Pep

So let me explain it to you. I say something rude and/or degrading to you, and you get angry about it. I manipulate you, and you display the negative emotion that I want to provoke. Get it? Don’t you understand that? What are you, a sociopath? That way I feel powerful, and your lack of self control puffs me up even more. Cuz it’s like an economy. I purchase your puppet-like behavior and you dance on the end of my strings. So we both get something out of it. See? But the deal is that you have to care about what I say, see, like a normal person. If you don’t care about what I say, and smile amusedly at me, as if I were the pathetic one, well that’s just crazy. If I go to the bother of studying you with a critical eye so that I can identify and exploit your vulnerabilities, that means that you have to actually be vulnerable.

That’s how I raised you, and it’s how I expect you to be. Not self-assured. Not confident. Weak. Irrational. Otherwise I won’t feel dominant. Don’t you get that? Don’t you love me? Your poor old father, who sacrificed so much for you? When I think of all the pain you put me through, and this is the ingratitude I get in return, it just makes me sick. Yeah, I’m a failure all right, but not as much as you are. You’ll never amount to anything, just the way I always knew. Don’t even bother trying. I know you’ll just fail. I’m only saying this for your own good. Cuz you’ll never succeed at anything. Just give up.

What are you smiling at?


J