by John Chard
Susan Brooks gripped the wheel tighter as she peered down the darkened stretch of unfamiliar New England highway, alert for the turnoff the GPS said was coming up. The digital clock on the dash of the Mercedes showed 1:00 AM. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been up, let alone on the road, this late at night nor could she remember the last time she'd been this anxious. Why do these things always seem to happen when Bill's out of town on business?
She'd just been dropping off into a sound sleep when the frantic call had come from Shelly. Her car had been stolen; she and her friends Katie and Jill were at the hospital in Mayfield. The cell phone kept dropping out making it maddeningly hard to get the full story. Shelly had stressed that they were okay, but they needed her to come pick them up. She only hoped she'd understood the address correctly.
Mayfield, she thought, shaking her head. What on earth are they doing in Mayfield? When the girls had departed for the evening, she'd understood their plan was to attend a concert in Cedar Springs. Mayfield was twenty miles further down the road. The town was best known for a small university, more famous for its hard partying student body than for any academic merits. She'd heard a news report on the radio about some girls who were drugged at an illegal party, a Rave the announcer had called it, in some warehouse there. Surely they couldn't have been mixed up in that.
The GPS prompted two more turns in short order and she saw the hospital. Her heart skipped a beat as she noted the numerous police and emergency vehicles in front, many with their lights still flashing. There seemed to be a mob of people at the door. She even saw a local TV news crew setting up for a broadcast.
Dear lord, she thought as she parked the car, what's happening here? She practically ran to the emergency entrance. The scene was even more frantic inside. There were a number of college aged kids milling about, frantic parents rushing around searching for their own children, uniformed police trying to keep order.
"Mom, over here." She heard Shelly's familiar voice call. She turned and saw all three girls standing by the wall. She rushed over and grabbed Shelly, holding her daughter tightly to her chest. "Shelly, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Mom," she said. Susan Brooks released Shelly and turned to Katie and Jill taking each girl in an arm and holding them to her. "Are you girls okay?" she asked.
"We're all fine, Mrs. B," Katie assured her.
Her worst fears finally subsiding, she stood back and gave them all a good looking over. She found herself somewhat taken aback at the black leather miniskirt and tight red halter top on Shelly. The others were dressed in similar racy fashion. The petite, red headed Jill was encased in a tight little black dress and the taller, more buxom, blond Katie was sporting skin tight jeans and a cropped tee shirt.
"Well, if you're all okay, then what on earth are you doing in the hospital and why are you in Mayfield? It was my understanding that the concert was in Cedar Springs. Someone better start explaining, and I mean now!"
All three girls quailed at the sudden change in demeanor. They had all experienced Susan Brooks' wrath in the past and they knew it was nothing to be taken lightly. "It's kind of a long story, mom," Shelly began. "We did go to the concert, but after, we met some guys who said they were going to a party and we decided to tag along. I didn't realize it was in another town until we were pretty far down the road."
Susan Brooks folded her arms across her ample breasts as she listened to the tale. "And why are you in the hospital?"
"Well," Shelly continued, "it seems some girls at the party had something put into their drinks and some of them got pretty sick."
"That's when the police showed up," Katie offered.
"We didn't know it was an illegal party, mom," Shelly pleaded. "I guess they broke into this warehouse and just set everything up."
"Wonderful," Susan Brooks said, now glaring at the trio with dagger eyes.
"The police arrested the people who were running the party," said Jill. "They said everyone else had to come here to be screened to make sure they didn't get drugged too."
Susan Brooks raised an eyebrow at them. "And you're all sure you weren't?"
"It was some kind of punch that was drugged, mom," said Shelly. "I only had a can of coke and Katie and Jill were drinking bottled beer."
Susan Brooks directed her withering gaze at Shelly's lifelong friends. "Refresh my memory, girls," she said. "Are either of you old enough to drink alcohol?"
"No, ma'am," they said in unison while staring at their shoes.
"Anyway," Shelly continued, "the police said we're okay to go home."
"And at exactly what point in this debacle was your car stolen?"
"Actually," said Shelly, "there's good news and bad news about the car."
"Oh, well by all means, let's have the good news first," said Susan Brooks. "I think we could use some at this point."
Shelly swallowed hard. Her mother's sarcastic tone wasn't lost on her. "It seems the car wasn't really stolen. It was just towed for being illegally parked."
Susan Brooks arched an eyebrow at her daughter. "And the bad news?" she enquired.
"It's going to cost $200.00 to get it out of the impound lot," Shelly said, biting her lower lip.
