On Probation

by Malone, Misty

  "You're setting me up to fail. There is no damn way in hell anyone could follow all those freaking rules. I can't believe I fell for your act. What a bunch of shit."

  "Kelli, that is enough. Let's go. We're done here for today."

  His voice was so soft, it scared a part of Kelli. But another, bigger part of her was not ready to give up. She was knee deep in a tantrum, and there was no backing out now. "Here I was buying all your shit. I actually thought you were going to help me. It turns out all you're interested in is getting me over your damn knees."

  She was still ranting when Derek gripped her by her upper arm and said, "That is quite enough, young lady. If you have any sense of self-preservation, you'll quiet down now and behave until we get you home."

  "Oh, shove it up your ass, bastard. I'm not going anywhere with you." She tried to jerk her arm free, but Derek had a good grip on it.

  "Oh, but you are, Kelli. The only question is whether you'll go quietly to my car with me, or whether you'll make a scene, I'll give you a sound spanking in front of anyone who's nearby, and then we'll go to my car. Your choice, and right now I don't really care which it is. Let's go."

  Without another word Derek marched her out of his office, through the reception area, out the door, down the hall to the stairs, and down to the parking garage. He led her to his Jeep, opened the passenger's door, picked her up and placed her in the vehicle, fastened her seat belt, and said, "Don't you dare even consider moving a muscle." He hurried to the driver's side, and they headed for her apartment.

  Neither one said a word on the ride home until they were just a few blocks from her home. She unfastened her seat belt, slowly and quietly, but Derek immediately ordered, "Put the seat belt back on, Kelli, now."

  When she glared at him defiantly, he latched onto her wrist, as he pulled into a parking lot. "Look, Kelli, I'm taking you home and then we're going to talk. I don't know if you unfastened your seat belt just to irritate me, or if you were planning a quick escape, but you're not getting out of this Jeep until we're at your apartment." He reached over and again fastened her seat belt.

  He pulled back out into traffic, never letting go of her wrist. She tried to jerk her arm free, but he had a solid hold on it. "I'm not some kid, you know."

  "No, right now I don't know that. You're certainly not acting like an adult."

  "Jerk."

  "You're only making it worse for yourself, Kelli."

  Derek could tell something in that statement hit home to her. She slumped in defeat, and didn't struggle any more. He didn't say anything, choosing instead to give her time to think. Hopefully she would sort things out in her mind and settle down.

  When he pulled into the parking lot at her apartment he turned to look at her. "Kelli, if I let go of your wrist now will you stay put until I get over to your door?"

  She nodded her head, and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Derek."

  "For what?"

  "For all of it. I have a little bit of a problem with my temper, and I think it got the best of me."

  "You have more than a little bit of a problem with your temper, and we're going to be discussing that shortly. For now, I expect you to sit there until I get to your door, then we're going to your apartment. I don't want any theatrics, or any trying to run. Do you understand me, young lady?"

  "Yes."

  He got out and went around and opened her door. He reached in to grab her arm, when she asked, "Derek, are you writing me up? Am I going to go to—"

  "To jail? No, not this time, but you are going to have a difficult time sitting for a day or two. Now let's go, and remember what I said." She nodded, and reminded Derek of a new prisoner being escorted off to jail, scared to death.

  Kelli had her key out by the time they reached her door, but she was shaking badly. Derek took her key and opened the door. He nudged her inside, still holding onto her upper arm, and was surprised to see Phil was home.

  Phil smiled at them both. "Hey, guys. How was your first meeting?"

  Kelli broke out crying, and Derek said, "Excuse us, Phil. We've got a few things we need to discuss." Never letting go of her upper arm, he marched her past Phil and straight to her room. He went in and shut the door. He sat her down on the bed and once again pulled the chair over to sit directly in front of her.

  "Okay, are you going to explain to me what just happened?"

  She kept her eyes on the floor and never moved.

