by Tina Clark
***
Several days later as Ed was parking the car, he noticed Mr. Fraser in his garage. “Hi Cammy,” he said.
“Fuck off!” Cammy replied, which Ed construed as anger at him for screwing his wife.
“Look,” he said, “I’m sorry about the sex, but it wasn’t entirely my fault...”
“Och, I’m no’ bothered about you fucking Hilda,” Cammy said, “I can aye do with the assistance. I’m just irritable because a package arrived today from her sister in Barra. Wooly fucking knickers! I thought she’d forgotten aboot them!”
Chapter Twelve
Rebellion and Retribution
Gloria was well pleased. In the last few, oh too short days, she’d put Natalie firmly in her place and she now had Ed firmly in his...the palm of her hand. Oh but his spanking - and the reasonably heroic way he’d taken it - had been glorious, but the threesome with Hilda...that had been the best ever! True Ed had been present and his threesomes had excluded her, but she, had now had three men besides him...although he had, had three women, one of them with her...Gloria shook her pretty head, there were a lot of complicated calculations to do in the retribution business!
She smiled suddenly in anticipation of her party when she would even up the score. She intended to have a foursome with Leonard, Gerry and Hilda while the other three, the guilty ones stood around repenting, watching, cuckolded, serving drinks and canapés...and tissues when required...she could hardly wait, it was almost too delicious!
Hilda Fraser too, was well pleased. Sex for her had been in decline ever since she’d left the negatively charged clean air of her native Barra where that same air, travelling at its normal eighty miles per hour had carried the stench of coo and sheep shite over to the mainland where it belonged. Ed had been quite wrong to assume Hilda was a Wee Free; in fact she was a Catholic, a detail that goes some way in explaining her initial interest in Gloria’s ritual debasement of her husband and her willingness to acknowledge its sexual element.
She grew up with a picture of, The Ecstasy of St Teresa, on her wall to which at various times in her development she had added Saint Jerome Flagellated by the Angels and various other tortured martyrs and had as a prized possession, an iron cilice used to achieve mortification of the flesh something entirely unnecessary on Barra as you would know if you had ever walked on a beach in an eighty mile an hour wind. Like the seas that surrounded her Hebridean island, Hilda Fraser had hidden depths where unmentionable things, large and dark, swam deep and silently.
***
Everything had to be right for the party and of course Gloria had a few surprises - Hilda for one, Now there’s a surprise! she would be there but so too would Leonard and his wandering wife. Leonard was to tell Lisa they were going to the pictures and keep the party secret, right up until he rang Gloria’s doorbell, Then she’d get the picture all right!
Saturday was the day Gloria decided on. It was only six days away and there were things to be done! First she sent Gerry and Leonard detailed texts of the arrangements. Leonard knew of Lisa’s involvement in the foursomes but Gerry had no idea that anyone had any involvement with Natalie other than Ed and Gloria. That was going to be tricky, for Gloria had decided belatedly and somewhat grudgingly to keep him in the dark about all of that, more out of concern for Natalie’s safety than for her standing in her husband’s affections.
As far as her own standing was concerned, Gloria intended to remain on her high heels and retain Ed on his knees. It was an arrangement she’d grown to like and believed suited them both. Ed could just have refused the punishment, he was far bigger and stronger than Gloria and in that event, she would have had no choice but to walk out.
Had it come to that, she would have gone and Ed knew it...But it would never have happened. Marriage is not about physical strength, marriage is a union - it’s a symbiotic relationship. For her part Gloria derived sexual gratification in punishing Ed, but then he did in receiving it. She acquired compensation for her weakness and through that, proper stature for her decisions and woman’s common sense, whereas Ed collected a regular reminder that his strength was limited and shouldn’t be exceeded, for it was not matched by a capacity to add to or even alter anything in Gloria’s plans. His man’s natural inclination to wander close to the edge...and fall off, was curbed, and in his need of discipline and in receiving it, his love and dependency on his mate was continually re-enforced. Stability too, was established, something absolutely necessary in any arrangement prior to the introduction of children, necessary for their safety and sustained development, that always being the female’s principal consideration. Perhaps Hilda had something, in her belief in purity through pain. Catholics had always held that something is only worth having, if it is worth suffering for. All of that at least was how Gloria saw it, and if she saw it thus, so too must Ed.
