My Mother-in-law Is A Witch Doctor

When my mother-in-law, Tobias Duffy, heard I was pregnant, she rushed from the countryside to take care of me.

That very night, I had a dream. Tobias made a special tonic for me every day to strengthen my body.

She prepared it for every meal, without fail.

The dark, pungent broth smelled awful, and when I first tasted it, I threw up.

Tobias got angry and called me ungrateful, forcing the bowl to my lips.

Even my usually loving husband sided with her, saying that all pregnant women in their village went through this.

That night, I got food poisoning and ran a high fever.

My husband, Rick Duffy, wanted to take me to the hospital, but Tobias insisted it was a blessing from the gods and stopped him, leading to both my death and my baby's.

When I woke up, I saw the dark tonic in front of me.

I pushed it back towards Tobias and said, "Mom, you've worked hard to take care of me. You should drink this. It's good for you."

——

"Mom, Sallie has had a fever for a whole day. I need to take her to the hospital," said Rick.

"What hospital? I've made this medicine for her. You got through your childhood with my remedies. If she goes to the hospital, do you think my grandchild will survive? Doctors will poke and prod her endlessly," argued Tobias.

"What if the doctors give her something harmful? What if something happens to my grandchild? Then our family will end."

"Mom..." Rick persisted.

"Enough! Stop shouting here and take this medicine to Sallie before it cools down," Tobias ordered.

The fever made me delirious.

I could hear their argument, but it faded in and out until everything went silent.

I felt my body start to float.

Looking down, I saw myself lying on the bed, realizing I was now just a spirit.

Rick and Tobias came into the room. I cried out for them to save me and my baby, but my hands passed right through them.

And they couldn't hear me.

I watched helplessly as they poured the dark tonic into my mouth.

Pain shot through my body, as if a thousand ants were biting me.

I reached out to my husband. "Rick, it hurts! I need to go to the hospital... the baby... my baby..."

I screamed and woke up, drenched in sweat.

My first instinct was to check my belly.

It was slightly swollen, and everything was fine. The nightmare's horror hadn't come true. My baby was still safe.

"You're awake. Drink this. I brewed it for eight hours. It's good for the baby," Tobias said, coming in with the familiar bowl.

"Yeah, Sallie, Mom stayed up all night making it," Rick echoed from the living room.

I was stunned. By the time I came to, Tobias had the bowl at my lips.

"Drink up, it'll make the baby strong and healthy."

The strong smell hit my nose, making me nauseous.

I ran to the bathroom and vomited until my stomach was empty.

When I finally stopped, I was in pain and squatted by the wall.

"What is wrong? This is good medicine. Others would beg for it. If you care about the baby, drink it now while it's warm," Tobias insisted, following me to the bathroom and trying to force it on me.

I held my breath and pushed the bowl back.

"Mom, I'm fine. You should drink this yourself," I said.

I passed by her and left the bathroom.

She slammed the bowl on the table and glared at me. "Ungrateful! I rushed here when I heard you were pregnant and stayed up all night making this. And this is how you repay me?"

Rick frowned at me. "Sallie, stop being stubborn. It's good for you."

I laughed bitterly.

'Good for me? It would kill me and my baby.' I thought.

I said calmly, "Honey, last week the doctor said our baby was fine and gave me folic acid. They only required me to have regular check-ups.

"They warned against taking other supplements. They might affect the development of the fetus.

"If you want me to take this, let's show the prescription to the doctor first. If they agree, I'll take it."

I had waited six years to get pregnant, and I wouldn't risk anything, even if it was just a dream.

Tobias exploded, "Sallie! I've been a healer for decades and saved countless lives. Do you think I'd harm you?

"And those are secret family recipes. I can't just hand them out. Do you not want to take it or do you want to steal the recipe?"

In her village, she was a renowned healer, and my words annoyed her.

Back when the road condition was poor, all villagers sought her help.

She could handle all kinds of illness.

