by Susan Thomas
"I'd like to stay too," I said tentatively. "I want to go to the community college, there is a course there that interests me. I know I could find a better school but I like it here, and I wondered how you would feel about me staying with you guys."
I didn't need a spoken answer, their faces said it all. They were delighted, but dad suddenly looked stern.
"OK Karen, here's the thing. We have loved having you as... guess you are a foster daughter... it is all a bit strange the way it was done. We've been paid and to be honest if this hadn't come up I don't know what we would have done but we have always worried about it. We love being parents to you and it would be great to carry right on, but we have a condition or two."
"What are they?"
"Well, the main one is we don't get paid. Being your parents is reward enough. We are solid again and I have a good job. We can manage OK, and it isn't right to be paid for something we love doing like this. The next one is if we were your parents, or parents of any girl of eighteen right through to twenty-one, we would still expect to have authority to set rules..."
I interrupted. "Done. I like you being strict with me. Don't ask me to explain why, I just do. I don't like getting spanked, not one bit, but I know it has helped me sort out my mind and my behavior. I must make some contribution to the household though. I mean, come on, I have money for an education."
I didn't tell them that in fact I was extremely wealthy. I knew them well enough to know they would not be easy with that. We didn't really discuss it more than that as there was a whole year to go, but it sort of cemented relationships. They knew for sure now how much I valued them, and I knew how much they valued me.
School started back and I was now a senior. In this school that didn't exempt you from the paddle. Even if you were eighteen you were expected to sign the form agreeing you could be paddled. To be honest, I thought I now had it all cracked. I was really doing well with my work, and was generally regarded as an A student all the way round. Pride, as they say, goes before a fall. Not that the fall was really mine but I did get six swats of the paddle for the second time.
It might have been a law-abiding town but teenagers are still teenagers, and some liked to experiment with drugs. A couple of criminals targeted the school and I became aware that some of the boys were getting involved with drugs. I kept my nose out of it; I was in school to study and didn't want to know. Then I noticed that Janine was in close with a rather dubious boy, and I became more and more concerned. One day I saw her go off with him and something made me suspicious. They went to a far corner of the school grounds where they met two other boys. I don't quite know how I knew but I sensed this was something to do with drugs, and hurried to get closer. I arrived just in time to see Janine take two tiny packages and I steamed in, snatching them from her hand.
"Are you mad," I shouted, "don't you realize the trouble you could get into?"
The three boys all objected but I punched her boyfriend and started shouting at the others, "Fucking come on then, you motherfuckers. Which of you wants to go to hospital first? Come on fuckwads."
I was shouting and acting madly aggressive. I have found that boys or men are so taken aback by a mad show of aggression like that from a girl that they tend to back off and this lot did, they just turned tail and fled. Janine was upset and she ran off in another direction. I started to walk back when two male teachers appeared. They too had been suspicious of the boys but from more of a distance and couldn't see who exactly the girl was with them. They made me show them what I had in my hand and that was it. Like armed guards they escorted me to Principal Fagan who went ballistic.
He shouted and lectured and demanded names and of course I said nothing. If I gave the name of Janine's boyfriend there was a high chance he would rat her out. In the end he sentenced me to six swats of the paddle (the highest number allowed) and two weeks suspension. I wasn't bothered about the two weeks. If I was going to the community college my grade average was already more than good enough. The six swats did bother me, but what worried me most was what dad would do.
He looked me up and down with real hostility. I knew that drugs in school were a serious matter, and I was lucky he was handling it and not the cops.
"Go change into your gym shorts. Just your gym shorts, understand?"
I knew exactly what he meant. We had all heard rumors that this happened sometimes. I had to go and take off my jeans and panties and just put on those thin cotton gym shorts which were pretty close fitting. I went to change with a nasty sick feeling in my stomach, and changed as quickly as I could, feeling very self-conscious as I walked back to the Principal's office dressed like that. Thank heavens there was nobody in the corridors to see me, but I knew when I bent over that some of my butt would have no protection and the rest just one thin layer of cotton cloth.
I had to bend over as before, my hands braced against the edge of his desk. I was aware of what he must be seeing with the tight shorts practically revealing everything underneath. I was getting a new pair I promised myself. I don't want to describe just how much that paddling hurt but to give you an idea, each swat drove me forward so I stumbled in spite of having my hands braced against the desk. I was not quiet. I had given up trying to be brave or stoic about my spankings. They hurt and everyone knew it so why pretend otherwise. I let rip and any kid in the corridor outside must have vowed never to touch drugs in this school. I was in tears by the time he finished. It was much, much harder than the previous six I had received. I guess he was good and mad about the drugs, and I could barely stand still and upright.
"Go and sit on the bench out there. I am taking you home to your parents after I call them."
I sniveled that I would prefer to stand and he shouted, "You will sit down. I will not tolerate any disobedience." So I sat but with a great deal of discomfort. When he came out of his office, he glared at me sitting on the punishment bench and told me curtly to go and get my kit, he was taking me home. My parents would be waiting, he told me. I got in his large shiny car for the drive home. He said not one word to me on the short journey.
