It was still dark, when ten year old McKenzie Richards woke up. She was thirsty, so she decided to go down to the kitchen and get a glass of milk.
To McKenzie's surprise the floor light was on. Then she saw her grandfather and her fifteen year old brother Samuel at the end of the corridor. McKenzie stopped in her tracks. She felt the tensions between Sam and Grandpa, something was odd. Both had their backs turned to McKenzie. Her grandfather held a thick belt in his right hand. It was folded a couple of times. Sam was re-arranging his clothing, pulling up his pants. What was going on? Ivan Richards said: "The grounding is still in place. You can go to your room now." Sam answered, his voice slightly thick: "Yes, sir." McKenzie decided to retreat and wait until her brother and grandfather were gone.
Five years later
It was McKenzie's chance to pounce on her brother. They were alone in the house. McKenzie was nervous, though.
Sam was sitting at the kitchen table, his dark head buried in the Los Angeles Times. Sam mumbled a good morning, but didn't look up from the newspaper. McKenzie made a cup of green tea for herself, then she returned to the table. Sam was grabbing blindly for his coffee mug. "Sam, why did Grandpa spank you?" Coffee splattered everywhere. It seemed Sam had not only a good arsenal of swear words in his mother tongue, but also added a few in Portuguese. McKenzie helped her brother clean up the mess. When he had recovered from his shock, he asked: "How do you know?" McKenzie explained, what she had seen. At first she couldn't make sense of it. A couple of month later, she had a eureka moment. She watched Little House on the Prairie with her mother and saw the scene, where Simon gets belting. Suddenly everything was clear. McKenzie couldn't imagine, though, why Grandpa would see it necessary to use the belt on Sam. McKenzie's and Sam's parents never used corporal punishment. Of course she didn't speak to Sam about it, because she thought he would be embarrassed, if she mentioned it.
"Why are you asking now?" Sam asked. McKenzie would have had the chance to ask much earlier. "I have to write an essay about the pro's and con's of corporal punishment. Well, I could have asked Dad about his experience, but I wanted somebody, who was spanked more recently. There is a difference, if the spanking was netted out thirty odd years ago or only five." Sam agreed with his sister. He was willing to discuss the matter with McKenzie. Sam was honest, and McKenzie liked the fact he was one of the few men, who spoke open about his feelings, so she trusted him and thought he was going to tell her the truth.
"It had a lot to do with Richards’s male stubbornness." Sam explained.
Sam had been leaving the house without telling his grandfather where to or whom he was meeting. The reason was Sam knew his grandfather didn't approve of the kids, living down two blocks the road. Ivan Richards would have preferred, if Sam was hanging out with their direct neighbors. Sam found them boring. In order to avoid lying or being forbidden to see his friends, he simply left. Of course it didn't go down well with Grandpa, who confronted him. It ended in a huge fight. Ivan Richards told Sam he should move in his own circles and avoid the middle class kids, because they were only taking advantage of him. Sam lost his temper and accused his grandfather of being a snob, forgetting his own roots completely. Ivan Richanovitch - the name was later changed to Richards to make it sound more American - had arrived aged eight with his parents David and Anna and his younger brother Kolya at Staten Island without a penny. He grew up poor. Ivan Richards turned the leaf, when a new legislation came into place, allowing World War Second veterans to study for free. Because Ivan had to support a family, he worked during the day at a corner store and visited evening classes. Besides this Sam's grandfather managed to gain wealth through intelligence, luck and hard work.
After the accusation Ivan wasn't open to Sam's suggestion to meet the people Sam had been hanging out with, because he was angry, hurt and upset. Both of them felt they were in the right. "Okay, Samuel Andrew, if you go out again without telling me, you are grounded, instead of getting the spanking you deserve." Sam had been punished unfairly two years earlier. At the time they had agreed Sam had a spanking for free. The tidbit came as a surprise to McKenzie.
Sam disobeyed again. His grandfather kept to his word and grounded him for the weekend. It seemed Grandpa was able to read Sam's mind. "And don't think about sneaking out. If you do, I promise you get spanked where ever I'll catch you."