"And where is this impound lot?"
"It's kind of on the other side of town," said Shelly. "The police gave me a map."
Susan Brooks sighed. "All right, girls," she said. "Let's get going. I guess this is going to be a long night."
The girls dutifully followed their wrathful savior to the car. Susan Brooks pressed the button on the remote, unlocking the doors. "In," she ordered.
Jill and Katie quickly scrambled into the back seat. Shelly dearly wished she could follow them, but she knew she was expected to sit up front next to her mother. Once they were all buckled in, Susan Brooks punched the impound lot's address into the GPS and pulled out of the parking lot.
The ride proceeded in eerie silence until Jill finally spoke up. "Please don't be mad at Shelly, Mrs. B," she pleaded. "It was my fault. Shelly didn't want to go to the party, but I talked her into it." She was the most emotional of the three. Tears were already forming in her eyes.
"Actually," Katie chimed in, "we both kind of ganged up on her, Mrs. B. She really didn't want to go."
"So, which one of you held the gun?" Susan Brooks asked, glaring at their reflections in the rear view mirror.
"What gun?" Jill asked, genuinely confused.
"The one you put to Shelly's head to make her go to this illegal party with you?"
"She right, guys," Shelly said. "I was driving and I should have said no. God knows, I wish I had. Let's just drop it for now."
"I hope you're not just saying that to placate me, young lady, because it happens to be true," snapped Susan Brooks.
"I know, mom, I know," Shelly moaned.
"Well, I'm too angry right now to discuss it with any of you. I'm sure Shelly knows we'll be having a long talk when we get home and as for you two, you can rest assured I'll be calling your mothers."
"Yvette?" Katie asked.
Susan Brooks cursed herself for her thoughtlessness. Katie's mother, who had been a dear friend, had died in a car accident five years earlier. Her father had only recently remarried to a woman only six years Katie's senior. Katie had yet to warm up to the woman.
"I'll speak to your father," she corrected.
"I think my mom's in Milan or something this week," said Jill.
Jill's mother was a buyer for a fancy department store. Her parents had divorced years earlier. Susan Brooks wasn't sure if Jill's father was even still in the picture.
"I'm sure I have her cell phone number," she assured Jill.
"You'll get her voice mail," Jill replied, her voice surprisingly bitter.
"I'm sure she'll call back if I do."
The GPS finally announced their arrival at the impound lot, which was also doing a booming business in spite of the late hour. They all got out and made their way into the small office. It looked grimy and smelled of strong air freshener, trying, and failing, to cover the smell of stale cigarette smoke. A chubby young Hispanic man in a Red Sox ball cap, sat behind the counter; a lit cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth.
"Hi," Shelly said. "My car was towed earlier from Jackson Street. The police said it was here."
"Oh, right, the big rave," the attendant said. "We must have taken thirty cars out of there. Which one is yours?"
"It's a black Toyota Corolla," she said. "Here's the plate number," she added, handing him the number on a small slip of paper."
He punched the information into a computer. "Yep, we got it all right. It'll be $200.00, cash or charge?"
Shelly looked to her mother who, once again, favored her with a withering stare before opening her purse. "Charge," she said putting a gold AMEX card on the counter.
"I don't know what happened," Shelly said, as the man ran the card. "There was a sign that said parking and a guy sitting there in a lawn chair collecting fees."
"Yeah, that's an old scam," said the Hispanic man. "When they have these parties some wise-guy just picks a side street and sets up his little sign. As soon as he's got the street packed he folds up his chair and boogies with everyone's dough. Sorry you got burned, but if it's any consolation, you weren't the only one."
"Where do we get the car?" Susan Brooks asked.
"Ernesto will take you to it," he said, indicating a man in a Panama hat who had just entered.
They followed Ernesto to Shelly's car, which thankfully didn't seem any worse for wear. "All right," Susan Brooks said, staring at the woeful trio. "Shelly, you drop off Katie and Jill, and then come right home. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am."
They all watched Susan Brooks walk back to her own car, before climbing into the Toyota. Shelly put the car in drive and followed her mother out of the lot.
Once again, it was Jill who broke the awkward silence. "Shelly," she said. "Is this one of those things where ... I mean is your mom going to ... are you getting ...?"
"Oh yeah," Shelly said, "I'm getting a spanking all right."
"I'm so sorry," Jill said, tears now flowing freely. "It's all my fault."
"It is not," Shelly said impatiently. "And stop crying. We all screwed up tonight."
