Lesson Finally Learned

I had just gotten out of the shower and was on my way out the door when I shouted, "Terrence! I'm going with Stephie to see a movie!" But before I actually made it out the door, he walked in the room.

"Don't you remember our discussion last week?" he asked.

I blinked. "Yeah, but..."

"But nothing, Bri. You can't go to the movies with Steph."

"But, Terrence... I'm already dressed and ready to go and I won't be out too late."

"The answer is no. I already told you that you can't go out on weekdays until you bring your grades up. You can see her this weekend."

"Grrrrrrrrrrrr," I growled. "But I already finished my homework and everything!" I lied.

"Then go study."

"I've done that, too!"

"Well, I'm sure you can find something to do with your time, Brianna."

"I already told Stephanie that I was going to go with her!" I whined, resisting the urge to stomp my foot.

"Call her and cancel. She'll get over it, I'm sure."

I glared at him and slammed the front door. "Thanks, Terrence," I muttered sarcastically, shoving past him into my room and slamming the door, once again. It wasn't like I hung out with Stephanie often or anything. Since I started going to school with Anastasia, I rarely even saw Stephanie. I didn't understand what the big deal about bringing my grades up was anyway.

Later that night, I decided to come out of my room and watch TV for a little while and Terrence took it upon himself to interrupt my program by attempting to have a talk with me.

"Bri, you've been getting an attitude lately and I don't like it," he said.

I shrugged, eyes fixed on the television.

He just sighed and walked off.

I was relieved when Friday finally rolled around. Of course, Stephanie already had plans, and Ana was busy doing something, so I was stuck in the house again.

"If you would've let me go out with Steph on Wednesday, I wouldn't mind staying in the house tonight," I muttered to Terrence.

"If you would've kept your grades up, you could have gone out with Steph on Wednesday," he mimicked.

I rolled my eyes and excused myself to my bedroom where I lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling until the phone rang. It was Jayna.

"Hey, Bri!" she said enthusiastically. "I'm taking some of the new freshmen on the team for a ride in my car because they wanted to go to the mall and they think it's super cool to be hanging out with a senior. I'm sure they'd love it if the team captain joined us. They really look up to you, ya know..."

I smiled. "Hey Jayna... yeah, I'll come along. And stop trying to play it off as if you don't want to hang out with them, too."

She giggled. "I love the attention!"

"I'm sure. Yeah, come pick me up, pleaseeee. I'm sick of being in this house."

"Sure thing. See you in a few."

"Okies." I hung up the phone and danced around the room. Hanging out with the freshmen was fun. They idolized us and basically did whatever we wanted them to. "That was Jayna," I told Terrence. "She's saving me from this hell."

He looked up at me upon my saying the word "hell," but then just shrugged. "Whatever, Bri. Just be home by midnight, okay?"

"Midnight?!" I whined. "I'm seventeen years old, Terrence!"

He looked back at me. "Exactly. You're only seventeen and if you keep whining, I'm going to make your curfew eleven."

I glared at him and groaned loudly, then stomped off. I knew that he wanted to say something again about my "attitude" but I wasn't about to hear it. I was getting sick of staying in the house, getting sick of listening to all of his complaining, and I really wanted my car back. I understood why I didn't have it in the first place, but I'd been without it for months! He told me at the beginning of the next semester I could have it back, but that wasn't until January and it was only late September.

About six, I heard Jayna honk her horn in my driveway and I ran out the door yelling goodbye to Terrence and promising that I'd be in by midnight. I wasn't about to get myself grounded on weekends and weekdays. I'd die if that happened. Jayna was sitting in her car applying some makeup with her radio turned up super loud. It wasn't the type of music I liked, but Jayna and I really weren't that much alike anyway. She was more of the stereotypical popular girl, whereas, I was so different to what everyone was used to that they just liked me. Jayna wore lots of makeup and girly clothes. I wore no makeup and baggy jeans. Jayna listened to Top 40 hits, I listened to different genres of rock. But, we somehow managed to get along, simply because we had one common interest -- soccer.

