I want take a quick moment to thank everyone who has figured out how to get in touch with me (it ain't easy, folks!) to let me know they are enjoying the show so far. I hope no one has been (or will be) disappointed by what is going on here. There's a whole bunch more to tell, and I plan on getting to it all.
Enjoy...as promised...the saga continues!
***
Shortly after midnight I saw the sign I had been looking for. "Finally," I muttered, looking down at the fuel tank.
"What?" Alan asked.
"Gas station up ahead, 'bout three miles," I said, turning the stereo down. "Been running on fumes for about twenty minutes."
"That's comforting," Gerald said from the backseat – the first thing he's said in hours.
"There's just nothing out here, it's like we're in the friggin desert or something." This wasn't my first road trip, but it was my first with these guys and my first this far south. "We should be....," I said, stopping myself suddenly to listen. "Ahhh, crap!"
"What?" Alan asked, as I turned the radio all the way off, as I tried to safely slow the car so it can pull off onto the shoulder.
"Listen," I said, trying to get them not to focus on the rain, but the *thunka-thunka* noise coming from under the car. "That's a flat."
"No way," Gerald moaned. "We're never going to get home!"
"Stop you're moaning," I said, slowing it up.
"Can't we just go the extra three miles?" he asked. "If you ride the shoulder slowly with the blinkers going...."
"Not a chance," I said, bringing the car to a stop. "That will totally ruin the wheels." I had done this before. As much as I didn't look forward to it, I did know how to change a tire. "The spare should get us home. Only about another sixty miles or so."
"Man, this sucks," Gerald grumbled again.
"Well, you were the one who wanted to go to Graceland and get that sick picture of you at Elvis' grave," I snapped. I really hated whiners.
Gerald chuckled. "It is going to be a pretty sweet picture!"
"It's pretty nasty is what is it is."
"You didn't have to come."
"I was getting bored at school."
"It's going to be my Christmas card!"
"You are not going to find a photo place on the planet that is going to develop that thing," Alan said. "You should have just waited and borrowed someone's digital camera."
"Ah, excuse me," I said. "This is all so horribly fascinating, but I would really like some help getting this tire changed."
Both of them got out of the car, as Gerald continued: "Well, if Matt had just asked his little high school butt buddy to borrow his digital camera...."
"Gavin is not my butt buddy, you 'tard," I growled at Gerald. "He's just like my little brother."
"Yeah, sure, whatever dude," Gerald laughed the laugh of a frat guy – too bad all of the campus fraternities had turned him down. "With little piece of ass like that, who needs a vagina!?"
"Oh, shut up."
"All I's saying is that you could have borrowed his digital camera."
I popped the hood on the car and started taking out our bags.
"Well, all I's saying is that we should have chosen a better place to go than Mem-phuck, Tennessee," I said back. "Hell, Dollywood would have been better." I soon found the spare and I threw the flashlight to Alan, who was standing near the front wheel.
"Dude, I didn't hear you hit anything," Alan said, flashing the light to the tire. "Man, look at that. How do you suppose that happened?"
I walked over and gave it a glance. I knew what had happened, but not in any way that I could explain to these two. It had less to do with the physicalities of the road, or the wear and tear on the tire, or even my less than stellar 19 year old driving, and more to do with karma and fate.
"I don't know," I muttered, getting down to undo the nuts. "Flash the light....yeah....there...." I said, before grunting. _d_a_m_n_, those things are put on tight!
I didn't say anything else as I worked to get this done. Gerald was right about one thing – this really did suck. What I couldn't tell either him or Alan was what I felt had done this.
I was sure this flat was a direct result of me going along with Gerald the Barbarian and some of the garbage he had pulled on this trip. The picture of him holding his penis at Graceland was just the tip of the iceberg (pardon the pun). Skipping out on our meals at the diners, and the hotel, not to mention that stuff at that bar....well.... nevermind about any of that. Let's just say that I was certain this flat tire was karmic retribution spanking me on the ass.
Fate was simply saying to me, "Thanks for playing. I will always win." I had learned that lesson five years earlier, when I got away with stealing a video game. Or should I say that when I thought I had gotten away with stealing a video game.