  "Kelli, look at me." When she still didn't move, he said, louder than she'd ever heard him say anything, "Now!" Her head snapped up quickly, and Derek saw the tears streaming down her face. He softened his voice again as he said, "Thank you. Now, you need to talk to me. One way or another, I need to know what you're thinking, what's happening with you. I hope like crazy I don't have to spank it out of you, but I will if I have to."

  She was crying now, as she whispered, "Are you sure you hope you don't?"

  Holding her chin with his fingers to ensure she was looking at him, he assured her, "Yes, I am very sure. This is definitely not the way I hoped we'd start off. I was so proud of you today when you sent me that text. So, what happened between then and now, when you totally fell apart?"

  "You gave me so many rules that I know I'm never going to be able to follow them all. I'm just not good with rules. I know I can't do that. I just can't. And I really wanted to show you guys I could do it. But now I'm going to disappoint you and Phil." She started crying harder, and he barely understood her say, "I wanted to show myself I could do it."

  Derek reached over and once again had her up off the bed before she knew what was happening. This time, though, when she landed, she was sitting on his lap instead of laying over his knees. His arms were wrapped around her and he had her pulled in close to him. He gently encouraged her to lay her head on his chest as he talked to her softly. "Then show us. Show all three of us you can do this. I know you can, but you have to believe it, too, Kelli."

  Chapter Four

  Derek held Kelli tight in his arms for a few minutes while she buried her head in his chest and cried. When he decided it was time she face her situation head on, he gently rubbed her back while he started talking to her softly again. "Kelli, Phil and I both believe in you. I know it's not going to be easy, but I know you can do this. This behavior you're showing me right now is exactly how you were raised. You did what you wanted, and if someone wanted you to do something else, you'd have a little temper tantrum and they'd cave and give in to you. Well, sweetheart, it's time to grow up. People aren't going to give in to you anymore. The judge certainly won't. Phil and I won't, either, because we're trying to help you."

  He noticed the crying had slowed considerably, which meant she was listening. He knew she wasn't going to like what he said, though, so he kept his arms around her tightly. Not only was he trying to reassure her, but he needed to make sure she didn't try to run away. "Kelli, you need to put your big girl panties on and face your future. You're not a kid anymore, and if you keep insisting on acting like one, you'll have real consequences to face. Right now you're facing one heck of a spanking, but that's nothing compared to what will happen if you break any of your terms of probation. Do you hear me?"

  He felt her nod her head, but he wasn't going to accept that. "I want to hear your answer, Kelli. Do you hear what I'm telling you?"

  "Yes." Then after a few more sniffles she added, "But Derek, don't you see, I can't follow all those rules. There's too many. No one would be able to do that. Especially me."

  "First of all, 'especially me' is not acceptable. I will not allow you to put yourself down. I've told you before, you have a lot going for you. You have to believe that. From now on, belittling yourself is a punishable offense."

  She sighed. "Another rule, great."

  "And that attitude is going to change, as well, young lady. You're pouting because you have a lot of rules, and it's time for the pouting to end. Once again, it's time to grow up."

  "But there's to
o many rules."

  "Did you take the time to look at them, or think about them as we went over them? If you read through them, only a spoiled brat would have trouble following them. If that's the problem, if you're a spoiled brat, it's time to address that."

  "I'm not a brat," she whined.

  "Wanna bet?" They both turned toward the door, shocked. When neither said anything for a couple minutes, Phil said, "Sorry. Should I leave?"

  Derek smiled and said, "No, come on in." When Kelli glared at him, he explained, "Maybe it will help if he hears this, too. He knows you better than I do."

  Phil came in, looking a bit sheepish. "Sorry. I probably shouldn't have been eavesdropping through the door, but you two weren't exactly being quiet."

  "Damn right you shouldn't have been," Kelli grumbled. Derek instantly lifted her off his lap far enough to connect with a good swat on her bottom. "Oww!"

  "That's enough swearing, young lady. You're already in a heap of trouble. You sure don't want to keep adding to it."

  Phil offered, "Look, if you'd rather, I can leave for a little while and give you two the apartment to yourselves so you'll have some privacy."

