rules. does that sound fair? and while you're at it, why, may i ask, do you recoil from your auntie's hugs? are hugs between two people that much of a threat for you?" she was bewildered by his rejection of loving kindness and was anxious for him to explain the feelings of his heart.