chapter 2

The latest decedent was Ebony Chantel. Until her mother died, Ebony was told never to use her powers until her mother thought she was ready to do so. Once in a while she would, then noticed her belly was getting bigger. So, she would stop before the weight gain got too noticeable to her friends.

After her mother died, Ebony had no choice but to use her powers and go into the "family business".

While she tried to keep in shape as much as possible, but soon her weight began to rise as her popularity as a psychic grew. She was making probably more money than her mother or grandmother had seen in their lives. She didn't want to stop, so she tried to hide her expanding bulk in the outfits she wore in public. But even that was getting harder and the tabloid press was starting to make fun of her increasing weight. She tried to lose as much weight as possible between tours. While she was smart with her investments, she accepted fewer and fewer public appearances due to this fact.

With the money she made, she had her house modified for a woman who weighed more than 800 pounds, but eventhough she wasn't nearly that huge yet but wanted to be ready for such a time when her weight would begin to affect her health while she had the money now. She had hired competent staff to look after her. Some tried to help her lose weight, and succeeded to varying degrees. She refused to consider any type of surgery for she knew that it wasn't overeating which was causing her weight problems.

While she was doing public appearances and had personal visits with a long list of clients, Ebony knew her time would soon be up as her weight continued to increase faster than she could cope with it.

Judy Fernandez had been a journalist for the local newspaper ever since she graduated from college 4 years ago. A dark-haired plumpish Latino woman in her mid-20's, Judy still possessed an idealistic view of her job eventhough at times that idealism was starting to wear off as the reality of the world began to creep in.

When news leaked of a local celebrity was suffering from an eating disorder, Judy decided to pay her a visit. Though it helped that Miss Chantel contacted the paper first to set the record straight about her weight problems and would agree to an interview to tell her story.

Judy didn't like psychics personally or professionally. Most of them were frauds who were easier to expose than it was to tie one shoes. But, there was something about Ebony Chantel which interested her. She came out of nowhere and had become the hottest, most accurate psychic in the country. She had always been noticeably chubby despite the sexy outfits she wore when she first appeared, but remained very attractive no matter what weight she was.

Then, a few months ago, a scandal rag ran a story that she had grown so fat she was almost bedridden. Rumours came out that she had an eating problem which included huge meals eaten at one sitting. This caused Ebony to allow herself to be interviewed for the first time since she appeared in public.

Ebony's home and office were located in the richer section of the town. Many of the neighbours were customers of her mother and later of Ebony and they never really complained about the traffic which came to her home for her business. Save for the sign in front which said EBONY'S PSYCHIC READINGS, the house looked like any other house on the block. When Judy came to the front door, the door looked like it could be used for a barn. It was so wide.

Ringing the doorbell, a woman's voice came on the intercom a few moments later.

"Yes," the voice asked.

"I'm Judy Fernandez," Judy replied politely. "I'm from the Daily News. I'm supposed to interview Ebony Chantel today."

"Just a minute," the voice replied.

There was a buzz, then the door swung open automatically. There stood a middle-aged black woman wearing a blue and white maid's outfit. "Come in, Miss Fernandez," the maid greeted her. "Please hurry in. This door closes within a few seconds of opening. The timer needs to be reset."

"Thanks," Judy rushed in shortly before the door began to close. "I didn't know the door was automatic."

"This door is quite heavy," the maid quipped as she escorted Judy into the main room. "Most of the people who work here can barely open it. It was made this wide just in case Miss Chantel got too large to fit through a normal-sized door. Of course, customers use the entrance way directly to Miss Chantel's office. It's for normal sized people like us."

Judy looked impressed by the interior of Ebony's home. Despite the extra-wide, extra-low chairs, wide sliding doors, and staircases with low stairs, it looked no different inside than any other person who had some money to spend. There were posters and photos of Miss Chantel hanging from the walls. They mostly showed her normal sized, though she noticed some personal photos of Miss Chantel sitting on some end tables which showed her looking a lot bigger than she was in her early public appearances. In all of the photos was a beautiful young black woman who seemed to be becoming buried under a growing mountain of fat.

