This story is the part two to While Dad Was Gone. This picks up the next morning.
Around 9:00am I heard a knock at my bedroom door. Still half asleep, I barely managed to roll over. Uncle Doug opened the door up slowly and peeked in.
"Hey kid, you up?" he asked.
Barely focusing, I blinked at him. "Yeah, sorta..."
He laughed. "Well, it's 9:00am, get up. What kind of eggs do you like?"
"You're making breakfast? Um...any way is fine," I answered sleepily. "Mom up?"
"Up and gone already. She's teaching at 9:00am. You've got about 20 minutes before breakfast is ready."
"Ok. I'll be down," I said as I slowly pried myself from my bed. The center of my butt ached from the spanking he gave me last night. I got up and did my first set of pushups for the day. Then I went to the bathroom to take a shower. As I peeled down my boxers, I noticed my ass wasn't red at all, not even pink. Just sore. After last night, I thought I was going to hurt for days.
After I showered and got dressed, I went downstairs for breakfast. Nick and Sam were in the kitchen helping Uncle Doug. Sammy was sitting on the counter watching the toaster. Guess his butt isn't that sore either. Nicky had just finished setting the table when I walked in the kitchen.
Breakfast was ready and we sat down to eat. Uncle Doug set a plate full of bacon down in the middle of the table.
"Wow, how much bacon did you make? How much do you think we eat?" I asked.
"See, told you, Uncle Doug," Nicky said. To me, "I tried to tell him five pounds of bacon was too much for even us."
"Shut up, kid. You boys didn't eat much last night, you should be hungry now. Besides, if we don't finish it, we'll just give it to the dogs."
"Oh no..... I don't want to be any part of that!" Sammy said. "No, no, no, no! Mom'll KILL us if we feed the dogs people food." Nicky and I nodded in agreement.
Uncle Doug laughed, "She sure has you trained doesn't she. She didn't learn that from me...."
We continued to chat over breakfast. That was one thing I liked, once you got in trouble for something, the issue was closed. It wasn't brought up again, and things could go back to normal. Just as we were finished breakfast, Uncle Doug brought up last night. "About last night...."
The three of us exchanged glances and got very quiet. So much for the issue being closed. All three of us sat up straight in our chairs and put our hands in our laps. Funny how getting your butt spanked refreshes your automatic manner reflexes.
".....as far as I'm concerned, your punishment should be over. You screwed up, you got spanked, that should be the end of it. I'm going to talk to your mom about the grounding and pushups."
Huh?? The majority of the reason we were in trouble was because we disrespected him, and now he was going to help lessen our sentence? This was the last thing I expected.
"Um...why?" Nicky asked quietly. "I mean, it's not like we don't deserve this."
"Because I think you learned your lesson. After all, are you ever going to pull this _s_h_i_t_ again?
"No, sir," all three of us answered.
"Chris, you ever going to tell me to _f_u_c_k_ off again?"
"No, sir," I answered.
"Nick, you ever going to call me an asshole and hang up on me?"
"No, sir," Nick answered.
"Sam, you gonna ever tell me to go to hell and then hang up on me?"
"No, sir," Sam answered.
"See, you know what you did was wrong and you got your butts whipped for it. Got your butts whipped good. That should be good enough. Besides, I think your mom went really overboard with the grounding and pushups. She was just really mad and got carried away."
"But, Uncle Doug, Mom hardly ever lets us off. Well, maybe she lets us off grounding a few days early, but she never--" Sammy's started.
"Let me take care of your mother. I did raise her, so I have some pull. Trust me," Uncle Doug interrupted as he was getting up from the table.
"Thanks," I said.
"Don't worry kid, I'll take care of it," he said as he ruffled Sam's hair as he walked past him.
And he did. I don't know what he said to Mom, but all three of us were grounded for the rest of the weekend only. I was supposed to be grounded for the next seven weeks, so this was great. Mom wouldn't completely let off on all the pushups though. Mom was an aerobic instructor. Pushups are her favorite torture exercise. But, instead of doing seven sets the first week and then four after that, it was only three times a day for the next three weeks. Uncle Doug wouldn't tell us how he managed this, but we were very appreciative.
