Spooked - A Mother Knows

Episode Date: July 5, 2024

We all know it’s good to be a little scared of your parents. But TK has a whole other list of reasons to be terrified of his mom.Thank you kindly, TK, for sharing your story with us. We also want to thank Laura at the Paranormal Scholar for helping us find this amazing story.Produced by Anne Ford and Eliza Smith. Original score by Richard Haig. Artwork by Teo Ducot. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There's no way I can pay you back, but my plan is to show you that I understand. Listen to Spooked. Stay tuned. You've seen it. Hopefully you've felt it. The mother's love for her child. Hear it in her voice, witness it in her gaze. Even now, I don't watch a big, strong, severe man, lean into his mother's touch.

Soft like a blessing, a wish that nothing ever harm her base. Be fierce enough to beat back a world of darkness. Face an army of... My name is in Washington. Not all of us are protected. Spook starts. We all know it's important to be a little scared of your parents. Got to show him that respect, right?

Wow. Our storyteller today has a whole other set of reasons to be scared of his mama. My name is T.K. I'm from a small city called Waxall, North Carolina. When TK. was a kid in Waxaw, he sometimes butted heads with his mom.

I remember we had an argument. I was in elementary age. She told me to go to my room, so I went to my room and I shut the door and, like, being just a kid, I'm just thinking all kinds of bad stuff and cussing her out my mind. It was like, of course, I'm not going to do it to her face.

I turned around. She was standing at my door. The door was shut. Now, like, I turn around, she was standing at the door where the arms hold is staring at me. And I just froze because I was like, I didn't hear the door. And so I back away, and she slowly vanished. And I was like, wait, what? And so I opened the door, and I looked around.

I was like, and I saw her, she was like in the kitchen. And I was like, okay. And so a couple of days later, I told my mom about it. And she said, yeah, she said, I heard you. She said, I know you wouldn't be bold enough to say those things that you would think it to my face. So she said, but I could tell you were saying some stuff. And she said, so I had to let you know who's in charge, who's the boss. She said, I bet you you won't think negative thoughts about me again.

So, yeah, I'm very afraid of my mom when it comes to like that spiritual sad, I guess. TK's mom was just like her mom. But his grandma didn't scare him the way his mom did. TK could tell his grandma anything. And one day, she told him that his family members, well, they were different. My grandmother, she always said that in her bloodline and the family bloodline, there was powers. She didn't like to talk about her childhood as much. but she was saying like they lived off the land a lot.

She also had a medicinal background. She would make like things out of herbs. Like every time we get sick, she would always know what to make. But she was always saying that her family always had power with the light. But she never really would dwell too much on that. She was saying like in time, my mother would explain it. But of course my mother never did. She never explained it.

Because TK's mom's powers were different. She knew things. Women that didn't know that they were pregnant, my mom would tell them that they were pregnant or she would tell them in a future if they were going to have like a male or female. And they were like, what? What?

Everybody always said my mom had good energy. A lot of people who are like sad or depressed when they see my mom, even today, like they just walk up to her and talk and have long conversations like they've known her all their lives. But at the same time, like depending on the mood, it was like zero to a hundred. And there are times if she would come home frustrated. And we could hear like cabinets opening and closing. and at times when she was really mad, like weird things were happening around the house.

I said lights with flicker. One night she was really on edge. She had a gnawing feeling deep inside her that she couldn't let go about TK's dad. And I remember my dad had stayed out all night one night. Her and my dad were having marital issues. She had woke up my oldest brother and told him to watch us

and she was like, I got to follow the voice. The voice is telling me to find your father. She was sound asleep, and the voice literally told her, like, you need to get up. And she said she always trusted that voice when she was young. And she said that voice has never let her down. She said it was like a soft female type of voice. And she said, I don't know how or why. She said, I just do exactly where to go.

And she jumped in a car and she was. left and it was like two cities over so she drove like 40 minutes or so it was a motel with multiple like rooms and stuff she didn't know where to go but she said she literally heard a voice tell her like room 18 and so she said she went to room 18 and knocked on the door and a guy opened the door and he looked up because I guess he thought it was somebody else coming he just opened the door and he looked and immediately he slammed the door TK's mom instantly recognized the man. He worked with her husband.