“Of course, Natalie has already informed you of my intention to hold a soiree,” Gloria told Ed, putting all the stress on the last two letters. “And in the light of that I am merely filling in the gaps that she has left. I will be hosting the evening, and you will be serving at it...you and Natalie...while Gerry and I enjoy the fruits of your labours and poke gentle fun at your efforts to entertain us. There’s nothing more to it than that except that you need a proper jacket, which will come in useful in future, one with tails.”
Ed groaned silently, Aw naw, a fucking claw hammer jacket...why didn’t she mention the strides? He could see through her crap about, ‘Gentle fun,’ though, that meant Natalie and him were getting a thrashing, never mind, it sounded like another foursome, good old Gloria, now she was getting the taste for it. Things were definitely looking up, it had started with Don, she’d liked that, then that fruitcake next door, he’d liked that, didn’t think he would, but what a ride she’d been...and those tits! Who knew where it would all end but, bring it on anyway!
They went into town together to buy the food and beverages and some fripperies for Gloria and then they came back. She was so excited she ordered him to strip, but was too excited to know what to do with him. In the end, Ed got it in the end, she bent him over and paddled his behind and then tried to mount him as if she had a penis. Her experiment failed with the lack of it but Ed saved the day by pushing his hand between his legs and paddling her canoe for her. She was so grateful that after she screamed her thanks a few times, she turned him onto his back and loaded her beaver. They pushed off and floated in the current and may have made it all the way down to Fort Mississauga had not Gloria remembered something she’d forgot. She jumped up and dressed and dashed out to the shops to get it but when she came back, Ed had gone.
At first, she couldn’t understand it. Where was he? She hadn’t sent him out for anything so he shouldn’t be out...He must be here! She went about the house, looking in all the cupboards in case he’d fallen asleep in one after their session that morning and was trying to avoid further punishment...“You won’t do that Ed, I assure you. When I find you, I’m going to give you such a spanking you won’t sit for a fortnight!”
She went outside and hunted Ed in the garden but only turned up Hilda planting kale and potatoes, and had she seen him?
“Yes, he put a bag in the car and left about an hour ago.”
“Where was he going?”
“Oh I didn’t speak to him dear, I was hiding behind the ornamental cherry tree, although I think he may have seen me, my chest was sticking out. Och it’s aye been my cross to bear...”
“Thank you Hilda. I’ll have to go.”
She sat down in the lounge, more puzzled than ever, He wasn’t here! Maybe his mother’s died! She went and phoned but Sylvie was okay and hadn’t heard from him. Where could he be? And slowly it dawned on her...he was gone, Ed was gone.
***
There was no sound in the house, certainly no happy slaps followed by Ed’s even happier sounding yelps and swearing...to he
r. No noise at all...not even a peep. The light turned grey and time crawled or did it stop? Gloria wasn’t sure. Her mind was in confusion, she’d thought they were getting on fine, but surely they were? No, they weren’t. They were not in accord about it all, her new regime. She’d gone too far. No wait! It’s that bitch Natalie, she’s eloped with him!
Gloria sped to the phone but Natalie answered...there. Her voice was punctuated by smacks and she explained that she was over Gerry’s knee getting a spanking, but did she want to talk to him?
“No, that’s okay...Thanks,” and put the phone down. Ed was gone; it was time to face it. She faced it in her bedroom, the downstairs one, not hers at all, the bed she fucked Gerry on...funny that, they had never made love on it, Ed and her and she wondered why not. Gloria wondered about lots of things but most of all she wondered about the folly of it all, her stupid empty arrogant bombast and her vainglorious euphoria. It was too delicious and now it had turned to poison in her mouth...Ugh! Gloria shook her sorry head and threw herself down sobbing on the pillows and many ugly hours later, she fell asleep.
