The next day, Billy and I got our room all arranged with the additional bed and desk. By taking some of his clothes up to the attic, we managed to make enough room in his closet and chest of drawers to hold my things. Aunt Barb looked in on our work and said that we would have to share bulky items such as sweaters, jackets and even some shirts. It was a little crowded but Billy and I looked upon this as an adventure rather than a permanent encroachment on his territory; I'd be gone in ten months, after all.

I was waiting for Billy to mention what he had overheard last night but he didn't right away. Later, after lunch as we were up in the attic hanging up some of our clothes, Billy sat down on a storage trunk.

"I suppose I should go over some of the rules," he said.

"Whose rules," I said, not sure what he meant.

"My dad's rules, Karl. Who else has rules around here?"

"Oh," I said. "Yeah, I guess that would be a good idea."

"Talking back to Dad is number one." Billy said. "That will get you one humongous paddling, automatically, no questions asked. But you're not likely to do that -- at least not for a while, if ever."

"Probably not," I agreed. "What else?"

"Number two is swearing -- you know, using swear words." Billy looked over at the stairway then he whispered. "Like '_s_h_i_t_' or '_f_u_c_k_'," he said.

"No _s_h_i_t_," I said, joking.

"Yeah, you joke now but believe me it's no joke when you feel the paddle." Billy was serious.

"Okay, okay,...sorry," I said, getting serious again. "What else?"

"Chores." Billy said. "If your chores don't get done and you don't have one very good reason, you'll have a Sunday afternoon meeting with dad and his paddle. Guaranteed."

"Okay, I have to do chores for my parents too so I'm used to that."

"Last," Billy said. "Bad attitude."

"Bad attitude," I asked. "What the hell is that?"

"It's close to talking back, only not as bad. 'Bad attitude' paddlings are usually pretty light. You know, not as many whacks, six maybe," Billy explained. "Dad says bad attitude paddlings are just a warning and to remind me what the paddle feels like -- as though I couldn't remember."

"Anything else?" I asked

"That's enough, Karl. You'll see, I bet. It's the bad attitude paddlings that I get most often. I have a hard time hiding my attitude I guess and it doesn't take much -- just the way you answer a question or a look will do it. But like I said, attitude paddlings aren't so bad -- usually."

"What do you mean 'usually'?" I said. Downstairs we heard Aunt Barb turning on the vacuum.

"Well, like he told you, he paddles only on Sunday so if you got a couple of reasons for a paddling, the attitude part gets lost in the other reason so it turns out to be an extra long paddling -- more whacks and probably a couple of real hard ones to let you know your getting it for a couple of things."

"All on your bare ass, though," I asked.

"Of course -- for me anyway. I don't know what he'll do for yours. I'll be pissed if you don't have to pull you pants down though -- if I do, that is. Who knows."

"Anything else?" I asked.

"Nope, not really. But like I said, that's enough." Billy stood up and looked straight at me. "And if he ever catches you jerking-off like last night...well, he caught me once about a year ago and I got a real good one for that. So be careful."

I didn't know what to say but I'm sure that I blushed deeply. "How did he catch you," I said finally.

"By my being _f_u_c_k_ing stupid, that's how. Mom found some messy Kleenex on the floor by my bed one day. She showed it to Dad, obviously. _f_u_c_k_ing stupid! I just plain forgot the Kleenex. I paid for it the next Sunday. Got my ass paddled good that day."

"_s_h_i_t_, Billy," I said, "that *was* _f_u_c_k_ing stupid."

Just then, Uncle Dan's head appeared coming up the attic stairway. Apparently the sound of the vacuum had covered up his footsteps. Neither Billy or I knew he was there until...he was there.

"Okay, the two of you," Uncle Dan said, "that kind of language is not allowed. Billy, you know that. Karl, you probably know that too; I'm sure your dad doesn't allow language like I just heard from you -- in fact, I know he doesn't." He stood looking at us. We were caught, red-handed, so to speak. Neither of us said a word. What could we say? "I'll see you both in my office in ten minutes, Uncle Dan said. "Questions?"

No, sir," we both said at the same time. He turned and walked back downstairs.

"I told you he was looking for an excuse to paddle us your first week, didn't I," Billy said as soon as his dad was out of earshot. "Well, we just gave it to him. _s_h_i_t_!" I was secretly happy, looking forward to seeing Billy paddled even if it meant I was going to get it too. My secret wish to see my cousin Billy's bare butt was getting closer to being fulfilled.

Ten minutes later, Billy and I knocked on Uncle Dan's office door.

