by Frank Limadere
Judge Sandra Thornley slumped into her chair, exhaled, swept her long, curly black hair behind her ears and rested her forehead in her hands as she massaged her temples. The door to her chambers opened a crack and then all the way as her pretty, young, blonde court assistant Melanie peered in. The blonde girl frowned as she saw that her boss seemed to be in some physical distress. She padded across to Judge Thornley's desk and placed a steaming mug of coffee close to the older lady. "Your morning coffee, ma'am," she prompted the judge.
Sandra raised her head and her brown eyes regarded the petite court assistant. "Thank you, Mel. Are those today's cases?" she asked, referring to the papers in Melanie's hand.
"Yes ma'am," Melanie replied politely, setting a copy in front of the judge.
Judge Thornley put on her spectacles, settled them low on her nose and scanned the neatly printed sheet in front of her.
"It's a late day, today, ma'am," Melanie advised brightly. "A short one too, we've only got one case due to start and it doesn't look like a difficult one. We need to attend a jury selection at eleven."
"Thank you, Melanie." Sandra smiled at the girl. She could be remarkably efficient when she set her mind to it. An appointment to the bench was not beyond her in the future if she wanted it badly enough. There were times however when she needed 'gentle' encouragement.
"Ma'am?" Melanie asked as Sandra picked up her coffee and commenced studying the details of the case she would be hearing later in the day.
"Yes, Mel, what is it?"
"Are you okay?"
Sandra blinked. Melanie was a perceptive girl. She had enjoyed working with her and the two of them got on well outside the courtroom despite the large disparity in their ages. "I'll be fine, dear. It's just Nicholas."
"Again?" Melanie asked, her bright green eyes narrowing as she pulled up a chair and drew it close to the judge's desk. "What has he done this time?"
Sandra Thornley sighed, she may as well tell Melanie the truth, she needed to unburden to someone.
She was a career woman and was single and childless by choice. She had never had time for either a husband or a child. However her sister had not been the same. A single mother, her sister had died after a sudden and swift illness. Her only child, an eighteen year old boy, Nicholas, had been given into Sandra's care as his closest living relative. Sandra and Nicholas had shared a good enough relationship when his mother was still alive, but since her untimely death the boy had been at best difficult. Surly, uncommunicative and only just staying on the right side of the law he was an almost constant trial to his aunt.
"He went out, without my knowledge mind you, and decided to spray some of that dreadful graffiti he calls art on the outside of a local factory. He may have gotten away with it, but he also managed to spray someone's car, a BMW. He claims that it was an accident, but the owner was extremely distressed and wanted to press charges."
"Oh God!" Melanie exclaimed, mouth open. "Nephew of local judge caught vandalising private property. That would be pretty embarrassing."
"It most certainly would, however it is not going to get that far."
"I thought you said the car owner wanted to press charges."
"He did, but I pointed out that there could be problems there. He can press charges, but he's going to have to contest it in court and that will take his time and legal fees will also be required, plus court costs. In the unlikely event that he lost he'd be up for all those charges, plus those of Nicholas' defence and he'd still have to get his car re-sprayed."
Melanie frowned. "He wouldn't lose. It's open and shut."
"Melanie, you work in the court system. You know how slowly things move and you know how clever lawyers can be, not to mention that judges and juries don't always see things as black and white as they really are."
"True," the girl conceded. "So when is it going to court?"
"It's not. Despite what I just said, dear, I believe that Nicholas would end up with a conviction and it would reflect very badly on me if there were any publicity around it. I offered to pay for the car to be repainted with a little extra for his trouble and inconvenience."
"At least it's sorted out," Melanie said doubtfully.
"Yes, but it still troubles me."
"Why is that, ma'am?" Melanie queried.
"I was hoping that the factory owner would insist that the boys repaint his factory, but he said it was the back wall and he prefers the graffiti that Nicholas and his friends did to what they painted over when they did their little 'masterpiece'. He doesn't believe that there's any point to repainting it, especially when he has to pay for the paint, because someone else is only going to graffiti all over it again."
"Oh," Melanie said, her brows lowering in a frown. "It's a vicious cycle."
"Yes, it is," Sandra agreed. "What I really don't like about this is whilst I can't allow a conviction to be recorded against Nicholas' name he's still getting off scot free."
"Ground him," Melanie suggested. "That's what my Mum and Dad did when I was his age, that's if spanking didn't work."
Sandra chuckled. "I'm betting a spanking was usually enough, dear."
"Yes, it was," Melanie admitted reluctantly, bottom tingling in remembrance of the parental chastisements.
"I honestly don't think grounding would work with Nicholas. I'm not home a lot and remember he was not meant to be out in the first place."
"Cut his allowance?"
