My name is Dave, I’m a 37 year old handyman. I’m tall at 6 foot 4 with a muscular build. I have cropped dark hair and bright blue eyes. Even though I look a little intimidating, I try to be a kind and approachable guy. My son, Marcus, is just turning 14. He’s not as tall as me but stays active with sports at school. The only thing he got from his mom was her dark brown eyes, otherwise he’s my spitting image. I always feel bad for the kid, his mom passed when he was young and I’m often gone working to make sure bills get paid. I’m always looking for ways we can spend quality time together.
He does great in school, and he loves playing for the soccer team. Just a great kid all around. Doesn’t have too many friends that I see, but he always tells me about his YouTube channel where he has people who watch him. Speaking of....
“Hey dad, do you have any plans this afternoon?”
I looked up from the newspaper to lock eyes with Marcus sitting across from me, having just finished the breakfast cereal I had made for him. He looked nervous, for some reason.
“Well bud, I don’t work today seeing as it’s the weekend. Did you wanna do something?”
“Yeah, I need some help with a YouTube video I’m filming. I’ve tried to film it on my own... but it doesn’t come out right.”
The instant I say “Yeah, I can help you,” the kid looks up excitedly at me and runs into his bedroom, presumably to get his filming area set up. I haven’t been able to afford him much, but I was able to get him a camcorder and a tripod for Christmas one year.
After a few more minutes reading the paper and finishing my own breakfast, I rose from the table and wondered what I was getting myself into this time. Walking into my kid’s room, I see him sitting in his computer chair with the camera on the tripod set up. I also notice a roll of black and white checker duct tape sitting on his desk, so I ask him “Do you need help making a wallet, son?” Gesturing to the roll of tape on his desk.
“No, Dad. My friend dared me to do the duct tape challenge, and I can’t get the tape on myself.”
“So you want me to help you get duct taped?”
“Yeah, can you help? Please, please, pleaaaaaase??”
I have not heard of the duct tape challenge, but it’s usual for him to request for me to help with his videos. He seems really excited about trying to escape, my son is never one to take a dare lightly. And I’m always looking for ways to bond with him.
“What the hell, kid, why not.” I say while grabbing hold of the checkered duct tape.
His eyes light up and he races over to stand in front of the tripod. He motions for me to come stand next to him in the frame, then he reaches around the camera and presses “record”
“Hey there, you guys! It’s me, your friend, Marcus! And today with me, I’ve got my dad!”
I smile at the camera and wave the roll of duct tape “Hey there.”
“He’s gonna help me out with a challenge later, but first let’s catch up with our new subscribers!”
His voice starts fading as I focus on how much he enjoys filming these videos. He really comes alive and is so excited whenever the camera comes on. I’m really happy to think he does have friends online who make him feel part of a group. Barely a couple minutes have passed when he shakes me back into reality.
“Dad, come on! I already finished my intro, I need you to be here now!”
“Okay son, why don’t you put your hands behind your back?” I place my hand on his shoulder, guiding him closer to me and showing the camera his wrists behind his back.
“Yes, sir!” Marcus chuckles out, then adds “When you’re done, be sure to start a stopwatch on your phone! We are supposed to time how long it takes me to get out.”
I chuckle too and say “okay,” beginning to unroll the duct tape. It’s not all too sticky or strong, but I do wrap the checkered tape around my sons wrists twice to make a challenge for him. As I start to walk out of frame, he calls after me “You have to put tape on my mouth too!”
“Is that part of the challenge?” I really have never heard of this duct tape challenge. I’m surprised Marcus called out for this, I would’ve thought he would want to preserve the few mustache hairs he has.
“Yes, dad!” He smiles his big grin at me, even as I walk over to him and tear off a strip of duct tape about as wide and long as his mouth. Making sure we are in frame of the camera, I ask him “Any last words?”
He grins wider and says “I’ll get out!” As I press the strip of tape against his lips, I can still tell he is grinning wide. When I remove my hand, the tape already begins to lift at the edges. I press my giant hand over the tape one more time to try and smooth out the edges against my son’s skin. I pull out my phone, show the camera my stopwatch, and count down “3...2...1!” As I press start on the timer and Marcus begins flexing.
Within 5 seconds, Marcus had torn the tape around his wrists and ripped it off. He grabbed at the tape over his mouth, tearing it off with speed as well. I press pause on the stopwatch at 8 seconds.