  Derek quickly assured him, "No, this is your apartment. She's here as a guest, and you're not leaving every time she decides to have a tantrum."

  Phil smiled and said, "That's good. I'd be gone more than I'd be home."

  Derek looked at him incredulously. "You're not exaggerating, are you?"

  "Kelli is the queen of tantrums, my friend."

  Kelli was glaring at both of them, until Derek glared back. It was a stare down for several minutes, until Kelli gave in under his stern, authoritative demeanor. As soon as she relented, he told her, "Wise choice."

  Phil tentatively asked, "I take it things didn't go well today. How much trouble is she in; what'd she do?"

  Derek looked down at the irate little minx in his lap and said, "Why don't you explain to your brother what happened." After a long silence he told her, "Kelli, that wasn't a suggestion. Tell Phil what happened."

  She looked at Derek with anger in her eyes, and told Phil, "Your friend who said he would help me gave me a list of about 200 rules that would be totally impossible for anyone to follow, and informed me he plans on wailing on me anytime I forget one."

  Phil shook his head and asked Derek, "So you gave her some rules that she didn't like and she had a temper tantrum?"

  "That pretty well sums it up," Derek agreed.

  Phil looked at Kelli. "Sis, I'm sorry to tell you this, but Derek really is trying to help you. He's right; it is time for you to grow up. How bad a tantrum was it?"

  "Phil, how can you say he's trying to help? You should see the list of rules he came up with. It's ridiculous."

  "Kelli, I heard him tell you yesterday that as you start showing him you're trying, and you're learning to live with rules, that he'll ease off some. What rules did he give you that are so ridiculous?"

  Derek was watching the interaction between the siblings with interest. When she refused to answer Phil, though, he noticed that Phil didn't push his sister for an answer. He just dropped it, which is what she obviously wanted him to do. Well, Derek wasn't going to let her get away with it. "Kelli, Phil asked you a question. What rules did I give you that are so ridiculous?"

  Kelli was obviously not happy at his persistence. "I can't remember all of them."

  "Well, if there are 200 of them, surely you can remember four or five that are the most impossible," Derek insisted. "Just tell him those."

  "Okay, fine," she spat out. "Maybe there weren't really 200, and maybe none of them was that bad by itself, but there's too many of them."

  "Kelli, I want you to go get your copy of them, and bring it over here." Once again he waited several moments with no result, before sternly advising, "Now."

  She got up and grumbled, "Fine. Sheesh." She got the list and trudged back over to him. He tried not to smile when she looked at him, and sat down on the bed instead of back on his lap. That was okay with him. She'd be over his lap again soon enough.

  "Thank you," he said. "Now, I want you to look at that list. Read them over and tell me which ones bother you." When she didn't make any move to look at the list, he stood up and quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her up. He whirled her around and landed three swift swats to her backside before she had time to register what was happening. He sat her back down on the bed and said, "Kelli, I'm tired of this cat and mouse game. When I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it. Now, stop being a brat long enough to read the rules. I'm trying to help you again, if you weren't too stubborn to see it. If there are some rules that seem really difficult to you, tell me which ones so we can discuss them. I'm not going to relax any of them unless you give me a good reason to. Now, read."

  "Slide over, Sis. Let me read them with you." Phil sat down beside her and pulled her list over so they could both read it.

  Derek watched them as they read. Phil looked up at him a couple times, a perplexed look on his face, before reading more. Kelli, however, had an angry, determined look on her face as she set out reading. After reading awhile, however, her expression changed. She was now looking frustrated. She was looking rather confused when Phil asked her, "Kelli, which ones are you concerned about? None of them seem too outrageous to me."

  She shrugged, but didn't answer. Again, Phil let it drop, and looked at Derek, who said, "Kelli, Phil and I both asked you a question. Which rules are you having concerns about?"

  Looking up at Derek, she saw his stern look, and answered his question this time. "I guess it's not that any are all that awful, but there's just too many of them."

