SUNDAY
The next morning when Mike pulled up, he was surprised to find Roger on his own bike. At the other boy's urging, they rode off toward the south side of the city. Mike had no idea where they were going; he still was trying to figure out the layout of the city, but he trusted Roger to take him somewhere interesting. They rode for over half an hour and then arrived at a ballfield much like their own.
"This is the Orange Crush's home field," Roger informed him.
"What are we doing here?" Mike asked.
"Do you want revenge on those suckers for the way they played and on that _s_h_i_t_head who knocked you down?"
Mike thought about it. Revenge wasn't one of his big things, but being knocked down like that had quite upset him. On the other hand, whatever Roger had in mind was surely something that they could get in trouble for. But what made up his mind was the realization that Roger was doing this because of him; after all, it wasn't Roger who had been knocked down. If his friend thought enough of him to defend his honor, how could he not go along?
"Whatever you have in mind, let's do it," Mike said with a grin.
Hiding their bikes, they climbed over the fence and approached the building. Roger found a window he could force and they made their way inside.
"All right," Roger said as they reached the locker room, "This is our target." Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out two cans of spray paint and handed one to Mike. The dark haired boy sort of looked at the can as Roger started to spray rude words and slogans on the wall. Throwing caution to the wind, Mike joined him. After writing a number of nasty things, they started throwing open the lockers and spilling liquid soap on the uniforms. For a finishing touch, Roger got a fire extinguisher and spewed foam everywhere. They were heading back to the window when they spotted a security guard. The two boys ran and Roger was able to scramble out the window, but Mike found himself caught by the burly man. He expected Roger to keep running and was surprised when the other boy came back.
"So, you little vandals," the security guard said, "Been up to no good, have you?"
Mike was too scared to say anything and Roger didn't know what to say. The man dragged them down to a small office and sat them down.
"Now we can do this two ways," he told them, "I can call the cops or I can call your parents. Your choice."
The two boys looked at each other. Being arrested would make this more of a disaster than it already was. Roger gave the man his father's name and number and the he dialed it.
"Hello. Mr. Springer?" he said into the phone, "I'm the security guard here at Andrew Field on Colonial Drive and I have two boys here who just vandalized the place. One of them claims to be your son and I'd rather not involve the police in this. Could you come down and pick them up and we could discuss it?"
There was a bit more discussion and the guard gave the address and then handed the phone to Roger.
"He wants to talk to you," he said. Somewhat reluctantly, Roger took the phone.
"Hi, Dad," he said.
"Don't you 'Hi, Dad' me, young man. Is Mike there with you?"
"Yea, he is."
"I'm going to go get his father and we'll both be coming over. I hope you know how much trouble you're in."
Roger didn't know what to say to that and so the line just hummed for a few moments.
"I'm too angry right now to figure out what all your punishment will be, but I can assure you that you are going to be severely spanked and I imagine so will Mike."
Mr. Springer hung up the phone and Roger handed it back to the guard. The man got up and locked them in the office while he walked around the grounds.
"What did he say?" Mike asked.
"He said that among other things I'm going to be spanked. He also said that he'd going to get your Dad and figured that you would get spanked, too."
"I'm sure he's right about that," Mike said in a low voice. For a few minutes there was silence as both boys contemplated their impending doom. Neither of them had thought that this escapade might end up with a spanking. Roger hadn't expected to get caught and Mike just hadn't thought at all. Mike knew how angry his father would be and guessed this would be the worst he had ever gotten. He hoped he wouldn't be made to quit the team. Trying to take his mind off it, he brought up something else.
"Why did you come back?" he suddenly asked Roger. The other boy looked at him in a slightly startled way.
"Well, because you got caught," he said.
"But you could have still gotten away. I wouldn't have told on you."
"I wouldn't just leave you. What kind of a friend would I be if I did that? Especially since I got you into this."
"Well, thanks for coming back," Mike said after a short pause.
"It's O. K.." Roger replied, " But I guess we're in real trouble."
"Yea, we are."
While they waited they discussed the various things they had gotten in trouble for in their lives. Both agreed that this was the worst thing they'd ever been caught doing. It was a morbid conversation, but Roger asked Mike how hard his father usually spanked him for different infractions, trying to get an idea of what was in store for them. All too soon, hey saw their fathers approaching through the small window. The guard met them and led them to the office.
"I can assure you," Mr. Shaw was saying, "The boys will be back to clean up the mess they've made."
"No, don't bother," the guard said, "That will just complicate things. There was no permanent damage and I'm sure you will take care of things properly. Just don't let me catch them here again."
"Oh, I'm sure you won't," Mr. Shaw said in a low voice that was filled with anger. He glared at Mike and the boy withered under his stare.