Uncle Doug left on Sunday morning and things in the house got back to normal. We behaved and didn't act like the arrogant assholes we had previously been. Uncle Doug did warn us he was only eight hours away and he would drive back real quick if needed.
Two Thursdays after Uncle Doug left, we were sitting at the dining room table eating dinner. For whatever reason, all of us were in a really good mood. Our table was a rectangle. Mom was sitting at one end of the table, I was on one side and Nicky and Sam were on the other, with Sam closer to Mom. Dad's chair was opposite of Mom, and it stood empty.
We were teasing Mom throughout dinner. No matter what she said, one of us managed to turn it around on her.
"See, Ma? You are so much more calm when Dad is here. I've heard that regular exercise at night promotes a good night sleep. Is that true?"
"Nicholas! You brat!" Mom exclaimed, smiling. "Sammy, move."
Sammy leaned back, and Mom motioned for Nicky to come closer to her. He did and she playfully grabbed his face and started lightly slapping it. "Brat, brat, brat! Didn't your mother teach you any --"
Mom stopped. Her face went blank. "Ma?" Nick asked.
"Ma? Mom?" Nick asked again, concerned. Mom's hands were still on his face and he reached up and put his hands over hers.
"Mom?" I asked, leaning forward.
Mom still had a blank look on her face and then she looked back at Nick and said softly "Danny."
"Uh...no, Mom, I'm Nick....."
Suddenly she smiled and pulled him practically into Sammy's lap and kissed him on the nose. "Oh Roo, I know that. No, I meant your dad. Your dad's home!"
"Oh my God. He's home. Quick, guys, put this stuff away..." Mom said excitedly. She started shoving dishes in our hands and shooing us into the kitchen. Looking in the mirror, she ran her hands through her hair. "Oh yuck - I look awful. I need lipstick. Where is my purse?"
My brothers and I were super confused. But Mom was pretty sure of herself. She ran upstairs.
"Dad??" Nicky asked as he was putting dishes in the sink.
"I don't know," I answered shaking my head and holding up my hands.
We walked out to the living room as Mom was running back down the stairs. I swear it was only a minute, but she had brushed her hair, put on makeup and changed clothes. She grabbed Nicky and me by the arms and dragged us onto the front porch. Nicky had stepped down one stair off the porch. Mom let go of me and put both her arms around Nick from behind him.
As if on queue, a car started pulling up our long driveway. I looked at Sam who was now standing next to me.
"Mom, how did you know?"
Mom smiled, and said "See, I told you! Guys, your dad's home!"
When the car came to a stop, my father got out of the passenger side. He walked around the car and held out his arms. Mom ran into them and he picked her up as he hugged her.
"How the HELL did she know that?" Nicky said to no one in particular.
"She freaks me out when she does that," Sammy said. Every once in a while, my mother will just "know" something. Spooky as hell when it happens.
We walked up to Dad and each of us gave him a hug too.
"What were you guys doing outside?" he asked curiously.
"Mom," all three of us answered.
"Oh. Should have known...." Dad said, looking down at her. She just smiled and shrugged.
"Dad? Did you get him?" Sam asked. Dad was a cop and was out of town working on a murder case. He hadn't been in touch with us in about a month.
Dad looked at the guy he rode home with. He reached out, put his hands on Sam's shoulders, "Yes, Sam. We did." He looked at Nicky and me. "Come here boys, I'd like you to meet Detective Duncan. Frank, these are my sons," pointing at us, "Chris and Nick". Dad put his arm around Sam and said "And this is my youngest, Sam."
"Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you boys. Your father is quite proud of you, and you should be really proud of him."
"We are, sir. Thank you," I replied shaking his hand.
