On Saturday morning I got up early and started breakfast. Josh had slept in his own bed that night. Before long Josh hollered for me and I went and got him up and took him to the bathroom. When he was done I cleaned him up and took him out to the kitchen.
After breakfast I gave Josh a bath. While he was in the tub the phone rang. I sat him up and gave him a bar of soap before running to get the phone. "Hello." I said.
"Hi Steve. This is Cindy." came the voice on the other end. "Oh hi. How are you?" I ask. "I'm good. I'll be home in a few days." She says. "That's good."
"How has Josh been behaving?" She asked. "Pretty good. He's in the tub right now. I'm giving him a bath."
"Oh ok. Well tell him I said I love him and I'll see him soon." She said. We hung up and I headed back to the bathroom. "That was your mom Josh. She says she loves you and she'll be back in a few days." I tell him. His face went downcast and I truly believed he was going to cry.
"What's the matter Josh. You should be really happy to see your mom." I tell him. He looks away and then says, "If I tell you something you promise that you won't tell mom I told you."
"If you don't want me to I won't Josh." About this time I finish with Josh's bath so I lift him out of the tub and set him on my lap. "Mom beats me Steve." He says. I can't believe what I'm hearing. "You mean she spanks you right Josh?" I go fishing hoping he'll say yes. "No Steve. What you do is a spanking. What she does is a beating."
I dry Josh off in silence. I'm thinking of what Josh has said. When he is all dry I carry him to his room and sit down on the bed with him on my lap. "Tell me about the last time she did something to you Josh."
He thought for a few seconds and then said, "well I guess it was about a month ago maybe. I came home from school and she was here. That was odd but I was happy to see her. She met me at the bus and I could tell something was wrong. She didn't say a word the entire time I was coming down the lift. She walked with me into the house still not saying anything. When we got into the apartment she changed. Suddenly angry with me about something, but not being all that clear about why. She ordered me to my room and said that I was going to be whipped. She had never called it that before. I headed towards my room and sat down on my bed to wait for her." He paused.
"What happened next Josh?" I said to get him going again. "Well she came in and got mad at me because I hadn't gotten undressed. So she roughly removed all of my clothes and began to strap me with the belt." He said. "How many times did she strike you?"
"About fifty or so. Maybe more." Josh said. "Well that is definitely abusive. Although at this point its going to be hard to prove."
Josh sobbed more when I said that it would be too hard to prove she had beaten him. "I wish I'd said something before." He wailed. I just held him tight and let him cry. All the while I'm thinking of ways I can prove she beats him. I finally decide that I will put a voice activated tape recorder in his bedroom and it will pick up any sounds in the room.
The next day I purchase the recorder and a 120 minute tape. I set the tape up and a few days later Cindy comes home. I head home but I make sure that I talk to Josh at least once a day. It took two weeks but finally she snapped at something Josh did and she did indeed beat him. I had the evidence and she voluntarily agreed to release her parental rights which is why Josh now resides at my home permanently.
THE END!