Mom is trying to gaslight the police into thinking I’m trying/have hurt her when she’s been abusing me since a child.

r/

First off, story of my life: I’m 26 and am disabled due to a spinal cord injury I got from a car crash when I turned 22, and have yet to get the surgery I need to recover since I’ve been fighting with the car insurance company and Medicare for the past 4 years to get coverage and I only recently got accepted and am scheduling as many doctor appointments as possible to get healed as fast as possible.

Side related trauma: When I turned 18, I was drugged, kidnapped, beaten, robbed, and r*ped, before witnessing someone get shot in the face right in front of me. I narrowly escaped and still have nightmares of being beaten defenselessly almost every single night…. So I have lots of trauma even without the few dozen alcohol fueled smackdowns I received from my parents when I was growing up but assumed I maybe somehow deserved.

Flash forward to now: I broke up with my ex gf who I was living with and now I’m back at home with my parents. All was well for the first few weeks. Until one night my mom decided to randomly go off on me for being “unemployed”(disabled) and living under her roof “rent free”(I’m paying them rent every month and I’ve kept track of every penny I owe them for other expenses), and even after I’ve told her a million times that I’m going to pay her back every cent whenever I get my injury settlement, she wouldn’t listen and kept pressing me about it calling me a bunch of names and getting all up in my face so I snapped and said that if she ever listened to me she’d never yell at me in the first place and that PISSED HER OFF. She grabbed me and pushed me up against the wall and while she was fuming and spitting out insults she started to hit my chest with her fists harder and harder and while I’m a grown man and can take a decent beating normally, I’m not quite at my prime and was in severe neck pain at this point, so I pulled back and punched the door ONE TIME to show her that I’m not defenseless and to get her to stop. As soon as I did it I turned around and walked to my room.

She then told my dad that I threatened to hit her so he freaked out and gave me a big scolding that I tried to explain my side of, but he doesn’t listen when he’s defending her.

A couple of weeks passed, and now today I had a package coming in the mail with some tech stuff I ordered for prime day. She had it opened and when I asked her why she opened my mail, she said “because it’s in my house”. I told her to please read the label and she goes “No.” while dropping my package on the floor. I must’ve missed my morning meds because that one pissed me off enough to curse and I literally called her a “dumb bitch” for dropping the most expensive package I ordered on the ground. She kicked the package for that one and I told her she’s paying me back for it if it’s broken. She once again got up in my face pointing and shouting and calling me names except this time I doubled down and said “well you must be dumb if you can’t read”, and she grabbed me and started wailing on me. The first few I blocked aimed at my sides and shoulders, but then she started getting more and more aggressive and the next few landed on my face and just about broke my glasses and nailed my jaw so hard it’s still sore af several hours later. Well after that last punch landed I cocked my fist back and told her to stop or “I WILL hit you”. Horrible choice of words as I’d never hurt a fly, but I had just mentally gone back to that night of the robbery and I genuinely feared for my life and needed her off of me, so I bluffed. As soon as she got off of me and stopped hitting me, I pulled out my phone and dialed 911. But before I could hit enter, she goes “do it, I’ll just tell them you hit me first and threatened to kill me! Who do you think they’ll believe, you or the homeowner?”. I instantly swapped from 911 to my phone to try and record her but as soon as she realized what was happening she left the room and tried to play victim.

Got a text from her a few minutes ago saying if I ever curse at her again, she’s calling the police and essentially lying to them to get me locked up. Said she’ll be “filing an order” whatever the fuck that means. But I guess I’m going to have to start recording every conversation between us because she has me scared for my life. Whether that means her hurting me/killing me (she’s pulled a knife on me before and even cut me once), or lying to the cops and getting me locked up for some staged “assault”. I wouldn’t put it past her to hurt herself and lie about it.

I asked her to take some accountability, and she replied by giving me 3 months before she’s kicking me out on the streets and if I talk back to her or don’t do what she asks of me, she’s “Filing an order”. Feels like a bluff but she’s the type of veteran manipulator that would actually do it… and succeed. She’s also been using that one since I was a child so I’m starting to doubt she even knows what she’s talking about.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. For now, I’m just saving whatever I can and trying my hardest to get into doctors as fast as possible and get my surgery so I’m hopefully not still recovering while I’m living on the street. I’m just playing nice as best as I can until then at this point and hoping to be recovered enough to get a job and find my own shelter again before I completely lose hope.

Comments

  1. emmy_talks_reddit Avatar

    Record everything! Get proof of the abuse. 3 months isn’t long, so accelerate your surgery & GTFO. Consider the National Domestic Violence Hotline

  2. PoutineDiamond Avatar

    What your mom is doing is abuse, full stop. You’re smart to start documenting everything — keep records, record audio (if legal in your area), and back it up safely. Her threats to lie to the cops are serious, and you need to protect yourself.

    Try reaching out to legal aid or a domestic abuse support org — even if you’re still living there, they can help you plan your next steps. Focus on your surgery and getting out. You don’t deserve this. Stay safe.