"Dan, is your stuff in the trunk?" Mom asked. When Dad nodded, she added "Guys, bring Dad's stuff in." Nick and I walked to the back to the car to grab his stuff after Detective Duncan unlocked the trunk. We noticed Dad still had his arm around Sam. Sam looked like he was going to help us, but Dad wasn't letting him go. We grabbed his boxes and put them upstairs in Mom and Dad's bedroom.
By the time we came back outside, Detective Duncan was getting back in the car to leave. Dad had his arm around Mom, but still had Sammy close to him. We all walked inside and for the next hour Dad told us what he could of the case. After a bit, Dad said he wanted to go upstairs and take a shower.
Once Dad was upstairs, Sammy asked, "Mom, was it me, or was Dad...I don't know, holding me a lot? I'm not a little kid -- " he started.
Mom held up her hand. "Sam, remember your dad said the guy he was after murdered six people? One of them was a boy. Your Dad found him in a field, laying face down. He was wearing a soccer uniform, dark green jersey, number 29."
Sam's mouth dropped. So did mine. All of us play league soccer, but this fall, because of school football, I wasn't playing. Nick and Sam were. They were on the Mariners, and their uniforms were dark green and white. Sam's jersey number is 29.
"Against all his training, when you father found the body, his first thought was that it was you," Mom continued. "Of course, it wasn't, but the boy was around your age. That image kept haunting him. I think your dad crossed the line on this one, but he was not going to let this case go until the suspect was behind bars."
"Oh," Sam said. He was at a loss for words, so was I.
"Hey, it's ok though. They got him," Mom said. "So," changing the subject, "Nick, why do you go in the kitchen and get some bowls. Chris, get some ice cream out of the freezer in the basement."
A few hours later we were still sitting at the kitchen table. Mom looked at the clock. It was 11:30pm. "_d_a_m_n_, it's late. I didn't realize how late it was. Guys, you want to stay home from school tomorrow?"
"YES!!!" Nick and Sam practically yelled.
"Chris?" Dad looked at me. "Don't want to stay home with the ole man too?"
"No, Dad, I do, but tomorrow is Friday, and I have a game. If I don't go to school, I don't play. And, I kinda want you to see me play. You've only been to one game this season....." Dad left the second week of school.
"Tell you what, I'll take you to school tomorrow so you can sleep in a bit more. How's that?" Dad offered.
"Deal," I replied.
The next morning, Dad woke me up and brought me to school like he said. He dropped me off with just enough time to go to my locker and make it to homeroom before the last bell.
While I thought it would drag, the morning flew by. During the beginning of lunch, I even remembered to get my brothers homework assignments from their teachers. I walked into the cafeteria and walked over to the table my friends were.
"Duuuuude! Where you been? You get in late this morning?" Tommy, my best friend, asked.
"Nope. Dad drove me to school this morning," I said nonchalantly.
"Your Dad? He's home?" Ryan asked.
"Yup, came home last night."
"So, where's Sam?"
"Mom said Sam and Nick could stay home today," I answered.
"So, why the hell are you here if they are at home?" Jamie asked.
"Game tonight, Einstein, remember?" I said flippantly, pulling on his tie. Jamie was on the team too. School policy if you have a game, you have to dress up. For guys, that meant slacks, no jeans, shirt, tie and a jacket.
"Oh yeah, I knew there was a reason I had this masochistic thing on!" he laughed.
Tommy and I had last period together. While we watching some film, he whispered to me, "Dude, your dad know yet?"
"Know what?" I whispered back.
"Let's see... How about that you told your mother to shut up a couple times, you didn't listen to a thing she said -- basically acted like an asshole. Let's see, what else? Oh yeah, then you told your uncle to _f_u_c_k_ off, hung up on him for a week and he drove here just to beat your ass for it?"
"Oh _f_u_c_k_. I forgot about that. No, I don't think he knows yet."
"Well, maybe he won't care. I mean, you already got roasted for it, right?"
"I seriously doubt that --" I started.
"Mr. Douglas, Mr. McIntyre," Mrs. Gearhart said.
We looked back at her. She pointed at the film, "Pay attention, you could be quizzed on this....." We turned to watch the film, but my head started wandering about what was going to happen when Dad finds out.
