Unleash the Beast

Troy was pushing my buttons this morning. He knew he was pushing my buttons. I knew he was pushing my buttons. But he kept picking at me. It’s almost like he saw me getting madder and said, “Okay, here we go, now we’re making progress.” So, he’d act more like a turd, turning his head at the last second while I was feeding him, complaining about the TV show and screaming at me. And I felt my patience dissolving. So, I stepped away and did some push-ups to calm down. He realized that he was getting to me, and I imagine him thinking, “Now, we’re making progress. But I know I can do better.” So, he pushed harder and harder and harder. Every time I tried to speak, he screamed. If I raised my voice, he’d scream louder to drown me out. And I finally lost it. I screamed back at him. A ferocious roar that made his squeals seem like a whisper. He stopped and stared at me in a mixture of fear and shock. Then, he started to cry.

It was like he got what he was aiming at only to find out that unleashing the beast wasn’t quite as fun as he’d imagined it would be. Like he finally understood where the line was that he shouldn’t cross, and he’d realized he’d crossed it. This was not a meek person that he could manipulate and pick on. This was a wild, uncontrollable monster. I have told Troy that I’m a werewolf, but I don’t think he really believed me until this morning. He has a short memory, so I don’t imagine it’ll affect him for long. He’ll most likely be back to pushing my buttons this evening. But maybe, just maybe, he’ll be keeping one eye on me while he’s doing it. Just in case.