chapter 6

Once, Ms. Jackass walked into the room, Ebony simply closed the door behind her and hoped she her mother would live long enough so she would be able to say her final goodbyes to her mother.

Fortunately, she did survive Ms. Jackass' visit.

Ms. Jackass didn't say anything upon leaving. She simply paid Ebony and left the shop.

Ebony rushed into the room to check on her mother.

It was worst than Ebony expected.

The weight gain Ebony's mother suffered was enormous. She now looked like a helpless mound of fat which was barely contained in her bedsheet dress.

Ebony tried to find a pulse. But, her mother's wrists were so pudgy now, it was nearly impossible to feel for one. She tried listening to her mother's heartbeat, but it too was hard to detect as well.

"Mom?" Ebony asked.

Ebony noticed her mother's eyes, which were nearly buried by her enormous cheeks, slowly opening. "I still l-live," her mother said slowly, her voice sounding like it was smothered by those same cheeks.

"Mom, I'm calling the doctor!" Ebony allowed her tears to flow.

"I s-should've listened to you, Ebony," her mom barely managed to say. "My time is soon over. You take over now."

"Mom!" Ebony gasped as to what was happening.

Ebony's mom then concentrated for a moment. Ebony felt herself being lifted in the air.

"I want to use my last power to lift you in the air," Ebony's mom said as her voice became more and more muffled and harder to understand as her weight continued to climb. "Just when I did when I did when you were born."

Ebony wanted to use her own powers to make herself too heavy to float. But, she knew it would only hasten her mother's end. All she could do was to helplessly watch her mother grow even more and more fatter.

"Mom, please!" Ebony pleaded sadly.

Ebony's mom's final words were too muffled for Ebony to understand. Ebony suddenly found herself back on the floor and her mother died.

"The doctors never knew how much my mom weighed when she died," Ebony remembered. "But, she was probably the heaviest woman in history."

"What a sad story," Judy quipped.

"I know," Ebony nodded. "But, wondered what I was going to do. My mom was dead, and all she had was the psychic business. So, I had no choice but to go into it as well, no matter how fat it made me."
After a few minutes of silence and some refreshments brought by one of Ebony's maids, Judy continued the interview.

"So, what was it like after your mother died?" Judy then asked.

"It wasn't easy at first," Ebony mused. "My mom had a lot of loyal clientele. Some of them didn't come back when she died. But, many stayed on and I tried to be accommodating to them as I could."

"What do you mean you don't do seances?!" Ms. Jackass yelled in horror. "Your mom always did seances! How will I know what to do in my life if I can't get someone to contact my dead relatives?!"

"Unlike my mom, my powers are...different," Ebony "explained" for the 5th time. "My powers are psychic in nature, I have no luck at being a medium."

"Your mom said the same thing, but she always did it anyway," Ms. Jackass huffed. "Can't you try once?"

Ebony felt like she wanted to kick Ms. Jackass out the front door followed by a strong 'no'. But, she needed the money.

So, against her better judgement, she decided to do a seance for Ms. Jackass.

Luckily, seances are usually done in the dark. Ms. Jackass wouldn't see her get fatter. Still, Ebony put on one of her mother's old robes which would hide most of her weight gain in front of her before turning off the lights.

"Now, who you want to speak to?" Ebony said once she got everything ready.

"My mother," Ms. Jackass replied. "She's been the one your mother used to talk to."

At least, she didn't ask to talk to anyone Ebony didn't have a passing familiarity with.

"Very well," Ebony nodded as she lit a candle which now was the only light in the room. "Oh, Spirit of the Other World, we wish to talk to the mother of this woman. If she's available, ring the bell to tell us."

After a few moments of silence, Ebony used her powers to lift a nearby small hand bell and rang it loud enough to be heard for a few minutes.

"She's here!" Ms. Jackass looked happy. "You got a hold of her."

"What do you want to ask your mother?" Ebony asked.

"Well...I...um," Ms. Jackass nervously began. "There's this boy I'm working with..."

Shit, Ebony thought to herself, is this going to be worth blimping myself out for?

After 20 minutes of hemming and hawing, Ms. Jackass finally managed to get around to ask her question to her "mother".

"Should I marry him?" was the question.

"Let me ask your mother," Ebony then replied. "That is the question she asked. One ring for 'yes', 2 for 'no'. Should your daughter marry the man she told you about?"

Using her power, Ebony made the bell ring once.

Even in the darkness, Ms. Jackass' smile seemed to light the room.

"Oh, thank you very much, Miss Ebony!" she shook her hand and gave her a small wad of bills of varying denominations before rushing off for home.

"You're welcome," Ebony got her breath back as she watched Ms. Jackass leave.

Turning on the lights and blowing out the candle, Ebony then locked up the shop to see how much weight she gained.

Looking in a full length mirror in her bedroom, Ebony removed her robe to see what happened.

Her weight gain wasn't much, about 10 or 15 pounds most of which settled on her hips and stomach. No one would notice too much.

"At least, you didn't disappoint her," Judy added.

"I didn't hear from her much later...though she did invite me to the wedding," Ebony giggled.

"So, tell me how you got discovered," Judy then changed the subject.