by Shaun Kelly
The car sped westward on Interstate 80, bringing Brenda Brewer and her brother Brian from their respective homes in Sacramento towards the San Francisco Bay Area. Brenda, 26, and Brian, 24, were on their way to visit an aunt who had been hospitalized there.
Brenda was single and taught at a Junior High School near Sacramento. Brian was an accountant who had been married to Abby for about two years. Abby would have joined them but her job as a Transportation Security Administration inspector at Sacramento International Airport called for at least one weekend shift a month, and this was the weekend she was on duty.
The siblings had been close when they were growing up, but now saw each other only once or twice a month, and the trip offered them a rare chance for an extended conversation. Although Abby had an active social life, there was no one special man in her life at the moment. That had led Brian to joke with her on prior occasions about her biological clock ticking (their mother also reminded Brenda of that, but with much more intensity).
"How's your sex life?" was the way Brian phrased the question about a half-hour into the trip.
"Not bad," Brenda responded. "How are you and Abby doing after two years of married life? All good?"
Brian paused before answering; the pause lasted a couple of seconds, and caught Brenda's attention. "It's fine," he finally said. "We're OK."
"Bri, I didn't like that pause," Brenda said. "What's going on?"
"Bren, I don't want to talk about it. It's embarrassing."
"Sex problems?" she asked.
"No," he responded emphatically. "Absolutely not. That's great."
"So what's wrong then?"
"Honestly, Brenda, it is kind of embarrassing. If I tell you you're just going to laugh and you'll think less of me. Let's forget it."
But Brenda's curiosity had been raised and she wasn't going to let it go. She had no doubt that if she persisted, Brian would tell her what she wanted to know. She loved her brother but she also knew his weaknesses. Brian had never been confident around girls when they were growing up, and even now as adults an assertive woman could easily manipulate him. She had never discussed this with her sister-in-law, but had seen evidence on some occasions that Abby also understood Brian's tendencies.
"Embarrassing?" she said. "That never stopped us before. What about that time you were 12 and really wanted to see what a girl's body looked like? That was pretty embarrassing for me. We confided a lot of embarrassing things to each other when we were growing up. As far as laughing, I don't know what it is so I can't promise I won't laugh, maybe I'll think it's funny. But I can promise that I won't think any less of you. You're my brother and I love you. You can tell me anything and that won't change."
Brian was silent, and Brenda knew she had won. He would tell her.
Finally he spoke, in a low voice, and with short pauses between almost every word. "When... when Abby... is unhappy... with my... behavior... (a longer pause)... she spanks me."
Brenda almost did laugh, but caught herself quickly. "She spanks you? Like Mom did when we were kids?"
"I knew you would laugh. I'm sorry I told you."
"No, Bri, it's OK. It's certainly not the answer I was expecting, though. How did that get started?"
"I almost screwed up the marriage in the first year," he said. "I probably should have waited longer before getting married, but you know how much I love Abby and I didn't want to wait. But I was pretty immature and did some stupid things. I was the first one of my friends to get married, and the guys kept on calling me to go out and do things. Abby was OK at first about some boys nights out but I know now that I overdid it. If I said "no" to some of the guys, they called me henpecked, and I usually said I'd go. So I wasn't spending enough time with Abby. And I wasn't helping out around the apartment very much and with her crazy schedule at work that was a problem too. We talked about it a lot, and I tried to improve, but after a while, I kept on making the same mistakes, and she was getting very frustrated. One night we were talking about it and she said if things didn't change we'd probably end up in divorce court in a year."
Brian sighed before continuing.
"I knew it was all my fault, Abby is just great, and I knew I was screwing up the marriage. I got pretty emotional and told her I'd do anything to keep the marriage together. We talked for a long time and at one point she said at times I acted like a spoiled little boy. I had once told her Mom used to spank us when we were kids and she said she wished Mom had spanked me more so maybe I wouldn't act like a naughty little boy now.