"Oh, that's happening believe me, but I just don't think a few weeks without pocket money is going to make enough of an impact or at least make him realise how wrong what he has done is. It's a shame he isn't young enough to be put over my knee. I think a sore bottom would at least remind him for a few hours every time he sat."
The wheels of Melanie's keen mind started whirring as the judge made her final comment.
"Ma'am, do you remember Robin Carter?" Melanie asked.
Sandra Thornley frowned and said, "The name does ring some bells, why?"
"Well, Constable Wheeler brought him in on a shoplifting charge some months ago. It was pretty minor stuff, but instead of recording a charge against him as he wants to be a lawyer, they sent him to the Spank Shop."
"The Spank Shop?" Sandra echoed. "You mean the place I send you when you need your attitude adjusted at work?"
"Ummm... yes," Melanie confirmed, squirming in her seat, a soft pink flush creeping into her cheeks.
"What did Andrea do for young Robin, besides giving him a very sore bottom?"
"According to Tania... ummm... I mean Constable Wheeler, it changed his outlook and really made him take stock. He's working as an intern here at present. Why don't you talk to him and see if maybe the Spank Shop is an option for Nicholas."
"Oh, I'd certainly like to send him there, getting him to agree to it may be a different matter, but I will chat to Mister Carter and see what he has to say."
At lunchtime that day Melanie ushered a very nervous Robin Carter into Judge Thornley's chambers. "Robin is here, ma'am," Melanie announced.
Robin looked at the lady behind the large oak desk, a pair of rectangular spectacles perched on her nose, and she gave him a stern once over. Robin gulped and turned back to Melanie.
The pretty, young court assistant was a reassuring presence, she was always nice to Robin and he felt that Melanie's friendship with Constable Tania Wheeler had been a big factor in him getting the position at the courts for his internship.
Melanie grinned at the young man and gave him a gentle shove in the back whispering, "She doesn't bite... often."
Robin stumbled a step or two forward before Sandra Thornley's warm voice invited, "Please take a seat Robin. I just want to have a brief chat with you, young man."
As Robin settled gingerly into a chair in front of the imposing desk Sandra requested, "Mel, I'd like a cup of coffee and I am sure you can rustle up a can of soft drink from the fridge for Robin, can't you?"
"Yes, ma'am," Melanie agreed, nodding her head and disappearing out the door.
Sandra sipped her coffee and regarded the boy over the rim of her cup. Robin sipped his cola from the large cut glass tumbler that Melanie had thoughtfully poured it into for him and looked nervously around the judge's chambers. "You have a lot of diplomas, ma'am," he said.
Sandra smiled. "It takes a great deal of education to become a judge, Robin. Melanie tells me that you have legal aspirations."
"Uhhh... yeah... I mean yes ma'am, but it's going to take a lot of work."
Sandra nodded. "It does, but I think you will find it rewarding in the future. Melanie told me that you had a slight hiccup in your future not so long ago."
Robin stared into the depths of his glass as he remembered the incident and then replied slowly, "I did something pretty stupid."
"You stole, is that correct?"
Unable to speak, Robin nodded.
"But you were punished for it?"
Robin took a deep breath, and with an obviously unconscious action rubbed his posterior.
Sandra could not help but smile at the reaction. "That's why I asked you here, Robin. I wanted to discuss your visit to the Spank Shop."
"Why?" Robin asked quickly, then belatedly tacked a, "Ma'am" onto the end of it.
"I wanted to know how you felt about that, being sent there, what effect the paddling had on you and whether you would recommend it to someone or not."
"Ma'am, Judge Thornley," Robin began respectfully. "What I did was dumb and I did it for the wrong reasons. I was new here and I wanted to impress the tough kids and there was also a girl I liked who I thought may also like me because of it. Tania... I mean Constable Wheeler set me straight on that and she was right. If kids were impressed with me because I was silly enough to steal something then they weren't the sort of friends I wanted to have and if the girl was interested in me because of that then I should look for a new girl to be interested in. I know Constable Wheeler said it first and so did my Mum, but it wasn't until I went over Aunty Andrea's knee that I really understood it."
"How did she spank you, if you don't mind my asking?"
"No, that's okay. It was my first spanking. My Mum can't and my Dad never had to."
"I understand, take your time."
"Aunty Andrea is very firm and she spanks hard, but she's nice about it. She had to give me more than she would a normal first timer, because of what I'd done, so I got the strap and the switch. It really hurt, but I don't think that's why I cried, well not all of it, or why I learned. I think that was because I had let a lot of people down, mostly my Mum, my Dad's memory and myself."
"So it was beneficial, aside from the sore bottom?" Sandra asked.
"Oh yes, ma'am. I remembered it every time I sat down for the next few days and it wasn't just because of the spanking, it's because of the other things that Aunty Andrea does?"
"Other things?" a confused Sandra echoed.
"Yes," Robin nodded, "the aprons, corner time and Kimberley, little things like that."
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