After I got home, I heard some yelling as I approached the house. I distinctly hear Nick yell "Daaaad". I had a slight panic attack as I started to enter the house. Did Dad know yet? What was going on. I opened the front door and went into the family room, I could see Dad, Nick and Sam playing Atari. Apparently Dad and Nick were on a team against Sam.
"Dad! Get that guy!!! Get em!!" Nick was yelling excitedly.
"No way, never gonna happen!" Sam yelled.
"Hey," I said.
"Hey, boy, how's school?" Dad asked.
"Fine," I answered.
"Chris, wanna play? You're on Sam's team," Nick said to me.
For the next few hours we took turns playing games on the Atari with Dad. We had a great time and all my fears of him finding out faded quickly. Finally, I ate a light dinner and went upstairs to get ready for tonight's game. Mom came in my room and hugged me. "Be careful tonight, concentrate and focus on what you are doing," she said. She says that to us before every game.
"I will," I answered.
"In case you are wondering, I haven't told your Dad yet," she said.
"Since my ass isn't toast yet, I figured you hadn't," I replied. "I almost hate to ask this, but why?"
"I will, but not tonight," she replied. Reaching out, she put her hand on my chin. "You just concentrate on your game, mister."
"Don't worry. I will," I answered.
I don't know if it was because my dad was there or not, but I had a great game that night. It was one of those rare moments where everything just fell into place. We won, 28 to 7. After the game, I went to a party to celebrate our victory. My curfew was extended to 12:30am that night and I got home right on time.
Mom and Dad were still up. Nick and Sam had gone to bed already. I talked to Mom and Dad a bit before I went upstairs. I was in my room doing my last set of pushups for the day when Dad came in. He sat down on my bed and watched me finish my set. When I was done, I sat down on the floor and looked up at him.
"Situps?" he asked.
I didn't know what to do. Mom obviously hadn't told him. I sure didn't want to, but I was feeling pretty trapped right then. I didn't know what to say, so I just nodded.
"Care to tell me why?" he asked.
I shook my head. "I'd rather not," I answered quietly.
"It's pretty big, huh?
I nodded. "Yeah, that is one way of putting it."
"Spill it."
I looked around the room, not knowing what to say.
"Ok, Chris, tell me this. Is it just you?"
I shook my head.
"Which one? Nick or Sam?"
"Both," I shrugged.
"Chris, tell me what happened. What did you three do?" Dad said firmly.
"Dad," I licked my lips. "Dad, I ... I can't."
"Why?"
"It's um....it's really bad. You are going to be really, really, really mad at me - us. You just got home and I don't want to ruin that."
"You didn't get arrested, did you?"
"No!" I answered quickly. Dad, always thinking like a cop. "No, sir, nothing like that."
"Tell me. Right now," Dad ordered.
"I can't. Dad. Please, I....... just can't."
"Chris."
"Chris, answer me!"
"Dad.... I can't."
"Dammit Chris --"
"Honey, what are you doing in here?" Mom interrupted.
"Lia, what's going on? Chris just did a set of pushups. Now that I think about it, I saw Nick doing a set earlier too. What's going on?"
Mom smiled at him. "Not now, babe. Later," Mom said to him. She walked over to me, leaned down and kissed me on the top of my head. "Great game, kiddo. Nite."
"Nite, Ma," I answered and got up from the floor.
Mom held out her hand to Dad, "Come on." Reluctantly he took it and she pulled him out of the room and shut the door behind them.
Oh crap, I thought. Well, he knows we did something. I guess tomorrow it'll be time to face the music with Dad.
The next morning, I woke up early. I looked the clock at it was 6:17am. I started thinking about last nights conversation with Dad and couldn't get back to sleep. I decided to get up. Instead of taking a shower right way, I pulled on a pair of running shorts and a t-shirt. Maybe a good run would clear up my brain.
I didn't know if anyone else was up, so I quietly went downstairs. Dad was in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee.
"Hey Dad," I said.