"Heya babe!" she said, flipping her mirror up and smiling. "Ready to go pick the kids up?"

I nodded. I think the only reason we wanted to hang out with them was because we knew what it was like growing up and idolizing those older than us, but never actually hanging out with them. When I was a sophomore, I hung out with Stephanie's older brother sometimes, and those were probably the best experiences of my life. There's never a better moment than feeling accepted by those whom you feel are superior to you.

Jayna sped off and moments later we were in front of a small brick house in one of the better neighborhoods in town. I recognized this to be Shellie's house, a new freshman on the team who had just moved from somewhere in Texas because her parents divorced and her mom couldn't even stand being in the same state as her dad. Shellie hopped out of the house, waving goodbye to her mom, then plopped down in the backseat. "Hey," she said, smiling shyly and blushing a bit.

"Hey, Shellie. How's it going?" I asked.

"It's okay."

She was a lot quieter than most people I knew, but that was okay.

We next drove to Amanda's house which was huge and in one of the super rich neighborhoods. She lived close to where Anastasia lived, and we all know that Ana's parents are loaded. Amanda lived with her three younger siblings, two girls and one boy, and both of her parents, and grandma. She skipped out of the house and hopped in the car, ponytail bouncing as she did. "Hey!" she squealed. She was one of the more rowdy people that we knew, and we'd already known her from the year before, so she was obviously more comfortable than Shellie.

And last, we drove to Chelsea's house. She didn't live too far away from Amanda, and was also loud, so when she flopped in the backseat with the other two girls, I didn't think I was going to experience another quiet moment if my life depended on it.

But, it was okay. They asked us tons of questions about different stuff, mostly stuff they hadn't experienced before and just wanted to hear about. Jayna and I lied out of our asses. We both told the girls all about our experiences with having sex, though neither of us had passed second base yet, and drinking and trying all sorts of drugs, and both of us had drank before, but didn't do the crazy things we described. Amanda wanted to know the story about me getting kicked out of school, so I made it out to be a lot worse than it really was, telling her that I sold a pound of marijuana to a boy at school and fought the police officer and assistant principal, not even thinking twice when I swore to the man that I wouldn't tell who helped me. Then, they wanted to know about the food fight, and I ended up telling them about all of the trouble that I'd gotten in since I started school at Addington Academy, including the trip to Chicago and flashing the unmarked police car. And then they asked me what my brother did and I blushed and said that he takes my car away. I was thankful that we pulled up to the mall at that time because I didn't want to touch on the subject of what Terrence did at home.

We had been at the mall for a little over thirty minutes. We'd eaten tacos from the Mexican place, only because the boy making tacos was cute. His name tag said "Pancho" and I asked him what that meant and he said that his name was Francisco and Pancho was the nickname for Francisco. I flirted with him for a little while, even though he only understood half of what I was saying. I did manage to learn that he was nineteen and didn't have a girlfriend. Shows you what English the Mexicans learn first.

Finally, Jayna had dragged me away from the taco stand and we went walking around eating ice cream cones, and then went into Spencer's. That's when I saw Chelsea poke Amanda in the arm and point at something. Then Amanda looked around and grabbed the cigarette lighter that was on the stand, looked around a little more, then stuffed it down her shirt. I almost died!

"Amanda!" I nearly shouted, but didn't want anyone to know what was going on, so I managed to contain myself. "What the hell are you doing!"

"What?" she asked. "You think I should get the other instead?"

I was fuming! They couldn't just steal stuff in my presence! I could get arrested, too!

"It's not like you've never done it before, Bri. Unless you were lying about all that other stuff... and you didn't really get kicked out of school or arrested..." Chelsea said.

I glared at her.

"I bet that's what it is," she said, turning towards Amanda. "I bet she just makes this bad girl rep so she can be popular."

"Not true, Chelsea," I said.

"Then why are you being so goody-goody all of a sudden?"

