Christmas Eve Smackdown

by Mackenzie

It was snowing outside when I pulled up to his house in my old banged up car. I could see the lights on his Christmas tree flashing, colorful and bright; so odd, he never struck me as the Christmas loving type. Actually, quite the opposite, he seemed like he was a complete Scrooge. Maybe it was just a way for people to think he was what he wasn't, a bright and happy holiday loving guy, friendly and fun to be around. Well, he was anything but, but that didn't really matter... he was just someone to buy from, the only person I could buy from.

I parked my car and turned off the ignition, sitting there and contemplating whether or not I should do this. I knew it wasn't right and I knew I'd probably get in massive trouble if I was caught but the question was: was it worth it? As the wind blew furiously outside, rocking my car and shaking my windowpanes, only one answer came to my mind... and that was yes. I unbuckled my seatbelt and slowly opened the door, placing one foot outside, followed by another and walked until finally and suddenly... I had reached his front door and was ringing the doorbell.

"Who is it?" a voice called from inside.

"It's me, Sally." I whispered quietly, already beginning to have second thoughts.

He opened the door and flashed me a smile with surprisingly beautiful bright and white teeth. "Hey, Sally! What's up girl? Come on in." he said, welcoming me.

"Hey, Brian," I said, "I'm alright. What about you?"

"As good as I'll ever be." he smiled. The guy was being unusually kind. Then again, I was buying from him and he must have seen me as a future frequent customer. Well, with all the crap going on in my life, he probably wasn't far from the truth.

Looking around his house, it didn't seem to be the home of a drug dealer/user. Everything was nicely decorated and it was fairly big as well as incredibly warm. This was not what I expected. The tree was so beautiful and there were wrapped gifts underneath it. I suspected these were for some of his relatives, perhaps a nephew or niece. Suddenly, I was snapped out of my dreamland as he said: "Follow me."

He went up the beige carpeted stairs, beckoning me with his hand to follow him as I stood paralyzed by fear below. Gulping, I followed him up the stairs. The second thoughts were gushing like a waterfall now, but it was too late to back down by this point and besides, I wouldn't have anyway. I was far too eager to find something that would numb the pain. That eagerness, as I would later find out, would be the very thing that caused my fall.

Within 60 seconds we reached a closet at the end of the hallway. Inside there was what seemed to be an electrical outlet but what was actually a door. He pried it open with a screwdriver that had been beneath the towels on one of the shelves. Behind there, a narrow dead end tunnel laid. Within that, there was a box. Brian grabbed it, taking it out and saying, "Now this, is what you want." He opened the box slowly and buried beneath layers of plastic was a bottle filled with pills. He shook it and with a smile asked me, "How many did you want again?"

I flashed a slight smile in return and said, "Seven. Enough to last me the entire week."

"You're a smart girl, always planning ahead."

I laughed a little bit at that statement, smiling and saying: "Thanks."

He dished out the pills and gave them to me in small black plastic bag. "Be careful now," he told me. "You don't want any cops catching you."

Again, I laughed in reply to this statement, "Yeah, I know, right?" But all I was thinking was that they weren't the only thing I had to worry about. There were other more important people that I needed to avoid, like my brother who didn't even know I was gone.

He led me to the door and shook my hand. "It was nice to meet you, Sally."

"Nice to meet you too, Brian. Thanks, again."

"Sure thing, kid. I'll see you around sometime."

"Yep, sometime." I replied, smiling again for the fifth time that night.

With this departing gesture I turned and walked to my car. The snow had gotten a million times worse now and I didn't doubt that I'd have trouble driving. Upon this thought, I arrived and opened the door to my car, sitting down and putting on my seatbelt. Before I even went anywhere, I popped a pill in my mouth, hoping I could make it home safely in the treacherous storm while on drugs. It was probably the dumbest thing I'd ever done in my life.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Within the first 15 minutes of being on the road I had already almost gotten into 2 accidents, swerved into another lane and hit a squirrel. Not to mention that I was already going 10 miles under the speed limit just so that I wouldn't having a freaking accident. Did I mention that I also possibly got a dent in the back of my brother's car? MY BROTHER'S CAR. So not only did I just buy and take illegal drugs from a stranger, I also had most likely damaged my brother's car who didn't even know I had left the house.