Showing the camera, I exclaim “Wow, only 8 seconds! Is that a record or something, Marcus?” Looking over at my son, I see him facing down staring at the strip of tape that was covering his mouth.
“Any hairs there bud? Don’t worry, they will grow ba-“
“No, Dad. It’s not a record, and there are no hairs on the tape at all. Every time I have tried to take the challenge, this same thing happens. I’ve tried putting that tape on my mouth myself... but it’s not a challenge. It makes me look like I didn’t try. Atleast this time you helped me with my wrists.... even though I got out of that too.” Tears began to well up, and I could tell that hadn’t played out like my son had wanted it. I really had thought the idea of this challenge was to see how quickly you could get out... but what my son is saying does make sense. What good is a challenge if it’s not even challenging?
“Oh bud, I’m sorry. You’ve got a few different rolls, don’t you?” I remember buying him a whole pack full of colored duct tape for his 10th birthday. He really loved following duct tape crafts back then.
“All of them are the same! This one is the strongest one I have. That’s alright dad... I’ll start editing this footage and decide if I want to post it.” I hated seeing my kid this way. So much has already been taken from him, I always want to provide him with everything he wants.
“Here, kid. Wait right here, okay? And delete all the footage after I taped you up!” I heard him say “okay” behind me as I jogged over to the front door. Grabbing my keys on the way out, I go outside and unlock the back of my work van. I really don’t like using my work supplies for personal use, but obviously I think this could be an exception . I shuffle through all the crap I have stored in my van, thinking about how I need to organize but never have time.
Rummaging through toolboxes and wrenches and screwdrivers, I find a few used rolls of duct tape. They look to be just standard fare, the typical width tape I use to fix things that don’t need a more permanent solution. Tossing those aside, I continue rummaging through all the shit. I remembered a few years back, there was a job I had where some guy needed me to repair his car window... the car was an old beat up piece of crap and he didn’t want to pay for a new window. He paid me $80, $30 of which I used to buy this huge roll of industrial wide duct tape off the internet. God bless the internet.
I remember only having to apply 3 long strips to each side of the car door, and it completely sealed up his window. Heard from him a few years later, I think it was still holding up. Finally, on the bottom shelf of one of my tool cabinets, I find the beast. It looks to be about 5 inches wide, with groves running the length of the shiny silver tape. I haven’t used it since that car window, so not only is it wide but it looks barely used. Plenty of duct tape wound around the core left. I run back inside after locking up the van and the house, but right before I enter Marcus’ room, I hold the roll of giant duct tape behind my back.
Panting, I get out “Hey, bud! short, winded breaths Get the camera back on!”
“Dad, I don’t think there’s any point...”
“Do it, kid! I promise ya.” I give him a little wink, and he notices how I’m holding my hand behind my back. With an eyebrow raised, he opens up his show again. This time, when I come on camera, I roll his computer chair over into frame.
“Sit.” I say forcefully, as I push my kid down into the chair behind him by his shoulder.
“Yes, sir.” Markus is no longer laughing like the first time I taped him, but that huge grin has returned to his face.
I quietly put down the monster roll of tape on the desk behind him, and pick up the checkered tape again. I tear off a piece, quite a bit longer than the first piece I used on his mouth, and I reach over his head to place it over his eyes. Being mindful of his eyebrow, even though this tape already proved it won’t pull out hairs, I press the tape gently against the bridge of his nose and his eyes.
“Wow, I never thought of that before!” Markus admits with a huge grin.
By now, I’m smiling huge too. I’m excited thinking that I’m able to help my son out, and he doesn’t even know what my plan is! I put down the checkered duct tape, and grab the huge industrial roll off the desk. Walking in front of Marcus, I flash the roll of tape to the camera and grin with a thumbs up
. “Dad, are you still there?” Markus is looking around, and he goes to reach up toward his blindfold, when I race behind him and unravel a long strip of the huge duct tape. The sound echoes and fills the room, sounding much more secure and sinister than the first checkered duct tape. A deep screeching from the adhesive pulling away from the rest of the duct tape and betraying the surprise that I would not be using the checkered tape. I wrench his right hand down to the computer chair, quickly wrapping the roll of monster tape around my son’s wrist and forearm about 6 times. Almost immediately, I hear my son exclaim “Wow! What is that stuff holy hell!!”
