My wife Ashley and I sipped on whiskey and cokes at my twenty-year high school reunion costume party. Halloween night in the big red barn, a setting I was familiar with from my teenage days of underage keggers behind the haystacks. Dressed as doctor and nurse, we mingled with faces I had not seen for years. A chill climbed my spine when Piper walked through the doors. A woman I bullied one too many times back in school. Still overweight with that fragile smile that made my stomach churn, she locked eyes with me before I could divert my attention back to my wife.
“Barrett, you have grown into a fine young man. Or are we middle aged now? I don’t know anymore. I’ve stopped counting,” Piper said to initiate the conversation.
“Hi Piper, nice to see you. This is my wife, Ashley,” I responded.
Piper’s gazed remained on me until Ashley extended her hand out for a shake. I never had the chance to apologize to Piper after the last harrowing experience we put her through during senior year; she avoided me every time she caught sight of me in the halls.
“Listen, didn’t mean to interrupt, but I’m having a little costume after party at my place. I’d love if it you both showed up. It would mean so much.” Piper wrote down her address on a napkin. “l’ll see you there?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I replied nervously, knowing I should have said no.
After Piper walked away, Ashley nudged me. “Who was that? An old fling? I saw how you froze up when she approached.”
“Actually, it was this girl we used to bully in high school,” I whispered into Ashley’s ear. “I was young and dumb. You know how it goes. Boys being boys as they say.”
“You a bully? I don’t believe it. You’re such a caring guy.”
“I just kind of got swept away with it. All that peer pressure from my buddies. Trust me, I’ve regretted it ever since. Never should have picked on that girl.”
“Well, we must go to the party now. It wouldn’t look good if we didn’t. She would be heartbroken, you know?”
When we arrived at Piper’s house, I was alarmed to discover we were the only people there. She assured us more alumni would be trickling in, but they never did. Ashley was having a blast drinking and socializing, but an uneasiness brewed within me.
“So, Barrett tells me he used to pick on you back in the day. I hope you don’t hold any grudges. He’s such a sweetheart nowadays. He will not hurt a fly.”
Piper’s body perked up, as a smile stretched across her face. “Grudges? Do you know what your husband and his goons did to me? Tell her Barrett, what is it you all used to call me?”
“I’m not comfortable talking about this right now,” I replied, my vision growing fuzzy.
“Porky Piper. Porky Piper. Porky Piper,” Piper screamed, as I dozed off.
While my eyes were closed, I felt arms grabbing me all around. Piper’s arms. She spoke calmly to me and Ashley while she tied us up with rope. My body felt numb. I was certain she drugged us with the cocktails she made.
When I came to, I shot a horrifying glance at Ashley. Her mouth was covered with duct tape, and so was mine. Seated next to each other on the couch, we were not able to free ourselves from the restraints, the rope that bundled us together.
Piper sat on the floor in front of the couch and dangled a wire cutter in front of us. Ashley and I squirmed in fear. Piper placed the wire cutter on Ashley’s thigh and proceeded to remove Ashley’s left shoe and sock.
“This little piggy withdrew from society.” Piper picked up the wire cutter and inserted Ashley’s pinky toe within it. “But she’s back now.”
Vomit drizzled from the tape down to Ashley’s chin, but most of it had to be swallowed back down, as her crying eyes watched Piper cut through the bloody toe and examine it like she just discovered gold.
“For each year you tortured me. This little piggy stress eats every day.” Piper clipped Ashley’s ring toe while Ashley flopped around. “She has no control, no discipline when it comes to food.”
In total, four toes were removed from my wife. Ashley passed out, as I desperately tried to free myself. Piper took a pig nose mask out from her pocket and pulled the elastic band over her head.
“Is this what you see, Barrett? Am I just a pig for you to feed with its own feces? That stunt you pulled. Putting pig shit in my cafeteria lasagna. Do you understand the lifelong humiliation I suffered because of that? Now, when you look at your wife, you will remember me. I want you to suffer.”
Piper stood up and left the house. After about fifteen minutes, I fully regained the feeling in my body, and I was able to remove the ropes. I called the cops and applied pressure to my wife’s foot with my shirt. We learned the house we were in was just a rental Piper had booked for the night. By the time the authorities were able to inspect her last known residence, Piper had fled. I have no idea where she is today, but I’m constantly reminded of her presence whenever I look down at my wife’s stump of a foot.