by Rachel Burns
She was embarrassed that Scott was here, but she hoped that no one would tell him what they had pulled and maybe she could use it as leverage to get a milder punishment one day. She giggled and sniffled, and the sound that came from her was pitiful.
Brianna hoped they heard it that way too.
Scott heard it, and it broke his heart. He wanted to comfort her so much that his own heart hurt.
“Surely there is nothing that they could have done to deserve this.” Scott wasn’t about to give up. He noticed both of their heads sunk in shame, and he tried to defend them. Their body language said they were as guilty as hell.
Scott mouthed to his father, “Is it over?”
His father nodded.
The doorbell rang. Brianna’s head sunk even more. Cathy’s father jumped up to get it. “Brianna, you can come here now.” She avoided Scott’s eye as she left. She figured he would look disappointed in her. He didn’t want her here to begin with, and now she had even caused trouble.
If she had looked up, she would have seen worry, pity and maybe even the beginnings of love in his eyes. Nevertheless, she didn’t look up.
“Get in the car, Brianna.” Her father’s tone could cut her deeper than the sharpest knife. “On the passenger’s side,” he added to nip at her wounds.
“Yes, sir.”
Charles looked at John and sighed. He was shocked by what his daughter had done. “I’m truly sorry. Did she cause any damage? I will pay for anything she broke.”
“No, you don’t have to worry about that. I caught them before they could get that far. She took her spanking well, and she didn’t give me any back talk.”
“She isn’t finished yet. Thanks for calling, John.”
They watched them leave. Scott felt so sorry for her. He knew how her father spanked: hard and long.
John waited for Charles and Brianna to leave before he leaned in towards his son. “I lied, you know. She didn’t take her spanking that well. That girl couldn’t keep her hand away to save her life. In the end, I had to hold it out of the way. Funny thing was she didn’t rub.”
Scott had to laugh, remembering that he too had given up.
“That was just embarrassing. How could you have done that? Do you have any idea what a car costs? Or the damage that you could have caused with one of them? And then to use your friend’s father’s car. They will probably never want you to come back.” Brianna’s father fired off questions that she knew he didn’t want her to answer yet.
He finished yelling and then asked her ‘why.’ She knew she was supposed to answer now.
“Daddy it was just that – Cathy thought that if she had already taught me how to drive, then you would say yes, and I could get a license, just like all the others have.”
“Really,” he was still mad and yelling. “Have we ever complained once about having to drive you anywhere or pick you up? Have we?”
Brianna was still crying, and her bottom hurt a lot. “I just wanted to get a job like everyone else does over the summer, and no one will hire me if I can’t drive.”
Her father had expected a lot of different excuses but not that. He pulled up in front of their house. He parked, and they both got out.
“Go to your room, right now, Brianna. I’m too mad to spank you just now. Go and wait for me.” He was so mad in the meantime that he was whispering.
She went in and hurried up to her room as fast as she could. She lay down on her bed and cried again, just like last night. Her father was right, they would never want her to come back. She had just lost another friend.
She just didn’t seem to be a friend for the long haul.
“What happened?” Eva had seen her daughter running up to her room in tears. She followed her husband into his office.
“Her little friend decided to teach her how to drive today.”
“Are they okay, did something happen?” Eva’s head turned towards the door. She wanted to go to her daughter, but she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to at the moment.
“They got caught right away, nothing happened. The thing that gets me is the why behind it.” He was shaking his head. “She thought that if she could already drive, we would let her get a license so she could get a summer job. I don’t know what she was thinking, but it’s like she has gone crazy since her last operation. And careless,” he added.
Eva sat down in one of the chairs across from his desk. “Charles, please sit down. We need to talk.” She was crying.
“What? You too now? I realize that women are very sensitive, but this is getting ridiculous.” He huffed as he sat down.
“Charles, can’t you see what is wrong? She’s eighteen, and her parents have to drive her everywhere she goes. She wants a job? Why do you think she wants a job? I’ll tell you why. She wants to be like all the other girls. She is eighteen, a grown up. If we forbid her, then she will end up hating us. We always said we wanted her to have a normal life, but we aren’t letting her have one. Charles she is trying so hard to be good and do what we expect from her, but it’s her life. We have to ask her what she wants out of it.”
Charles shook his head. “I can’t do it, Eva. I can’t let go of her. She’s our little girl. We came so close to losing her again and again. The thought of losing her after all that to something stupid like a car accident, or because she tries to keep up with the demands of a boss, kills me. Eva, I can’t do it.”
“Well, you’ll have to. Do you want her to run away from home just so she gets a chance to breathe?”
“Eva, watch your tone, or you will go over my knees before she does.”
She quieted down, but she was still crying because he wouldn’t see reason.
“I’ll talk to her about what she wants, but she’s got it coming. She could have ruined those good people’s car or killed their daughter, along with herself. No, she has to learn not to pull crap like that.”