I barely managed to make it through the next 15 minutes of driving without getting into some sort of an accident. It seemed like every time I made a turn, things popped out of nowhere. It was out of pure luck that I even made it home in one piece. Of course, one could argue the one piece part, considering I was shaking by the time I had parked the car in the driveway and the drug's effects had already started to kick in. Last time I had looked up the effects, it took at least half an hour more for this shit to kick in! This was something that I definitely was NOT prepared for!

I slowly opened the door and locked it, shutting it behind me with weak shaking hands. A slow laugh began to escape my lips as I walked towards the front door and struggled to get out my key. By this time my vision was getting extremely blurry and I couldn't see anything so getting out my key was pretty much not feasible in any way, shape or form. I just broke down laughing at the thought and I don't even know why. My laughing got so loud and so unbearable that I began banging my fist against the door, just because breathing was pretty much impossible at this point. Within seconds my brother Malcolm opened the door and even though I was so high and messed up, I knew he was just as confused as I was. This laughing had gotten way out of hand.

"Sally?" he questioned. "What is going on?"

I laughed again. "Nothing, I'm just really hyper." I replied.

"That can't be it. Your pupils are huge, Sally!" he yelled at me. "What is going on? Are you on something?"

"Maybe." I answered.

Malcolm stared at me with a look of confusion or pure anger and worry, perhaps both. I continued laughing as he stared and ran to the couch to plop myself down on it. He followed me and sat down beside me. "What are you on, Sally?" he asked me earnestly, struggling to find an answer.

"Just ecstasy."

"What!? Where the hell did you...? Why the hell would you...!?" Sally!" he took a deep breath after yelling. I just stared at him, giggling.

It was at this exact moment that our little sister, Lilly, came down the stairs. "Mac, what's going on?" she asked him.

"It's nothing." he answered. "Your big sister just isn't feeling well. Let me take care of her." he said in a gentle voice. "Go back upstairs."

"Okay..." she whispered slightly and trudged back up the stairs. Before she made it to her room, Malcolm shouted towards her. "I love you. Goodnight."

"I love you too," she said and walked back to her room, shutting the door behind her.

Malcolm turned his attention back towards me.

"Why would you do this, Sal?" he asked me. "What in the world would make you want to do this?"

I shrugged. "Life sucks."

He looked confused. "Life sucks?"

"Yeah, life sucks."

He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "Can I have a hug, pwease!?" I asked in a super cute voice that sounded like it was from a 5 year old and not a 16 year old.

He gave me a hug, holding onto me tightly as if that could protect me from what was happening inside of my brain. He rubbed my back softly. "Are you cold?" he asked me. It was then that I noticed I was shivering and my teeth were chattering. Funny how I didn't notice. I guess it was because I was just laughing way too hard.

"A little bit," I answered, "yeah. I'm cold."

He grabbed the blanket from off the couch and wrapped me in it, then rubbed my back a little bit more to make me warmer. He sat me down on the couch and just let me giggle until eventually I had fallen into a semi-sleep. Of course, I couldn't be sure if I was sleeping or not because I kept hearing voices and seeing people around me that weren't really there. Still, it felt great to be numbed of all pain. Of course, then some after effects just HAD to come into play. A huge searing pain began to take over my head and I started to feel like I was going to throw up but when I stood up to go to the bathroom, I automatically felt dizzy and fell back down onto the couch. Within moments I fell back asleep, only to wake up again shortly thereafter and feel a sincere need to barf. That may sound funny to others, but it was far from funny at the time.

I rose from the couch and walked towards the bathroom, just barely making it to the toilet in time to throw up. I could feel someone moving in behind me, almost having a heart attack in the process before I realized it was only Malcolm. He held back my hair for me and rubbed my back as I cried and threw up over and over again, until eventually I stopped and fell back from awareness into a sort of wakened coma. I don't really know how to explain it. But I can tell you that I certainly did not feel my brother move me into the next room and back onto the couch. By this time I was either dead asleep or completely unaware. Of the two, I'm not sure which one it was.

When I awoke again, it was daylight outside and my brother had fallen asleep in the easy chair beside the couch. I wondered what had happened the night before. Then I looked at the Christmas tree in the corner of the room with the presents underneath it and realized what exactly had happened the night before. I had tried ecstasy and bought enough for the week; and that, was a BIG NO-NO.