She was wearing a tri-corn hat and was dressed in a red frock coat. She was ringing a bell and near deafening herself with it and doing something similar to the townspeople who were standing about in clogs and wearing Dutch caps, only the women of course. “Oh yeah!” she was shouting because that was part of the job. “Oh yeah! Mistress Gloria Wilson! Lost her man through her burgeoning sexual perversions! Oh yeah! Got too big for her boots, aw yea! Now look at the fool crying...all right! Everybody laugh! Ha! Ha! Oh yeah!” She went on like that for a while and then she was in the living room reading the paper, The Daily Screaming Lunatic, “Local wife drives husband out after string of pervy sex sessions scandal!” Suddenly all her friends were phoning her up asking for the gory details and could she come round to their house...No, stop! It shouldn’t be like this!
Gloria sat up and shook the shouting from her ears...there was something she had to remember from that dream, but she had forgotten and it didn’t matter anyway, Ed was gone. She spent the morning dragging herself about, avoiding mirrors and doing the chores and in the afternoon she phoned them all up and told them the party was off.
If anything, the day was worse than the one before, there was no confusion about it so no hopes of a last minute reprieve. I should be making the tea, she thought and wandered through to look in the fridge but forgot on the way and sat down in the hall and cried. “You fool Gloria Wilson, you fool!” she said when she lifted her head and saw herself in the mirror, her normally perfect hair all tousled and her eyes that used to shine now dull and red rimmed. “You did this to yourself...you fool!”
In the evening, after ten, Gerry phoned. He said that Natalie had had a text from Ed. He was staying in a hotel and was flying out in two days. He wanted Natalie to give Gloria a message but he would only relate it to Natalie in person and he would meet with her tomorrow. No, he didn’t say which hotel. Gerry said that after Natalie went to the hotel, she would come straight to Gloria to tell her what Ed had said.
There was nothing to do but wait, and try to sleep. She didn’t eat. The DSLoony had transmogrified into The National Disgrace, and she was the cub reporter, she knew she was because she had a ticket in her fedora. The editor was screaming at her to get pictures of Spiderman and to ‘Dig the dirt on that bitch Wilson! “The public love it and it keeps them from worrying about how the government is screwing them over. The Education Secretary says we’ve to keep teaching them lies; the freedom of the press is at stake!” There was something about that dream too, the same something, but Gloria forgot again and wakened up to wait on Natalie.
It was a very long wait. She had a cup of tea in the morning and a bath sometime in the afternoon. Other than that she sat and stared out of the window oblivious to Mrs. Fraser staring in, but she didn’t eat. At a little after seven, although it could have been eleven...or five, Natalie came.
“Hello Natalie.”
“Gloria! I’m so sorry! How are you?”
“Fine. What did Ed say?”
“Do you think I could come in first Gloria? There’s a strange looking woman watching...” Gloria stood back and Natalie entered and took a seat.
“What did Ed say?”
“He looked fine, Gloria! A little tired maybe, but that’s to be expected...after all he’s been through. Could you sit down perhaps...Well that’s better...it helps for what I have to say.”
“What did he say?”
Natalie smiled sympathetically and lay her head on one side. “He’s very upset,” she said, and Gloria waited. “He’s angry at the beatings, he’s just had enough Gloria and he’s run out of patience waiting for it all to end...so he said to me...”
“But if he comes home, it will end, I’ll...I’ll never hit him again!” and Gloria broke down crying.
“There. There! Of course you say that now...”
“But I’ll never...I won’t...”
“But how is he to know? After all Gloria, you don’t know what it’s like...” and Natalie paused, “...That’s really what his message to you is Gloria...”
“But I never really hurt him! It was for us...we were doing it together!” Gloria shouted articulating, in her anguish what she really felt but hadn’t until that moment known.