He was about to knock on her door when he heard the sobbing from inside. He knocked and waited for her to open the door and let him in. She did with a red tear-strained face. “Come in, Daddy,” she sniffled.
He walked in, removed his belt and sat down on her bed. “Come here, Brianna.”
She closed the door and moved over to him. “I really am sorry, Daddy.”
“I believe you, but what has to be done, has to be done. You can’t be doing things like that. Come over.”
She pulled down her panties and lifted up her skirt and lay over his knees. She was sniffling away as she laid her right hand on her back for him to take.
He did, and he did spank her too, but his heart wasn’t in it. She was already crying so much from a broken heart. He pulled her onto his lap and just held her while she cried.
She told him that the other girls at school weren’t really her friends, and that they just saw her as a patient. She told him that Scott didn’t want her on his floor and much less in his house. No one would ever see her for herself. She would always be that sick girl. She told him about what she had gotten for Christmas.
Brianna told him her worries, that she would never find a husband because she was scarred and ugly. She worried that Cathy would never be allow to see her again, and she didn’t think that she would ever be able to find another friend.
“Don’t worry. I’ll talk to her father. I’ll make it all better, sweetheart. You wait and see. But first, you need to call over there and apologize again.”
“Yes, sir. I will.”
“Good girl.” He helped her to her feet. She pulled her panties up, and he took her down to his office. He waited without saying a word. She picked up the phone and dialed Cathy’s number. She hoped that Scott wouldn’t answer.
“Hello.” Of course, it was Scott.
This just wasn’t her day. “Hello, Scott. This is Brianna. I was hoping I could speak with your father?”
“Sure, hold on.” He sounded annoyed, Brianna thought.
Scott held the phone to his chest as he looked for his dad. He was out back. S
he was calling and wanting to talk to his father. She might as well move in with them. Damn, and he had really needed this vacation.
“Dad, it’s Brianna.” He held the phone out to his father who was smirking.
“Hello, Brianna.”
“Hello, sir, I just wanted to call and apologize for my terrible behavior once again. I am very sorry. I swear nothing like that would ever happen again if you let me see Cathy.”
“Brianna, give me the phone,” her father interrupted her.
“Sir, my father wants to talk to you.” She handed the phone to her father. He made a motion with his eyes that she should leave.
She did.
Scott watched his father smile widened as she talked to him. He wondered what she was saying, but whatever it was he sure did like it.
“We’d love to. What time should we be there?” His father smiled at him even brighter. Scott rolled his eyes. His father gave him a look, warning him. “See y’all tomorrow.”
He pushed the button and hung up. He gave the phone back to Scott. “We’ve been invited to spend New Years Eve at their house.” He watched his son’s face. He didn’t look pleased. “That was nice of them, wasn’t it?”
“I hope you enjoy yourself.” Scott turned to leave.
“We are all going. That means you too.” His eyes danced with delight.
“No, thanks. That’s a conflict of interest. I can’t be going to her house. It would look like I favor her over the others. What if she started saying something like, remember when you were at my house, or whatever else she could say. Hey, how is Cathy, or your Mom and Dad. This is all extremely unprofessional.”
“You’re going,” his father answered calmly.
“I really can’t, and I really don’t want to. This is my vacation too. She’s been here almost every day and now you expect me to spend time at their house too. I don’t think so.”
“I said you’re going, and you are going with a good attitude. You won’t embarrass your sister or us. Brianna is a very nice girl.”
Scott rolled his eyes again. If she were really a nice girl, then she wouldn’t be at his school.
“Scott, I realize that you are a head taller than me in the meantime, and I realize that you have gotten even stronger carrying those sacks of grain, but I demand respect. We have been invited, and we are all going. If I have to lay you over my knee, then so be it.”
He moved away to let Scott fume by himself.
Chapter 12 – New Year’s Eve
Brianna and her mother had been cooking and baking ever since her father had announced that they would be having five visitors tomorrow. Working with her mother, Brianna was able to forget her worries for a little while.
At four o’clock the next day, they had everything ready. Her mother was dressed as elegantly as she always was. Brianna stood next to her mother and waited. She didn’t know who was coming, probably some friend of her father’s.
Her mother didn’t know either. She said that if her father wants them to prepare for guests, then that is what they had to do.
Being raised to this way of thinking, Brianna had nodded and helped.
The doorbell rang, and her father came out of his office to greet their guests. Brianna bounced forward when she saw her friend.
The parents all said hello to each other, and they were ushered into the winter garden were cakes had been set out. Brianna helped her mother pour coffee and put pieces of cake on plates.
The adults all talked and were getting along just fine. Scott spoke with his sister Sharon and Brianna talked and laughed with Cathy. Both girls had believed that they wouldn’t be allowed to see the other again.
“This is the best cheesecake I have ever eaten, Mrs. Banks.” Scott loved cheesecake. This had made it worth it for him to come with today.