The grounding didn't fit into Sam's plan. He wanted to go to a party on Saturday evening. He had given his word to be there. Sam kept to the punishment until the time of the party arrived. Sam felt he should take the risk. Keeping promises was important to him as well as loyalty, so he climbed through the window on the first floor and slid down the rain pipe.
Sam hadn't calculated that his grandfather wanted to make peace. Ivan realized soon, that the music, playing in Sam's room was a diversion. Ivan was angry and worried. He checked with McKenzie and her younger sister Ava, if they had seen Sam. They shook their heads. Ivan combed through the whole house, the garden and the garage, unable to find Sam. He hoped nothing had happened to his grandson. A neighbor had seen Sam earlier walking down the street. Ivan didn't know exactly where Sam had went to, but was pretty sure he was somewhere in the neighborhood. Ivan came to a decision. He brought Ava and McKenzie to bed at their usual time. Then he went to his home office, removing his father's belt from the cupboard, where he kept it. The belt was worn, no wonder it was very old. Ivan smiled, remembering his own escapades and finding himself bent over for them. Discipline and correction of misbehavior was the right way to raise children. He didn't like spanking Sam, but what had to be done, had to be done. Ivan had seen the open window beside Sam's room, so he combined Sam had to return the same way he left....
Sam had sneaked in through the window again and was suddenly blinded by light. He felt sick, when he saw his grandfather with the belt in hand. "Um, hi Grandpa." Sam said guilty. His expression showed it as well. "Samuel Andrew, before we get down to business, explain, why you are going to be punished." Ivan said stern. "For disobeying you." "Right. How many strokes do you think I should give you?" Sam was stunned. How should he know? None was obviously not the answer his grandfather was expecting. Okay, so Sam didn't want to get too many strokes, but didn't want to give a too low number either. It would make Grandpa think he tried to escape easy. Sam's brain was working feverishly. He thought five was too low, ten too high. So maybe seven. It was in the middle. He quoted the number. "I'm feeling generous today, Sam. Please count the six strokes out loud for me." Sam's face flushed. He was angry and felt humiliated. He had learned from the last spanking to better not protest, it would only garner him more lashes. He replied: "Yes, sir." "Okay, Sam, drop your pants and bend over the window sill." "But..." "What is it, Sam?" "I don't want to make any fuss, but can't we go to your office or my room." "Do you remember what I told you would happen, when I caught you going out?" "Yes, you said you would spank me where ever you caught me." "Right, so where did I find you?" Sam stared to the ground. It was so embarrassing! "Sam?" Ivan prodded, when Sam didn't want to give an answer. "Here." "I think that answers your question." Sam gave in. He hoped, he could keep quiet. With the window still open the neighbors had chances to hear him getting it, or maybe his sisters were waking up and saw what was going on. Sam didn't want any witnesses. He resented his grandfather and swore, he wouldn't cry. At least not in Ivan's presence. With a sigh Sam unbuttoned his jeans and let it slide down to his ankles, then he bent over. It was difficult for him, knowing how much the belt was going to hurt.
Ivan didn't dally. Sam felt his grandfather's hands pulling down his underpants and pushing up his shirt, so nothing was protecting his bare backside. Sam hated it.
He tensed, expecting the first lash. When it came, it took Sam still by surprise and was so painful Sam was tempted to get up and clutch his behind. Instead he took a deep breath and counted, which took courage, because it indicated the continuination of the punishment. Sam decided he wanted it over quickly, so as soon as he felt ready, he would count. The next crack caused Sam to bite hard on his lower lip, before breathing a little bit ragged and getting out: "Two." The following strokes were lighter. They hurt nonetheless. When he received the last two lashes, he cried out. Tears were nearly overflowing. Somehow Sam kept them at bay and counted with a relatively stable voice. It surprised him. Sam's skin felt hot to the touch, and he thought he could fry an egg on it.
"Okay, Sam, that's it. You have been very brave. I'm proud of you, and never forget I love you. You can get dressed, and tomorrow I'd like to talk to you about your friends." Ivan knew Sam didn't want to be touched after getting spanked, so he simply tried to comfort him with words. "Well, you know the rest." Sam finished his story.