“That’s not how he sees it Gloria,” and Natalie got up and walked over to her and took her hand in hers. “You never asked him,” she said softly, “You just ordered him to bend over...and you don’t know what that’s like...That’s what he said.” She shook her head and smiled sadly, “Of course...”
“What? Of course what?”
“Well...and you would never agree, I told him that...”
“What? Agree what?”
“He did say to me...that if you were willing to find out...so that you would understand...”
“What?”
“That he’d be willing to talk to you...tomorrow, before the plane leaves...” and Gloria howled at the phrase. “Perhaps...he wouldn’t go.”
“Oh! Oh! How can I make him stay? Tell me, please!” Gloria pleaded with Natalie.
“It won’t be easy,” she said. “I’ve to be very sure that you do understand...Ed was most insistent on that point!”
“How? How can I understand? Oh, I’ll do anything!”
“There there Gloria, I can help you...that’s what Ed said...I can help you understand...but only if you’ll let me?”
“I will, of course I will. Please help me.”
“Very well, but only because you beg me to...and to help you...to get Ed back.”
“Yes, yes! What have I to do?”
“Strip naked,” Natalie told her quietly. “Now Gloria! Stand up and strip naked.”
Natalie could have told her to jump through the window naked and kick a policeman and Gloria would have done it, just to have a chance to get Ed back, so she didn’t hesitate and did it gladly. She stood up, willingness shining from her face and lifted her jersey over her head. Her hands went to her jeans and she tugged at the belt...“Don’t hurry, no rush. Just take your time. You need to understand, remember?”
“Oh yes! I’m sorry!”
“That’s all right, no harm done. Turn away to drop your jeans...The way I did remember? That’s right and keep your legs straight...There. Now step out,” and Natalie paused leaving Gloria waiting. “Okay, straighten up again and turn around. Take your bra off Gloria...and primp up your nipples...with your fingers...Yes! Good, that’s better, just how Ed likes them! You’ve got beautiful breasts Gloria, so big and soft...and not a mark on them! Squeeze then in your hands...yes just like that, does it feel good?” and Gloria nodded eager to please. “That just leaves your pants, doesn’t it? Those pretty little blue knickers...Shall we take them off?”
“Yes,” Gloria whispered.
“
All right then. First of all, pull them down - slowly! That’s right, and stop just there, so that I can tell Ed you did it just right when I could see the line of your pussy appearing. Now turn away again and bend over slowly...That’s right, good! Wave your bum about; go on tease me Gloria...Make Ed happy! Oh so good, Ed will be pleased! Now, bend over as far as you can. Yes. Lift your hands to your sides, just your fingers...wait! Now pull them down, slowly at first, oh yes, just like that. Keep your legs straight! And step out of them...good Gloria, you’ve performed that part brilliantly, no, stay bent over! All you’ve got to do now is slide your legs apart...Yes, like that, keep going...wider! Good. Let me look at you.” She sat and looked and left Gloria, aching in the pose, her legs stretched and straining, her back complaining, her neck sore but no plea from Gloria for respite.
Natalie stood up and approached, she stood just a few inches from Gloria’s rear and laid her left hand on Gloria’s left buttock. “It makes you feel so vulnerable, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Natalie lifted her right hand and brought it back down on Gloria’s right buttock with all her might making a sharp smack which bounced Gloria off her feet and stung like hell, but she never made a sound and Natalie stayed silent too. She watched the white handprint develop surrounded by the red of shocked flesh before she unleashed a second smack this time on the other buttock and waited for that one to take effect. “It’s funny,” Natalie said, putting her two hands on the marks, “Perfect prints, it’s like I own you, so it’s a shame...in a way, to obscure the clarity of the meaning by destroying the simplicity of the design, but needs must...” and she began to spank Gloria, just on the one cheek, for five full minutes, with as much energy as she possessed ferocity, and Natalie had that in abundance.
When she stopped at the end of the five minutes, because her shoulder couldn’t lift her arm anymore, she laughed. “Now I know what it’s like. The best feeling in the world! Stand up and go look in the mirror Gloria, you may like it.”