"Come along, you two," Mr. Springer said, "We have some business to take care of."
The two boys silently got up and left. Neither of the men were saying anything and this made them even more nervous.
"Where are your bikes?" Mr. Springer curtly asked as they got outside.
"Over there by the fence," Roger told him.
"Go get them and put them in the trunk," his father ordered. They got them and carefully loaded them into Mr. Springer's car and then climbed into the back seat. Mr. Springer was driving and Mr. Shaw was in the passenger seat.
"You boys have anything you want to say?" Mr. Springer said as he looked into the rear view mirror.
"I wanted to get back at those guys for the way they played," Roger mumbled. "It didn't seem fair that they could get away with it."
"I'm sure you know that that's a lousy excuse. The fact that you won the game wasn't enough for you?"
"No," Roger muttered.
"Say 'No, Sir!', boy," Mr. Springer angrily snapped. "I'm tired of your mouth. You are in serious trouble and you'd better act like it!"
Roger fell silent, unnerved by his dad's outburst. Then Mr. Shaw turned around and started in on Mike.
"And here I thought you were acting so well since we moved," he said. "Instead you pull the biggest stunt of your life. I don't care if you were influenced, you still did it."
Mike didn't care at all for this implied criticism of Roger and for the first time in his life he snapped back at his father.
"I wasn't influenced!" he said, "Don't you go trying to blame it on Roger. I was the one who got knocked down, remember?"
Mr. Shaw was taken back by his son's outburst, and didn't at all care for the tone. He had been thinking the other boy was a bad influence, but perhaps he'd better not say it. Roger's father was there after all.
"Very well," he said, "You'll get your fair share of the punishment, don't worry. And you'll get a little extra for that little outburst. Don't you ever take that tone of voice with me again!"
Mike fell silent, cowed by his Dad, but he didn't regret standing up for his friend. His dad had no right to say something like that.
"We talked things over before we picked you two up," Mr. Springer said. "We are going to take you both over to Mike's house. There you will both receive a very hard spanking. After that, you will stand in the corner for the rest of the afternoon. Mr. Shaw felt that you both should be made to quit Little League, but I talked him out of that. Instead, every free moment you have for the next two weeks will be taken up with chores and other assignments that we will lay out for you."
While Mike was relieved to know he could still be on the team, as they got closer to his house, his dread grew. His stomach felt sick and he had to hold his hands together to keep them from trembling. Neither he or Roger looked at each other. All too soon, they were there and getting out of the car.
"Don't bother with your bikes," Mr. Springer said, "You can worry about them later."
Everyone went inside. Roger was more than a little upset to find Mrs. Shaw was home. On top of everything else, he was going to get spanked in front of a lady who he had only met once or twice. Mr. Shaw quickly filled his wife in on the details and she gave the two boys a disapproving frown. Fortunately, she stayed behind as the two boys were led into the living room
"You two take off your clothes," Mr. Shaw said as he went up to his room to get the razor strop.
Mike quickly complied. He was a little embarrassed at being naked in front or Mr. Springer, but the man had already seen him with his pants off and he knew better than to cross his father any more. Roger was slower. He was in someone else's home after all, and he wasn't used to this.
"Hurry up, Roger," Mr. Springer said. "If you aren't naked when Mr. Shaw gets down here, you'll get more than you've already earned."
Roger could hear Mr. Shaw returning, so he fairly tore the rest of his clothes off. Uncertainly, he stood there next to Mike hoping like mad that Mrs. Springer wouldn't come in and see him naked. He sensed that it would only annoy his father further is he covered himself with his hands and so he left them at his sides. He shivered as he caught sight of the thick leather strop in Mr. Shaw's hand.
"All right then, who's first?" Mr. Shaw asked.
"Regardless of what Mike said, I'm sure this was Roger's idea," Mr. Springer said, "Let Mike go first and let Roger have the extra time to anticipate his punishment."
"Fine," Mr. Shaw said, "Mike, what are you waiting for? Grab hold of the chair and bend over."
Mike got into position. He was hoping that it wouldn't be too bad, but he knew it would be.
"Mike, I can't tell you how disappointed I am," his father lectured him, "What you did was a crime. No matter how provoked you were, that was a serious thing you did. You could have been arrested and had to go to court. You were lucky the security guard let you off so lightly, but you're going to pay extra for it, now. I suggest you hold on tight, because you are really going to get it."
Mike tightened his grip until his knuckles were almost white as he prepared himself for the first blow.
CRRAAACK! went the first lick as the leather strap tore across Mike's bare bottom. He howled in pain. His dad wasn't holding anything back, CRRAAACK!!
