by Luke Brown
Essie didn’t mind the length of time that it took because she knew that was part of the punishment. It was a twofold disciplinary action. This was the psychological part of it, and the longer Bunny pondered it, the more likely the point had been made that he needed to be responsible. Essie knew that in order for her kids to take her seriously, she had to follow through. It didn’t matter how long it might take. After an hour, Essie noticed that Bunny still hadn’t returned, so she went outside to get him.
When Bunny saw her coming toward him, he trembled with fear and shouted, “Momma, I’m looking for the best piece of switch I can find. I’m searching for the right size. I want you to be happy with the right size and type of switch, so I’m not going to stop searching until I find the right one. You deserve to get the right one. Momma, I’m not going to give you anything less. So you can go back in and let me take care of this. Please, Momma, go back in. I promise that I’ll bring the best switch to you. Don’t worry, Momma, I know that I deserve a spanking, and that’s why I’m trying to find a good switch.”
Essie immediately looked around her in the backyard and noticed that there were many good choices. She could have just as easily grabbed one and started spanking him, but she was curious to see how far Bunny had planned on dragging out this two-minute situation. She was interested in the game that Bunny had going with her. “So you’re making sure that you get me the right switch, huh? Okay, son. I’ll be inside waiting.”
Essie turned away quickly. She couldn’t help grinning. The thought of how her little twelve-year-old son was trying to outsmart her made her smile. She rushed inside, lest Bunny notice the amusement on her face. She couldn’t help thinking how her son was so bold as to try out an Oscar-worthy acting performance on her.
She thought, This boy is going to be something special when he grows up. However, it was her job to make sure that he got there, so she had to follow through, even as humorous as she found this situation to be. She thought that it would have been much easier for him if he had just come forward, taken his punishment, and gotten it over with. But he had decided to take the long route, which meant an even heavier punishment than she had planned.
Bunny continued to wander slowly around the backyard until it was obviously time to go inside. He couldn’t believe that his mother had fallen for his simple deceptive plan. Maybe she’s changed her mind, he thought to himself. Maybe she’s forgiven me, or maybe she just gave up because I’ve outwaited her, and it wasn’t worth her time waiting around for me. Maybe I was the last thing on her mind among a million other things that she had to do. He felt victorious, although the end of his act had not yet played out. He felt like an athlete who was doing a ten-lap race and was ahead by five laps. He was celebrating his victory even though the race was not yet over. He knew he had to face the music at some point. What am I going to do now? he thought. Should I, after all this long wait, still take a switch to Mother? Then it wouldn’t be a victory anymore. No, I can’t afford to do that. I’ve invested too much time and effort in avoiding being spanked.
Slowly, Bunny realized that he had gotten more punishment just in doing his elaborate and extensive search for a switch than if he had just faced the music. He decided that he would simply go inside and let the chips fall where they may. He went inside and tiptoed silently into bed before anyone noticed him. Before long, he was fast asleep.
Not long after, Essie went to check on him with a strap and found him sleeping. Despite his adorable smile, she couldn’t let the other kids feel that this was a smart way of getting around whatever she demanded of them. She had to set an example for them. Although she thought that it was very cute how he had spent so much time trying to outsmart her and avoid being spanked, she had to follow through.
She tapped him lightly on the shoulder. When she felt that he was awake, she raised her hands in the air and said, “Boy, I will give you a chance this time, but you must know that you are not smarter than me. Next time, you must do what I say, okay, boy?”
“Okay, Momma. I’ll do whatever you say.” Bunny was relieved to know that the saga was finally over. It was funny, but he did not feel victorious even for a minute. Instead, he felt bad. He knew that it hadn’t been worth it. He went back to bed and had a good night’s rest. The first to wake up the next morning, he rushed to clean up the yard.
Essie was committed to administering the proper discipline to her kids because she strongly believed that if she didn’t take care of the light punishment, then society or the cops would be doing the heavy punishment later in life. By then, her kids would be totally unredeemable and out of control. She believed that the parents were the ones who made a difference in society, and it was her job to teach her kids how to be good citizens.
On his days off from school, Essie’s son Leonard used to spend most of his time across the street with his neighbors, the Mulgrave family. That was okay with Essie, because the Mulgraves were a good, upright, SDA Christian family. Essie thought it was a plus for her son to spend as much time as possible with that family, because by so doing, he could learn more about what it was like to live a true Christian life. Moreover, they had family devotions or prayer services twice a day, and they included him. If Leonard wasn’t at home, Essie didn’t question his whereabouts; she automatically assumed that he was with the Mulgraves.
Leonard enjoyed spending time with his neighbors for all the same reasons his mother thought he did. However, in addition to that, the Mulgrave family usually included him in their dinner plans and cooked a little extra with him in mind. Sometimes, if he spent the whole day with them, he could expect to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was like a home away from home.
One day, Leonard’s friends—who were about the same age as he was, fourteen—encouraged him to follow them to the ocean to go fishing. It was an intriguing idea. He knew that his mother wouldn’t approve of him going so far away without her consent, but he refused to risk asking because she might say no. He figured that if he went with his friends, his mother wouldn’t have to know. Maybe she would simply assume that he was at the neighbors’ house. After a long time pondering his options, he decided to join his friends.
