Michael Conlon was coaching a group of seventeen students ready for an end of term examination. The subject was English Lit, and the group were doing Julius Ceaser. In the group was one of the students that had caused him to use a cane on his backside on more than one occasion, but for the last four weeks had behaved himself. Keith Morrow, a promising musician, a good scholar generally and he had the potential to become an excellent sportsman as well.
However when Keith got into trouble he got into it in a big way. It seemed to happen when he and his friend William Scott got together and planned mischief.
The class was over and as it was the last class of the day, Michael packed his briefcase with books to mark and went off to his room to have a shower and get ready for dinner. After dinner he went back to his room and sat marking exercises and wondering about a girl he had met at the weekend. She was a graduate like himself and she worked as a child psychologist. They had seemed to hit it off quite well together and at the end of the meeting had exchanged phone numbers. Michael was wondering whether or not to ring her when his phone rang.
It was Brother Raymond, "Michael, something has come up, can you do the rounds tonight as I have got to go to town for Brother Kevin."
"Sure Brother, can I help in any way?"
"No, just do the rounds for me, I'll do them for you sometime when you want an out OK?"
"Sure thing."
"Thanks." They hung up. Michael looked at his watch, it was 30 minutes to lights out and he carried on marking. Suddenly he realised the time had gone by quicker than he had thought and it was nearly 10pm. Lights should have been out 30 minutes earlier for the seniors and an hour earlier for the third and fourth forms. He started on his rounds.
The juniors were all in bed thank goodness although some of them were reading. When he got to the next floor to check on the seniors he found them card playing, fighting, pillow fighting and generally making a noise. In the next two rooms it was the same, even the prefects had joined in.
"What is the meaning of this?" he bellowed.
In the sudden silence you could have heard a pin drop.
"I will be back in five minutes. I want you all standing at attention at the end of your beds in your pyjamas." Michael hurried back to his room. In his room he gathered up the heavy three tailed tawse that he had just bought, and the senior cane and walked back to the senior's floor and the 30 boys waiting for him there.
Going into the first room, "Right, bend over the ends of your beds, I don't want any excuses you are all old enough to know better." Laying the cane on a chair, Michael approached the end of the first bed. It was a boy that he knew from one of his English classes.
"Benmore, I am surprised at you," and before the boy had time to answer, he had received the first whack from the tawse. He stopped at six and moved to the next bed.
"Wright, it is time you grew up," again six loud splats were heard around the room as Wright's backside received its share the thin pyjamas giving no protection from the heavy tawse. Micheal worked his way around the room until he came to the last bed.
"Entwhisle, you are a prefect and as such you should have been keeping control." Laying the tawse on the chair Michael picked up the cane and lined it up against the prefects solid posterior. Putting his shoulder into the strokes he let Entwhisle know that he wasn't impressed with him. The room rang with cracks of the cane and Entwhisle winced as the fifth and sixth strokes landed.
"Now into bed with you and no talking. I will be back shortly to check that all the lights are out." Michael walked along the corridor to the next room and the ten boys waiting for him there. Morrow and Scott were in this room and they looked at the tawse and cane in his hand then at each other.
Repeating his instruction for the boys to bend over the end of their beds, Michael went up to the first boy.
"Johnston, you should know better." Six heavy swipes of the tawse left his backside burning, "Don't rub it, its meant to hurt." Moving to the next bed.
"Morrow, stay still," and six stripes were added to his tally of swipes that Morrow had received from Michael. Michael worked his way around the room and got to the last bed where the room prefect was.
Again changing the tawse for the cane, Michael laid into the proffered up backside going from the top to the crease in six strokes letting Benmore senior he was not impressed with his monitoring duties.
"Right into bed and light out, I will be returning shortly to check," Michael left the room and went along the corridor to the last room.
This room was bigger. These were the sixth formers and each bed had partitions around it to allow some privacy. It was this group that Michael had found card playing. They had heard the splat of the tawse and the crack of the cane from the next room and wondered if they were going to get it as well. They soon found out.
"I want you to drop your pants and bend over the end of your beds. You guys are certainly old enough to show some responsibility." Not that the thin pyjama trousers offered much in the way of protection, but Michael thought that a spot of humiliation would help to keep these sixth formers in line. Dropping the tawse on a chair Michael went into the first alcove.