He smiled at me. "Morning. Going for a run?"
"Yup. Wanna come?" I didn't think he would say yes.
"Sure. A run could do me some good. Give me about five minutes," he answered. He went upstairs to change.
Great. I really didn't think he was going to take me up on the offer. I just knew he was going to interrogate me again. This time, I was pretty sure Mom was not going to save me. He came back down and we headed outside to stretch. We started off down the driveway, turned left and ran for almost two miles in silence. Even though we didn't say anything, it didn't feel uncomfortable. Dad runs every morning, but I don't. I run enough at practice. Sometimes on the weekends, I will go with him and today seemed like any other day. By the end of the run, I felt more calm. Funny how running does that to you.
After breakfast, Nick, Sam and I went outside to do the weekly yard work. When we were in the shed, I told them about my conversation with Dad last night. Dad hadn't said anything to either of them.
While part of me was enjoying the reprieve, another part was dying with the trepidation of what was going to happen.
While I was mowing, I ran out of gas by the side of the house. As I was walking back to the shed, through the open windows, I heard Mom and Dad talking inside.
"Nick _f_u_c_k_ing did WHAT?" yelled my Dad.
"Danny. Calm down. Just sit down and listen to me," Mom responded.
"Son of a bitch, I'm going to kill that _f_u_c_k_ing kid!"
If Dad's mad about Nick, I can't wait to hear what he thinks about what I did. Well, so much for that reprieve. We're going to die now. I looked around for my brothers. Both were on the other end of the yard, so neither heard this. I quickly refilled the riding lawn mower and rode it over to Sam.
I turned off the engine and motioned Nick to come over too.
"What's up?" Nick asked as he walked over.
"Mom's telling Dad right now," I answered.
"Oh _s_h_i_t_! How do you know?" Sam asked.
"Does he sound mad?" Nick asked.
I repeated to them what I heard. "So, basically, yes, he sounded mad."
"We're dead. You realize that, don't you? D-E-A-D dead," Sam said. "Dad's gonna kill us."
"Well, we knew he wasn't going to like it. Come on, lets finish the yard work," Nick answered and started to turn and walk back to the push mower.
"Whoa! Hey, that's it?" Sam asked, grabbing Nick and pulling him around.
"Yeah. What do you want from me?" Nick answered.
"What do you mean, what do I want from you? Dad pissed. He's going to kill us. We're toast, don't you see that?"
"Yes, I see that. And what exactly would you like me to do about it? We knew he was going to be mad, we knew we were going to get our asses beat again. Where's the news flash, Sam?"
Sammy let go of his arm and just looked at him. "I don't know...I'm ... just..."
"Scared?" Nick asked.
"Ummm...yeah...." Sammy answered reluctantly.
"Me too, Sam," I said. "Dad is really mad and I don't think he heard all of it yet. We really let him down. Nothing we can do about it now though."
"And we have yard work to finish. No sense giving Dad more reason to be pissed at us," Nick added. "Ok?" looking at Sam.
Sammy nodded, turned and walked away. I looked at Nick, and then got back on the mower and fired it up. Mowing the rest of the lawn seemed to take forever. Nick and Sam were waiting outside the shed when I was finished.
"Didn't want to go inside?" I asked.
"Nope," Nick answered.
"Come on, lets get this over with," I said as I started walking back to the house. We quietly walked in the house. Dad was sitting at the kitchen table. We stopped in the kitchen and stood in front of him.
"Your mother told me what happened while I was gone," he started. "I thought I raised you better then that. What the HELL got into you three?"
We stood there in silence. This was not going to be pretty.
"HUH?" Dad got up and grabbed me by the shirt with one hand. "What the HELL were you thinking, Christopher?"
"I ...don't know..... I'm sorry," I stammered.
I saw him move his other hand back and forth. He let go of me and said "I'm so ashamed of you boys. Get out of my sight. The three of you."
My eyes got wide. I stood there.
"MOVE!!" Dad roared at us.
