Growing up for me was not the best. I won’t say I had the worst childhood, but I also will not say that it was a good one. Throughout my life, I had suffered various mental health issues. These include: depression, anxiety, insomnia, etc. I don’t know what exactly caused this, but what I will say is that there are many contributing factors to why I am in absolute hell on the inside.
For one thing, there is a history of mental illness in my family. A good example would be my mother. Just like me, she also has very bad anxiety and has always had a tendency to look down on herself. Another example would be my uncle, who is extremely bipolar, and also has a case of PTSD, which was most likely caused by his time serving in the military.
Other things that could have caused me to suffer from shit like this could have been the various traumas I have been through as a child. I’m not gonna go into much detail on what happened to me, but what I am gonna say is that I was mistreated a lot by others. I remember them beating me, shouting hateful things at me, and even threatening me with violence. However, as bad as those things are, they are not the worst things that happened to me.
When I was a young child, probably about four to five years old, I was being sexually abused by a caretaker at a daycare. He would touch me in various places, make very disgusting and perverted remarks at me, and other things too. If I didn’t cooperate with him, he would hit me hard on my ass. Those experiences were very traumatic, and honestly, I don’t think I can ever get over them.
Despite all of those things that happened to me, there is a place that I have loved going to ever since the age of three, possibly younger. This place was a restaurant/arcade that went by the name of Chuck E Cheese. For those of you who have either never been to Chuck E Cheese or never even heard of it (which would be very surprising), it is a family restaurant with arcade games that serve pizza and other good food. It is a great place for birthdays and just to hang out and have fun. There are also mascots and animatronics there. The main mascot of the place is Chuck E, a gray mouse with a purple shirt with a yellow C on it. Everyday when the place is open, a person dressed as the mascot will come out and dance with kids and then throw tickets up in the air for the kids to try and get.
I know that it is a childish place, but personally, I still enjoy going there up to this day. Something about playing the arcade games and watching the mascots dance around happily has always put a great amount of warmth in my heart. I have always seen it as a place to just completely let go of your worries and have a great time. I would also like to say that it kind of helps me out when I’m in a state of stress, especially when worrying about what that sick man did to me.
Anyway, I’m gonna cut it out with the introduction and explain to you guys why I will never, and I mean NEVER, go to Chuck E Cheese ever again. As much as I enjoyed the place, something happened one day that really fucked it up completely for me.
This happened not too long back. I had gotten done with my therapy session when my mother suggested that she take me somewhere for doing rather well during the talk with the therapist. I said that I would really like to go to Chuck E Cheese.
“Oh honey, you are getting rather old to go to a place like Chuck E Cheese,” my mother said.
I have heard that many times ever since I became a teenager. Other kids at my school would even make fun of me for liking it at my age (which I am not gonna say for privacy reasons).
“I know, mom. But you know how much I love going there. And to be honest with you, it really helps me out with my problems,” I explained to her.
My mother simply chuckled at this and agreed to take me there, as the only thing she cared about was seeing me happy.
It only took us about a minute to get there, as it was not that far. When we arrived, I had a sense of joy, something that I rarely ever feel. We went inside, got some tokens, and sat down at a table. I could see all the kids with their smiling faces having a good time. I looked over at the stage area and saw the Chuck E animatronic moving around on stage as one of those episodes of that Chuck E Cheese puppet show played on the TV screen next to it. I had a feeling of relief and satisfaction now that I was in the place that I had enjoyed for the longest time.
“Hey mom, I’m gonna go play at the arcade. Is that okay with you,” I asked my mother.
“Of course, dear. Run along and have fun. I’ll let you know when the food comes,” my mother said softly.
“Okay, mom,” I said before getting up with the cup full of tokens and walking over to the arcade.
I played some of the arcade games and won a fair amount of tickets, specifically from that “Pull My Finger” arcade game. As I was playing around, the guy dressed up as Chuck E came out and started to dance around with kids. Me, being the type of person to keep to himself, just stayed back and watched as he played around with the children. However, there was something strange going on. I noticed that the guy in the suit kept staring at me, rather intensely. He just stared at me as if he was tempted to reach for my soul and take a bite out of it. He was doing this as he was dancing with the kids, which I found very eerie.