I couldn't believe this! A freshman was acting superior towards me... trying to tell me that I'd never stolen before, and all that shit. I guess I was so upset that the time I had stolen slipped my mind, or at least the lesson I learned afterwards. "Argh, fine," I muttered, looking around myself, because I could steal, I just wasn't very good at it, seeing as I had gotten caught both times I'd tried to do it before. I found another lighter and slipped it down my own shirt.

Chelsea smiled and found something for herself, then we walked around a little longer.

What the hell am I doing? I thought to myself, feeling the lighter poking me in the chest. My heart was thumping hard against it. I knew what I was doing was wrong, and I wasn't making any effort not to do it. I was mentally scolding myself when Jayna and Shellie met back up with us with some stuff, and I decided to go ahead and buy a shot glass so I wouldn't look as suspicious as I felt. At least they would see that I had the money and wouldn't be stealing stuff from there.

Yeah, right.

There wasn't anything around the door that looked like an alarm. In fact, I didn't even know that Spencer's HAD an alarm. But, they do. And the minute the five of us walked out of those doors, it made this God-awful noise and all I could think was, Dear Lord, I've done it again. Chelsea looked confused, but Amanda and I looked defeated. Jayna and Shellie had no idea what was going on, and I guess we should have clued them in before the mall security came and escorted us to a small room that I didn't even know they had.

"Brianna, what the hell is going on..." Jayna was muttering. "I can't go to jail! My parents will kill me!"

"Relax," I muttered. "You're not going to jail."

Jayna slid into a chair and Shellie sat next to her, face drained of all color. Then Chelsea slid down next to them. "I don't understand!" she was saying.

"Give it a rest, Chelsea," I ordered.

The manager from Spencer's came inside and glared at us. The security guards folded their arms as the lady began to speak. "We will not be pressing charges as long as all merchandise is returned and parents are called," she said.

"Ma'am," I began, seeing that I had to be the leader here because I'd gotten into tons of trouble and I was the only one who could talk rationally. "Is it necessary to call the parents of those who didn't steal anything?"

"Yes, it is."

"I mean, the reason I'm asking is because my friends, Jayna and Shellie, weren't anywhere in sight when the three of us took something. They had no idea what we were doing..."

"I would love to believe you, Young Lady, but you have already stolen from my store and I have no trust or respect for you whatsoever."

My face fell.

The lady spoke again, this time to the security guards. "Search them all. If this young lady is right and two of them don't have any merchandise on them, you may dismiss them without calling their parents." The guards nodded. "I do not want to see any of you in my store again," she spat, then turned away.

"Thank you," I said as she walked out the door.

"I'd like all of you to first hand over all of the merchandise that you have," the security guard ordered.

I wasn't about to give Terrence any more of a reason to kick my ass when I got home, so I put my hand down my shirt and took out the cigarette lighter and handed it to him. The next thing I saw came as a surprise to all of us, except for Chelsea, of course. Shellie stuck her hand down her shirt and handed him something as well, and then Amanda handed him a few things, and lastly, Chelsea. Then the woman security guard padded all of us down, thankfully finding nothing, and asked for our names and phone numbers. I was reluctant in giving mine, but I knew I had to, and then I watched the other three write their numbers down. They made us wait in the room as they called each number, making sure that none were fake, and then escorted us out of the mall. "Don't think about coming back here anytime soon," the security guard said.

We all nodded and stood there dumbly. "Wow," Jayna said. "I can't believe you guys did that." She looked at me. "Did you talk them into it, Bri? I know they look up to you and all, but you didn't have to get them to steal for you!" She was pissed at me!

"No, Jayna... that wasn't it..." I said.

She glared at me. "I know you're popular and can get whatever you want, but GEEZE, you don't have to go and almost get me arrested for something stupid like this!"

"Jayna! It wasn't my fault!" I shouted, hoping that would help her understand what I was trying to say. But, it didn't... just made her madder.