We practically tripped over each other heading for the stairs. I ran into my room, Nick and Sam ran into theirs.
Oh God, I've never seen Dad this mad before. I felt horrible and so ashamed. The worst thing was that I knew Dad had every right to be angry with me. The last thing Dad said to me before he left was that I "was the man of the house when he was gone and to take care of my mom and my brothers". I certainly didn't act like a man. I let him down and I had no idea if I would ever regain Dad's faith in me again. I laid down on my bed, and buried my head into my pillow. I don't know if I ever felt so horrible in my life. All kinds of things flashed in my brain. Little clips of good memories, like last night when Dad told me he was so proud of me at the game, and how good it felt running with him this morning. All those things swirled around and just made me feel worse.
About a half hour later, Mom called us down for lunch. We came down and didn't say anything. Dad wasn't in the kitchen. Sammy looked as if he had been crying. I picked at my sandwich.
"Nicky?" Mom called.
I looked up. Nick was staring at his sandwich in a daze. I kicked lightly him under the table. He looked at me and I slightly nodded my head towards Mom.
"Yes, ma'am?" he asked, turning to look at her.
"What time do you have to be at the field for your game today? Three?"
"Um...Yes, three o'clock. Ridley field."
"Chris, can you take them?"
"Yes, ma'am," I answered.
"Great. Thanks, Roo. Take my jeep," she said and walked out of the kitchen.
We didn't say anything to each other. I finished my lunch, put my dishes in the dishwasher and went back in my room. I attempted to do my calculus homework, but didn't even finish one single problem. Around 2:40, I put my keys in my pocket and walked to my brothers room. Nick was putting on his shirt. Sammy was sitting on his bed already in his uniform.
I drove them to the field and climbed into the stands. The game started about 45 minutes later. Mom never misses any of our games if she can help it, and she wasn't there. I had no idea what that meant. Sam and Nick played like _s_h_i_t_. Nicky usually had great footwork, but today he sucked. Through no help of my brothers, their team won. I could see their coach talking to them after the game. I walked towards them when their coach left.
"Well, that game sucked," Nick said.
"Yeah, you looked like _s_h_i_t_ out there," I told him. "Your lucky your team won."
"Thank, bro, 'prciate that. Not like I don't have something else on my mind right now," Nick retorted.
"Did Mom and Dad come?" Sam asked.
"No, I didn't see them," I answered.
"Not even Mom? Mom never misses our games. Wonder if she is mad at us too," Sam said.
"Dunno. But I hate this waiting," I answered. We walked back towards the jeep. Dad was leaning against it. We walked up to him apprehensively. Dad was staring at Sam. I remembered what Mom said about the kid he found wearing the number 29 jersey.
Dad reached out to Sam, pulled him towards him and hugged him really tight. With his other arm, he pulled Nicky in too. I stood there looking at them.
"Let's go home. We need to talk," he said finally. He got into his car, and we climbed into Mom's jeep. My head was racing again as I followed Dad home. Once we got home, Dad told Nick and Sam to shower and for us to go sit on the cedar chest.
I went into my room and waited. When I heard the shower turn off the second time, I walked into my parents room and sat on the cedar chest. All of our punishments start by sitting on the cedar chest. All I could think about was how bad I let Dad down. Nick and Sam walked in the room shortly after I sat down. Sammy's hair was still wet. None of us said a word.
Dad finally walked into the room about five minutes later. He stood in front of us, arms folded on his chest.
"You have no idea how disappointed I am in the three of you. I thought I raised you better then this. I thought I taught you what respect was. I thought I taught you about trust; hell, I thought I could trust you. Apparently I was wrong."
Dad's voice was stern, but calm. He was speaking slowly; I could tell he was trying very hard not to yell.
"I thought I was raising my sons to become men. Do you think it is manly to disrespect your uncle? To tell him to _f_u_c_k_ off, go to hell and call him names? To hang up on him countless times? To clear his messages for your mother? Do you? Is that what you think being a man is about?"
"No, sir," we answered.
As Dad lectured, he paused between each sentence or question. His voice sounded so terce.