McKenzie had her own questions. "Did you cry?" "Of course I did. I was glad my room was just a few steps away. As soon as I closed the door, I burst into tears and bawled like a baby for a few minutes." "Did you have any marks?" "No, this time around he was light on me. My bottom was very sore and red, but when I woke up the next morning I didn't have any bruises and the redness was reduced. Sitting hurt pretty much. In the afternoon the pain had lessened considerable. Another night’s sleep and no trace was left." "What was the worst for you?" McKenzie asked. Sam answered promptly: "Having no privacy, being not in control of my body, having to count and presenting my buttocks to get walloped." "Would you say you deserved being spanked?" "Let's put it that way: I hatched my bet and lost." "How did the spanking make you feel?" "Well, besides being angry with Grandpa, hating and resenting him, I was ashamed, humiliated and sad. I felt unloved, no matter when Grandpa told me the opposite. I simply thought getting spanked was barbaric and there should have been another solution, but on the other side we know Grandpa is old fashioned." "Did it change your relationship with him?" "Well, I was unforgiving for a long time, like when he walloped me a couple of years earlier. As long as we stayed with him I was withdrawn." "I must say I'm puzzled Mom and Dad gave permission to use corporal punishment on you." "They didn't." "What do you mean?" "They didn't know. Grandpa acted on his own." It left McKenzie speechless. "Have you ever told them?" "Yes. Normally I wouldn't have lost a word about it. Dad was pissed off with me for something I had done and he asked me what he should do with me. I felt really bad about the whole affair and offered the Richards Treatment. Well, he was shocked I knew the code name Grandpa gave a spanking, when they were in public. Dad had never mentioned it, when he told us about his experiences, so he combined, what must have happened. He questioned me later about it." A smile played around Sam's lips. "I guess he wasn't impressed with Grandpa." "Do you know, what he did?" "I was confined to my room, so I haven't got a clue. I assume they had a serious talk." Sam's eyes were sparkling with amusement. He thought his grandfather got what he deserved. "One last question: Looking back, would you do the same?" "Well, I would sneak out again, even if I knew was thrashed for it later. What I would make different, though, is being less confrontational and honest from the beginning, trying to convince Grandpa my friends weren't so bad."
McKenzie contacted Ivan later to have the story confirmed and to find out why he was pro spanking.
"When you use groundings or taking away privileges, your son or daughter forgets why he/she was punished in the first place. A spanking is over quickly, but a sharp reminder to behave. It's effective and a good deterrent. Only the threat of getting one was enough for me to stay in line. It wasn't much different for my kids, or look at Sam. I spanked him twice, and he didn't repeat the offences again. It must have worked."
What Ivan didn't admit was that Sam had been correct in the first place. The next day Sam told him what he liked about his friends, and in the end Ivan agreed to meet them. At the BBQ he was introduced to the parents of one of Sam's friends and found out what his grandson and the neighbor's children had been up to.
Alice Gold was twelve and a wheelchair user, thanks to an accident she had when she was very small. She was outgrowing the wheelchair. The parents weren't insured and generally life was difficult for them, so the finances to buy a new wheelchair weren't there. The neighbor’s kids and Sam decided something had to be done about it. They saved their pocket money and did odd jobs, for example mowing lawns, washing cars and selling lemonade and cookies. They managed to achieve their target shortly before Alice's birthday. There was enough cash left to organize a party, where the wheelchair was going to be presented. Sam hadn't worked towards the goal to miss it. That and giving his word to be there were the reasons why he sneaked out.
Ivan used the BBQ to learn more about the kids. They were all well behaved and intelligent. They told him about the library and wished it would be nicer looking and had newer books, video tapes and so on. A year later the Penina Richards Foundation, named in honor of Ivan's deceased wife, gave a grant to renovate the public library and to buy new books. The grant was renewed every year and soon the library was one of the best in the state.
McKenzie wrote her essay, citing studies and Sam's experience that corporal punishment had adverse effects and shouldn't be used.
©2011
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