by Rachel Burns
“Just that your dad was having ‘the talk’ with you. He even threatened me. I was worried that he was going to pull out one of the kitchen chairs.”
Cathy laughed at that. “Does Scott really do that?”
Brianna turned away from her friend. She didn’t want to talk about that, but she couldn’t lie to her best friend either. She stir the food as she nodded.
Cathy stopped laughing. “Hey, I’ll talk to him.”
“That’s all right. You don’t have to. I can watch my own back.”
“You mean backside, don’t you.” Cathy laughed and Brianna joined her. They heard the shower start. At least, Scott would be gone for a couple of minutes, Brianna thought.
The family sat down to eat.
Brianna watched Scott eyeing Cathy. She would bet good money that Cathy would be getting one of his famous talks yet today. He had talks with all the girls on the floor.
He hadn’t had one with her yet, but she couldn’t think of a reason for him to.
Cathy was scowling at him. None of the girls back at school would believe that anyone could do that.
Scott was scowling back. He seemed to love the role of big brother so much that he even found a job where he could do that. Sharon was talking to her parents about possible summer jobs.
“Are you thinking about getting a summer job too, Brianna?” Scott asked. He figured she would spend her summer at home playing the piano, and the maid would bring her chocolates, or she would be here again.
His entire family gave him a mean look. Sharon kicked him under the table. He looked around surprised. Okay, it was a little mean, but still, real people did that.
“Cathy, are going to get a job?” Brianna asked.
“Yes, I was thinking maybe as a maid at the hotel or something cool. I wish I was a lifeguard, that would be cool.”
“Maybe we could find something together.” Brianna asked hopefully.
“Sure.” Cathy loved the idea.
“Umm – Brianna, one could see summer vacation as a time to rest and regain strength for next year. I don’t want a call from your dad asking how you got such ideas in your head,” Cathy’s father, John, explained.
Brianna hung her head and nodded. She wanted to be normal so Cathy would stay her best friend. She didn’t want to lose a friend again.
Scott rolled his eyes. Daddy’s little princess was just too breakable for a job, he thought.
He had to ask himself why he was so aggressive towards her. What did he care what she did on her summer vacation. That was her break from him. She wasn’t his problem then.
Still, here she sat at his house, in his kitchen, with his family eating food that she cooked for them. It was good too.
“What are we eating anyway?” Scott was in a bad mood now. Sharon kicked him again.
“Umm, they’re like bread dumplings with a sauce and meat and beans.” She answered him quickly so she wouldn’t cry. She had gotten the point that he didn’t want her here and especially not at mealtimes. He was right too. This was his family. She was ruining his Christmas vacation. She got the hint.
“Tastes just fine. The lucky man who gets to come home to you.” Cathy’s father smiled at Brianna like he was smiling at a private joke.
They ate in silence. After supper, Cathy drove her home. They decided to stop for ice cream. Cathy flirted with some boys again.
Brianna decided to have a talk with her too.
“You are really very interested in boys, aren’t you?” Brianna asked when they were back in the car.
“No, yes, well maybe. After twelve years of girls school, I’m ready for a boyfriend. The problem is that boys our age expect more from a girl than just a date. Plus, I’m curious too, and I’m eighteen now. This is the normal time to lose your virginity. I would be right on schedule.”
“Cathy, that is of course your decision, but I think waiting would be a good test to see if your boyfriend honestly loves you. I mean, you just met him, but it is your decision. You have to do what is right for you, but please think about all the possible complications.”
“You mean pregnancy?” Cathy laughed again, thinking that Brianna was so cute and naïve. She had missed out on so much. She couldn’t even drive a car. “Brianna, can you come over again tomorrow?”
“Umm – I don’t think that is a good idea. It seems to bother Scott. He probably feels like he took his work home with him. I was thinking that I would stop coming. Besides, it’s your turn to come to my house tomorrow. We can do whatever you want.”
“Yes, but I want to do something that can only be done at my house. I want to teach you how to drive.” Cathy looked very pleased with herself.
“What? You’re kidding right?”
“No, it’s safe. We can start in the barn. No one would see us there, and then you could convince your parents to let you take real lessons, and then you could get your license. No one is going to hire you if your mom has to drive you back and forth to work. This is good sense.”
“I guess so,” Brianna smiled and then frowned. “But like I said, Scott doesn’t want me at your guys’s house anymore.”
“Scott is just being a pain. Don’t worry about him.”
“That’s easy for you to say. He is the one person on earth I really don’t want to make mad.”
Cathy pulled up in front of Brianna’s house. “I’ll call you tomorrow. If he has to work, will you come over?”
“I’ll think about it.” Brianna waved her friend goodbye and then went in. She thought about what Scott had all said at the table. He didn’t like finding her in the kitchen, and he probably even felt like she was moving in because she was there so often. He didn’t truly like her. She annoyed him, just like the others didn’t think that she was at their same level. She was a misfit.
Brianna checked in with her parents. They were watching the evening movie. She told them that she would go to bed early. They thought resting would be a great idea.