“Sure, let’s go,” Leonard said to Ben. “I love to fish, but I don’t have a fishing rod or line or any fishing tools, for that matter.”
“Don’t worry about that, mon,” Ben said. “We have what you need, and we’ll share everything. I even have extra line and hooks for you, but when we get there, we’ll have to hunt for our bait.”
“What are we going to use for bait?”
“Don’t worry about that. You don’t have to do anything but come and enjoy yourself. It’s going to be lots of fun; I guarantee it. If you don’t have lots of fun, you can hit me in the head. Do you think I like being hit in the head? That’s how much I’m sure you’re going to be happy if you come with us to the beach.”
There were three other boys in addition to Ben. If Leonard went, there would be five people in all. The journey wasn’t too far because they only lived about five miles from the ocean anyway. Leonard thought it would be fun either way. He couldn’t lose, because if the trip turned out to be more trouble than it was worth, there was always Ben’s proposition. He could see hitting Ben in the head as being a lot more fun than he had had in a long time.
Leonard had always steered clear of trouble and tried to do the right thing. He had learned most of his lessons from when other kids got in trouble, and he saw the high price they had to pay. Take Ben, for instance. He got in trouble with his parents, the Mulgraves, just about every other day. He was regularly on his parents’ most-wanted list. He was always doing something dangerous, risky, or outright bad.
Leonard knew that Ben Mulgrave was the last kid in the world to take any advice from or to be associated with when his parents weren’t around, but going fishing wasn’t that bad. There were no major dangers involved. It would be just some innocent kids having some fun fishing without their parents’ consent. How bad could t
hat be, especially if their parents wouldn’t notice that they had gone away on this fishing excursion?
So Leonard held to his decision to go along. The other boys were mostly Ben’s friends. Leonard was just tagging along as a new member of the crew. This posse knew that Leonard usually had a clean reputation, so they were more than happy to have him tagging along. They needed to be in a little good company every now and then. Maybe it would help their bad reputations.
Ben freely introduced the boys to Leonard. “Hey, Leonard, these are my friends, Johnny, Dave, and Jasper. I call them ‘bad company’ because they get me into trouble all the time.”
“Yeah, we’re the Bad Company Posse,” Johnny shouted out gleefully. “That’s a good name!” Rather than being offended by Ben’s statement, they all seemed happy to be called the Bad Company Posse.
“Yeah, I like it, “Jasper said joyfully. “We’re the Bad Company Posse. It has a ring to it. From now on, that will be our name.”
“How about the Good Company Posse?” Dave quickly suggested. “That’s a good one.”
“No, no,” Johnny insisted. “That just doesn’t sound right. It makes us look like a bunch of disciples heading to church. We couldn’t have that.”
“Okay, we’re the Bad Company Posse,” said Johnny. “All in favor say, ‘I love fishing.’”
“I love fishing,” Jasper said merrily.
“I love fishing,” David happily repeated.
“I love fishing,” Ben blissfully said.
“I love fishing,” Leonard added, timidly joining them in their vote for solidarity.
“Now let’s go catch some fish,” they shouted in unison and headed off to the ocean. Leonard eagerly joined the fishing crew as they changed spots and locations hastily, trying to find a place where the fish were biting. They all got a tug or two, but none of them were lucky enough to catch any fish.
Leonard was having fun just trying. He was sincerely happy that he had decided to follow the Bad Company Posse to the ocean. There was no need to hit Ben in the head after all.
The crew began to get a little restless. It wasn’t a good day for fishing; they all seemed to be down on their luck. However, it was always a good day to take a swim in the ocean. Johnny decided to change into his bathing trunks, and without any hesitation, he jumped into the water and swam over to a desolate houseboat that was always unattended and fairly close to the seashore. They all could swim to it with ease, but the rest of them wanted to keep trying their luck at fishing. Johnny climbed up to the top of the two-level houseboat and skillfully dove off the balcony into the water. He repeated this action many times, as if trying to entice his friends.
Eventually, it worked. Before long, they all threw down their fishing tools and joined him in the water. They briskly climbed onto the houseboat and made several different expert dives.
Leonard was having the time of his life. But then, suddenly, he remembered that it would be best if he got back home before his mother returned from work. It was time to pack up and leave while everything was still going well. Leonard knew that even though it was fun, what they were doing was dangerous. Moreover, they had no adult supervision. He started pleading with his new friends: “Guys, it’s time to go home, don’t you think?” He hoped someone would agree with him.
“Aren’t you having fun, Leonard?” Ben asked.
“Yes, I am, but now it’s getting late, and I don’t want my mother to get home from work before I get back.”
“Okay, we’re leaving in a few minutes. I’ll do just one more dive, and then we can all leave.”
“Okay. I’ll swim over to the other side and start getting myself ready to go. You can follow when you’re done.”
As Leonard swiftly started swimming toward the seashore from the houseboat, he heard the other boys shout at him.
“Hey, Leonard, where’re you going? Are you leaving already? Why so soon? We just started having fun.”