The game (Final Fantasy VIII) was going to be a gift for my friend, Gavin, who was turning eleven years old at the ass-end of summer 1999. It was the only thing I knew that he wanted, so when I saw an opportunity to get one for free, I took it.
Literally.
When you are almost fifteen years old you don't think about the big picture. The concept of doing something wrong is only measured in if you get caught or not. The idea the act of doing something – anything – will have a ripple effect and that eventually it will come back to ruin your life is foreign. For me, if I got away with it, then I knew I was in the clear.
This was particularly true of the video game. Instead of being consumed with guilt, or worried that the big doofus who I stole it from might lose his job, or concerned that they might somehow find out who I was and come after me, I was (instead) feeling invincible because I had gotten away with it. Pure and simple. I was feeling like king of the world!
"Dude!" I bragged to my neighbor, and sometime friend, Lee, right after I got home. "It was so easy! I wish you had been there."
"I don't know, Matt," he said in a tone that I couldn't discern on whether or not he was simply jealous or was really disappointed in me. "That's like a felony, isn't it?"
"You worry too much," I sighed.
"Wouldn't your Dad spank you if he found out?" he asked, as I chuckled to myself
"IF he found out....I don't know, Lee." Part of me wanted to tell him the truth – that I knew that I wouldn't be spanked by Dad over this, because Dad wasn't spanking me anymore. But I wasn't too drunk with power not to know that that would only open up whole new realms of horror.
(HA – you thought I was going to say "Can Of Worms" didn't ya!)
I did NOT want Lee to find out that Gavin had been promoted from being the kid I would baby sit, to being the kid who would spank me. That didn't make sense to even me, and I was the poor shmuck stuck with the deal.
"How are you going to explain to him that the box says 'Promotional Use Only?'" Lee asked.
"I'll tell him they just sold me their promotional copy."
"Why would they do that?"
"Because I asked them."
"Is Gavin stupid?"
"No."
"Why do you think he'll believe that?"
"I don't."
"Then why won't he question you?"
"Because he's Gavin, and he knows me."
"He thinks he knows you, just like you think you know him."
"Ok."
"How well do you know him?"
"Pretty well."
"I thought you said you had never been into his house."
"So?"
"Well, you don't know him that well, do you?"
"I've never been in your house."
"Yes you have. You came by trick or treating last year."
"Yeah, and you and your friends chucked all the candy you didn't like at me."
"Yeah, that was pretty funny."
"No it wasn't. It totally sucked."
"Whatever, enough about that, what about Gavin?"
"What about Gavin?"
"How can you honestly believe that he is going to believe that they just sold you a copy of their hottest game, before it even came out?"
"He's just not going to be thinking about it as much as you."
"I thought you said he wasn't stupid?"
"I just don't think it will occur to him that I swiped it."
"What if someone tells?"
"You are the only person I'm telling, and you two only know each other through me, and besides," I added, "You guys don't have any other mutual friends."
"Uh-huh," he said, before asking, "Did you check to see if there was really a game inside?"
"Of course."
"Does it work?"
"I don't know."
"What are you going to do if it doesn't work?"
"I'll test it before I give it to him."
"What if it doesn't work?"
"I'll get him Pokemon cards."
"What if he doesn't like Pokemon cards?"
"I don't know."
"Why do you think he'll like Pokemon cards?"
"All eleven year olds like Pokemon cards. It's like a rule or something."
"Not all eleven year olds like Pokemon cards."
"I'll find out first."
"How are you going to find out?"
"I'll ask."
"What if he doesn't?"
"I'll get something else."
"What?"
"I don't know."
"How are you going to test the game, Matt?"
"You ask too many questions, Lee," I grumbled.
"Someone has to keep you on your toes," he said with an evil cackle, before adding, "Why don't you come on over here and see if it works on my machine?"
"Really?!" I said. Lee had never actually invited me over before. This was pretty exciting.
"Yeah, you can drop it off before the guys come over," he said, popping my bubble. "We'll get it back to you after we test it."
Ouch!
"That's ok," I said. "I'll just test it myself."
"Ok, suit yourself," he said, before we hung up.