“Thank you very much, but the compliment must be paid to my daughter. She made it.” Eva Banks smiled at the young man and then turned her attention back to his mother, Karen, who was watching her son so closely that Eva turned back to look at him again.
Oh, now she understood, Eva thought. Her husband had told her everything that Brianna had said yesterday. Brianna believed that Scott didn’t like her. The opposite was true
Eva laughed a little to herself. Still, she wondered how this would end up. Brianna was still too young to notice anything like that. She was more interested in his sister than him.
Maybe in time, she mused.
The day moved on, and Scott talked with Brianna’s father about his future plans. He was glad to hear that Scott wanted to become a lawyer like he was. His wife had whispered in his ear earlier what she guessed.
Yesterday his beautiful daughter had cried in his arms that no man would want her, and today Charles was eyeing a possible son-in-law.
If he would take care of her and make her happy, then she would be his.
That is if she wanted him too. Her happiness was the most important thing for him.
The kids were sent for a walk while the parents talked. Scott’s father cut right to the chase.
“Our Scott seems to have taken an interest in your Brianna. He doesn’t realize it yet, but we have been watching him,” John informed them.
“Brianna is behind in her development. She probably wouldn’t understand. She isn’t ready for a boyfriend yet.” Eva told them with a worried look on her face.
“Eva, no one is saying that they have to get married tomorrow. We are just saying that a spark is there.” Charles didn’t want her worries to ruin the mood. These people had a fine boy who was interested in their daughter, and he was also interested in making something out of himself.
“But the scars,” Eva whispered.
“Scott isn’t like that. I’m sure he feels that his feelings for her are improper because of the situation that they are in right now. If we could all just sit back and wait to see what happens, well then Brianna could finish up at school and move on in her development and things could take a natural course in a couple of years. She would be ready for him by the time he gets the gumption up to ask her out.” Karen also realized that Brianna wasn’t ready for boys.
“Nonsense, I have a better idea. He should drive her back to school.” John liked Brianna. She would be good for him.
“I like that idea,” Charles agreed with him.
“I don’t. Brianna is just so sensitive. He could hurt her feelings so easily. I am afraid that if we interfere, that it could backfire. They have to be together the next two years. Brianna would suffer most if it didn’t go well.” Eva had seen Brianna’s backside after he had finished with her. She wanted a better man for her daughter, someone who wouldn’t hurt her. Brianna had suffered under the heavy hand of her father. She didn’t that for her in marriage too.
“Eva, we have decided. Scott can drive her back to school. If love sparks, then that is great. If not, then not. We certainly aren’t planning her future for her. He just seems a little interested. Nothing like six hours in a car to get to know someone.”
Cathy and Brianna walked slowly down to the lake. It was almost midnight, and the fireworks would be starting soon.
Brianna had never been able to stay awake to see them before. Last year, at this time she had been in the hospital. They were trying to get her healthy enough so they could operate. A tear escaped her eye as she thought about it.
Scott had been walking behind the girls, feeling sorry for himself. School started on the forth, and the girls were returning on the third. That meant that this vacation was practically over. He would pack tomorrow and take off. Maybe he could even get a two day break from Brianna in before school started.
Scott sure hoped that she wouldn’t try to play the we know each other so well card. He would teach her a lesson if she did. He could hardly wait to get her over his knees again.
Scott looked over at her and saw that she was crying but smiling. He would never be able to figure her out. If he had met her sooner or under different circumstances, then –
No, he was responsible for her like he was for Cathy. If he wanted a girlfriend, it would be one that came from a good home like Brianna’s but who was nicer, better behaved from the start.
He liked the girls on his floor, but they wouldn’t be the type of girl that he would be able to be proud of. Brianna would end up being an embarrassment for him. She wouldn’t be able to stay good for all that long.
A week or two after Christmas, they all started to lapse back into their old ways. Then he had to step in again.
He watched the fire works with the girls. They really were something to see.
Chapter 13 – The Long Drive Back
Scott parked outside of Brianna’s house. She was making him wait. He couldn’t believe that he had to do this.
He was seriously thinking about staying in Texas over summer vacation and finding a summer job around there.
Scott wasn’t really living at home, but his parents still had control over him.
He had already decided to have a talk with her about his private life staying private.
“Do you really have everything, Brianna?” Eva was crying.
“Yes, mom. Please he is waiting. I have to go.” Brianna still knew who he was. He was the one to avoid, and the one you should never get mad.
Her mother hugged her again. “Call if you need anything. Take your medicine regularly. There are new ones in there. They have a bit of a different shape, but the pharmacist insisted they are the same. Please, take care of yourself.” Her mother finally walked of the door. “Eat three meals a day and get plenty of rest. Don’t overdo it. Oh, and don’t forget to practice the piano. I love you so much.” She pulled a very red faced and embarrassed Brianna to her heart and hugged her once again.
Brianna looked over at Scott and mouthed the word ‘sorry’. Scott had to laugh at that. Maybe she wouldn’t be a brat the whole trip.