"I've tried to be your friend and I've let it slide when you get too arrogant for your own good, but I can't let this slide. You can find another ride home."

"Jayna, listen. I didn't talk ANYONE into stealing anything! The last thing I would want is for you to be arrested, that's why I tried reasoning with the fucking manager of the store!"

"Then how come you were so calm through the whole thing?! And whose idea was it?!"

I took a deep breath in. "I was so calm because I've been in so much trouble before and I know it's better to be rational than throw a fit. Remember? I'm the one who got kicked out of school and sometimes there's just no room for bullshitting, and tonight was one of those nights. And Chelsea was the one who had the idea of stealing."

Jayna gave me a look as if saying she hated me. "Just blame it on the freshman, huh, Bri? You came to the school and took away my chance at being the team captain, took away my chance at homecoming queen, and took away all of my popularity. Just because you try to be different. Because you look different, act different. You're just a trouble maker, though, Bri. I thought you might actually be cool, but you're just against everyone. You just try to fuck everyone over."

I sighed again in exasperation. "But, Jayna, she's right," we heard and looked over to see Shellie, still white as a ghost. "It was Chelsea's idea. I saw her convince Amanda and Bri to do it, and that's why I did it, because I thought I could be cool and fit in if I did."

I glanced at Jayna then back at Shellie. "Kiddo, you're cool anyway. Trust me, you never have to steal to be considered cool. If someone doesn't think that you're awesome the way you are, then you don't need to be hanging out with them, okay?"

This time it was Jayna's turn to look defeated. "Okay, well, let's go," she muttered and we all went to the car to endure a quiet ride home.

"Good luck," I told Shellie when we pulled up to her small brick house. I knew her mom would be furious.

The ride from Shellie's house to mine was basically quiet with the small voices of music ringing softly through the car. When we pulled up to my driveway, Jayna said, "Hey, Bri... sorry about what I said earlier. I was just mad and... well, wasn't thinking about what I said."

I nodded. "Okay," I said. "See you Monday."

I felt bad, not even offering words of encouragement that I wasn't going to hold it against her, but I just couldn't. I was mad, too, that she'd accused me of such a thing. It's not like I didn't deserve it, though...

I didn't have much time to think about it though because when I walked up on the porch Terrence was standing there with the door wide open. He grabbed my left arm and landed four solid smacks to my backside.

"Hey! Ouch!" I yelped, hurrying inside.

"Brianna Nicole Carter! I know you have a good explanation for this phone call I got earlier and you'd better hurry up and spit it out!" he bellowed.

"I can explain!" I said, turning around to look at Terrence who still had a firm grip on my upper arm. "I wasn't going to steal it!" It was the first thing I could think of...

"You weren't going to steal it!" he shouted, dragging me towards the couch and wasting no time in getting my pants and panties down to my ankles.

I struggled. "Pleaseeeeee, Terrence," I begged, trying my hardest to pull away. "Pleaseeee don't spank me! I didn't mean to!"

He kept his grip on me, even through all my struggling, and I ended up over his lap. "Didn't mean to! How do you have a cigarette lighter down your shirt without intentions of stealing it, Young Lady?" I felt his hand slap down on my bottom numerous times.

Kicking and struggling still, I wailed, "Stopppppp. I'm sorrryyyy!!! It fell down there!" I was trying everything in my power to get from over his lap.

But my pleas just made him spank harder. "Lying is NOT helping, Brianna Nicole," he said, slapping my cheeks, then my sit spots, then my thighs.

"Aaahhhoooowwwwwww," I yelped, my older brother finally restraining my hands behind my back so they'd stop flailing like I was trying to fly away. "T-Terrence! It-t h-hurtssss!!!"

"Good! Maybe you'll actually remember this when you think about stealing again because obviously I didn't make a good enough impression last time."

"Butttt, youuuu ddiiiiid!!"