"I never noticed how attractive Miss Chantel is," Judy quipped herself. "No matter what her size."

"She seems to have that gift," the maid nodded in agreement. "A lot of women who get really big tend not to look attractive, but Miss Chantel still gets a quite a few gentlemen callers and offers of marriage. Though, I doubt Miss Chantel would be able to conceive a child...and I don't think anyone would be able to do so considering how large she is now."

"So, where is Miss Chantel?"

"She's in her office," the maid smiled as she led Judy away. "I'll take you there."

Ebony Chantel's office looked more like something you would see in corporate headquarters in some large building. There were no photos of Ebony at all, just a desk, a couple of chairs, and a small notebook computer which Ebony was working on quietly. A bookshelf holding numerous books and DVDs stood against one wall.

Ebony had her long straight black hair tied into her usual side ponytail which hung over her right shoulder. She was wearing a simple light blue sweat suit as she sat on a black leather chair built for a woman a lot larger than she currently is. While she was obese that didn't distract from her beautiful young face, which only showed slightly bulging cheeks and a slight double chin as proof of her obesity being real and not padding.

"Miss Chantel," the maid knocked at the door. "That reporter you called is here."

"Send her in," Ebony replied as she turned to the door and stood up slowly to greet her visitor.

Judy walked into the office. "Oh, Miss Chantel," Judy held out her hand to greet Ebony. "I'm Judy Fernandez of the Daily News."

"Please call me 'Ebony'," Ebony shook Judy's hand. "I'm only 20, and I'm not used to be referred to so formally."

"Okay," Judy nodded. "You can call me 'Judy'. I'm not that much older than you are, Ebony."

"Please sit down here," Ebony pointed to a nearby chair which looked like it was made for a person a lot fatter than either of the two young women currently present inside the room.

Judy sat down in the chair and felt like she was a little kid considering how large the chair was. "I don't mean to complain, but this chair is a little..."

"Big?" Ebony finished the sentence. "There's a reason why all the chairs are so big and why the doors are so wide in my house."

Ebony then walked out from behind her desk. Judy noticed Ebony's body looked to be over the 300-pound range. Her legs, hips, and bottom had stretched out her sweat pants and her top barely covered over her belly and reached her hips. Her breasts and upper arms were also enormous. But, even at this size, chairs still looked too large for her.

Judy also noted that except for flip flops, Ebony was barefoot.

"You're gotten quite heavy," Judy said diplomatically. "I mean no disrespect."

"None taken," Ebony smiled. "My ESP tells me you don't like psychics, but you seem interested in me."

"Well, you are a celebrity and you're letting me interview you."

"True," Ebony nodded as she sat at a nearby chair. "The reason I want to be interviewed is I'm tired of the tabloids saying I've got an eating disorder and making fun of how heavy I am. If they knew the truth about me, they wouldn't make fun of my weight."

"Well, with all due respect, Ebony, you've gained a lot of weight in the short time since you got popular."

"True," Ebony stood up again. "But, the reason I've been gaining so much weight isn't because I eat too much and don't exercise. I probably don't eat any more than anyone else I know. I do exercise to try to keep my weight from getting too much, too fast. But, I have something else which causes my weight to go up like this."

"Something else?" Judy asked.

"It's hard to explain," Ebony said. "I'll have to show you. But, first, I want you to frisk me."

"Frisk you?" Judy looked surprised by the request. Ebony didn't look like someone who would have such a fetish. "Why?"

"Just so you don't think I'm wearing padding or balloons or something," Ebony explained. "Go ahead. I'm used to it. It's either that or I take off my clothes and show you how real my fat is."

"Okay..." Judy said weakly as she stood up and started frisking Ebony with her hands.

Judy could feel that the chubby psychic was not wearing padding or anything else unusual under her sweat suit, her fat felt as real as her own. "That's really fat all right," Judy said after finishing frisking Ebony's body lightly.

"Okay," Ebony then took a pen off her desk. "Now watch me closely as I levitate this pen for a couple of minutes."