Brianna closed the curtains in her room and went to take a shower. She came back out naked and took her pills.
Then she stood in front of her full length mirror and looked at herself, thinking that she looked hideous. She would never have Cathy’s problems. She would die a virgin.
Brianna went to bed and cried herself to sleep.
“Cathy, have you got a minute?” Scott had been waiting for her to come home. They must have taken the scenic route.
“Not you too.” Cathy whined.
“Not me too what?” he toyed with her.
“Dad already talked to me. Brianna just did too. I don’t want to hear another wait until your married talk.”
“Cathy, you wouldn’t have to if you would just agree with us, but you come with crap that you are an adult now. But that just isn’t true. You still live off of mom and dad, and you still have friends over to play. You are not an adult.”
“Sure, and thanks to you Brianna doesn’t want to come here anymore. She doesn’t want you to feel uncomfortable in your own home.” Cathy already had tears in her eyes. Scott had been such an ass to Brianna, and now he wanted to tell her how to live her life. No, thank you.
That sidetracked him. His father had pulled him aside and told to be more respectful to her when she was here. Cathy was allowed to bring whomever she wanted home exactly like Scott was.
“I’m sorry. I’ll talk to her and apologize. But the matter that I want to talk to you about is something totally different.”
“She probably won’t want to be my friend anymore,” Cathy interrupted him. “She even felt guilty about the way you behaved. You saw her cooking. The food was very good, and you went at her on purpose even though you know that she is afraid of you. Did you ever stop to think how much courage it costs her to come here when she knows she might run into you? You have the power to hurt her. She can’t hurt you, and she wouldn’t. She is a really nice girl, and I don’t want you to ruin this for me. And what was that crap with her finding a job, were you rubbing sal
t in her wounds. Someone like her doesn’t work.”
“Cathy, if she stops being your friend because of me, then she wasn’t really your friend to begin with. Please, let’s talk about you now.”
“Not yet. Why is she afraid of you?” Cathy demanded.
“She isn’t afraid of me. She is afraid of messing up and being held accountable for her actions. We all have to be accountable for our actions. We have to take responsibility, and if we can’t, then it’s better not to do some things until we are older and in a mature relationship.”
“Have you ever spanked her? She is too afraid to tell me anything that happened at school.”
Scott was glad to hear that. The thought of Brianna telling anyone what happened in between them when they were alone was – Well, it felt like an invasion of privacy. “That is none of your business. We are just talking about you right now. Don’t worry about others.”
“Well, that sounded like a yes to me. She is so kind and so sweet. How could you, Scott?”
Scott had heard enough. He pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and grabbed her arm as he sat down. She was over his knees in seconds. “This is how I could.” He gave her several hand spanks.
Her fists beat into his leg, and her feet tried to kick him.
“Do I have your attention now?” Scott asked her.
She tried to get away from him, but he held tightly. “Dad! Dad, Scott is hurting me.”
“I’m just trying to talk to her,” Scott called back.
“Cathy, then I suggest you listen to him,” their father called back.
“Now that I finally have your attention, we can begin.”
“No, Scott, no don’t. I’m listening. You can talk without hitting.”
“Great. What I want to know is why you are being so boy crazy? I couldn’t believe the way you behaved at church. You let that boy look down your blouse. Why would you do that? How can the boys have respect for you when you don’t have any for yourself?”
“I didn’t do that,” Cathy protested, not willing to admit that she had done something like that with her father in earshot.
Scott let her have it. He beat relentlessly at her bottom. She kicked and said Oh, oh, oh, oh.
“I saw you do it. How dare you lie about that? You behaved wanton. I probably wasn’t the only one who saw you do it either. Can you imagine what kind of light that throws on our family? Do you want people to talk badly about us? Do you want to have that kind of reputation?”
“No, Scott, I’m sorry. I’ll never do it again. I’ll be good if you just stop. Please stop. You’re hurting me.”
“I’m not finished yet. All you talk about are boys. Mom and Dad are working so hard so you can go to school. You have yet to tell us about any of your classes and what you are learning about.” He smacked as he spoke. Cathy’s legs were kicking like she was on the Olympic swimming team.
Scott turned his attention to the back of her thighs. “Keep your feet down and take your punishment with at least a little dignity.” He smacked with muscles that had grown even stronger over Christmas vacation because Brianna had been right, he didn’t feel comfortable in his own home so he was lifting heavy sacks of grain to avoid her.
Cathy lay limp and sobbing over his knees. Scott wanted to drive the last ones home. “You,” smack “go,” smack “to,” smack “school,” smack “to,” smack “learn.”
He pulled her close and told her that he thought that she was an amazing young lady, but that he didn’t want her to throw her life away for some boy who was just using her for sex. She was worth so much more than that. She would find the right guy, and he would love her enough to wait.
“You sound just like Brianna,” Cathy mumbled.
“Well, Brianna is a very smart girl. I happen to know that she is still a virgin too, and that she isn’t worried about boys yet.”
Cathy yawned as she leaned into his chest. “That’s just because she thinks that no one will ever want to marry her because of the scars.” Cathy slipped into the darkness of her sleep.