Ohhhh! That bastard!!! I was so angry and hurt by Lee that I let the rest of the summer go without calling him again.
For the rest of that week I tried not to worry about whether or not the game actually worked, or even if I should get a back-up plan. Since there was nothing I could do I decided I would simply let fate take control of the situation: I would give him the birthday present after the party on Saturday, when it was just the two of us. That way, if it didn't work I could feign ignorance and his other little friends wouldn't have to know. Only fate and me would know for sure....!
Ahhhhhhh...fate...what a wonderful, horrible little word...a true "f" word if ever there was one. You see, from Monday through that Friday, fate had its plan for me.
Seven spankings....
Not one....not two....not three....not four....not five....or even six....!
BUT SEVEN...
SEVEN SPANKINGS!
The most I had ever received in one week! OUCH!!! Each one different than the last. Each one deserved. Each one very painful, and very embarrassing. Each one having nothing to do (directly) with me stealing the video game for Gavin, but each one (in it's own, special little way), a result of my thieving ways.
That week would be my first exposure to what karma was really all about!
If I were observant young man I might have picked up on the fact that it was going to be that kind of week by the fact that I was spanked by Gavin first thing Monday morning, right after he came over. My father was still around when Gav came by.
Dad had been rushing around, muttering to himself. Not the kind of muttering he did when he was drunk, but the kind of muttering he did when he was stressed. I usually ignored it – especially first thing Monday morning, since I was still groggy. It usually didn't involve me, and even though I knew that all my Dad (really) needed to relax was a good ten minutes workout with a hairbrush on my butt (spanking me was better than a weekend at a spa), I wasn't about to suggest it.
Imagine my shock when Gavin was told that very first moment he walked in to the kitchen to give me a good, long spanking!
"What did he do?" Gav asked, as surprised as I was that he would get so busy so early.
"I got no sleep last night because he was down here watching television," he muttered, before coming over and kissing me on the forehead.
"But DAD!" I protested. "Why didn't you say any....?"
"Son, I'm late and I don't have time to debate this," he said, before turning to Gavin. "I'll leave him in your hands, or hand, whichever the case may be."
"Sure thing Mr. Grey!" Gav said.
"DAAAAD!"
"You boys be good, I'll see you when I get back."
And with that he was gone.
This really sucked!
I complained for about five minutes, but I knew it was no use. Gavin took me over his lap right there at the kitchen table, pulled my undershorts all the way down and spanked me with his hand for another five solid minutes. I was whimpering pretty well when he stopped. He then searched out our old friend, the flyswatter. Another five or so minutes of that treatment left me weeping for mercy, which he did show – right after another five minutes with the hand. I was a mess when he was done.
On Tuesday I was spanked twice. Once, right around noon, for teasing Gavin. He hates it when I call him a "baby," and so he finally had enough and took me over his lap on the back porch of the house. He let me keep my swimsuit on during that one, but he did spank for a solid ten minutes with the hand. I was lucky no one saw or heard that, let me tell you!
The second spanking came right after Dad came home. Gavin was still over, and had dropped a glass on the kitchen floor. Instead of cleaning it up himself he called me in to clean it for him. I yelled, telling him to clean up his own mess. Gav snapped back, that since I was the babysitter I should be more careful and shouldn't let him be in danger of cutting himself.
"My Mom would clean it up for me!" he whined. "You shouldn't so irresponsible!"
"Well, your Mom BABIES you!" I snapped back.
Ohhhhh.....that pissed him off like you wouldn't believe.
Right on cue, Dad walked in. Gavin turned to him and announced that he was going to have to spank me right then and there. Dad said that was fine, and he turned to leave us alone as I began to protest. The only thing Dad said, as he went down the hall, was, "Matt, you need to take responsibility for your actions. Do the right thing, son."
Moments later, I was stripped naked and getting my ass spanked good and hard with a big wooden kitchen spoon. Gavin liked that so much that he used the spoon again the next day (that would be Wednesday, for those of you keeping track – and you know who you are!!) on my naked ass. This time the reason was roughhousing too much when we were at the pool; I had ended up pushing him a little too hard, and he fell and twisted his ankle.