"We aren't all going to get our butts tanned though," said Katie. "You're twenty years old, Shell. I mean, if you said no, she wouldn't force you, would she?"
"No," said Shelly. "She wouldn't force me. I'd get the brooding silent treatment for God knows how long, though. The sighs, the little disappointed looks. No thanks. Been there, done that."
"I know, Shell," she said, "but a spanking? At your age that must be awful."
"Look," Shelly said. "I know how weird it must seem to you guys, but it works for me. She'll tan my butt, it'll hurt, I'll cry some and it'll be over with. I know that sounds awful and I guess in a lot of ways it is, but that's kind of the point. It's a punishment. It's not supposed to be fun. Anyway, in the long run it's just easier; easier for me and easier for her. Now, could we please just not talk about it any more?"
"Your mom's going to want to talk to us though, isn't she?" Katie asked.
"You know she will," Shelly confirmed.
Katie and Jill had both spent as much time in the Brooks' home as they had their own, and Susan Brooks had never been shy about chewing their asses when she thought they deserved it. It wasn't an experience they ever looked forward to.
The silence resumed as all three girls contemplated their fates at the hands of Susan Brooks. Shelly was still a little surprised that she'd shared her deep dark secret with her friends. Not that she'd owned up to her life-long obsession with corporal punishment. She still felt that would be just too weird for them to wrap their minds around, but she'd let it slip that she'd been treated to some real, old fashioned spanking in recent history.
That confession had been helped along with a generous dose of Merlot that they had liberated from Jill's mother's cellar. That had started as a fun night of girl talk. The subject of a recent speeding ticket had come up, and without thinking, she mentioned that her mother had tanned her fanny good for it.
Her friends' initial shock had quickly turned to curiosity, and they'd pressed for details. She'd started the tale out reluctantly enough, but as she noted their rapt attention and saucer eyes, she'd warmed to the subject, giving them all the gory details of a standard trip to the maternal woodshed with Susan Brooks.
Katie was staying at Jill's house so she wouldn't have to be there alone while her mother was away, so Shelly only had to make the one stop. When they arrived, she realized that she desperately needed to relieve herself, and so accompanied her friends inside. They both insisted on walking her back to the car.
"I'm so sorry," Jill said for the twentieth time as she hugged Shelly good night. "Please don't hate me," she added as tears began to flow again.
"I don't hate you, stupid," she assured her emotional friend. "And for God's sake, stop crying."
"We really did screw the pooch tonight," said Katie as she also hugged Shelly. "We'll come talk to your mom if you want. I mean, you did try to do the right thing, and we did sort of gang up on you."
"I appreciate the thought, guys, but she'd think I put you up to it, and it would probably just make things worse."
"Well," Katie said, "we'll probably be up for a while. Call if you want when you're all done with the crying."
"Gee, thanks," Shelly said with a little chuckle. "Maybe I will." She waved to her friends, put the car in gear and steeled herself to face the inevitable march upstairs with her mother.
As she pulled into the driveway and shut off the engine, Shelly could feel her heart racing. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Okay, she thought. I really screwed up tonight and this is going to be bad. Oh hell, who am I kidding? It's going to be the spanking of my life! I'll be lucky if I can sit down again by next week. She's probably up their right now taking practice swings with that damn brush, just so her arm will be nice and limber when she gets me over her knee.
She briefly considered Katie's words in the car. She really wouldn't force me. Maybe this once I could just opt out of the spanking. I could volunteer to do extra chores or charity work or something instead. As she was indulging in this fantasy she caught sight of herself in the rear view mirror. Oh, you know you won't do any such thing, you big liar, she told her reflection. You'll walk in there and take one look at that angry, disappointed face and you'll march right up those stairs with her, take your panties down, lie over her lap and bawl your heart out until it's finally over. I suppose I should be grateful that Dad and Bill are away. At least I can go ahead and get it over with.
Having come to that realization, she actually felt her nerves calm a little. She stepped out of the car and mounted the steps to the front door. Please, God, she prayed. I know I deserve it, but please don't let it be too bad. She turned the knob and stepped inside, surprised to find that her mother wasn't waiting in the living room for her as she expected.
"Mom," she called. "I'm home."
"I'm in the kitchen, Shelly," her mother replied.
Shelly walked though the living room to the kitchen where she found her mother walking toward the table with a steaming mug in each hand. "What's that?" she asked.
"I made some cocoa. Now sit down with me here at the table."
Okay, Shelly thought, not exactly what I was expecting, but I'll take cocoa over a spanking any day. She pulled out a chair and seated herself.
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