One thing led to another, and I said I'd rather get spanked than divorced. So we ended up agreeing that whenever Abby felt I deserved a spanking, she would spank me.
I guess I do believe that it has saved our marriage. I really do try to avoid doing things that make her upset. But it's not what I expected from marriage. Can you imagine waking up in the morning and looking at the person you love - and wondering if she will spank you before the day is over?"
"And it's been going on for a year now?" Brenda asked. "I never would have guessed."
"She's very good that way," Brian responded. "She won't embarrass me in public and she promised she would never tell anybody what we do. But in the house, when we're alone, things can be very different. She's pretty intimidating when she wants to be - maybe it's from all the training she's had at the airport."
"How often does she spank you?"
"There's no pattern, since it's only when I do something that gets her upset. I guess on average about once every other month."
"That's not too bad," Brenda offered as consolation.
"Easy for you to say," Brian responded. "I admit it's not that often, but on a day I get it, it's a very bad day. Not only does it really hurt, it's very embarrassing even if no one else knows about it. And believe me, it really hurts a lot. Abby doesn't look like the kind of woman who could spank a guy that hard - but believe me, she is."
"I don't want to embarrass you any more," she said. "But one question and then we'll drop it. You used to cry a lot when you got spanked when we were kids... do you cry when Abby spanks you?"
There was a long pause. "Yes," he finally responded.
The car continued its journey and true to her word, Brenda changed the subject.
SEVENTEEN DAYS LATER
It was the first Tuesday of the month. Each month on the first Tuesday, Brian's firm held a conference call between the home office in New York and all the regional offices. Since the call spanned four time zones, it was held at 11AM New York time, 8AM Pacific time. Brian's Office Manager required the staff to be in by 7:30 so they could be alert for the call. Brian's commute could be difficult on some days, so on the first Tuesday of each month he set the alarm for 5:30AM and tried to leave by 6:30.
Most days in the Brewer apartment it was Abby who got up first, sometimes as early as 4AM if she had the early shift at the airport. She would then reset the alarm for Brian, usually for 7AM. Today, however, she had the luxury of a 9AM-5PM shift, so Brian had the task of resetting the alarm for her.
And, today, he forgot to do it!
Abby got to work about 20 minutes late, enough to earn the anger of her boss as lines were building up at the checkpoint she was supposed to have been at. As soon as she was able to take a break, she fired off an email to Brian from her phone. "Because you forgot to set the alarm for me this morning I got to work late and caught a lot of crap for it. You and I will have a discussion about your irresponsibility tonight."
"Discussion" was the key word, and Brian shuddered when he saw her email. A "discussion" usually had three participants - Abby, Brian, and Abby's hairbrush.
After sending Brian his email, Abby quickly sent out another before heading back to work.
Because of the early conference call, most of the staff at Brian's office headed home early, and he was home before 5PM. Fully expecting a spanking before the night was over, he walked into the bedroom where he would be spanked, and sighed while looking at the corner he expected to stand in both before and after his spanking. He hated standing in the corner - the pain of the spanking was bad enough, but standing - naked - in the corner was downright humiliating. Abby made him stand there before spankings for about 15 minutes so he could think about his behavior, and he had to return there after the spanking (with a warning that rubbing his butt would result in a return trip over Abby's knee for more spanks).
This is going to be a bad night, he though to himself. How could I have been so stupid to forget the alarm?
Shortly after 5, he received a text from Abby: "Brenda joining us for dinner. Need some groceries, home about 6." He was somewhat surprised. Brenda had been over for dinner on other nights, but he was surprised Abby had agreed on a night he expected to be punished. Maybe it's a good thing, he thought. Abby's still pretty angry, I'm sure, but if Brenda stays until about 9 o'clock and Abby relaxes, maybe it won't be so bad this time. Maybe she'll even postpone punishment until tomorrow. This could be good.
