Learning to Drive... Him Crazy (10 page)

"Yes, we did."

"So you know that she has a problem spending
money on things she doesn't need, like shoes, and is spending the
money she had saved for a down payment on a car?"

"Yes."

"I'm glad John's going to help her with
that, so she'll have the money to buy a car when she gets her
license."

"Yeah. Me, too."

Cal had slowed the spanking some, but now he
picked up the speed a bit again as he said, "Did you see it as your
responsibility as her friend to help her with that?"

"What?"

He could tell she hadn't thought of that
before, so he explained, "You drove her to the store so she could
spend money she shouldn't have spent. As her friend, don't you
think you had some responsibility to her, to help her save her
money rather than enable her to spend it on things she didn't
need?"

She was squirming now, and tears started
flowing. "Ow! Cal, it hurts!"

"Answer my question, Kelli."

"I never thought about it."

"Think about it now. Kelli, being a friend
has responsibilities. A friend should help her overcome her
problem, not enable her to do it more."

"Okay! I agree with you." She started crying
harder. "I'm sorry."

Continuing the spanking, but slowing some
and easing up on the strength of his swats, he said, "Kelli, you
need to think about your responsibilities. Being a friend to
someone automatically puts responsibilities on you. You've been
letting her drive your car, but have you been trying to teach her
to drive, or simply allowing her to drive? You know she saved
enough money for a down payment on a car, but has been frustrated
that she hasn't been able to pass her driving test and has started
spending her down payment. You should be encouraging her, trying to
help her improve her driving and saving her money."

Kelli was crying hard now, and although he
was sure her bottom was very sore, he knew her tears were more from
his words than the spanking. He stopped the spanking and rubbed her
bottom and back, helping her calm down. "Kelli, you're a wonderful
person. You need to learn, though, that being a good friend doesn't
mean you allow her to do or have whatever she wants. That's not
helping her in the long run. You're trying too hard to make her
happy in the short term. You have a responsibility to help make her
happy in the long term."

Cal continued to rub her back while she
calmed. When she was breathing better again he tenderly picked her
up and helped her settle on his lap, pulling her head to lean
against his shoulder. "Rest now, Sweetie. It's over," he whispered.
He held her, whispering comforting words.

When Kelli was breathing normally again,
aside from a few sniffles here and there, she said, "Cal, I never
thought about what you said before."

"What's that, Sweetie?"

"I'm not helping her. She's my best friend,
but I'm hurting her more than helping her."

"Not on purpose, Sweetheart. Don't be too
hard on yourself. You have a big heart, I've seen that on numerous
occasions. After your first spanking we talked about your parents
and how they disciplined you, and you basically said they did very
little in that regard."

"Right. I know that sounds bad, but they
really didn't do much. They grounded me once."

"But I'll bet they gave in before the time
was up, didn't they?"

"How did you know?" She was truly surprised
at his question. How did he know that?

"Because you were an only child, and you
said your parents were older when they had you."

"Yes, but what does that have to do with it?
How did you know they gave in the time I was grounded?"

"Because you were a spoiled brat," he said
with a grin.

"Hey, I'm not a brat!"

"Yes, you are," he challenged, "but you're a
cute one, and you're my little brat, and you have a heart of gold.
Some brats are very self-centered and don't really care about
anyone other than themselves. You're not that kind of brat."

Kelli looked at him skeptically. "Is that a
compliment or an insult? What kind of brat am I?"

He chuckled and ran his hand up and down her
arm as he said, "You're a brat because you're not used to people
telling you no, and therefore, you don't listen well when someone
does say no to you. However, you care about other people, and since
you're not used to people telling you no, you don't tell anyone
else no. Since no one ever told you no, my guess is you see that as
being mean, so if Alana asks you to take her shoe shopping, you
don't want to be mean, so you say yes. Am I close?"

He watched as she actually blushed, but
admitted, "Yeah. I used to hate it if Mom or Dad said no, so I
don't want to tell other people no. I don't want them to hate
me."

