Dawson's Web by William Hutchison Page B

stepmother. Up until the age of six, Jeff was an ordinary child and grew up in a happy, stable environment even though his father and several babysitters were his sole care providers.  After his father, Steven, married Alicia, a former beautiful stripper and part time prostitute, that changed and his demons were given a place to grow in his soul.
    This was the direct result of his stepmother both physically and mentally abusing him. Alicia was not only bi-polar but was also abused herself as a child. But instead of seeking help, she became self-delusional lying to herself she was okay although all the warning signs pointed to her being far less than that. In fact, she was borderline psychotic.
    Instead she chose to carry on the legacy of abuse she had been exposed to in her youth rather than stopping the cycle of violence. Alicia was caught in her own web, not woven by herself, but her abusive father years earlier. Now she, Steven and Jeff struggled against the strands of hatred that were spun so many years earlier.
    When Alicia married Jeff’s father, Steven Dawson, six year’s after Jeff’s mother died giving birth to Jeff, the abuse started. At first, it was just mental and verbal, but over the course of a year, it turned physical. During the first six months of their marriage, Alicia would constantly tease Jeff by making fun of him until he cried.
    She got a guilty pleasure out of seeing the youngster suffer.
    Alicia was a clever abuser.
    Early on, she would never directly abuse Jeff in front of Steven, choosing to attack Jeff only after Steven went to work at his job as an auto mechanic. Several times over the course of their first year together, Steven had to be called out from work because Jeff had had another accident.
    The first one was only ninety days after she moved in. Alicia became upset because Jeff was taking too long to get ready for school and was going to make her late for a hair appointment. To punish him, she tipped over a pot of scalding water, giving Jeff third degree burns down his left leg and in his crotch area, scarring him for life.
    The second time she hurt Jeff was when he refused to finish his breakfast, making her late again for a social engagement. As punishment for this indiscretion, she twisted his arm behind his back so hard she broke his wrist.
    The third “accident” happened when Jeff yelled at her. She became so irate at his defiance, she backhanded him so hard her wedding ring cut his lip and knocked out his first permanent tooth.
    She told Steven it was a result of Jeff “falling down the stairs.”
    No matter how much Jeff tried to tell his father that it was Alicia who was hurting him, Steven wouldn’t hear any of it. He was so infatuated with his new wife, in his eyes, she could do no wrong. He couldn’t believe someone as good in bed as she was psychotic.
    It was only after the fourth attack when Alicia actually cut Jeff’ arm with a knife that Steven began to sense something was wrong with Alicia’s stories. When Steven showed up at the Emergency room this fourth time in three months with Jeff in tow, the Doctor confronted him with the awful truth that his son was being abused.
    The ER doctor notified the police and both parents were questioned independently while Jeff was put in the custody of the Department of Child and Protective Services. Ultimately, Steven was absolved of any wrongdoing and two hours after being released, Steven physically threw Alicia out into the street and dissolved the marriage a week later.
    Immediately after that, he put Jeff into therapy to help him deal with the pain his stepmother caused him.
    But it was too late. The damage was already done.
    Jeff pulled into himself. He became seemingly autistic, refusing to speak, quietly staring off into the distance, and neither responding to his therapist’s questions nor his father’s touch. His inner demons gained strength daily and no amount of therapy could loosen their hold on his soul.
    Jeff