I groaned and sat up. This caused my brother to wake up from his apparently restless sleep, as I could tell by the dark circles under his eyes. He gave a slight smile and looked at me, clearly disappointed and upset. "Good morning." he said. "How are you feeling?"

"Not so good." I replied. What he didn't know was that I wasn't feeling good in more than one way.

"I wouldn't think so."

"What time is it?" I asked. "Where's Lilly?"

"It's 11:00. I had the neighbor pick Lilly up and take her over to their house. I told them I needed them to take her for a few hours because I had to take care of my other sister first." he gave me a stern look.

I buried my head in my knees, wanting to dig myself a hole beneath a rock and crawl into it. "I'm sorry about last night." I murmured.

He came towards me and sat down next to me, lifting my chin so that I could look at him. "What in the world convinced you to do ecstasy, Sally Rene Parker?

"I... I don't know." I answered.

"You don't know? Really?" he let go of my chin.

"Well, I mean... I had reasons, but... they weren't necessarily good reasons."

"Why did you do it then, Sally Rene?" he asked me. "Why in the world would you do X?"

"Because I'm sick of life being so hard." I answered. "And I thought that even if it was just for a few hours, numbing the pain in any way I could would be worth it."

"What exactly is so hard, Sally, that you would have to resort to illegal and highly dangerous drugs?"

"Mom and dad dying, not having any friends. All of it adds up."

"This is the first I've heard of you having these feelings." he said. "Why didn't you come to me about it?"

"Because I didn't want to bother you. You have enough to worry about."

"And even more to worry about when you decide to do this instead of coming to me in the first place. Sally, your and Lilly's safety is on the top of my list of things to worry about. How am I supposed to make sure you're safe if you're going to go and sneak out of the house to buy drugs from some random stranger?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Where did you find this guy anyway?" Malcolm asked.

"Through some druggie at school."

"I don't want you talking to this druggie or that drug dealer you found anymore, do you understand me?" he asked.

"Yes." I nodded.

"Did you buy more than one pill from him?"

I turned away from him. He lifted my chin again with his hand. "Sally," he said, enunciating each word, "Did you buy more than one pill from him? Yes or no?"

"Yes." I answered.

"How many?"

"Enough for the week. Seven."

"Seven!? Dear Lord, Sally. Did you really expect me not to find out?"

I guessed that was a rhetorical question and didn't answer.

"Well, you will be giving those pills back to me and they will be going back to the drug dealer you got them from. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"As for punishing what you actually did, I'd say that a spanking wouldn't be far from an appropriate punishment, wouldn't you?"

"Wait, what Malcolm? A what?"

"A spanking."

"Wait, you can't spank me. I'm too old!

"I can and I am. What you did was completely unacceptable and very dangerous. I can't risk letting you do something like that to yourself again and talking to you about it isn't going to fix the problem. So you're getting a spanking and that's final."

I whimpered. "But... but, Malcolm."

"No buts." He moved to the center of the couch and pushed the blanket to the floor. "Come here, Sally."

I whimpered again, but he just pulled me closer towards him and pulled me over his lap. That's not to say I wasn't fighting, because I was; but I think I wasn't fighting as hard as I could because I was just too afraid of what was about to happen, to the point of not really being able to do anything but lie there passively as he pulled down my pants and panties and rested his hand on my bottom.

"Why are you getting this spanking, Sally?"

"Because I left the house without your permission and without letting you know, bought drugs from a stranger and took them and drove under the influence."

"That's right." he said. "But that's not all. I want you to listen to me Sally and listen to me good. You could have gotten killed last night and I don't think you realize that yet. Being under the influence of drugs and driving is very dangerous, more dangerous than taking the drugs alone. You could have gotten into an accident and as I recall you telling me, you almost did." I told him that? I didn't remember doing that. "Besides that, ecstasy is one of the most dangerous drugs out there. It can kill you and it destroys brain cells. That's not something you need to be doing. What's worse is that you anticipated taking more because you bought enough for a week. That's enough to get you addicted. I don't want my little sister to end up a bum on the streets selling her body for drugs, nor will I let her. I care about you too much to let anything like that happen, ok?"

"Okay." I whispered.

With that he lifted up his hand and smashed it against my bare skin, quickly gaining a one two pattern of beats. Within 3 seconds I was already howling and screaming in pain. "OW!!!" I screamed. "That hurts, Malcolm!"