Behind the door, she could hear them shouting, Your wife is here. And she said she saw like some females in there. And the coworker was trying to hold her back. And she looked at my dad was trying to get like the window up. And he got it up to good enough size because he was a small guy. And he said he just like pushed the screen out and jumped out that window. And I ran out.

out, got in his car, and just took off. TK.'s dad was in a panic, but his mom got in her car and patiently, methodically, followed behind her husband. And then my mom pretty much just followed him home, but he had like a good lead on her, but she kind of caught up to him, even though I think he was saying it was still like about 20 car lengths before he, like, lost control. His car spun out and careened off the highway. Police came and an ambulance picked him up.

He survived the crash but was in bad shape. When their mom came home in the early morning hours, she said she'd followed the voice that led her to their dad, but on the way home, he'd been in a car wreck. T.K. was too afraid to question her. A few days later, T.K. and his brothers went to visit their dad in the hospital. They stood around his bed and asked him, him to describe what had happened that night on the road.

And the part that really creep me out, because when I was talking to him, I was like, like, Dad, like, what really happened? I was like, I'm hearing a different side of the story. And he was like, he was like, son, I was driving. And he was like, of course, I was panicking. He was like, oh, man, I don't know how I'm going to explain this. And he said, he was in the front seat of his vehicle. And my mom was following him, following him back.

And he said, of course, he was speeding because he was like, I don't know how I'm going to explain this to the boys and all. And he said every now and then he would check the rear view to see, like, where she was at. And he was like, she was probably 20 carlintz back. And so he was like, he said he just kept checking the rear view, checking the rear view. And then he was saying like he had looked up at one time. And he said he literally saw her in the back seat, like watching them. He could see his wife's figure illuminated in the beams of her own headlights. And he said, like, he like squint to make sure he was seeing it, right?

And he was saying, yeah. He said she was like in the back seat because she had leaned forward. And he said she had kind of like reached out. And like when she reached out, that's when he like panicked and like lost control of his vehicle. TK's mom and dad split up right after the car accident. But yeah, my dad, he had. He didn't really too much dwell on it too much. She kind of laughed it off, but I could tell that it bothered him.

TK. and his family moved to a house near where his grandma lived. TK. loved being close to her. Our grandmother, let's say she passed away in the early 2000s, and left that home unoccupied. So if I went to college and I came back, I decided to move in there. Oh, it was amazing. It was like as soon as you open up the door, it was like breathing country air. It was just like fresh breath.

All the room seems like lit. Like it was like a lot more light in that house. And it was just like always good vibes. Even though TK's grandmother passed away, he still felt her in the house. Her scent, lavender, wafted into the rooms. Her voice called his name. Once, his niece said she saw their grandmother standing in the corner of the living room,

smiling at her. But things were about to change because... My mom remarried, a guy from Texas. I wanted my mom to be happy at first because after my birth dad, after they had their situation to fell out and a divorce. Of course, she went back into her depression.

But TK.'s stepdad was a step down. He made crude, mean jokes at family gatherings. He even scared the preacher out of town. Apparently, the two men had done time together years back, and the preacher was afraid that TK's stepdad would out him to the congregation. But TK.'s mom, she didn't seem to mind that the guy was bad. or she just couldn't see it. They were driving around one night and they saw some parents,

I guess, around Christmas Eve. They were putting together like a bicycle outside, and they put it in their garage. But they went back that night and took the bike. And I think he offered it to one of my nieces for Christmas. And my mom was laughing about it. was laughing about it. She was like, oh, she said it was just the, it was a thrill.

It was the thrill of the whole thing. She said, I never felt like that type of excitement. She never, ever done that or anything like that when we were coming up. Because she obviously taught us right from wrong. Her mother and my grandmother definitely would not have like that if she was still alive. T.K. could always escape to his grandmother's house, where the scent of lavender wafted from room to room.

He was at peace there. And then I come on one day to my grandmother's house and they had moved their stuff in. So she told me, she was like, well, by law, this is my house because I just asked her when I was like, what's going on?

