SUMMONED BY THE HEAD
Part Six
Bravely, Matty walked towards Mr Humphries.
'You understand, Johnson,' said the latter sternly, 'that you are to receive one swat for yelping plus one swat for flinching. Then a further six swats for your wilful disobedience and twelve swats on behalf of whichever sick young individual wrote that scandalous piece of libel in your so-called magazine. That makes a total of... How many, boy?'
'Twenty swats, Sir,' replied Matty quietly.
'Twenty swats,' confirmed the Head. 'Are you ready to take your punishment, Johnson?'
Matty made no reply. He simply drew a deep breath and bent over in the required manner. Humphries waited until he had grasped his ankles and braced himself before delivering the killer blow: 'Oh, no, Johnson! Since you are a boy of such principles, I have decided that you will take your medicine on the bare bottom. Remove your shorts and underpants.'
My friend stood back up. He was now trembling visibly. His hands fumbled at the buttons of his shorts, which he lowered coyly.
'No, boy! I said REMOVE THEM!'
Tears began to roll down Matty's courageous young face. Slowly yet purposefully, he stepped out of his grey flannel shorts and then, after swallowing hard, took off his undies. Semi-naked, he reassumed the position for punishment, his pale slender legs shaking as he gripped his ankles once more. Humphries lifted his shirt-tale to reveal his bare buttocks, which bore the red marks of his recent paddling. His cheeks were quivering as Humphries placed the paddle across them to mark the aim for this first swat.
And what a swat it was! The smack of wood on bare flesh resounded through the study and made my ears ring. Stealthily, Matty clung on to his ankles and took the blow without crying out. But he was struggling, I could tell.
'One... Sir!'
Again, the Head raised his paddle high above his shoulder, this time aiming for the very bottom of Matty's butt and the wood fell with another swinging CRACK! Matty's entire body writhed at the impact, yet he still somehow maintained his posture.
'TWO... S-sir...'
Once more the paddle was raised high and fell with a sickening CRACK across the base of Matty's ass, just catching the tops of his naked legs.
'Yoooooooooow!' He squealed, and sprang upwards, clutching his bare buttocks.
'Flinching and yelping, Johnson, earn you two additional swats. And you can take one more for rubbing your bottom.' Humphries raised an eyebrow in the face of the squirming boy before him. 'Oh dear, that takes us back to square one, doesn't it?'
Matty placed his hands contritely on his head. A broken boy, he stared into the eyes of the Head imploringly. 'Please, Sir,' he begged, 'I d-don't think... I c-can.... d-do this.'
'Very well,' replied Humphries. 'We'd better find another way, or we'll be here all night. Stand in front of my desk.' Matty approached the vast desk as instructed. 'Now bend over it and grip the far side,' ordered Humphries.
Matty's slight from was just a little too short to manage this with his feet on the ground. As his slim hands groped to grip onto the desk, his bare legs were left to dangle an inch or so above the carpet.
The Head then turned to me. 'Taylor,' he ordered, 'hold him down!'
My heart lurched. 'But Sir...' I started.
'Given the severity of this paddling,' said Humphries, 'I am prepared to excuse some inexcessive yelping. But each time Johnson's shoulders leave the desk, he will receive an additional swat. Is that what you want to see?'
'No, Sir,' I conceded. Reluctantly. I made my way to the far side of the desk, placing my hands on Matty's shoulders. The boy looked up at me, tears in his reddened eyes, and gave a faint smile. 'Sorry, Matty,' I mouthed.
I had to place all my available weight on my friend's lurching shoulders as Humphries' paddle rained down on his bare and bruised butt. Matty managed to count each swat in succession, each time looking up at me as his face grew redder and redder, his expression grimacing more with each blow. But with every glance into my eyes, it seemed as though Matty was drawing courage and strength from me, and he got through that paddling without any further humiliating yowls. Jeez, was I proud of that kid!
Needless to say, it was some time before Matty slept on his back again, or took his place in class on those hard wooden benches without squirming. In any other circumstances, I'd have thought I'd had a severe spanking that day, but mine paled into insignificance and was soon forgotten. I never forgot the stand that Matty had taken about protecting our contributors to Epsilon, though - even that fat twerp Hopkins.
As it turned out, Matty and I did not have to beat Hopkins up; a few of our class mates did it for us without being asked. And it was some weeks before he stopped getting the silent treatment from the other kids in our house.
That evening in the dorm, as Matty lay face down on his bed reading a comic before lights out, I joined him, kneeling at his side. 'You were pretty brave today, kid,' I told him. 'I don't think I could have taken that paddling without cracking up.'
Matty put his hand on my shoulder. 'I'd never have got through it without you,' he admitted modestly. 'You and me, huh? What a team!' Then he took my hand and raised it with his in triumph.
These days, Matty and I still get spanked, although now it's by each other and all in the name of fun. Perhaps some day soon I'll tell you more about our little games. As adults in a loving relationship, we look back, acting out and laughing at the punishments meted out to us in our days at St George's Elementary. But back then, you'd better believe, it was no joke. No joke at all!
THE END
More stories about MATTY AND DANNY AT ST GEORGE'S ELEMENTARY and MATTY AND DANNY'S SPANKING GAMES TODAY can follow if you like this one!!!