The guy in the suit eventually got done with his act and went back to where he came from. After he went back, I heard my mother calling me and saying that the pizza was ready. I went back to the table and started to chow down. After I was done eating, I told my mom that I needed to use the restroom. I then got up and walked down to where the restrooms were. After I got done doing my business, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw the guy in the Chuck E Cheese costume looking down at me.
“Oh, hey Chuck E. May I help you with something?” I asked, timidly.
“Follow me,” the guy said with his voice muffled from being inside the suit.
I don’t know why I decided to go with him. You can call me an idiot, I really don’t give a fuck. It’s just that in my state of mind at the time, I figured that I should follow him as I had always trusted the guy in the suit for some damn reason.
I followed him into a small locker room. It was dimly lit with only one light seeming to work. He then told me to sit down on the bench in between the lockers, to which I did. What happened next will haunt me for the rest of my existence. When I sat down, he took off the head of the suit and looked at me.
“Remember me?” the man asked very creepily.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. This was that same man who molested all those years ago. He was now standing right in front of me in a place that I had once enjoyed. I couldn’t even bring out a word. I was in so much shock and disbelief as flashbacks and memories started to flow through my head. It was just like what happened to me when I was so young and vestal.
“N-No! No! It can’t be-” I stammered right before he cut me off.
“Oh yes. It’s me. And I remember you too, Liam!”
I was shaking in absolute fear. I could barely move a muscle.
“Y-You! Not you again! N-No! What the hell do you want from me?! W-Why did you do all that to me?!”
The man didn’t answer these questions. Instead, he gave me a wide grin, showing his disgusting, rotting teeth. He then proceeded to try and grab me in a certain place, which I’m sure that you probably know where. I wasn’t going to let him do this to me again. I grabbed his hand and bit down on it. He pulled his hand back, then looked at me again, this time with a very angry expression on his face.
“That was a mistake you little shit!” he exclaimed before punching me hard in the face, causing my nose to start bleeding.
When he punched me, it also stunned me, giving him the chance to grab me by the arm and throw me onto the floor.
“Now it’s time for a little bit of fun,” he said, sneering at me.
“Please, just let me go! I promise I won’t tell anyone about this!” I cried.
“Ha ha ha ha! Just cooperate and maybe I’ll set you free. I don’t want to have to kill you just like what I had to do to the other ones who wouldn’t cooperate,” he said while caressing my pants.
After hearing that, I just stayed completely silent.
He caressed my legs for a few more seconds before grabbing my waist. Right when I thought he was going to full on rape me, I heard a pounding on the door. When the guy heard the pounding, he immediately let go of me and hid in one of the lockers. The person at the door eventually broke it down using a kind of tool. It was a security guard.
“Kid, are you alright?!” the security guard exclaimed when he saw me lying on the ground.
“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” I said while shaking.
“Your mother is worried sick about you. I’m gonna take you to her, okay?”
“Okay, sir.”
The security guard walked me outside to where my mother was. She was standing on the sidewalk bawling her eyes out. When she saw me, she ran up to me and hugged me tight. I hugged back, telling her that I don’t ever want to go to Chuck E Cheese anymore. The security guard explained that he saw the guy dressed up as the mascot leading me into the back locker room on the security cameras. When he did, he immediately rushed out of his office. As he was rushing out, he could hear my mother freaking out. He went to her and asked her what was wrong, to which she said that I hadn’t come out in a while, and was very worried about me. That’s when he went over to the door of the locker room and noticed that it was locked. He then used his baton to break open the door, and then he saw me lying on the ground.
I told my mom that I just wanted to go home, so she took me home, and that was the end of that. The restaurant closed down for investigation on who the person was that led me into the locker room. I don’t know why I didn’t say anything about who that man was. I guess I was just too scared to. That was a very traumatic experience for me. I couldn’t believe that I had encountered the man who had molested me all those years ago once again. Well, that is all I am gonna say for right now. I need to go and lie down. But what I am gonna say, is that I don’t think I will ever be going to Chuck E Cheese ever again. At least, not for a long time, that is.