"Come in," he said. We entered and Billy walked to his dad's desk and stood there, hands behind his back. I figured I had better do the same. We stood next to each other looking at the bookcase behind Uncle Dan's desk. He was sitting at the desk looking up at us. Nobody said anything for a long time it seemed. I felt sweat on my upper lip.

"Okay, Billy," Uncle Dan finally said. "Did you tell your cousin about the rules of the house -- especially the use of bad language?"

"Yes, sir." Billy said.

"Okay, then you are both to be punished," he said. "No excuses accepted since I heard you both myself." He reached down and withdrew the paddle from its drawer. He held it toward Billy who immediately reached out to take it. "You're familiar with that, Billy?' he asked.

"Yes, sir," Billy said, awkwardly holding the paddle.

"It stings, doesn't it, son."

"Yes, sir," Billy said again.

"Hand it to your cousin." Billy was glad to pass the paddle to me. I took it. It was lighter than I thought it would be. I held it up to see it better.

"Think that will sting, Karl?"

"Yes, sir," I said.

"You're right, it will." Uncle Dan said taking the paddle back. "You'll find out how much this Sunday afternoon." He looked in a book on his desk. "Let's see," he continued, "I have a wedding at 1 o'clock. I'll be home by two-thirty. I'll see you two in your bedroom at exactly 3 o'clock." He put the paddle back in the drawer. "Until then you both have plenty of time to think about what's ahead and to consider the advisability of using that kind of language. Questions?"

"No, sir," we both said.

"By the way, Karl," he said. "Does your dad paddle you with your underpants down?"

"Ahhh.....no, sir," I said.

"I didn't think so," he said. "You will have to have your pants and underpants off for me, I'm afraid. Understand?"

"Ahhh....yes, sir." I was secretly glad. This meant that I'd finally get to see Billy's bare butt as he raised it up for Uncle Dan's paddle. I was delighted.

"And," Uncle Dan added, "I've talked to you dad about that so it's not open to negotiation. Now both of you get back to whatever it was you were doing."

'Negotiate'??, I thought to myself as Billy and I went up to our room. I don't want to negotiate, Uncle Dan. I want to see Billy's bare ass, Uncle Dan and I guess having you and him looking at my bare butt is the price I'll have to pay. Great. No problem!

"Well, I guess that answers one question," Billy said as soon as we were alone in our bedroom.

"What?," I said pretending I didn't know what Billy was referring to.

"You heard him; no pants for you either."

"Yeah, I guess so." I said trying not to look too pleased.

"So, you get your first bare ass paddling this Sunday. Aren't you lucky."

"Yeah, real lucky." I tried to sound like I wasn't looking forward to the event.

"Bet I get it first," Billy said.

"How come?" I asked, hoping that he was right.

"I don't know; just a hunch. Maybe so you'll know what to expect."

"You already showed my that," I said.

"Yeah, but Dad doesn't know that." We each fell into a rather awkward silence for a few minutes. We probably each realized that the other was thinking about the "communal" aspect of the upcoming event and were uncomfortable talking about it.

"Hey, Billy," I finally said, breaking the silence. "Mind if I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Well, you said that Uncle Dan made you pull your underpants down *after* your turned around with you back to him, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Billy said. "Why?, you got a tiny little pecker you don't want me to see or something?"

"Well not exactly," I said.

"What then? What difference does it make if you're facing him or not?"

"Well....," I paused. "Well... you know....sometimes I have a hard-on...you know."

"You what!?," Billy said in amazement.

"Don't you ever get hard before a paddling?" I could tell from his reaction that he didn't.

"No way, Karl," he said. "You're putting me on. You actually get a hard-on?"

"Sometimes," I lied. Actually, I *always* got an erection just before a paddling from my dad.

"'Sometimes'??" Billy said. "You're kidding."

"Well, sometimes," I repeated, "and only since I was about 13 or so, I guess."

"Boy, you're wierd, Karl. I never get hard before, during or after a paddling, believe me. Why the hell should I? Paddlings hurt. At least the ones from my dad do."

"Well, I do," I said. "My dad says its normal; told me not to worry about it."

"Normal??" Billy said with a slight chuckle. "Don't worry about it??" Billy said.

"Well maybe I won't with your dad."

"How hard," Billy asked. "I mean, you get a full, 100 per cent hard-on?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Enough that it shows through my underpants, anyway."

"Wierd," Billy repeated. "I can't wait to see this, Karl. Honest. I'm sorry, Karl, but this ought to be something to see. I got to be honest and tell you that." Billy started to giggle.

"Thanks a lot, Billy," I said. "I'm sorry I told you."

"Yeah? Like you thought maybe you could hide it from me on Sunday?" Billy was laughing now.

"Shut up," I said getting pissed.