"No? But you did, didn't you? Your uncle has been around your entire lives. How many times has he help you? How many times has he attend your games? Taken you to baseball games? Taken you camping? How many times has he been there for you? Huh? How many times? SAM -- Look at me! And this is how you treat him. You treated him like garbage. Like he was a piece of _s_h_i_t_. Are you proud of that?"
"No, sir," I whispered.
"Do not look at the floor -- look at me, boys."
I had to force my head to look up. I wanted to be anywhere in the world but here.
"Do you have any idea how much you hurt him? For a week he tried to talk to your mother. For a week you disrespected him. For a week you cussed at him and hung up on him. For a week you kept the phone off the hook. For a week you kept your mother from calling him. You gave him no choice but to take a day off of work, drive eight hours just to deal with you himself. Do you know why he did this? He did it because he loves you. You disrespected him, but yet he still loves you. He is your uncle and he wants you to grow up to become men. He cares about you and your future. He loves you enough to discipline you to ensure you do become men."
My stomach is doing flip-flops. The more my father lectured, the worse I felt. I honestly believe no whipping could hurt as much as his words were. I let my father down hard. I could feel emotions rushing up; I had to force myself to look up at him without tearing up. I _f_u_c_k_ed up, now I have to take my punishment.
"And, what about your mother? Did you even *think* about how this affected her? You know how close your mom is with her brother. He raised her after their parents died. How do you think it made her feel to find out her sons disrespected him? Someone she loves and adores. For a week, you snowed her. She knew you were being asses to her, but she had no idea you had pulled that _s_h_i_t_ with her brother. How do you think she felt when Doug showed up at the front door? Do you have any idea how embarrassed she was? Do you know how many times she apologized for your actions? Did you even think about that? She said she felt like she was fourteen all over again. Did you really think you could hang up enough to make him forget what you did? When your mother told me about this, she told me she felt like a horrible mother. She was embarrassed and ashamed. Ashamed of herself. Afterall, she felt like what kind of mother didn't know what her kids were doing? She felt ashamed that she could control her own children while I was gone."
That almost sent me over the edge. I could hear Nick start to breathe heavier and Sam start to sniffle. I had to force myself to breath calmly. Even after Uncle Doug spanked us, I never thought about how Mom felt. Never in a million years would I want my mother to feel she was a bad mother. If I could have willed myself to die at that moment, I would have. I have endured many, many lectures from my father. Several of them were presented at the top of his lungs, several of them spoken with a belt or brush waving in the air for that extra emphasis on what he was saying. I have felt ashamed before, I've felt embarrassed before, but none of his lectures have hurt like this one. To say this was the mother of all lectures would be an understatement. And the worst part, I knew it wasn't over yet.
Dad paused for a few seconds. He knew the affect his words were having on us. I snuck a glance at my brothers. Sam had a tear running down his face. Nicky's eyes were really glassy.
"Do you have any idea how I feel? For the past two months I have been bragging about my sons. Telling everyone I work with how proud I am of my boys. I see punks every day. I have to deal with those punks to do my job. Little assholes who have no respect for authority; no respect for other peoples property; no respect for anyone; no respect for themselves. Unfortunately, most of those punks weren't taught respect. Didn't learn better. But I knew my sons were taught better. Or at least I thought they were taught better."
"I was appalled when your mother told me of your behavior. Do you know how I was able to leave for so long on this case?"
I shook my head. I knew I wouldn't be able to speak.
"I left because I knew my sons weren't punks. Weren't little assholes. Weren't disrespectful little asshole punks. I knew I could trust my sons to take care of their mother, and each other. I knew I had raised good young men. I knew my sons get the groceries out of the car without being asked when I was gone. I knew my sons would do extra chores, stuff that I normally do around the house without being told to help their mother out. I know my sons know how worried their mother gets when I'm gone, because of what happened to her parents, and that they would not give her any trouble. Obviously, I was wrong."
"Nicholas, do you remember what you said to me right before I punished you three for not feeding the dogs when Mom was working on the church festival?"