He didn't let up, though. Just kept spanking, harder and harder, a few times on one cheek, a few times on the other, then a few smacks to my thighs, then my sit spots, then my thighs again, then he'd start all over. He had no definite rhythm, just made sure that he covered my whole bottom until it was red and throbbing. He stopped for a split second, long enough to grab the wooden hairbrush that was sitting on the coffee table, then began spanking again, full force.

"Nooooooo, not the hairbrush!!!!!" I begged, struggling to get free and tears steadily streaming down my face.

"Yes, Brianna, the hairbrush. Do you realize what you've done?" he asked, still spanking me. "You tried to steal something AGAIN. This is the third, excuse my language, fucking time that you've stolen something and I'm sick of it. And you've had an attitude with me for the last two weeks, and your grades are dropping. You've practically been begging for this spanking and what you did tonight did it."

I could barely hear him over my loud cries.

"I love you, Brianna, but you will NOT steal anything, do you understand me?"

"Y-yesss, sirrr!!" I yelped.

He stopped talking for a little while and concentrated on smacking my thighs with the hairbrush. Oh man, did it hurt. I bobbed up and down and bit my lower lip to try and keep from screaming bloody murder, but it didn't really work. And then he went back to smacking my cheeks and sit spots, and then he stopped for a minute.

"Brianna, you've stolen two times before, and I am showing absolutely no mercy for you. And that is why I'm going to do what I'm about to do."

I didn't understand what he was talking about, mainly because I was focusing more on the pain in my backside. But the next thing that happened, well, it made me understand what he meant. He spread my legs and put his between mine, holding my own apart so I couldn't do anything but lie there uncomfortably.

"What are you doing?!!" I shouted, strugging again, but earning only a sharp smack with the hairbrush.

"Trying to teach you a lesson, since I didn't do such a good job last time," he replied. "You know there's nothing that bugs me more than stealing. It's one of the most dishonest things you could do, Brianna." And with that I felt a very, very hard smack to my inner thigh and I yelped a note that an opera singer probably couldn't hit.

"AAAAHHHHOOOOOWWWWW!!!!!" I shouted, body now racked with sobs. Then I felt another blow to my right inner thigh in the very same spot as the other, and hit another high note. And then one more in the same spot and the pain was almost unbearable. Then he landed three smacks in the exact same spot on my left inner thigh. My lip was quivering and the tears still poured out of my eyes. He rested the hairbrush on my aching bottom for a couple of seconds, then picked it back up and delivered three more smacks to each inner thigh, then three more, then plopped the brush down on the table and helped me up.

"I am not finished with you, young lady," he said.

My body was shaking and I couldn't even sit still. I was crying so hard, I couldn't see anything. He helped me hobble to the corner and I just stood there, hands on head, wailing like a small child and trying not to concentrate on my sore bottom. But, it was hard not to concentrate on it when it hurt so badly that my legs were shaking and my hands were shaking and the tears were streaming down my face so rapidly I wouldn't have had the chance to wipe them away if I tried. I tried to regain my composure, but was in too much pain. Never before had Terrence spanked me on my inner thighs. He really never spanked me much on my thighs. But this time, I'd caused so much trouble that he did both, and I knew why... I wouldn't be forgetting this lesson for a very, very long time. Or ever, for that matter. Never again would I let some stupid person talk me into stealing.

I don't know how long I stood in the corner with my hands on my head and pants around my ankles. Long enough for my body to eventually stop shaking so much and my sobs to lessen. Terrence grabbed my hand and led me towards the couch. There was a chair from the kitchen sitting next to it... a hard wooden chair.

"Sit," he ordered, pointing to the chair.

I sniffled, still crying a bit, and somehow managed to sit on the chair, wincing as I did so, and doing it slowly to hopefully decrease the amount of pain it caused. As I sat, more tears poured out of my eyes because it hurt so badly. "I'm sorry," I managed to choke out.