The atmosphere at home was frosty to say the least. They both looked anxious, disappointed and worried.
"It would seem, Karen..." Dad's speech was heavy, "...that we have completely misread you. We thought you too sensible and disciplined for such stupidity. We were obviously wrong. Well I am going to give you such a spanking you will never want to go near drugs ever again. I am going to give you double your age in licks with my belt..."
I nearly fainted at that point. Thirty-four! I'd never be able to take it.
"...and I am going to spank you each morning that you are suspended from school."
At that point I nearly ran out. I could easily get away from all of them and hide in Dave's place until I could organize a return to my real identity. I'd have to compensate mom and dad of course, but as the implications of leaving sunk in, I realized I just couldn't abandon everything now. It was going to hurt like hell but I had to go through with it.
"Karen..."
I looked at dad, he had obviously been saying something but I had been thinking so much I hadn't heard it.
"Yes, dad."
"Get those shorts down."
I looked at him. Principal Fagan was still standing there. Surely he wasn't going to whip me with him there. I looked at dad and back at the Principal but dad just told me to get on with it. I started to pull them down but was hesitating. I wasn't sure I could do this.
I'll never know whether I would have done it or not. Would dad have gone ahead? Would Principal Fagan have stayed? Would mom have let it happen with the Principal there? They will all remain unanswered questions because at that moment there was a frantic knocking and ringing on our front door. Mom rushed to answer it.
Janine and her father came hurrying in. "Thank God you're here," Janine's dad threw at Principal Fagan. Then to dad he shouted, "Don't do anything to Karen. Listen to Janine."
Janine stood there and w
ith sobs, gulps, stammers and heaven knows what else, she told the story of how it was her who was guilty and what I had done to stop her. I almost fainted with relief because I really wasn't sure I could take thirty-four with dad's belt and then get spanked every day for two weeks on top. Well the reactions were interesting. Mom and dad were so relieved (join the club guys!) they hugged me and relaxed. Principal Fagan looked as if he could murder Janine and then chew me up for dessert.
"OK, young lady I have paddled Karen here because she wouldn't inform on you but took the blame. I am going to paddle you today, if your father will allow us to go back to school, and again on your return, and you will be suspended for two weeks."
Janine burst into tears and stood head down sobbing loudly. Her father asked dad what he had planned to do with me and on hearing it he declared he would do that to Janine who promptly started howling even louder. All the adults were glaring at poor Janine who was making such a noise it got on my nerves.
"What's the point?" I asked loudly.
They all went quiet and looked at me.
"Well think about it: those boys were the ones trying to get idiots like Janine to take the drugs, free at first of course but not later, and they'll just find another mug; but what is the point of getting them? They aren't the criminals, they are just idiots, and if you get them the criminals will simply find someone else. It is the criminals organizing this that we need to get or there will be other boys and other mugs like Janine. They're probably not even from this town."
I was making this up as I went, but I couldn't seem to stop and they all stood there gawping at me.
"Now we have a golden opportunity if you don't paddle or suspend Janine. I have been paddled and you brought me home. The whole school knows by now so I am the culprit. You can declare it is case closed, and Janine can tell her boyfriend I haven't ratted them out because I am scared of her getting into trouble. It's Wednesday. I'll stay off until Monday and you can say you've shortened the suspension because of mitigating home circumstances or some such story.
"Then when I get back, Janine, Katerina, Crystal and I will start taking photos of each other and other kids all over the place. When everyone thinks we are just daft girlies we can make sure that we get photos of the boys and those criminals supplying them. We can hand over all that stuff to you guys, and the police will do the rest. It's better if we do it because if the cops start hanging around everyone will just go under cover."
Well it took a lot of negotiation but my spontaneous plan got accepted, and Janine was let off her home punishment and the suspension, but Principal Fagan wouldn't back down on the paddling for Janine. He said she deserved what I had got and then another dose for not coming forward sooner. It was finally agreed he would come to her house this evening and paddle her, and again before school went back, but would not record it. Janine did not look happy, but really she had been so very stupid she deserved a sore bottom.
They all left and dad just suddenly grabbed hold of me and hugged me tight. He was almost in tears. "Oh thank God you don't do drugs. That would be a whole new nightmare." Then he was suddenly upset and whipped me round and swatted my butt three of four times.
"Ow," I shouted because my butt was sore from the paddling. "What was that for?"
"For worrying the life out of me. You're always rescuing someone," he said, and after that illogical statement he hugged me fiercely again. Then it was mom's turn, and in the end I had both of them hugging me and kissing me. It was kind of nice I have to admit.
---oOo---
Everyone was staring at me when I got back to school on Monday. I had bought drugs, been paddled and suspended and not grassed up the boys. That combined with my existing reputation for being an A student, student leader and girl not to be messed with, left others unsure what I was - I didn't fit into any category. How right they were!