She was just like, yeah, we need to upgrade. So she said, I'm going to move in here. She said, it's going to be me. you and your stepdad pretty much she just bullied me or bullied herself into that home and I was like oh no

over time that country air that I used to smell that it was gone so the air had gotten Vic and stuffy all the rooms that used to be so lit up

and well lit just by like the natural light it it was like a like a dim light, like everything started becoming a little darker. And I was like, and I even told my mom that I was like, this does not feel like your mother's home anymore. I was like, I don't feel grandma around anymore. I was like, I don't know what's going on.

Once I started noticing, like, the atmosphere changed, like everything just started happening, like, boom, boom. One night, soon after his mom and stepdad moved in, TK was coming home late from work. I was trying to get inside of the house, and it's a glass door. I put my key in and turned the door, and I saw, like, the silhouette of my stepdad come to the door, and it was just standing there. So when I turned the door to open it, it reached out and turned the door and pulled on the opposite way.

So we were having, like, a tug-of-war fight until the point where I got frustrated. And, like, I went and pulled my key out, and the shadow was standing there looking at me. And I was like, all right, I'll just go around to the other door. So when I walked away, the shadow backed away to. T.K. walked around to the back door. He looked through the living room window and saw his stepdad. And when I walked by that window, he was sleeping on the couch. And I was like, okay, that was a quick run.

I said he literally had to run from the living room to jump onto the couch and pretend like he's sleep. So when I went around to the other side and I walked down, and I walked into my mom's room, and I was like, how long he's been asleep? My mom was like, he's been, like, laying there for a couple hours. He's been asleep. I was like, he didn't come out there and open the door

or playing like tug-of-war with me. And she was like, no. She was like, he's been out there the whole time. And then sometimes during the night. I had woke up several times to a shadow figure again. in his silhouette, standing at the end of the bed, and then, of course, it would vanish. Then I would feel like the sheets tighten up around me. It feels like somebody's grabbing all four corners of the sheets and just put all their weight down on it.

One time I couldn't even sit up. I was like, okay. I started saying the Lord's Prayer, and then I could feel like the sheets lightened up and I could sit up. TVs would turn on, radios would turn on, because they had the old style, like a stereo. One Sunday, I'd say Sunday mornings, my mom would turn the radio up to some gospel station and have the volume on like round seven. The station changed to like a, more like it, like it went from FM to AM the first time. time, which was weird.

And she thought that either me or my brother had done it, so she yelled at us about it. So she changed it back. And then, like, the station, the knob itself, me and my brother saw it. The knob turned. Like, every time she put it on gospel, the knob, after a few minutes, the knob would turn it to some other station or just a static, just dead air. And so she thought it was just like a faulty knob, and she would just turn the radio off. I wanted the house to go back

to the way it was. Before they moved in, I had a peace of mind. I could rest because I suffered from insomnia. And then when my stepdad and my mom came, like the whole energy shifted. And, of course, with the bed shaking and sheets tightening and seeing shadows and I just couldn't get any rest.

And, of course, T.K. couldn't feel his grandmother's presence anymore. He didn't know how his stepdad living there had changed things, but TK. just knew that he had chased all the goodness from the house. He kind of talked her out of a lot of like spiritual or positive vibe things. A lot of the religious figurines that she had, she had set up. He had started making her box them up and set them away. And like, he just, you just, you know, It seemed like he started, I guess, it was something called the godlight. It was like he was trying to get that out over and replace it with darkness. One morning, TK.'s mom told him that she hadn't slept well.

She'd woken up in the middle of the night and had seen a group of figures standing around her bed. She said she saw my grandmother, her, my grandfather, and she had an older brother that passed away. She said she saw all three of them standing at the side of her bed with a look of disappointment. And she said she was asking like, like, what's wrong? And she said, even though none of their mouths moved or, or she said there was like not any movement, they were just standing there. She said, she could hear all three of them, I guess they're. thoughts. They were saying they were disappointed in her and they were disappointed in like what choices that they made. And I think at that time she kind of knew what they were hinting at

that she needed to get away from the guy. Not to sound like a mama's boy, but I could live with my mom. It wouldn't bother me what people would say, but I could not live with him. So, but yeah, I definitely got to a point where I wanted both of them out and have everything go. back to the way it was. TK.'s mom and stepdad fought more and more. TK. worried that his stepdad would get violent. Sometimes when he left for work, he wondered if he'd ever see his mom again.