Nick sniffed. "Umm....uh.....no, sir, I sorry, I don't remember."
"You asked me to spank you first, remember now?"
"Yeah," he answered, nodding his head. "I mean, yes, sir," he quickly corrected. He sniffed again and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "I remember now."
"What did I tell you?" Dad asked.
Nicky's voice wavered as he answered. "You said, uh, that you have never punished us when you weren't in control."
"That's right. And do you have any idea why I didn't punish you this morning when your mom told me what you did?" Dad asked.
Shaking his head, Nick said "Um....Because we went too far and you weren't in control?"
"Exactly. I was so angry at the three of you this morning. I wanted to out into the yard and whip your asses right then. I could have beat the living _s_h_i_t_ out of the three of you. It's taken me six hours to calm down this much. It's taken your mother six hours to calm me down. She missed your game trying to calm me down. I even went to the track and ran another three miles trying to calm down. Of all the things you boys have done throughout the years, I have never been so angry in you. I have never been so disappointed in you. You have never let me down so badly before. Do you have anything to say for yourselves?"
"No, sir," I answered quietly. Nick and Sam echoing me.
"Maybe it's my fault. Maybe I didn't raise you as well as I thought I had. I don't know. All I know is I am extremely disappointed in you. It's going to take a long time for my trust and faith in you is restored."
"Yes, sir," I answered. If I thought I felt ashamed before, I was feeling even lower now. My uncle, my mother and my father are the three people in the world that I respect the most, and I managed to let all three of them down.
"Even though I feel this lecture is enough punishment, what I did tell you before I left?"
"If we make Mom punish us while you are gone, that you are going to give us a whipping when you get back," I answered.
"Amazing, you do know how to listen," Dad said. "At least you still respect my belt." He went into his closet and came out with his belt.
Without being told to, I stood up, unfastened my jeans, pushed them and my briefs down and bent over the cedar chest. Nick and Sam walked over to the windows.
CRACK! I felt tears well up in my eyes, but I didn't make a sound.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
"Stand up. Nicholas?"
Five, that's it? My ass hurt, but I expected a lot more. A whole lot more. Of course, he could have whipped me for the next hour and it wouldn't have hurt more then his lectured did. I was crying when he was finished, but not because of the physical pain. I think that just opened up the emotional pain I was feeling.
I pulled up my briefs and jeans, refastened them and stood next to Sam. Nick was bent over the cedar chest.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
"Stand up. Sammy?"
Nicks butt had four red stripes on it, but they weren't very dark. Nick, too, was crying when Dad told him to stand up.
Sammy was whipped three times. Sam was crying before he even bent over.
Dad sent us to our room and I cried into my pillow for a long time. I felt like the worst son in the entire world. About a half hour after we are punished, Dad (or Mom, if she punished us) will come into our rooms and talk with us. They'd say things like "just because I had to punish you, I still love you and am proud of you". I used to think this was a waste of time and completely unnecessary. I felt like only little boys needed their Daddy to come in and hold them and offer reassurance. However, this was the first time my father didn't come into my room. It just reemphasized how badly I screwed up. I only was whipped five times, but they were five really hard times. My ass hurt for about 10 minutes. My soul hurt for much, much longer. This was, by far, the easiest whipping I ever got; however it was also the most painful punishment I had ever had ever felt in my young life.
Note: I know there isn't much of a spanking in this story, but I had a few requests to write what happened after Dad got home. What I wrote probably wasn't the exact lecture, it was the essence of it. I received that lecture was almost 20 years ago, it was the worst lecture I ever had. Most lectures you can "tune out" and still miraculously know the right times to say "yes, sir" and "no, sir", but not this one. I couldn't tune any of it out. The next day, Nicky told me he wished Dad would have come out and beat the crap out of us on the lawn. That would have hurt less. I wholeheartedly agreed. While I hated getting my butt beat, at least that way the punishment was over quick. This lecture stayed with me for a very long time.
As always please email with comments or questions.