Rick grew up under her care and never went to a hospital until our pre-wedding check-up.

When Tobias learned about it, she made a scene at the hospital.

Rick was diagnosed with low sperm count.

At that time, I didn't mind not having kids, thinking it would save me from the pain of childbirth.

One time, Rick and I were heading home when I caught a chill. I had a bit of a headache.

At dinner, Tobias brought me a bowl of dark, murky soup. She said it would make me feel better.

Rick downed it without hesitation. He urged me to drink it while it was hot, saying it would taste bitter if it cooled.

Faced with their expectant looks, I forced myself to drink it. My headache did go away, but I had diarrhea for three whole days. I was so weak I couldn't lift a finger.

I used to think home remedies were magical. Looking back, I realized I was just being lucky.

Rick, annoyed by Tobias' nagging, put the medicine back in front of me. "Sallie, it's some common medicine. It's fine to drink it once. Didn't the doctor say you could take some tonics to boost your health? Mom's just looking out for you. She doesn't want you to suffer during pregnancy."

I turned my head away, fighting the nausea rising in my stomach.

Before I could speak, Tobias brought the bowl to my lips. "Sallie, don't be stubborn. The medicine's getting cold. I saved this for you. Someone offered me 50 thousand dollars for it, but I kept it for when you got pregnant. Don't let my efforts go to waste.

"If not for yourself, think of the baby," she continued. "Your pregnancy hasn't been easy. You don't want anything to happen to the child, do you?

"I've already made the medicine. Just take it so it doesn't go to waste. If you don't like it, I'll try something else next time."

The bowl hit the floor, shattering into pieces.

The dark liquid spread across the white tiles like a gloomy cloud.

I blinked and calmly withdrew my hand. "I'm sorry, Mom. I was just reaching for my water glass. I didn't mean to knock over the medicine."

Tobias was furious as she stared at the spilled concoction on the floor.

But there was only one dose of the medicine. No matter how angry she was, she couldn't do anything about it.

She stormed back to her room, slamming the door so hard that plaster fell from the walls.

Rick gave me a disapproving look. My little act hadn't fooled him one bit.

"Sallie, that's my mother," he said. "Can't you show her some respect? Taking some medicine won't kill you. I've been taking it since I was a kid, and I'm fine.

"You're in such poor health. My mom came all this way to help you get better. Don't be so ungrateful! If you drive her away, who's going to take care of you after the baby's born?"

I let out a cold laugh, feeling dejected.

When some lies were told often enough, even the teller started to believe them.

It was not my problem that was keeping us from having a baby? It was because of his sperm quality.

If someone wanted to drink that weird medicine, they were welcome to it. But I wasn't going to.

After Rick left, I took advantage of Tobias' absence to snoop around the kitchen.

Sure enough, I found the pot used to brew the medicine still on the stove. The leftovers hadn't been cleaned out yet.

I scooped some into a container to have it tested.

Over the next few days, although Tobias was unhappy, she didn't try to force any more strange medicine on me.

She kept the house in tip-top shape, taking care of all the cooking, cleaning, and laundry.

Sometimes I'd overhear her muttering insults about me as she cleaned.

I pretended not to hear and enjoyed my free time.

Then one day after lunch, as I was napping, I suddenly felt an unbearable pain in my abdomen.

The pain hit me like a ton of bricks.

Within seconds, I was like a drowning animal, struggling to breathe.

I curled up in bed. It felt like a double-decker bus had run over my stomach, or like thousands of insects were crawling all over my body.

I tried to get out of bed to reach my phone on the table, but my legs gave out. As soon as my feet touched the floor, I collapsed, unable even to crawl.

The phone was just near at hand, but I couldn't even stretch out my arm.

Hearing movement outside, I shouted with all my might, "Mom! Take me to the hospital! I need to go to the hospital."

Tobias heard me and came in.

"Oh my! What's wrong?" she asked.

I grabbed her hand tightly, tears streaming down my face.

"Mom, hospital! Take me to the hospital!"