He didn’t respond to their taunting cries. He simply kept on swimming toward the beach. As he continued to swim, he heard a big bang behind him. He quickly looked back and noticed that the railing from the upper level, which they had been using as their diving platform, had broken off and fallen into the water. Ben was holding the side of his head with one hand and grimacing in pain.
“Are you okay, Ben?” Leonard asked with genuine concern.
“Yes, I’m fine, just a little bump on my head. I was lucky, because it could’ve been much worse.”
“You’ve been asking for a hit in your head all day. I hope you’re happy now.”
“Yeah, I’ve been asking for it, haven’t I?”
“Come on. I told you it was time to go.”
“Yes,” Ben said, “I was taking my last dive when it happened. I’m ready to go now, Leonard.”
“Okay, let’s go before something worse happens.”
Ben called out to his other friends while he was still in the water: “Everybody, let’s go. I’m going home. You all should, too.”
“No, we’re not ready yet. You can go ahead.”
“Okay, Leonard and I are leaving because it’s getting late.”
“Okay, bye,” they said. “We’ll see you later.”
Ben swam over to shore, got his fishing gear together, and bid his friends good-bye once more. He pointed out to Leonard why he referred to his friends as bad company. They never knew when to stop and didn’t until they got in some kind of trouble. Ben and Leonard walked home slowly, weary and tired, planning their explanatory story.
“Hey, Ben, remember, if my mother asks you where I was, you must say that I was at your house all day. Okay?”
“Okay,” Ben said as they separated to go to their respective homes. “But if my parents ask you where I was, you can say I was at your house so I don’t get in any trouble either.”
Unfortunately, Essie was at the door waiting when Leonard got home. She had been searching for him all evening since she had gotten home from work.
“Where were you, Bunny—I mean, Leonard?” she asked.
“Momma, I was at the same place where I always stay.” Leonard lied to his mother with a straight face, not knowing that she had already checked with the Mulgrave family and realized that he was not there.
“Where is that place that you always stay?
“At the Mulgraves’ house, Momma.”
“Come in here, boy. Let me teach not to lie to me ever again. I was going to let it slide today if you’d told me the truth. But now that you’re lying to me, I have to teach you a good lesson.”
“Okay, Momma, I was going to tell you. I was really with Ben and his friends at the beach. We went fishing, but we didn’t catch any fish. I was hoping to catch some fish to take home to make dinner.” Leonard nervously told the truth, but he was too late. Essie was ready to discipline him both for leaving without her consent and for lying on top of it all.
“Boy, go get me a piece of switch and come back to me. Let me teach you not to be deceitful.”
“Okay, Momma.” Leonard, just like the rest of Essie’s kids, had learned a lesson from Bunny’s experience. It made more sense to go straight for a switch and get it over and done. He rushed to the backyard and picked a small but reasonable switch and brought it to his mother. She took it from him and told him to hold out his hands. She gave him three hard strokes on his palms and warned him never to do that again.
Karl was the only child who had never really been disciplined by his mother. Essie was lenient with him because she always felt guilty for letting him grow up in the country with his father. To make her feel even guiltier, he held it over her head and would remind her about it every chance he got.
Other than his very bad behavior toward Essie, he was a surprisingly well-disciplined child. He never got in any major trouble or fights, except with his mother. He was focused on becoming a successful person when he grew up and always bragged about how he was going to be a millionaire. A self-motivated person, he read many mind-empowerm
ent books. One of his favorite was entitled The Road to Becoming a Millionaire.
If he hadn’t carried such a strong grudge against his mother, he could have been considered the perfect child. But his resentment was so strong, it consumed his very being and overshadowed any good that he had inside of him.
Myrtle was a firecracker, the “bad kid” in the family. Nevertheless, everyone loved her dearly. Essie had a special love for her also, but she wasn’t afraid to discipline her when it was necessary. Essie knew that when she did, she would have to be ready for a big fight. Most of the time, she allocated the power to discipline to Junior, because he was her oldest son. She allowed him to deal with Myrtle and most of the other younger kids when it was really necessary.
Essie seldom had to administer discipline to her oldest kids, Gena, Betty, and Junior. She did sometimes have to discipline Junior when he was a young child in order to get him to go to school; he never really liked going. But he was a well-behaved child, as were Gena and Betty.
Chapter 22
Baking was Essie’s favorite hobby, and she made all types of cakes as needed for various occasions. She especially loved to make her favorite cake—the delectable, mouthwatering Jamaican fruitcake.
Long before the occasion, she would start getting the various bits of dried fruits and other individual components ready. She would have the fruits soaking in rum for days, and then, when it was close to the time needed, she would bake the cake.
If it was for the kids, she would omit the rum but would add a sweet, finger-licking glaze of icing after the cake was baked. If it was for the grownups, then she would go all the way with the dark Jamaican rum and raisins—the whole shebang.
Essie baked her own delightful birthday cakes for all of her kids’ birthdays. They could absolutely depend on the fact that there would be an enjoyable yummy cake baked by their mother with their name on it and a wish from her to them. Most of the time, she wasn’t able to buy her kids a big gift, but she was able to make them an appetizing, to-die-for cake.