"Brianna, look at me," he said, sitting on the couch in front of me and lifting my chin to look in his eyes. He looked so disappointed. It made my stomach churn inside of me and my heart pound. I couldn't believe I'd gone and let him down again. And that made me cry more. "Listen, I'm going to spank you one more time tonight... with my paddle." Cue those sobs. He lifted my chin again. "I want you to know that I love you, Little Sister, no matter what, but I'm really disappointed in what you did tonight. And tomorrow, you and I are going to have a long talk, got it?"

I nodded softly.

He nodded, too, and stood up, dragging me to my feet as well. He helped me over the couch and restrained my hands, as if I actually had the power in me to reach back, then rubbed my bottom with the paddle. "Twenty smacks, Bri. Then it'll be over."

He didn't wait for my answer. The paddle was lifted high into the air and then crashed down on my already aching bottom, and I sobbed into the couch cushions. And then it crashed down again and again and again, and I lost count because I was crying so hard and I could feel my body begin to shake again. My head was filled with nothing but pain and crying, and all I could think was "this hurts soooo much" and "I let him down again." You'd think after a while I'd get sick of letting him down. And I guess I did, but I just didn't think about stuff sometimes.

And finally, I felt myself being lifted from the couch and he embraced me in a hug, letting me bury my head in his chest and just cry. I cried for what felt like hours, and he talked to me softly, stroking my hair and hanging onto me for dear life. I knew that he loved me. It hurt me so much when I did something stupid that let him down. Probably not as much as it hurt him, though. I must have fallen asleep in his arms, because that's the last thing I remember about that night.

The next morning I woke in my room on my tummy with only a T-shirt and a pair of panties on. When I moved, everything hurt. I'd about decided that this was going to be one of those days I'd stay in bed all day when Terrence came in the room.

"Finally decided to get up, huh, sleepyhead?" he asked.

"Nu huh," I said, shaking my head.

He smiled and sat down next to me. "We need to talk."

"I know."

He stroked my hair softly. "First, I want to apologize."

I looked at him. "You do?"

He nodded. "I want to apologize for last night. I didn't even give you the chance to explain yourself. I let my anger take over, and I'm sorry. I usually don't let it do that, and it was wrong of me to do it this time."

"It's okay... I didn't have anything to explain."

"Well, I'd at least like to hear your side of the story," he said.

I shrugged. "We went to Spencer's and I saw Amanda try to steal something and got all pissed then Chelsea started in on how I was a liar and didn't really do all the stuff I did and all this... uh... crap, so I decided to prove to her that I wasn't a liar, and I tried to steal the lighter."

He nodded. "So you've been bragging about your 'bad girl' rep?"

I blushed. "Not really. I just... don't like being called a liar."

He didn't really buy it, but didn't push the subject. "So that's why you stole something, huh? Because someone younger than you teased you about it..."

It sounded really bad the way he said it. "I know, it was stupid. And I know it wasn't worth it. I shouldn't let anyone push me around. I know what's true and what everyone else thinks doesn't matter." I paused. "What's sad is that I know this, and I still did something so dumb. I'm so sorry for letting you down again, Terrence."

"Bri, we all make mistakes," he said, ruffling my hair. "Just let this be one you DON'T make again... EVER again. Because if you think what happened last night was bad, I could have dished out much more, and if I ever hear that you steal anything, I'm going to spank you for a week straight like I did last night, got it?"

I nodded. "And I'd deserve it, too," I muttered.

He kissed me on the forehead. "How do you feel, baby?"

I shrugged. "It hurts to move."

"I bet. Otherwise, though? Mentally?"

I thought about it. "I don't know, why?"

"You're not depressed or anything? Not mad? Guilty feeling?"

I digested that thought. "No, not depressed. A little upset at myself, but I know that you still love me and I'm all forgiven, so I don't feel guilty or anything. I'm okay." I paused. "How are you feeling?" I teased.

He smiled. "I'm mad at myself for acting out of anger like I did last night, a little guilty feeling, but I'm glad that you're okay and didn't get arrested or anything."

"Thanks for putting up with me," I said.

He hugged me. "I wouldn't give it up for the world."