Abby arrived with a bag of groceries just before 6, still wearing her uniform with its distinctive blue blouse and a black skirt that made her appear to be very much a person in control. She gave Brian a quick kiss and headed for the kitchen noting Brenda was due shortly. There was no mention of the missed alarm or any talk of an upcoming spanking - again, Brian thought, maybe his luck had changed.
Brenda arrived about 10 minutes later, and the three chatted pleasantly while Abby finished preparations for dinner. They sat down at the table around 6:30 for an enjoyable meal, and the local wine Brian served seemed to add to the meal. Abby was smiling through most of it and Brian's hopes for a reduced punishment soared. During the meal he started to think that with Abby in a much better mood, if Brenda stayed until 9, he could play the "long day" card and get Abby to postpone punishment until tomorrow - when she would likely go much easier on him. Maybe, just maybe, he thought - maybe, I'll get even luckier and she'll change her mind about the spanking. But at least I won't get it right away, while the alarm incident is still fresh in her mind!
Dinner lasted about a half-hour and the three shared the task of clearing dishes from the table. They moved into the living room part of the apartment, which had two couches, one with three seats and the other with two. Brenda sat at one end of the larger piece of furniture while Brian sat on the smaller piece, expecting his wife to join him.
It was to be the last time Brian sat down comfortably for a while.
Abby entered but did not sit. Still dressed in her uniform, she looked directly at Brian and spoke to him in a completely different tone of voice than she had earlier in the evening.
"Well, now," she started. It was enough to get Brian to sit straight up immediately. "Brian, it seems that a couple of weeks ago you decided on your own to tell Brenda about your punishments."
Brian had not told Abby about his conversation with Brenda. He had feared she might get angry about it, and although he had never told his sister not to discuss the subject with Abby, he assumed she wouldn't. He now recognized he had made a bad mistake.
"I guess if you wanted to tell Brenda you get spanked, that's OK - although I never told anyone and never planned to. But what I am really upset about is that you did not tell me that you told Brenda. I didn't know about it until Brenda and I had lunch last week."
"I'm sorry, honey," Brian responded weakly. "I should have told you."
"Yes, you certainly should have told me," she said coldly. "And since Brenda and I ended up in a conversation about your spankings, she mentioned to me that she always wanted to see you get spanked by your mother when you were kids, but your Mom never let her watch."
Brian did not like at all the way this conversation was going. With a very nervous voice, he managed to say, "That's true."
"Well, I'm not your Mom and I think that since you continue to act like an irresponsible little boy way too often, maybe a little embarrassment will help you remember what you're supposed to be doing... so... I invited Brenda to come over and see her little brother get spanked next time he deserves one!"
"No!" screamed Brian's brain, but he dared not to say it aloud. All his hopes of just a few moments ago about an easy punishment had come crashing to the ground - he now knew he was going to get punished, and with Brenda present, it would be more humiliating than any he had ever had before, either from his mother or his wife.
Abby glanced at Brenda then moved her eyes directly to Brian. "Go get ready for your spanking," she commanded.
Brian rose slowly but silently, and looked at Abby with pleading eyes that appeared ready to cry. But he saw no mercy in her eyes and he knew his fate was sealed. "Yes, Abby," he said softly as he turned to walk towards their bedroom.
As he started to leave, Abby added, "You're lucky you're not getting two different spankings, Brian, one for not telling me about your conversation and the other for the alarm. But since you're getting spanked for two things, you can expect a longer and harder spanking than you have had before."
He walked off, and Abby said to Brenda, "Let's finish off the wine. I'm going to let him wait for 15 minutes or so to let him think about what's going to happen."
Brian entered the bedroom and knew all that was expected of him. There was a single straight-back chair in the room that had become the "spanking chair," and he moved it to Abby's desired place at the foot of the bed. The next part was more distasteful - he went to her dresser and opened the top drawer. In it he knew he would find her hairbrush, a heavy wooden implement he had grown to hate. He took it out, looked at the flat side closely, and shuddered for a moment as he realized he was just minutes away from that brush landing on his backside dozens of times. He placed the brush on the chair.
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