Roger watched in horrid fascination as Mr. Shaw strapped his son's backside. He'd never witnessed anything like this, and even though he had been the recipient of a similar spanking last week, he'd never given a thought to what it looked like. He could see the angry blush of hot blood where the strap landed. Mike's pale white skin was rapidly turning into a fiery red. He was yelping and crying and Roger tried to feel sorry for his friend, but most of his mind was occupied by the thought that he was going to be next.
Mike was teetering on the edge of loosing his self control. He was pleading to his Dad for it to be over, but this was having no effect. Again and again the strap went CRRAAACK across his burning rear and thighs. At last he noticed that it had stopped.
"I hope you remember this for a long time, Mike," his father was saying, "I don't ever want to hear about you doing anything like this again. Go and stand in the corner and keep your hands to your sides. Think about the pain for as long as it lasts and let it teach you a lesson."
He turned toward Mr. Springer and handed him the razor strop.
"Your turn," he said.
"All right, Roger. You know what to do here. Get over that chair."
This was the moment that Roger had been dreading. The time before, he had had no idea of how bad a spanking would be. Now he did, and furthermore, he knew that it was going to be worse.
"Please, not to hard, Dad," he begged as he bent over the chair.
"You're going to be spanked just as hard as Mike, if not harder, boy," Mr. Springer said. "I expected that I would have to deal with some backsliding from you, but I didn't expect that you would do something as harebrained and serious as this. Breaking and Entering and Vandalism are major crimes and I'm going to see it that you are too scared of what I will do to you to even think of doing it again. Get ready, because this is going to hurt."
Roger closed his eyes and tightened his muscles. He heard his father draw his arm back and then heard the strap whistle on its way down, CRRAAACK!
His eyes flew open as he cried out in pain. It was worse than he remembered, CRRAAACK! CRRAAACK! CRRAAACK!!
The strap dug deeply into the bare skin of his bottom. He threw his head back and yelped with each new blow, CRRAAACK!! CRRAAACK!! CRRAAACK!! CRRAAACK!!!
By now the entire area of his bottom and upper thighs had been hit at least once. As the strap landed on already welted areas, the pain doubled and redoubled. Tears of pain and regret flowed from his eyes like twin rivers. Over and over, his father spanked him, each time Roger hoped for the end but again the strap would come stinging down on his battered cheeks. Twice he nearly let go of the chair; the only thing that stopped him was the knowledge that Mike had been able to take it. Roger wanted to be able to take it too; plus he knew his Dad would likely give him extra.
When the blows stopped, Roger was about to get up, but his father's voice stopped him.
"Roger, I'm sorry to have to do this to you, but I'm convinced it's necessary. I'm going to finish now. When I'm done, you will go and join Mike in the other corner. You will not rub your behind and you will not speak. You will stand there until I tell you to move, and that will not be for some time."
Again Mr. Springer drew back and the crying boy gritted his teeth.
CRRAAACK!!
CRRAAACK!!!
CRRAAACK!!!
CRRAAACK!!!
CRRAAACK!!!!
CRRAAACK!!!!!!!
At last it was over. With weak legs, Roger stood up. His eyesight was blurry from tears and he didn't know if he was allowed to wipe them or not, so he didn't. He shuffled over to the corner, trying not to move his legs too much. Each step sent new daggers of pain through his buttocks. Reaching the sanctuary of the corner, he pressed himself up against the wall and tried not to think about the horrible pain. He heard the two adults leave the room, but it was several more minutes before he could get himself under any kind of control and stop crying. It wasn't wise, but he could hear that his dad and Mr. Shaw were in the back yard, so he risked a glance toward Mike.
The other boy was looking back at him. They each stared at the other boy's blazing buns and then looked up. Mike gave Roger a small grin, and Roger returned it. They heard their father's returning and quickly shoved their faces back into the corners.
They were made to stand that way for four hours. When the sun began to sink, they were allowed to get dressed. Mr. Shaw put Mike to work right away and Mr. Springer took his son right home and did the same. The two boys met up at school and commiserated in the cafeteria. Neither of them was sitting all that comfortably. Ace came over and asked them if they knew who trashed the Orange Crushes' locker room, but both of them feigned ignorance. They had a hard two weeks trying to keep their fathers happy, but it was easier than it might have been because they were in it together. Neither of them said it, but they preferred having company when they were spanked. It made them feel like brothers and both boys had always wanted a brother.
The days passed and things went back to normal. It wasn't the last time they were spanked, not even the last time they were spanked together.. But having Mike around caused Roger to pull his socks up and become more respectable. Their parents became friends too, even if they were never as close as the boys were. Mr. Shaw's job worked out well and they never had to move again. They never forgot that spanking and they never got in as much trouble again -- well, almost never! Roger and Mike remained best friends all through High School and when they graduated, they attended the same university -- where they pledged Beta Alpha Sigma, but that's another story.