by David O. Sullivan
San Jose, California 1954
Josephine was playing a slow Chopin piece on the piano when Jesse roared into the house.
"Josephine, did you hire someone to inspect the roof?" He stood, glaring, with hands on his hips.
"Yes. He's such a nice man, and he gave me a discount."
"Discount? What's he charging?" Jesse sucked a deep breath in to stay calm.
Josephine stopped playing and her gut suddenly tensed. "He said he has a sick child and needs money so he's only charging $300 ... a real bargain."
"He's a shyster."
"Nooo, he's very nice."
"Most shysters are. I had my roofer inspect it this past summer. He charged $25, that's the bargain. What is our agreement on money?"
She swallowed at the lump in her throat. "I'm allowed to spend up to $100. After that I'm to ask you."
"Since I was gone an hour, and you knew that, what kept you from waiting for me?"
Josephine clenched her teeth to keep them from chattering. Her gut tensed tighter.
"Go upstairs to our bedroom."
"Jesse, no, please. I didn't mean to do wrong. I got a spanking last week."
"That was for disrespect."
"Well, the man will be back soon to tell me what he found on the roof."
"No he won't. I chased him off."
"Oh, Jesse ... but his sick child."
"There is no child. It was a con job."
"But-"
"He wore no wedding ring, couldn't tell me his wife's name and he had to think to come up with his allegedly sick child's name. He couldn't tell me name of the disease or the attending physician. He's a liar and you got took. At least you hadn't paid him yet. Go upstairs."
Josephine slunk to their bedroom. Jesse's right. I'm from New Jersey, home to con men. I knew better. Why didn't I wait for him to come home? Jesse was right behind her. "Jesse, I know I made a mistake, but fortunately my knight in shining armor saved the day." She wrapped arms around his neck and hissed him.
"Oh, Jo, that's so sweet of you to acknowledge my valor and intelligence. Let's skip the spanking."
"You belittle both of us when you lie like that."
He sat on the couch in their room and patted his lap. "But that's what you wanted me to say."
"I don't think that tiny error calls for a spanking."
"There were established guidelines that you knew and you violated them." He patted his lap again.
She reluctantly climbed over, already feeling pain although the first slap was yet to occur.
"Jo, I love you, but rules exist to be followed. If there's something that's a silly rule, we'll delete it."
She jumped at the first spank, followed quickly by a series of others. "Ow! Ow, damn!"
"Jo, I love you." He kept up the assault on her ass over both cheeks, high, middle, and low.
"Ooooooh! Ow!" wailed Jo. He was spanking her over her dress and girdle. How would it be when he bared her bottom? Thinking he couldn't hit harder, he did. Her body bowed back and she kicked her legs. "Ow!" She screamed and cried, losing all track of time, and she still had to endure the bare ass version. Then suddenly he stopped.
"If you had paid him and he had left, it would have been on your bare bottom, but I'm convinced there will be no such repeats of this conduct." He patted her leg.
She stood, wiping her eyes and rubbing her butt.
He took her into his arms. "I love you. I will always love you."
She squeezed him tight.
"Do you want to sit on the balcony and meditate?"
Jo took the pillow to the balcony off the bedroom that looked down on 14th Street with a view of the hospital half a block down. She gingerly sat. She'd had worse spankings. Her mind wandered back in time to her train trip across America not so long ago...
She tried to politely ignore her babbling older co-passenger as the train descended the Rockies. She disliked the day cars but couldn't afford a private compartment. She didn't want to be rude, but had to put her life back together, and in spite of her nursing background, wasn't ready to discuss this woman's grandchildren, diseases, and sleep issues.
It dawned on her it was January 4th, her birthday. She was thirty but felt older. Her year in prison had passed neither slow nor fast. She recalled her bearish husband who always used his size to intimidate people, although at first she had felt secure in his presence. She recalled the night before their wedding. It was a small event but she was stressed in a large way. Heath was patient as she stomped in anger because her dress wasn't altered perfectly. As she grabbed a vase she knew she should stop herself, but she threw it into his fireplace. Her immediate apology didn't prevent Heath from spanking her.
It was a proper spanking, albeit her first in a long time. She had stayed single in dedication to her job until Heath entered her life. And that night, when he first spanked her, was when she fell deeper in love with him. It erased all last-minute doubts. He walked calmly toward her as she retreated. He took her hand and firmly, but not in anger, led her to the couch. He sat. She shook her head and pleaded.
"I will spank you because I love you," said Heath. "You must learn to control yourself better."
It was always at home she got into trouble as a child, doing things she knew were wrong but she did them anyway. Now her outburst landed her over Heath's knee. A detectable tremor took her body as he lifted her dress, exposing her girdle. That was when nervousness morphed to embarrassment to fear. How hard would it be and how much would it hurt?