"Good." he said. "Think about this the next time you decide to take drugs!"

*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*

"Think about this the next time you decide to drive under the influence or leave this house without my permission!"

*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*

"Think about this the next time you meet a stranger to buy drugs from!"

*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*

"Think about this before you ever decide to do something so reckless again!"

*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*

He continued spanking me, in a one two beat pattern until he slowed his smacks and finally stopped. Sobbing, I reached back and tried to rub but a pair of hands caught my own. "You didn't think I was going to let you off that easily, did you, Sally?"

I started whimpering again and crying full out. "You're not done?" I asked.

He shook his head solemnly. "No." he answered. "Bend over the couch."

I obediently bent over the couch even though I was terrified of whatever he had in store for me. As I did this, I heard the sound of a belt being pulled from the loops of jeans and I automatically started freaking out. "NO!!!" I shouted, trying to get up. "NO, Malcolm!!! NO!!! You CAN'T!!!"

He pushed me back down. "Yes I can. Now get back over that couch, Sally, unless you want more than what you already have coming."

I whined but did as he said and bent back over the couch, taking a deep breath in as I heard the first swing coming and then the CRASH on my backside.

"OWW!!!!" I jumped up. That had really hurt.

He pushed me back down again, holding a hand on my back as he continued to rain down the smacks upon me.

*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*
*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*

I cried and screamed, sobbing the entire time.

"I certainly hope you're thinking about what you did and why it was wrong as I'm doing this, Sally."

"I AM!!!" I screamed. "I AM!!!!!"

"Good!" he replied as he continued to spank me with that dreaded belt of his, until I stopped fighting and I just gave up, laying over the couch limply and taking my punishment as I sobbed. I felt terrible... for everything. I knew that I had hurt my brother a lot and I knew he cared about me; once more, I had to go and screw it up. He had done so much for me and Lilly. He gave up a lot of things, just to take care of us. With this thought I really began crying, sobbing so hard I hadn't even realized he stopped, that is... until a soothing hand started rubbing my back. Even then, though, I didn't really connect it until I heard his voice, trying to comfort me.

"Shh, Sally," he said. "Shh, baby, it's ok. It's all over. I'm done. I'm finished. I'm not going to spank you anymore."

I kept sobbing. "I'm sorry, Malcolm! I'm... I'm..." I just broke down into more sobs there.

"Shh, baby, it's ok. I know, honey. I know." he rubbed my back softly. "Calm down, Sal, before you make yourself sick."

He kept rubbing my back until I had eventually calmed down and he lifted me up to pull me in for a hug. "I love you, baby. That's why I did what I did."

"I know." I replied, exhausted from crying. "I'm really sorry, Malcolm. It's just been really hard for me, with mom and dad gone now and not having any friends and really only you to help me since Lilly's so young."

"I know it is, Sal. I know it's hard for you. Just remember that I'm always here for you, no matter what. If you ever feel the need to numb the pain or anything, just come to me first. Always come to me first, before you ever decide to do anything illegal."

"Ok..." I whispered, hiccupping now from crying so much.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm just really tired." I answered.

He chuckled a little bit at that. "I would imagine so, yes."

I just coughed and laid there, really wanting to go to sleep. There was some silence before anyone said anything. It was Malcolm who broke the silence.

"You excited for Christmas?" he asked.

I laughed for the first time in the past 48 hours. "You betcha!"

He laughed. "I can't wait to see your face when you open your presents tomorrow! I can't wait to see Lilly's either!"

"And I can't wait to see your face when you open the presents from me!"

"Oh really?" he questioned. "Really? Well, we'll see who got the better gifts."

I just laughed at that, having one of those "I'm sure I did better than you" looks on my face. Randomly, out of nowhere, he started tickling me and I began laughing insanely.

"Stop, Malcolm! Stop!!!" I began tickling him back.

"Okay, okay," he said after laughing for a few moments. "I'll stop." He sighed.

"Why don't you go take a shower and short nap while I go pick up Lilly from the neighbor's? I'm sure you need the sleep."

I nodded. "You have no idea." and started heading up the stairs.

Malcolm whispered after me: "I still have the better presents!"

I just shook my head and threw a pillow at him as he laughed, walking out the door to go get Lilly.

This had been the strangest start to any Christmas in my life.