Epstein came home from school, emotionally drained. It had been a struggle for him not to eat anything all day, except for at lunch when Horshack shared a bit of his sandwich with him while they all sat in Gabe's classroom. He had told his friends and teacher how he had been trying not to eat anymore because he couldn't stand to gain any more weight. Still feeling a bit emotional about everything, he told them that the last thing he wanted to do was be at home with his siblings.

As bad as the other students were towards him, he said his brothers were much worse. He could always avoid people at school but not at home. There was always someone around him at home, teasing him about his weight or how much food he ate. And with as emotional as he was that day at school he knew it was only going to bet much worse at home.

When he got home from school, he hurried upstairs before anyone could say anything to him. As soon as he got to his bedroom, he locked the door behind him. He needed to calm down and clear his head. Walking to the window, he took some calming breaths. But these breaths could only do so much for him.

He opened the window and then searched his pockets. He found a lighter and nearly empty pack of cigarettes, then placed a cigarette between his lips. Releasing a sigh, he then lit it, inhaling slowly. He knew that smoking this would only be a temporary relief from his problems. But it was something to keep him calm without eating.

As he smoked, he leaned out the window to release the smoke into the air. He saw there, calm and relaxed as he watched the some disappear into the air. Once there was no more of his cigarette left to smoke, he stubbed it out on the windowsill before flicking it out the window.

After that, he walked over to his bed and sat down. He leaned back and allowed himself to become lost in his thoughts. For a little while, he had no intentions to eat, and his emotions were stable. And that made him feel proud of himself for once.

Then the voices came. These weren't his usual self-loathing voices. These came from behind the bedroom door. They belonged to three of his brothers and were full of brutal mockery. AS soon as he heard this, his attention was drawn onto his weight. And it was clear that's exactly what his brothers wanted.

Epstein tried to block out the sound of his brothers. He tried hard to keep from crying. He also tried not to focus on his weight. But the more he tried, the worse the taunts became. For just a moment, things were silent. But no relief came to Epstein with this silence. Because it was what came after that, which played back into his anguished state.

"How much ya wanna bet he weighs right now?" One brother asked

Epstein's jaw dropped. He trembled in disbelief over what he had just heard.

"I bet ten bucks the fatass is at least 250."

Epstein shook his head. He knew there was no way he was that heavy. Doubts came when he took a look at himself. He had in fact grown quite heavy, so that number didn't seem too far off.

"250? Nah." Another brother laughed. "Maybe not quite that high." He snorted. "What I want to know is… how much ya willin' to bet on how much fatter that fatass is going to get from here?"

The other two responded with laughter. One brother bet on him reaching 300 by the start of summer break. This really got to Epstein. He knew there was no way he was anywhere near as big as what they were saying. He knew he had gained a lot of weight, but he also knew he wasn't that big. He squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears in hopes of blocking it all out. How could his brothers be so cruel as to make bets on his weight? He couldn't stand it anymore. He was so close to exploding with tears, but he had to fight it. He couldn't give his brothers the satisfaction of letting them hear him cry. He knew that was what they wanted. But he would not let them win. Not this time.

"300 are you nuts?" One brother said. "He's probably there already!" This caused all three of them to start laughing.

It was all Epstein needed to hear. He stormed over to the door and unlocked it. In anger he practically ripped the door off the hinges. He tried his best to hide his forming tears.

"I can hear you y'know."

"Yes we know." One brother said

"Why else do you think we could be here saying this stuff at your bedroom door?"

Epstein couldn't take any more mockery. He shoved his brothers before hurrying past them to the bathroom. The closed bathroom door did nothing to stop the mockery. He still couldn't give them the satisfaction of knowing they made him cry. As hard as it was not to, he forced himself not to cry. He wouldn't let them win. But the more he stayed in there, wallowing in his self-hatred, the harder it was to keep from crying. The worst part was, he actually allowed himself to see exactly how much he had gained. After seeing how much he weighed and seeing his reflection in the mirror, devastation completely took over him. This was the only time when he couldn't hear his brothers' taunts. That was until when one of them ponded on the door, calling him a fatass. He could no longer hold back his tears. His brothers had won. They made him cry.

Unable to take this any longer, he rushed out of the bathroom, past his brothers, and headed straight to his parents' room.

"Ma!" he headed into the bedroom, not realizing the mockery had come to an abrupt end. "Ma I need you!"

He hurried over to the bed and plopped down, too distraught to notice that nobody else was in the room. Not realizing what he was doing, he grabbed what was once his mother's pillow and hugged it close to him as he cried. He shook and couldn't control his anguish as tears rushed from his eyes. The pillow was the only thing he had to actually comfort him, but in his mind, his mother was there with her arms around him. Devastation surrounded him so strongly that he didn't notice as his brothers stood in the doorway laughing at him and making rude comments about him. He didn't even have to try to block them out, since the only thing on his mind was getting comfort from his mother rather than food.

He sobbed and spoke incoherently. This caused his brothers to stop laughing. They stood there in stunned silence as they realized these weren't normal tears. This wasn't a normal cry that he would get over in a few minutes. He was going to need much more comfort for that.

"Juan… hey man we're real sorry." One brother said.

He screamed out some more incoherent words through his tears. They were only able to understand that what he said was something about their mother. His younger brother took a couple cautious steps into the room.

"Hey Juan? Are you aware that ma ain't there?" He looked at his other two brothers, worryingly.

"Fuck off!" He sobbed, clutching the pillow tighter.

His brothers had no idea what to do. They turned and left the room to get help. A few moments later, their father entered the room and went straight to his son's side. As soon as he sat beside him, Epstein started to calm down.

"Mijo…" He sighed before rubbing his son's back.

As his father did his best to soothe him, Epstein started to calm down some more. Sometimes he muttered something to himself sometimes in a mixture of English and Spanish. And no matter what, he refused to let go of the pillow. After a little while, only a few tears remained, slowly rolling down his face.

"Why am I like this?" He managed to get out through a strained voice.

"I don't know." His father sighed sadly. "But I know you'll get through this."

"You promise?" He sniffed

"Yes. Just hang in there, mijo."

Epstein sat silently for a moment. He wiped some tears away.

"I need ma." He said quietly.

"I know. We all do."

"Why'd she have to go?"

"There isn't a moment in any given day where I don't wonder that myself."

Epstein, still clutching the pillow, leaned and rested his head on his father's chest. He still wished to believe it was his mother holding him. But he heart ached knowing the truth. Despite this, he still felt better.