I pull down his other arm, giving it the same treatment as his right hand. I crouch down and pull my son’s feet together, wrapping the tape around his ankles about 6 times again. I stand up, thinking “What else could I do to make this harder?” I get behind him, tell him to breathe in deep, and I wrap the duct tape around his chest, arms, and the chair a few times. He relaxes, letting a “Fuck!” Escape his mouth as he exhales. Immediately, he looks up at me with his eyes taped shut and apologizes.
{I realize I switch from present tense to past tense moving forward... it was accidental. I hope that isn’t too distracting for you guys! I’ll stick with one consistently moving forward.}
“Son, it’s too late. You don’t get to use that kind of language in front of me.” I tore off a long piece of the duct tape, and plastered it against his mouth. I had to fold about 3/8ths of the tape underneath his chin, and I could tell by the way it stuck to his mouth that it would be quite a challenge. His lips tried to pull back underneath, and I saw his jaw open slightly, but the duct tape was holding strong. My son looked like the victim of a hostage situation, with his arms and legs taped down and his mouth and eyes taped shut. I could tell he was excited, and he started mmmphing into the duct tape. I thought I heard something like “mart mmm mimmmmr”, which I thought was “start the timer”.
I showed the camera my phone, and pressed start! Looking back at my son, he started writhing and flexing every muscle he could. The tape on his mouth was fun to watch, he went between stern flexing to smiling and mmmmphing into the duct tape. Every time he tried to open his mouth, the duct tape gripped on tighter and tighter to his lips. The duct tape looked like a second skin over his mouth, keeping him quiet! I forgot that the roll had been in my van for years.... the glue on it must have been melted down and cooled soo many times over. I could only imagine the sticky mess that my son was experiencing all over his body, but especially his mouth. “Good,” I thought to myself “really teach him a lesson about using language in my house!”
30 seconds passed, and Marcus was still flexing against his bonds and flailing his legs. He wasn’t making much progress...
1 minute passed and he still looked about the same amount taped down as he did when it started. If anything, the duct tape over his mouth was getting tighter due to all his smiling and mmmmphing.
4 minutes later... Markus did bend his head down far enough to reach his hands. It seemed to be quite the work out, with his upper body taped to the chair. Still, he managed to press on the duct tape over his mouth a little bit with his fingers. I could tell he was trying to find the end of it, but it was far to long of a strip to reach the edge and had glued down so much that there was no way he could pull it off while his hands were still taped to the chair. He did crane his neck and reach up to pull off the tape over his eyes, mmmmmmmphing!!! into the duct tape on his mouth and blinking rapidly.
He made eye contact with me, still holding the huge industrial roll of duct tape. I could tell he smiled under the huge duct tape strip, hoping everything was okay. But I just stared at him. “Go on, bud. Show everyone how big you are. If you wanna say that word, prove how much of a man you are to everyone.”
I saw his face shrink, and he started writhing with a new found intensity.
When the stopwatch hit 10 minutes, I showed the camera. After moving my phone away, the camera captured my son, still covered in extra wide silver duct tape. He looked me in the eyes, mmmmphing quietly and motioning his hands to take it off.
“Mmmmph. Mmm mmmmph!”
“Son, looks like you failed the challenge.” Marcus nodded, solemnly, and looked at the ground. I faced the camera “well you guys, I guess Marcus couldn’t do the duct tape challenge!” He looked up at me, wondering what I was doing probably.
“I think he deserves to stay taped up, what do you guys think? Make sure to like his video, thanks for watching!” And I pressed the off button on his camera, as he was questioning and writhing in the chair again “mmmmph? Mmmm? Mmmmmph!!”
“You didn’t escape, bud. And you cursed in my house. I think I can leave you like this for a bit.” I grinned, patting him on the back as he freaked out. “Nnnnommmmphhh!! Pllleeeemmm lleemm mmmmme gmmmphhh!” His hands were fists, flexing against the tough duct tape all around his wrists. I knew I had wrapped way too much around his scrawny arms, and there was no way he was going to get free from that.
I grabbed his duct taped face and looked him in the eyes “Just have fun, Marcus. I’ll be back in a little bit.” There was understanding in his eyes, and he mmmphed “okay” as I closed the door behind me.
What do you think? Should I continue this one, or start on another story? Thanks in advance for any feedback or interaction with the post