The first boy was Connolly. He played in the first eleven and fifteen and it showed in his physique. His backside was large and muscular. Michael started about halfway down, with the fifth stroke landing on the crease, changing stance slightly Michael aimed the sixth so that it crossed the other five, a perfect five barred gate. "Get into bed Connolly." Connolly needed no second invitation, grabbing the waist of his pjs he hauled them up wincing as the elastic dragged across the fresh weals and scrambled into bed.
Working his way around the room Michael found he was quite glad to reach the last boy and dole out his six strokes.
"Right lads into bed and no more row or you will all see me in the morning and it will be double to that you have just received." There was no sound, "So lights out now." He waited until all lights were out before leaving the room, and going to check on the first two rooms found them quiet with all the lights out. He returned to his room and started to finish the marking.
The following morning there was a buzz of conversation in the first class of the day. Some of the boys in the third form had seen striped bums in the morning showers and they were all fifth and sixth formers. At morning break, Brother Raymond came over.
"I hear that you dealt some heavy blows to the pride of the fifth and sixth, what went on?" Michael outlined what had happened.
"Good for you I would have done the same. How's your arm and shoulder this morning?"
"OK, after everyone was in bed I went and had a long soak in the bath in the sixth form bathroom, as my room only has a shower."
Two weeks later. Morrow and Scott were again in trouble. This time they had been rude to the matron and when questioned had admitted to Michael that they couldn't stand the old bat handling their family jewels after they had complained about having pains in the area. The matron a registered nurse, said that she was checking for ruptures. Morrow and Scott admitted that they had said things that maybe they shouldn't have said, but they felt that they had right on their side.
"I see, how did the pain in that area happen, what were you doing?"
It turned out that they were larking about and it had got a bit out of hand. The boys were adamant that there was no one else involved.
"So you are basically telling me that you were playing 'grab a _c_o_c_k_' and it got to rough."
"Y....yes Sir," reluctantly said Morrow.
"Well what do you two suggest that I do about it. After all you have been warned in the past about playing with each other."
"Could you deal with it Sir, not going to Brother Raymond?"
"I am fed up with you two. You are both old enough now to know better than to carry on like little kids, but if you act up like little boys then I am going to treat you like little boys. Scott, put the chair, back against the front of my desk, let down your trousers and pants get on the chair with your head in your arms resting on the desk."
Going to the cupboard Michael extracted the senior cane. "This time I am determined that you wont be back for a repeat dose." Going over the bending Scott, Michael pushed his shirt and singlet up towards his shoulders leaving the target completely bare. Over the last few months Scott had filled out and his backside was picture perfect. Two perfect globes at this stage unmarked. Michael raised the cane, tapping it against the target zone. The cane was drawn back the first stroke of twelve was released.
By the time that the eighth had landed Scott's backside was a mass of weals from the crown to the crease. Michael determined that the next four would be cross strokes, two going each way. At the tenth Scott was crying loudly and by the time the last stroke was delivered, was slumped on the top of the desk.
Michael gave him a moment to pull himself together, "Get up Scott and get dressed go and wait by the bookcase."
Scott dragged himself off the chair and pulling up his briefs and trousers staggered over to the bookcase where a very pale Morrow was standing.
"Well Master Morrow what are you waiting for? You know what is required."
Morrow came slowly across to the desk and started to undo his belt and then the zip in his trousers before letting them fall to his ankles. He turned to the desk and the chair before putting his hands on the waistband of his underpants and pushed them down to rest on top of his trousers. He knelt on the chair and bent forward so his head was resting in his arms on the desk.
Michael followed the same pattern working from the crown of the buttocks to the crease for the first eight. Morrow hadn't moved or made a sound.
'Christ,' thought Morrow, 'I didn't bargain for a hiding like this. My arse is on fire already and if I get the same as Scottie I've got an other four to come yet.'
Michael laid the first of the cross strokes on seeing Morrow wince, knew he was inflicting a good hiding, hopefully hard enough to stop Morrow from requiring a repeat experience. As the last stroke fell Morrow was crying also, although he was still properly in position with his back arched, not slumped on the desk as Scott had been.
Standing back with the cane at rest, Michael looked at the bending boy the once pristine buttocks now aflame with savage welts with little droplets of blood at several places where the strokes had intersected. 'Why it looks just like a terminus thought Michael.'
"Get up and get dressed Morrow. I don't want to see either of you here again this term, am I understood?" at their nods, he said, "Go and have a shower and go to bed."
The two left his room.