"So do you hate me when I in essence say no,
and when I spank you?"

To his relief she quickly said, "No. I
realize now that you do it because you care."

"So if you care about Alana, when she asks
you to take her shoe shopping—"

He hesitated, hoping she'd finish his
sentence. Luckily, after a few moments she said, "I should tell her
no."

He gave her a hug and kissed the top of her
head. "That's my girl." He simply held her a few minutes, letting
her think.

"So when you said as a friend I have
responsibilities, are you saying that one of those responsibilities
is to say no and not take her shoe shopping if I know she doesn't
need any more shoes and is saving money for something else?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"I never looked at it that way."

"I know, Sweetie. I'm guessing again, but
did you have many responsibilities when you were growing up?"

"Like what?"

"Anything. Like any chores you had to do
regularly, like washing dishes, or helping with laundry or cooking
meals, or working in the yard?"

"No." She thought a moment and said, "That
makes me sound pretty lazy, doesn't it?"

He chuckled as he said, "To me it makes you
sound like a spoiled brat." After kissing her forehead he added, "A
brat that grew up not being told no, and not having any
responsibilities. Sweetheart, you learn what you live. You grew up
not really knowing what responsibilities are. Sure, you now have a
job and you know what your responsibilities are at work, but you're
not familiar with personal responsibilities, like with
friends."

"I feel awful."

"Well, don't. That's not why I'm talking
with you about it. I did want to point this out to you, though, and
I want you to think about it. You're a smart lady and have a huge
heart. I'm sure that once you think about what I've said, you'll
want to make some changes."

"Are you willing to—are you going to be—will
you still—"

Cal tightened his arms around her and said,
"Kelli, whatever it is, just ask it. I won't be upset."

"Will you still be here?"

"What do you mean?"

Her eyes were glued to the floor as she
asked, "Do you still want to see me?"

He reached down and gently guided her chin
up so she was looking at him. "You better believe I do, Kelli. You
are a very special young lady. Like I said, you have a heart of
gold."

She still looked skeptical as she asked,
"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Kelli, I wouldn't have spanked
you if I didn't want to pursue a relationship with you. The more I
get to know you, the more I want to be with you."

"Thank you," she said as she snuggled in
against him.

"Don't thank me yet," he warned. "I have
something else I need to tell you. Unfortunately, we're not done
yet."

"But you told me the spanking was over," she
said, alarmed.

"The spanking is over," he assured her. "But
you need to understand driving is a privilege, and there are
responsibilities that go along with it. We talked about
responsibilities earlier, and I think we need to focus on them for
a while until you start automatically thinking of them."

"Responsibilities for driving?"

"Yes. You have a responsibility to follow
all laws if you're going to drive. Do you realize that if Alana
would have pulled out in front of that car and gotten into an
accident you both would have been in trouble?"

He could tell by the look on her face this
was news to her. "We would have been?"

"She would have been cited for pulling out
in front of the car, but as her licensed driver, the law is the
same as if you were driving. You would have been facing a charge of
driving while intoxicated.

"I didn't know that."

"You need to stop and think about your
responsibilities before you do things, Kelli. To help you do that,
for the next two weeks you're not to drive anywhere you don't need
to go. You can go to work or to get groceries, but no going to
visit a friend or take Alana to a shoe sale. Do you
understand?"

Kelli's mouth dropped open and she sat up
straight. "You're grounding me?"

Cal grinned as he said, "Yes, I guess in a
way I am. But when I ground you for two weeks you'll be grounded
the entire two weeks. Do you understand what I'm telling you,
Kelli?"

"Not really. That's ridiculous. I'm an
adult. You can't ground me."

"Well, that depends, Kelli."

"What do you mean?"

"We've talked about spankings already, and
that I spank you because I care. I think you understand that, don't
you?"

"Yes."