Heath spanked her, his hand smacking on her girdle. A few minutes into it she couldn't hold back and she burst into tears. The spanking progressively grew harder and she wondered if he'd take her to the greatest humiliation, being naked.
It went on as the pain built on her rump. All her squirming and pleaded only wasted her breath. The pain intensified and she regretted throwing the damned vase. She couldn't tell how long it went on as she kicked her legs, unable to take much more, until she realized he'd lifted her from his lap and rested her on her feet.
He patted her dress down and said, "I didn't make you lower your corset because we're not married until tomorrow, but be assured in the future you will feel your punishment with no barriers." She nodded as the tears subsided. "I spanked you because I love you and it's a husband's job."
He took her into his warm and snug embrace, and she felt better. Despite the pain in her rear, there was more in her heart. She knew she had acted childishly.
As the marriage progressed, he took any reason to spank her, and when he was angry at something or anybody, she'd be spanked. He did it more often and harder, using paddles and belts besides his enormous hands. The last time was because she was busy with sewing. She knew she should have paid attention to the oven and dinner. She set it for 550 degrees rather than 350. She deserved a spanking, but it wasn't spankings Heath gave, but rather the brutal beatings.
The woman patted Josephine's arm, interrupting her thoughts. "I see your eyes drooping. Get some rest. I need my afternoon nap and am heading to my berth in the Pullman car. Nice talking to you and pouring our hearts out to each other."
Josephine smiled wryly as she had only given her name out and that she was from New Jersey, heading to California. She sighed, closed her eyes, and nuzzled into her pillow. When she woke it was dark outside and she could only discern distant lights from some town. She made her way to the dining car and ate a salad with beans and rice while sitting at a corner table. She hoped she could return to a normal life, whatever that was. She loved medicine and it was all she had left. Being a nurse was her life's calling, and she was grateful her New Jersey license wasn't revoked, but she'd have to qualify in California.
Despite the judge's comments, she had not lost her moral compass. She was just trying to defend herself. The jury didn't see it that way, or maybe it did. She could have been found guilty of a more serious charge and sentenced to a longer term. One year had been an acceptable compromise.
She was glad to disembark in San Jose, California, to find her cousin and her husband waiting. After a kiss on the with Claire and a firm handshake from Harry, Josephine insisted on carrying her two bags that held every worldly possession she had. Claire wore a simple white blouse and long black skirt with no jewelry on her plump frame. She had a plain face, but so did Harry. Neither would win a beauty contest.
They treated her to dinner at an old but clean diner, in a railroad car set into a permanent location in downtown San Jose. It was neat and had plants set about the outside. Josephine asked for a bed of rice on a plate with steamed vegetables and beans along with oil and vinegar.
Claire smiled gently. "Honey, you won't get your strength back eating like that. You need meat and plenty of it."
"It's not healthy."
Harry dramatically clicked his shiny lighter closed after lighting another cigarette. "Nonsense, I've eaten meat and smoked for years and I'm healthy as a horse." He cut into his rare steak.
Josephine estimated him to be in his mid thirties, seventy pounds overweight and in the beginning stages of balding. She stayed silent. His piercing stares that shifted from her breasts to her eyes annoyed her. His leering grin and periodic wink bothered her.
Harry patted her hand. "I believe your story, but I suggest you keep your past to yourself. We won't tell anyone and neither should you. Get my drift?"
Josephine nodded, ate slowly, and looked around. Harry nudged Claire next to him. She said, "Honey, we only have a two-bedroom home and can only offer you a room for two weeks tops. You need to get an apartment or a room somewhere. We'll tell you about the good and bad parts of town. With Harry in the insurance game, he knows all about the Santa Clara Valley. You know San Jose's the heart of it. It's going to be big someday and everyone will need insurance." She tilted her head toward Harry and smiled like some actress in a movie. "We'll live in the hills above the valley someday, just like the rich people."
"I don't know how long it will take me to get registered as a nurse in California, but I'll start checking tomorrow. I'm grateful to both of you for helping. All my friends and family back home turned their backs."
Claire softly closed her eyes. "I think that's wrong. Family should take care of family."
The next day, while waiting for a call from the nursing board in San Francisco, Josephine checked the newspaper's want ads. There were slim pickings. Harry said it was fifty-five miles north and he would drive her. She had no choice with very little money left and would have to endure his chain smoking.
The call came in, and a pleasant woman gave Josephine an appointment to meet for the next day. Harry had a 1953 Mercury convertible, red with a black top, and the drive on the newer highway was pleasant, passing through orchards, planted fields, and a number of towns and cities.
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