Chapter 1

My wife lost a game, and per the bet, she had to prank her own mother.

But she couldn't stand to let her assistant do it to her own mother, so she called mine over instead.

She even told the assistant that my mother loved to fake being hurt, so not to believe her, and to go as hard as possible.

That day a hurricane hit our hometown, so my mother didn't come. Her mother came instead.

The moment she walked in, the assistant dumped a whole bucket of garbage water over her out of pure spite, and she stormed into the bathroom to wash it off, shaking with rage.

She didn't know the bathroom door was transparent. A whole crowd stood watching her shower, laughing at her.

She was so furious she wanted to grab her clothes and put them back on, but the assistant had already cut them to shreds.

"Auntie, don't blame us for being cruel. Your daughter-in-law lost a game, so we have to prank you. We can't stop for at least two hours."

Later, with my wife indulging them again and again, her mother was tormented to death. And she went mad.

...

1

Edwina Harding called me and told me to drive over to the next city to buy the sugar cookies she loved.

I didn't refuse her. I turned to head out.

But a coworker had just come back from the next city with a few boxes too many, and he handed me two.

With the cookies in hand, I drove home in a good mood the whole way.

Then my mother-in-law called, her voice full of panic.

"Rod Dickerson, come home quick, help me."

"There's a man who says he's Edwina's assistant. He says Edwina lost a game, and the bet says he has to prank me..."

She didn't even finish before the call cut off in a rush.

I slammed the brakes so hard I nearly went into the brush by the roadside.

Losing a game means pranking a mother?

What kind of game was that?

Sick with worry for her, I didn't dare linger and rushed straight back.

At the front door I found the ground soaked with filthy water, the reek of leftover food gone sour, sharp enough to sting the nose.

I pushed the door open and heard a crowd upstairs, laughing and jeering.

"Ha, not a bad figure at all. She's no spring chicken, but she's still got something to her!"

"Did you get it on camera?"

"How could we dare film this!"

"She's Ms. Harding's mother-in-law, after all. We can't get carried away."

"Oh please, don't play innocent. Everyone at the company knows you're Ms. Harding's new favorite. Look at you, you just casually say she lost a game so she has to prank a mother, and she agrees without a second thought."

"It's only that Ms. Harding couldn't bear to prank her own mother, so she called Rod's mother over."

"Everybody have your fun. It's fine."

"Rod's mother is just some country woman, no power, no connections. Ms. Harding said herself we can go as hard as we want with her."

As those words fell inside, my mother-in-law started screaming and cursing in the bathroom, and only then did I understand one thing.

The box of sugar cookies slipped from my hand to the floor, and some feeling I couldn't name filled me completely.

No wonder she'd suddenly said she wanted sugar cookies. She wanted me gone so they could prank my mother.

But my mother hadn't come. Her mother had.

I picked up my phone and called Edwina, again and again, before she finally answered.

"Rod, are you done calling yet?"

"Do you have any idea how rude you're being? I finally got Dominic Delgado's baby to sleep, and you deliberately call to wake it up."

A little displeasure crept into my voice. "You actually have the mood to go take care of Dominic's dog?"

"Let me ask you. Did you lose a game with him, and the bet was you had to prank your own mother, and then you couldn't bear to do it to your own mom, so you called mine over, then sent me away so they could have their fun with her?"

I asked every question that needed asking, all in one breath, my mood rising right along with my voice.