One night... I came home and I came into like a hellstorm of arguments and cursing and whatnot. So I went to my room and I was like, man, what's going on? I came out and like my mom was literally like cursing him out and he was cussing back. And like the whole mood shifted. I was like, all right, this is about to get physical. And I was like, of course I'm not going to have a guy laid hands on my mom. So I come out of my room and they were in the kitchen arguing.

And so they're going back and forth, back and forth. And so I try to put myself in between them just in case if something happens. And so my mom is like staring at them. and like my dad's just, I mean my stepdad's just going on and on. And boom, the cabinet flew off the missing by inches. Like, literally flew off. And of course, he let out this loud scream.

And he turned around and looked at me and gave me this look like, did you just see that? And I'm standing there with my hands over the mouth. Like, did I just see that? My mom just burst out laughing. And she was like, good. See that? She said, good, mama, get them, get on, mama.

And I'm looking at her, and she's like, like, double over and laughing. She's like, see, I told you, I told you. I have to admit, I did laugh. I did go from, like, shocked to laughter. My stepdad, he tried to save face because everybody heard him screaming. He picks up his, like, the few belongings that he had, like, in the kitchen. And, like, his hands are shaking. Like, he went and grabbed a bag.

and he grabbed some clothes and stuff and he left that night. And to this day, my mom still says that she said, nah, your grandma did that because this used to be a good Christian house. He said, she just got tired of it. Once his stepdad left, the shadow figures, the general darkness that had overtaken the place,

vanished. And his mom, slowly, she got better too. Before I came here, I was hanging out with her and we grabbed a quick bite to eat. And again, like, this is this place called like McAllister's. It's like this little deli thing. The person behind the counter was all friendly. And like one of the ladies that was working there pulled up in chair and just got in on our conversation. And she even said it, she said, I don't know what it is.

She was like, you just have a good spirit. about yourself. And it's just like, my mom's back to her herself. Like the mom that I know and love. But sometimes, even now, TK.'s' mom struggles to control her powers. I don't believe in coincidence. I honestly don't. I mean, I understand there's a right place at the right time or whatnot.

But I believe there's power in word. and the things that you say. And she even said it, she was like, like, even, that's why? Like, even when you learn how to read and spell, she said, why do you think they call it a spell? She said, because what you speak can manifest and come true. But she had an incident in her job. Her and some woman got into a disagreement,

and she said that the woman was really nasty towards her, like that whole day. And my mom took offense to that and told her, She was just like, it was in the terms of, she like, I just wish you die and go away. And that lady died that night. She had a heart attack that night and died. Physically, I'm not afraid of her. Spiritually, I am.

Because I've seen her do stuff or a lot of the stuff that she knows. it it scares me and it definitely comes from her side of the family for sharing your story with us we are so glad to hear your mother is doing so much better I want to thank Laura at the paranormal scholar for helping us find

this amazing story this original score was by Richard Hay it was produced by Anne Ford and Eliza Smith But our journey continues that someone you trust, know, the full season of spooked awaits, be afraid. And if you dig your storytelling under the light of the sun. Check out our amazing sister podcast, Snap Judgment, Storytelling is the beat. And understand only at twilight.

Only on the edge of the burial site, eyes slightly. And only then, only then you might see them their faces, cover. in shroud. Look, but be aware of Mark Ristich. Anna Sussman. Our chief spookster is Eliza Smith, Chris Hambrick, Annie Nguyen, Marissa Dodge, Lauren Newsom, Renzel Goryo, Leon Morimoto, Jacob Winnic, Tiffany Deleez, Ann Ford, Eric Yanya, Sala Khan. The spook theme song is by Pat Lacedi Miller. My name is Glenn Washington. And I know her bad. I hear the skittering, the whispers. I see the threats right outside. my line of sight right over there, over there.

I advise that you follow the same ritual, the same pattern that I do each and every night, which is to never.