Our gang of four started taking photos of school life. We were everywhere taking pictures of break times, canteen life, sports clubs and teams, in fact anything that moved. It was for a mysterious project of ours and in the end we bored everyone, and they stopped noticing. Then we started taking photos of the drug sales. I'd pose for Janine. Katerina for Crystal or some such pairing and somehow the aim would shift and the zoom would go on and the photo we took was not the one that we appeared to be taking. We'd then come back and label each photo with the names involved. What we couldn't get was a photo of the guys who were supplying the boys.
I told Dave about it one afternoon as we relaxed in bed. He went ballistic and ranted on about how dangerous it was, but I told him we had just bored everyone and no-one was taking any notice. He muttered a lot but did nothing.
It was about a week after I told Dave, that we got our break and managed to snatch a photo of one of the boys selling the stuff getting into a car. Janine just got a long distance shot of the driver. Now we knew what car to look for, and soon we had good photos of three men and their vehicles... the main one being a dark brown SUV. We even got a shot of the license plate. We decided that we would put the whole lot together in both a digital format and a paper one, and give it to Principal Fagan. He could then bring the cops in.
As I walked home after school, I felt we had really done a good job. At that point a dark brown SUV pulled up a little ahead of me and a man got out. Suddenly, a man was behind me and then another man got out of the SUV. I guess they thought I was just any old seventeen-year-old stupid schoolgirl. It is true there was no way I could fight off three tough guys, but equally no way they wouldn't know they'd been in a fight. The guy behind me grabbed me and must have wondered if he had grabbed a wild cat. I broke free of him and slammed the heel of my hand up under his nose. I drove my knee in between his legs; it wasn't really effective but it stopped him. Then another was on me but I avoided him and just managed a nice hard kick to his knee. He yelled and went down on the sidewalk cursing and holding his knee. The other was coming for me and, honestly, I was scared.
Just then a figure came hurtling onto the scene and smashed against that third man, crashing him into a wall and then knocking him down to the ground. I turned back to injured-knee man and kicked him hard in the face before I was knocked to the ground by the man I had forgotten behind me. Dave pulled a gun at that point, and everything went still and quiet. A moment or two later and half the cops in town were there.
Apart from an egg on my head where I'd hit the sidewalk and bruises everywhere, I was OK. The role of the four of us was kept quiet for fear of repercussions; it was handled as a police surveillance operation. Principal Fagan got it in the neck for not reporting it all to the police, but he had friends in high places so no action was taken. It was decided only to prosecute the men that had targeted the school and tried to abduct me, together with the boys who had sold the drugs. All the kids we had photos of buying got interviewed with their parents over the week. Every day during that period you could see kids walking stiffly and sitting down very cautiously. It was only a battle won of course, the war would continue and someone else would come along sooner or later.
---oOo---
There had been no opportunity for any private time with Dave so at the first opportunity I went around. He wasn't like his usual self. He seemed angry, but held in his anger like he wanted to explode.
"What's the matter Dave, you seem upset?"
"I am fucking upset." I was astonished, Dave didn't normally swear. "I'm upset with you. Do you realize what could have happened to you?"
Of course I did, but what could I do? It was over now but in the end nothing had happened to me, other than a lump and few bruises.
"Yeah well it didn't, did it? You were there as it happened, and they came off worse than me in the end."
He moved so fast I couldn't blink even. Suddenly, I found he had sat down dragging me with him and pulled me over his knee. My skirt was up and my panties and pantyhose pulled down, and he was spanking me fast and furiously. I screamed and fought, kicked and yelled, and in the end begged
and pleaded. It hurt so much that spanking. He spanked me until his hand must have felt as if it was on fire. My butt felt incinerated. I was sobbing helplessly and just lay weakly over his knee in the end. I was too tired to fight any more. Finally, he let me up and I hobbled off to the bathroom and shut the door. I was in there ages crying like some little kid and finally sorting myself out. When I came out I was mad.
"What the hell was all that about?"
"I only saved you because I have been following you since you told me your mad scheme. You could have been hurt, that is why I spanked you."
I stood there gawping at him, not really understanding why he was so upset. He grabbed my arms and started shaking me. "Don't you realize, you silly girl? I love you, damn it." Then he started kissing me.
For the second time I made like some stupid woman in an old movie. I went all weak and hung on to him, crying. I realized then that I loved Dave too. It was a revelation to both of us how strongly we felt.
---oOo---
I had to have some story as to why I looked so bad. I had been crying like some water fountain. So I told mom I had broken up with my distant boyfriend. She wasn't in the least bit surprised that the relationship was over, just that I was so upset about it. However, that lie took me back to my original problem that had been made worse by Dave. I couldn't really have a boyfriend as in reality I was older than all the boys. To go out with some older guy was more than a bit creepy and anyway I now had Dave. I had to keep that whole issue at arm's length, but how?
