by David McKnight
I met Brian during freshman orientation at the University of Texas when he became my assigned roommate for room 104 in Roy Hall. I don't know how they decided to match us but it worked out extremely well. While many students were switching every semester, Brian and I stayed together during our entire four years at UT.
We had several similarities but the most obvious was that we were both electrical engineering majors. This meant we had most of our classes together every semester and could help each other when one of us was having a hard time with something.
We also had similar values and outlooks on life although Brian's morals were stricter than mine were. He didn't smoke, drink, use drugs, or speak vulgar words. I smoked for a while but soon gave it up, would have an occasional beer but never got drunk, had smoked a couple of joints of weed but didn't like it, and said a few damns, hells, and shits from time to time.
I guess our biggest difference was that I grew up in Houston and Brian in a small West Texas town. The more I heard from him about growing up the stranger it seemed. His town had one movie theater while Houston had hundreds. He knew almost everyone in his city whereas I only knew some of my fellow students and a few neighbors. He had many aunts, uncles, and cousins nearby but none of my relatives lived near Houston. He graduated first in a class of nine while I was twenty-one in a class of over six hundred.
Our families were also very different. His mother never worked but mine went back to her career when I turned three. He had two sisters and a brother, all younger than him, whereas I was an only child. He kept telling me how strict his parents were and that they punished someone almost every week. I remember some timeouts when young and a few groundings as a teenager but my punishments were seldom and far between.
After graduation, we both went to work at the same firm in Austin so we shared an apartment for six months before deciding to buy a house. We found an older four-bedroom home near the campus that was in good shape and selling for a price that we could afford. We thought about renting out the extra bedrooms if we ever needed additional cash since there were always plenty of students in Austin looking for a place like ours.
One evening several months after we moved into the house Brian asked me to join him in the den for a talk.
"Jim, I have something important to discuss with you. My oldest sister Ruth will be graduating from high school soon and wants to attend UT in the fall. She has a full scholarship and can certainly afford to stay in a dorm but I don't think she's mature enough to live on her own. I would like for her to move in with us so I can keep an eye on her."
I remembered that Brian said Ruth was nineteen, pretty, smart, and had a sunny disposition but also had a bad temper and often did things impulsively that got her in trouble. Having her live with us would make a big difference in my life and I wasn't sure I wanted that.
"I know it's a lot to ask," he continued, "so I suggest a trial period this summer. If it doesn't work out to your satisfaction, she can return home and make other arrangements."
That sounded reasonable to me so I tried to think of all the differences it would make in our lives. Brian and I had bedrooms on opposite side of the house so I asked, "Which bedroom would she use?"
"The one next to mine of course. You can still have your girlfriend spend the night without having to worry about noise."
"I guess I'll have to stop walking around the house in the nude," I joked.
He laughed and agreed that would be a good idea.
"Would we charge her rent?" I asked.
He got a serious look on his face as he answered. "I thought about that and she certainly could afford to pay us but what if she agrees to do all the cleaning, washing, and cooking instead?"
Brian and I had a maid service that came in every week to clean the house. We did our own laundry and ate out a lot since neither of us cooked.
"She would be willing to do that?" I asked.
"Jim, she has always been very domestic and loves to share those chores with my mother. I think she would jump at the chance to be in charge of a house all on her own. I know she will want to do some redecorating also and we can use the money we save on the maid service and eating out for that."
I agreed to the arrangement since I didn't see any down side and could end it if things didn't work out.
In the middle of June Ruth moved in with us. Brian had said she was pretty but I found her to be beautiful. She had a natural beauty that didn't require much makeup and there was an innocence about her that was very appealing. She was too young for me but I knew she would make someone very happy someday.
After a week the house was cleaner than ever before, all our laundry was done and put away, we were eating great meals all the time, and she had started redecorating the house. She seemed so happy she might burst and always had a smile for each of us.
She dressed very modestly always wearing a dress or skirt in the evenings when we were around but usually wearing shorts when she was doing her chores. She had beautiful long legs and a fine bottom. She always seemed happy and was a joy to be around.
She was also very smart. Sometimes in the evenings, we would play Scrabble or discuss current events. She usually won the game and kept up her side of the conversation with a lot of understanding.
Since Brian and I worked at the same company, he would often ride to work with me and leave his car for Ruth. She did the needed shopping but also visited many of the museums and exhibits that were available. Several times the three of us would attend various events at night and she seemed to understand and enjoy them all.
She and Brian obviously had a close and loving relationship. They told each other everything and didn't mind for me to hear as well. Each evening at bedtime she would shower, put on some pajamas, and kiss each of us goodnight on the cheek. She was nineteen but seemed much younger to me.
At times Brian acted more like a parent than a brother to her. For example, he called one of the women's dorms and asked what the curfew was for freshman girls then told Ruth she had the same curfew while living with us. She accepted this with no argument, which I found to be very unusual. When she was over an hour late one night and hadn't called, Brian grounded her for the following weekend and she quietly accepted her punishment.
I may have been an only child but I knew this was unusual brother/sister behavior. When I asked Brian about it, he just said his parents were strict and often put him in charge of his siblings. They told him to punish his brother and sisters in the same manner they would if anyone misbehaved. Now that Ruth was living with us, she had to obey him just as she had her parents when living with them.
It all seemed strange to me but it obviously worked because Ruth was one of the nicest and sweetest persons I ever met. She followed all the rules without complaint and seemed truly happy to do so. She was responsible, honest, trust worthy, and loving. I soon decided that having her live with us was an excellent idea.
I was in a committed relationship with Vicky that summer and we had great sex. However, the more I compared her to Ruth the less satisfied I was. Vicky was often late, had lied to me several times, wore so much makeup that she looked artificial, and was often in a bad mood. When she was at our house, she never seemed to get along with Ruth and often argued with her. I guess she was jealous even though Ruth was much too young for me since she was five years younger.
One night the two girls were really going at it and I was able to see Ruth's temper for the first time. Vicky was making extremely rude comments about Ruth's domesticity and submissiveness. In the middle of the argument, Ruth screamed at Vicky and then slapped her on the face. Brian jumped up and told her to go to her room. She stomped down the hallway and slammed her bedroom door. I thought Vicky deserved the slap for all the offensive comments she had made and soon asked her to leave.
I've never seen Brian so angry. He sat down on the couch and crossed his arms over his chest. His breathing gradually slowed down and it was obvious he was trying to get control of his emotions.
"Well, Jim, you finally got to see a display of Ruth's temper," he finally said.
"But Vicky caused it by saying so many mean things. I should have come between them before it got so out of hand."
"I wish you had. I didn't feel like I could since she is your girlfriend but there was no excuse for physical violence. Ruth should never have slapped Vicky and she knows it."
I got the feeling Brian was going to punish her somehow and wondered what he would do - make her stay home a few nights, ground her for the weekend, make her stop watching TV or using a computer. That was about the extent of what I could imagine my parents might have done to me.
After a few minutes, Brian got up, opened one of the storage cabinets in the room, and came back with something I had never seen before. It was brown, rectangular with a handle, and seemed to be made of leather.
"What is that," I asked.
"It's a leather paddle," he quietly answered.
"Where did it come from?"
"Ruth brought it with her in case I needed it."
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