  "Thank you for answering me this time, Kelli. It seems to you like there are a lot more of them than there are because you're not used to following any. If you look at them, many are common sense things you shouldn't have to give any thought. You're just in a panic at the idea of having guidelines of any kind in your life. The guidelines themselves aren't all that bad; it's just the idea of restrictions that scares you. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

  Kelli looked perplexed, but Phil was smiling. "I think he's right, Kel. None of these things are too tough. You're just not used to any rules."

  "Easy for you to say. You don't have to follow them all."

  "But again, looking at them, what's going to be so difficult to follow? Does the no drugs or alcohol concern you?"

  "I don't do drugs, so that's not a problem. I don't drink a lot, but sometimes I do like a glass of wine or a beer. I don't see that they're a problem. I'll just be careful not to drink too much."

  "Kelli, for a while anyway, you can't have any," Phil told her. "It's one of the rules."

  "But that's a dumb rule. See what I mean, there's just too many, and that one doesn't make any sense."

  Derek joined in then and explained, "Kelli, it may not make sense to you, but it does to me. One of the times you were arrested you were on the verge of being legally drunk. That may have affected your thinking enough to cause your actions to get yourself into trouble. You certainly didn't make good choices at that time. Therefore, one of the rules, for now anyway, is no alcohol. I want you to be thinking clearly and capable of making good choices. Like I said, I'll relax these as you prove to me you're ready for more freedoms and privileges. For now, though, you need to follow the rules."

  Derek turned to talk to Phil. "I want to hear more about her temper. How long has that been a problem, and how big a problem has it been?"

  "Her temper has gotten her into trouble more times than I can count. The problem is, she didn't really get into trouble for it. Mom or Dad would just talk to her about it, yell at her a little while, but that was about it."

  "So with no consequences, she never stopped. Makes sense." He considered that a moment, then said, "Phil, thank you for your input. It was very helpful. Now, if you'll excuse us, Kelli's about to get the consequences she desperately needs, and has definitely earned."

  "No," she stated adam
antly. "You can't do this. It's not fair. Phil, don't let him."

  Phil looked at her and said, "Actually, Kelli, it's very fair. Do you know what Mom and Dad would have done to me if they heard me talking to anyone the way you've been talking to Derek? And that's not even mentioning your temper tantrum. If you'd have been disciplined when you were younger you'd know better than to do that now. So yeah, I not only think it's fair, but you're lucky to have someone who's willing to teach you now. He really is trying to help you. You just have to let him."

  Looking at Derek, Phil said, "Have at it, my friend. I'll be in the living room. Should I order the pizza yet?"

  "I want to talk to her a little bit afterwards, so we may not be out for thirty minutes."

  "Okay, I'll have it delivered then."

  After Phil left, Derek told Kelli, "Come on, neither one of us is looking forward to this, so let's get it over with." Kelli looked at him and tried backing away. Not to be denied, he quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her over and across his knee. He would teach her eventually that trying to back away from an earned spanking was not a good idea, but she was already feeling overwhelmed, so he'd save that lesson for another day.

  He put his arm around her waist and held her secure, knowing she wasn't going to be very cooperative in a few seconds. She didn't disappoint him, fighting, kicking and screaming when he unfastened her jeans and pulled them down. "Settle down, Kelli," he admonished, as he brought his hard hand down twice on her wriggling bottom. It stilled her momentarily. He took advantage of the time to remind her that she was getting spanked for having a temper tantrum, for her language, and for her disrespect. He started her spanking in earnest, and she resumed her kicking, screaming and fighting.

  Derek held her firmly against him, and easily caught her hand as she reached back to protect her sore bottom. "Not allowed, Kelli. I'm spanking your bottom, not your hand. Your hand could be injured, and I don't want that. A sore bottom is a good way to get your attention without causing an injury." She kicked and fought, yelling the whole time, while Derek kept up the spanking. He knew he wasn't getting through to her yet. Not with as much fighting as she was doing.