Lucky for him it wasn't seriously hurt....lucky for me he still wasn't ready to spank me in public!!
He did give it to me good and hard when we got home, though. I was still sniffling well past my bedtime after that particular thrashing, where he tried using both the flyswatter and the big wooden spoon, to see which one was better.
(He decided it was a draw, and he would just have to use them both together more often!)
Thursday I was paddled for teasing him and his little friend Vincent. He waited for Vince to leave before he brought out the slipper (thank god) to do its little dance over my naked cheeks. I was sobbing and panting in no time – my rump still sore from the assault it took Wednesday.
When Friday began I just wanted to stay in bed. I knew it was going to happen again....why should this day be any different from the four before? Maybe if I stayed under my covers I could do no wrong – maybe then I could have a day where I could actually sit comfortably!
Ahhhhh....perchance to dream....!
While I had not pieced everything together, and connected my butt's run-in with pain to me swiping a video game, I was beginning to appreciate how easy I had had it the rest of the summer before then. These days it seemed like Gavin had begun smelling the sweet scent of my tears, and witnessing how quickly he could turn a naked teenager's ass red, and I believe he was enjoying every horrible moment of it more and more he made me cry and beg.
I was afraid this last week would be the norm, and not the exception. I was terrified that Gavin had turned into my father....!
Well, like I said earlier, I was spanked seven times in five days, and it shouldn't take Stephen Hawking to figure out that I did (indeed) get spanked two more times that week – both on Friday.
Sigh....
The first was around ten in the morning when I lied to Gavin, and told him that I was going to go over to Lee's Saturday night (after Gav's birthday party) and we were going to watch porno. He had tried to get me to let him look at the dirty magazine I had hiden in my room, but I wouldn't. He was just too young.
"Maybe when you get hair on your nuts, baldy," I teased – never a good idea to do with a very sensitive pre-teen who had 24/7 spanking authorization.
Of course he turned it around and said that he would have to spank me (not for the teasing, this time), but for possessing pornography because I was underage.
"Come on, Gav," I complained. "You are stretching it."
He then walked over and picked up the phone. "Want me to call your Dad?" he asked.
Moments later....well....you know the drill: naked....red....crying....wiggling....slapping....snot flying out everywhere....very painful....pleading for mercy....unable to sit at the lunch table...
Then, just as I was getting calmed down (later that day), when what should happen but Gavin steps on a piece of glass from the glass he broke last week – the one I was spanked over not cleaning up when he told me!
Like the twisted ankle bit, thank goodness he didn't hurt himself, but....well....is it really necessary for me to admit again that I was given another licking that day?
All during the two-o'clock hour, I was naked and over my little friend's lap while we watched AS THE WORLD TURNS. Somehow we had gotten sucked into watching that over the summer. Go figure. Anyway, during every commercial set, he would mute the TV and he would spank my bare bottom as hard as his almost 11 year old hand could deliver.
I cried and wiggled, and wiggled and cried for the better part of that hour - I was so looking forward to when three o'clock came around!
That week before Gavin's birthday was the worst single week for my butt and me before or since. However, looking back I was eventually able to see that (like the blown out tire incident five years later), it was all inevitable. Stealing a video game will be punished, at some point.
(By the way, Gerald's picture at Gracelant never did come out, so no one got a hideous Christmas card of a drunken frat-rat drop out, with his _c_o_c_k_ hanging out of his pants, standing next to Elvis' grave – just thought I'd let you all know in case you were really concerned).
Time and maturity would eventually help me to see that I didn't need Dad or Gavin to keep me in line - there was always something greater than me out there, and that (while you can sometimes tease it), it was best not to tempt it. Trust me - while I may not have (immediately) been caught for my misdeed of stealing that video game, those ripples that fate throw out have a nasty sting when they double back to smack you in the ass.
***
Coming up next...Gavin finally turns eleven!
and coming soon...the end of Summer '99...Dad gets seduced...Matt has a party...something happens in a JC Penny bathroom...Gavin's secret...and much, much, much, MUCH more!!!
Oh so much better than AS THE WORLD TURNS, wouldn't you say?
What...no?
Hey, who asked you, buster!!