I was laying on the couch watching TV when the phone rang. I sat up to answer it, but it stopped just as I put my hand on it. A few seconds later Uncle Tim shouted from the kitchen for me to pick up the phone.

"Hello."

"Hey Bud, what are you doing?" It was Jason.

"Nothing man, just laying here watching TV." I told him.

"Well get up and come over here. We're all going to the track." He said.

I sighed. "I can't, I'm grounded."

"Grounded.....your father isn't even home?" Jason said sounding surprised.

"My Uncle grounded me." I told him.

"Your Uncle, Why?"

"Because I gave him a bunch of lip today."

"Oh come on, a bunch of lip......_f_u_c_k_ him......how fast can you get over here?"

I laughed. "I can't man."

"Why not puss!?" He shouted.

My God, was he cracked? Maybe he forgot which uncle I was staying with. "Because He's six foot two that's why."

"Come on man." He pleaded.

"I don't know Jas."

"Come on." He urged on. "What would be the worst that could happen?"

"He could kill me." I laughed.

"All right, be a coward......I'll just call the boys and tell them that you can't go and we'll have to......" He started.

"OK, OK." I said my pride speaking for me now as Jason knew it would. "OK, I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"That's what I like to hear." He said happily.

"OK, OK, bye." I hung up the phone and tried to collect my thoughts on how I was going to make my escape.

I sat and thought,, but there was no real way I could sneek out without getting cought, but the consequences were not that bad. The worst that my uncle would do would be to ground me for the rest of my stay and tell my father, but even if he did tell, that whipping was two weeks away.

"Screw it." I told myself. "I'm gonna go have fun with my friends.

I stood up, and after making sure Uncle Tim was in the kitchen, I went right out the front door. "Easy enough. " I thought as I grabbed my bike and rode down the street towards the track.

Going to the track to hang out with my friends was nothing new for me. In fact the track was the first place my uncle looked, and found me sitting on the ground watching the bikes go around the track. I didn't see him come up behind me, but the minute his shadow came over me I knew something wasn't right. I looked back, first seeing only legs, then my eye traveled up, past his crossed arms till he was in full view.

"Uncle Tim......hey." I said with a bit of caution in my voice.

He ripped his sunglasses off his face and looked at me with his blue eyes blazing with anger. "You get your ass up right now." He growled.

"Uhhhhh, Why," I asked.

He reached down quick and snatched me up by the back of my shirt. "I said to move Mister!"

He dragged me over to the car roughly, making me look like a complete ass in front of my friends. God, I was so embarrassed.

"Get off of me." I yelled trying to fight him off, but there was no use in fighting. I was going weather I wanted to or not.

He pushed me over to the car and pressed me up against the side till he could get the front door open, then he pushed me in. "Get your ass in there god _d_a_m_n_it!"

"All right.....Jesus." I yelled just before he slammed the door.

He walked around and got in the car and slammed his own door. "God _d_a_m_n_ little punk." He yelled as he started the car and jammed it into drive and stomped on the gas, making the wheels squeal a little.

"I only wanted to come to the track for a little while.....Jesus." I said.

"Well I told you to stay in the house for the day if you remember."

"I remember." I said with a little sarcasm.

"Well then why did you leave any _d_a_m_n_ way?" He sounded even more angry now.

"Because I wanted to.....besides, who said you could ground me anyway?"

"What did you just say?" He asked looking surprised suddenly.

"Your not my father." I said in a very arrogant tone.

Hearing that, he stomped on the brakes suddenly, causing the car to skid to a halt. A second later he was out of the car and quickly walking around to the passenger side where I sat looking scared. Then he ripped open the door and yanked me out.

"AHHHH, Uncle Tim, what are you doing!" I yelled as he grabbed my shirt with both hands and pulled me up on my toes.

"I'll tell you right now that I am not going to take any crap off of you!" He yelled, shaking me hard. "....and I am not going to let you run around here like a street punk."

I looked at him fearfully.

"You're right, I am not your father, but I am the boss till your father gets back and you will do as I say....no exceptions."

I swallowed hard.

He pushed me back towards the car. "Get in there." He yelled -- I jumped to it, let me tell you -- then he slammed the door shut and walked back around and got in. "You think that just because your father isn't here you can do what ever the hell you want......don't have to listen to anyone........well you're wrong!"

I didn't know what to do or say, so I just sat there and looked out the window as he drove towards his house.

When we pulled into the driveway he jammed the car into park then got out quickly and stood there and waited for me. I opened the door and slid out slowly and walked towards him. When I got a few steps away he grabbed onto my arm and started to pull me roughly into the house.

"Get off." I said as I tried to pull and twist away from him. "I can walk myself."

"Get your butt in the house!" He yelled, still dragging me.

My Aunt, who was sitting on the couch reading, jumped and snapped around when we burst threw the door. "Jesus."

He shoved me out in front of him, then slammed the front door.

"I see you found him." Aunt Meg said.

"Yeah I found him.........get your butt upstairs and wait for me in Danny's room."

I looked at him and rolled my eyes as I bet myself that I was probably going to get grounded again, which sucked, and I just wished that my father's trip was over and he was on his way home so I didn't have to deal with any of it.

I went to Danny's room and laid on the bed. "God I hate being here." I said to myself. "I knew staying here would be like this."

God was I wrong. I had no idea what staying there was going to be like.

A few minutes later Uncle Tim came up the steps and walked into the room.

"All right young man, get up." He ordered.

"What?"

"I said to get up right now." He ordered again.

"Why?" I said a little louder.

He reached down and grabbed his belt suddenly and started to unbuckle it, causing my eyes to about popped out of my head. "Oh _s_h_i_t_." I said and jumped to my feet. "What are you doing?........You can't hit me." I told him.