“What scars?” Scott asked her, but she was already gone. He carried her up to her room and tucked her in. Just like he had done with Brianna a couple of times already.
Scott wondered about scars. He thought about how much of her he had seen already. He had yet to see any scars. Scott thought about her arms and shoulders when she had worn that breathtaking dress. He thought about her legs as he had paddled her. He had seen her bottom and what she looked like on the other side. There wasn’t much of her he hadn’t seen.
Thinking about her made it hard for him to sleep.
This was why she shouldn’t come here. He felt like they were playing house. She was even standing in the kitchen cooking a good meal when he came home from work.
He would work harder on avoiding her from now on.
Jenny sat at the table with the Dean. She was wearing the dress he had given her for Christmas. Now that her hair had grown out a little she was a pleasure to look at.
The Dean was proud of the young lady that she had become.
At the moment, he listened to her talk about how cruel Stalin had been to the people of his country. They spoke of human rights.
Yes, the Dean was very pleased with her, as if she were his own daughter.
“Okay, You just turn the key. Go on do it.” Cathy liked the idea of teaching Brianna something. She had heard her parents talking this morning at breakfast. They thought that Scott was smitten with Brianna.
Her father told her mother that Scott had acted like a second grader. He might as well have pulled her hair or stuck his tongue out at her, he had said. It was so obvious that he liked her, her father had said.
Cathy loved the idea of having Brianna as a sister-in-law. Keeping Brianna in her life meant a lot to her, and hearing what her parents thought did explain his behavior. She had been so shocked when he started in that she should get a job. Only a love sick idiot in denial could suggest something that stupid to a weak heart patient.
“Okay, now what you do is put it in D for drive and then push down lightly on the gas pedal.”
“Which one is it?” Brianna didn’t think that this was a good idea anymore. She was starting to panic.
“The one on the right.”
Brianna slowly let the car roll forward. She couldn’t go far because the barn door was closed.
They both jumped when they heard a knock on Brianna’s window. She moved her foot to the brakes.
Cathy moved the car to park and turn the key. She got out of the car and smiled over at her father. “I was just teaching Brianna how to drive a car in the safety of our barn.”
“Yes, well I have a lesson to teach you two in the safety of the living room. Go, both of you now.” He opened the door for a very sorry looking Brianna.
“I’m sorry sir. It was all my fault, not Cathy’s.” Brianna tried to convince them.
“Wherever there is trouble you can be sure that Cathy did her part to make it that way.”
The girls held on to each other as they walked into the house a few paces behind him. He sat down on the sofa.
“Who’s first?” he called over to them.
“If you go first, he will tire out a little. He won’t hit you as hard as he would me,” Cathy reasoned.
“He’s your father. You go first.” Brianna felt terrible, but she would rather have him once he was tired too.
“This is just ridiculous.” John stood up and grabbed onto Brianna and pulled her over his knees. He had been smacking for a couple of minutes when her hand came back. “Remove your hand.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” She slowly pulled it away.
John lectured her on how to be especially careful with other people’s things.
He wanted to get a good lecture going, but her hand always popped into sight.
After a lot of back and forth with her hand, he just pinned it to her back with his left hand. He smacked until he felt that she was truly remorseful.
&n
bsp; He helped her to her feet. “You can go stand in that corner. Keep your hands away from your backside. That means no rubbing. Go.”
Brianna went. She was still sobbing, but the idea of having to stand in the corner amused her a little. Her father had never made her do that. No, he liked to sit her down at the table and make her sit up straight.
“Cathy, come here.”
“Daddy, I’m so sorry. I’ll never do it again.” Hearing the lecture that he had given Brianna was also having positive effects on her too.
She received the same spanking that Brianna had gotten but a lot harder. She was bawling when he was finished.
John sent her to a different corner.
Scott heard the crying when he came home. He went into the living room to see Brianna with her nose in one corner and Cathy with her nose in another. They were both crying, but Cathy was a lot louder.
He knew Brianna didn’t cry loudly when she was spanked. He figured they had both gotten the same.
“What happened?” His eyes darted to Brianna’s shaking shoulders. She stayed still otherwise. Cathy was fighting with herself not to reach back. Her hands were always almost there when she took them away again.
“That’s none of your business, Scott.” John had already called Brianna’s father to come and get her. Charles was mad as hell. He apologized and said he would do what was in his power to make sure she never did anything like that again.
“But Dad,” he pointed over to Brianna who was sniffling away.
“My house, not your problem.” He took a sip of his coffee as he watched Cathy’s hands. Scott sure hoped that Cathy’s hands stayed put. Rubbing would mean another spanking. That would embarrass Cathy even more.
Brianna wasn’t trying to rub. The spanking hadn’t been as bad as she thought it would be. He used his hand, and he didn’t bare her bottom. She had peeked for a second when Cathy had to go to her corner. Her bottom wasn’t bared either.
The spanking had been effective without it. She wished her father saw it that way too. This left her with a bit of dignity.