"And you've accepted that, I believe. You
even told me that you feel cared for and cherished afterwards,
didn't you?"

"Yes, like right now," she said as she
snuggled back into his arms.

"And you said you trust me when I spank you,
right?"

"Yes. I understand now that you're doing it
for my own good, and I know you'd never really hurt me."

"And you said you trust me to guide
you?"

"Yes, but—"

"This is the same thing, Kelli. I'm trying
to take care of you and keep you safe and happy. I think it's very
important that you learn about responsibilities and start honoring
them. You didn't meet your responsibility for being her licensed
driver, so for the next two weeks you've lost the privilege of
driving for pleasure."

"Cal, no, you can't—"

"Make it three weeks. Do you want to keep
arguing with me?"

She opened her mouth to object, but when she
saw Cal's eyebrow raised, almost daring her to say a word, she
quickly changed her mind.

"Wise decision," he told her. He wrapped her
in his arms again and held her, giving her what he hoped felt like
a safe place to think. He felt her slowly relax, and eventually she
laid her head against his shoulder once more. "I really am trying
to do what's best for you, Sweetheart."

"I know," she reluctantly admitted. "But
that doesn't mean I have to like it, does it?"

"No, it doesn't, brat," he said with a
grin.

He watched as a smile slowly emerged, and
soon seemed to brighten her whole face. He held her face in his
hands as he kissed her, and reveled in how passionately the kiss
was returned.

* * * * *

The next day Alana and Kelli again found
themselves comparing notes, or spankings. Kelli told Alana she was
grounded, and apologized to her for drinking too much wine and
causing the whole problem. Alana of course insisted that if she
hadn't almost pulled out in front of a car, John wouldn't have
pulled her over. In the end, they both vowed to never upset the men
again so there would be no more spankings.

The girls were both a bit upset about Kelli
being grounded, but admitted they saw Cal's logic. The first time
they wanted to go somewhere, which was to see a new movie that had
just come out on their day off, they grudgingly admitted to
themselves that being grounded was making a point they'd probably
both remember. They stayed home and watched an old movie on
television instead. Although they were disappointed, they were also
proud of themselves for doing the right thing.

A week later, though, two weeks into the
three-week grounding, the girls were restless. It was a hotter than
average day and they decided some ice cream sounded good. They
talked about it, wavering back and forth between deciding the men
would never know, let's just be careful and go and come right back,
and they'll know, we can't go. Finally Alana suggested, "Why don't
I drive. He said you couldn't drive, but did he say you can't be my
licensed driver?"

Kelli thought hard before saying, "I
honestly don't remember." They were both quiet, looking at each
other while they thought again. "I could say I only remember him
saying I couldn't drive. That would be true because I really don't
remember him saying I can't be your licensed driver."

"You want to do this?" Alana asked. But then
she stopped. "But if they find out, Cal will say this is supposed
to be about responsibilities, and again you ignored them."

"You're right," Kelli agreed. "We better not
go."

"Unless," Kelli said with a mischievous
grin, "you call and ask him. You tell him you understood you can't
drive, but that he didn't say you couldn't be my licensed driver,
but since this whole thing is about taking your responsibilities
seriously you wanted to check with him first and make sure you
understood correctly. Hopefully he'll be so impressed that you
called to be sure before you did it that he'll see that you are
taking this very seriously, and say it's okay. We'll get to go get
ice cream and he'll be proud of you! That's a win, win!"

"I love it," Kelli exclaimed as she took out
her phone to call Cal. The girls were excited, knowing this plan
was going to work great.

But then Cal answered his phone. Kelli
carefully explained the situation, and they sat back, waiting for
him to tell them how proud he was of Kelli for asking before they
did it. Cal's response was, "Kelli Anderson, I'm surprised at you.
We talked about this when I first took away your driving
privileges. It's obvious you weren't paying attention because I
specifically told you that included you being Alana's licensed
driver, since that's what was happening when you got yourself in
trouble to begin with."