"You want to bet........your father told me to feel free to discipline you as I would one of my own and I will."

"You can't." I yelled as he came at me, but he grabbed me and pulled down over his left knee as he sat down on my cousins bed.

"I can!" He yelled, and to my horror, his belt came down across my butt, hard.

I arched my back and yelled out.

"You don't tell me what I can or cannot do young man." He yelled as he whipped me.

"You can't.........you're not my father!" I shouted as tears of rage flowed out of me.

"I can, and I am!" He yelled.

"OWLLLLLL..........you bastard........Stop it." I screamed.

"Just keep it up boy.....I can do this all night." He yelled.

"OUCHHHHH.....you _f_u_c_k_er........AHHHAAAA."

"Oh, that just cost you a few more." He yelled.

My butt started to burn like fire and it was only getting worse. "Ouch.....Uncle Tim....AHHHAAA......stop please....I'm sorry." I yelled and really started to cry.

Then all of a sudden he started to shout, but not at me. "Get out or you'll be next!" He said.

All I heard was BANG and the door slammed shut.

"As long as you are here, you will listen to me, and do as I say!!"

"OK, OK!!.........Please stop!" I shouted.

I got three more licks before he finally stopped and yanked me back up to my feet. "There, that ought to settle you down for a while." He yelled.

I was practically jumping up and down, rubbing my burning tale, and crying like a baby.

"You leave this room and I'll give you another dose, you hear me!"

I didn't answer him, I just flopped down, face first, across my cousins bed and cried. He didn't make it an issue though. He just stormed out.

A few minutes later my Aunt came into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Oh Michael." She said with a sigh.

I just laid there sniffing back my tears.

"Are you OK?"

"No I'm not..........I hate him!" I said.

"Now, now.....I know that's not true."

"It is true, and he hates me. Look what he did to me!" I cried.

"Oh honey, he doesn't hate you. He punished you because you misbehaved that's........" She started but I cut her off.

"I want to call my Father." I blurted out.

"OK," She said kindly. "You can call him."

I got up slowly and walked out of the room and down the steps to the living room where Uncle Tim was sitting, reading the paper. When he noticed me he gave me a mean look. "I told you to stay in that room."

"He wants to call Rick." Aunt Meg said coming down the steps.

Uncle Tim just looked at me.

I grabbed the phone and dialed the number from the piece of paper my aunt had placed in front of me with the number of the hotel on it. "He's in room 1306." She said.

The phone rang three or four times before the hotel clerk answered. I took a deep breath and asked for the room. "Room 1306."

"Hold please." He said and put me on hold.

A second later the phone rang again.

"Hello." My father answered sounding tired.

"Dad!" I said urgently.

His voice changed immediately "Mike!! What is it? What's wrong?" He asked sounding panicked.

"Uncle Tim Hit me!" I blurted out and started crying again.

"What.....What do you mean he hit you.....What happened?"

"He hit me!!" I cried. "With a belt."

He sighed then. "What did you do?"

"What do you mean what did I do.....it shouldn't matter what I did........he hit me!"

He sighed again. "Put him on the phone."

I pulled the phone from my ear and pushed it out towards my uncle. "Here, he wants to talk to you." I said coldly and wiped my face.

Uncle Tim got up and took the phone from me. "Hey." He said into the phone. "No.....no, what happened was I grounded him and he left anyway, so he got it good." He told my father.

"Well he's just a little upset right now, but he'll be all right in a while........Oh, don't worry about it. There isn't anything to be sorry for. Consider it forgotten.........OK....do you want to talk to him again?.....all right, hold on."

He held the phone out to me. "Here, he wants you again."

"Yeah." I said into the phone.

"What the heck are you doing. Your Uncle grounded you and you left!"

"Yeah, but....."

"But nothing. Who do you think you are to leave after you knew you were punished? . Boyyyyy.....if I were there I'd give you a few licks myself, now you get your butt in bed right now, do you hear me........ right now."

"But Dad!" I cried, not believing my ears.

"You heard me, and you better start behaving yourself! I'm going to call first thing in the morning, and I better not get a bad report. If I do I'm going to get on the next flight back there just to beat your ass!" He yelled.

I got so angry that I took that phone and heaved it clear across the room. "God, I hate you!" I screamed.

"Hey," Uncle Tim shouted and ran at me again.

I ran like the wind, but I was not quite fast enough, and only made it a few feet before he grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the couch where he sat down and pulled me over his knee again.

"No, don't!" I yelled, but his hand came down on my already soar backside.

POP, POP, POP, POP, POP!

I cried out.

"Are you gonna stop?" He yelled pausing for the answer.

I didn't answer him, I only cried.

His hand came down again. POP, POP, POP, POP, POP!! "Answer me!" He yelled.

"Yes, YES!!"

He yanked me up and pushed me away from him. "Now get over there and pick up that phone!"

I stumbled over and picked up the phone off the floor just as he ordered and walked it back over to him and placed it in his waiting hand.

He put it right to his ear. "Rickie." He said into the phone. ".....Hey.........No he threw it across the room."

Apparently my father was still on the phone.

"You get upstairs, right now!" He yelled. "And your father says your getting it again when he gets home."

I ran up the steps, crying the whole way, feeling like the most tortured soul in all the world, and ran into Danny's room. He was in there by now and our eyes met. I looked at the floor quickly and tried to hide my tears.

"Are you OK?" He asked sympathetically. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw."

I didn't say anything, I just laid down on his bed and buried my face into his pillow.

He didn't take it personal. "All right man, I'll leave you alone." He said and left the room.

To be continued.....................