Joy seemed oblivious to the young man’s embarrassment. “Look Rachel,” she directed her daughter, pointing at the poor fellow on the potty seat. “Brian’s using the potty like a big boy. Are you going to show him how you can use the potty too?”
Brian could just make out Rachel wordlessly shaking her head from the corner of his eye. It all seemed like a bad dream to him. It was like the recurring nightmare he’d once had about being naked at school. This, however, seemed infinitely worse. He wondered how long he’d be subjected to this humiliation. She couldn’t make him sit here for too long could she? It wasn’t like he could actually go. There was no way he could pee-pee in front of all these people.
It was the strange sound that broke Brian out of his reverie. It sounded like water rushing down a drain somewhere. He couldn’t figure out where the noise was coming from, though it sounded very close. Then he saw the wide grins his mom and Joy had on their faces and the look of horror Rachel had on hers. Now it was she who was avoiding eye-contact with him.
“Good boy!” Sara cheered.
It took another second for Brian to put it all together. Then it finally clicked. The noise was one of liquid splashing against plastic. It was the sound of him making tinkles in the potty. He hadn’t even felt his bladder let go! He was tinkling his pee-pee out into this silly child’s toy in front of his best friends and his mom without even being able to control it. And the worst part of it was that these adults were actually praising him for it.
“Look honey, Brian is making tinkles!” Joy announced to Rachel.
Even Megan was now looking over her shoulder at Brian’s plight while her mom assured her, “Don’t worry Meggy, you’ll get the chance to show Brian you can use the potty like a big girl just like him soon enough.”
It was all too much for Brian. He could feel his eyes beginning to sting as they welled up with tears. He tried to control his emotions, not look any more of a little kid than he already did. He couldn’t keep it together though and soon salty tears were streaking down his blushing cheeks.
“Oh sweetie,” Sara cooed as she saw Brian’s distress. “What’s the matter buddy? Mommy is very proud of her big boy. There’s no reason for crocodile tears.”
The steady flow of pee into the potty had tapered off to a few final spurts, the noises still echoing through the room to Brian’s horror. As it finally stopped Brian sniffled and declared, “I’m not supposed to use this little kid potty!”
Sara gave him a sympathetic look and leant in close, wrapping her arms around him and brushing her hand through his hair. “There, there,” she whispered. “It’s okay buddy, I think my big boy just needs some cuddles from his Mommy.”