Betrayal at Age Seven One incident in my life was so traumatic and disturbing that it haunts me to this day. I have not censored anything that I recall about this episode so reader discretion is advised. I have lived a very soap opera-like life. I have survived nearly every experience that is capable of destroying families. The main obstacle that I had to overcome, though, occurred when I was seven years old. I had come back from church with my aunt and uncle at about 11:00 p.m. Being tired, I brushed my teeth and went straight to bed. I woke up about two hours later and had to go to the bathroom. As I opened the door and started down the hall, I looked into the kitchen. To my surprise, I found my mother with her shirt unbuttoned and her breasts in a mans mouth. It was even more traumatic to realize that the man who she was straddling was not my father. He was my uncle Jason, my fathers brother and best friend. This whole incident is blurred because I have tried to block it out of memory for such a long time now. I recall that I quietly turned around and went back to bed. I must have cried for hours that night, helplessly crying myself to sleep. My mother must have heard me because she came in to see what was the matter. I told her what I saw and asked her why, why she was doing that with my uncle. Im not sure what she said, but I remember her telling me that it would never happen again. It was already too late--my childhood life was destroyed. My picture of the perfect American family was completely shattered. How does a seven year old boy handle such a situation? How does one respond to finding his father sleeping soundly in bed--probably having dreams of his wedding daywhile his mother moans in ecstasy with her breasts in her brother-in-laws mouth? The next day, I woke up and immediately attempted to block the horrible image from my mind. I tried as hard as possible to imagine my parents standing together and being happy. The sad p...
