Chapter 3

Tommy relives his own past punishments

WARNING: This story contains disciplinary spanking/ corporal punishment of minors by a young adult.

After his emotional breakdown that evening, Tommy laid in bed reliving every punishment he had ever received and questioning his approach to discipline with his sister. Had he truly treated her unfairly? Had he been unkind? Would she be better off in someone else's care? Perhaps at a boarding school? He remembered his own childhood, and he had definitely had it worse than Ada in terms of punishments. With three unruly boys on her hands, Aunt Polly was never one to spare the rod. She was quick to twist the ear or smack the bottom of any misbehaving child. Arthur's spankings were strict and guaranteed to end in tears.

Tommy had been a quiet, calculating child and was never in trouble without having assessed the risks. He was very unlike his brother John, who threw the first punch in a bar brawl, had the loudest voice in a church service, and cussed out his teachers the fastest. When Tommy did stupid things, Aunt Polly was quick to express her surprise. "Did you not think this through, Thomas?" She would often enquire before deciding on his punishment. The truth was that he did, but he had always been a gambling man. Even when he would play football indoors with John on rainy days, it was only because he decided the grounding he would get was worth ending his current state of boredom. That was his most frequent offense growing up, and aunt Polly only ever escalated it to a spanking when they got caught breaking something. There were times when he couldn't help mouthing off, though. He was a clever child, and sometimes his witty retorts came out before he had time to think them through. And boy did he pay for those. He remembered all too clearly, the last time he'd had the balls to yell at Aunt Polly. He'd been a young boy, only about 15. He had gotten his heart broken for the very first time. A girl had ditched him at lunch for someone taller. He had gone home sour and angry, and when Polly had tried to scold him for leaving the breakfast dishes unwashed, he had talked back, cursed at her, and at some point after escalating the whole thing into a shouting match, he shoved her a good three steps back.

He made the mistake of thinking Pol would wait for Arthur to get home. He had gone straight to his room and slammed the door so hard that the house shook. Polly hadn't waited for Arthur. She only went to grab two canes and the keys to his room. She came back in, locked them both in there, and gave him the worst caning of his life. Tommy could not remember another occasion where he had to be chased around a room for punishment, or where he had cried and begged so loud. On that day, Tommy had tried to block the strokes to his ass with his hands, and found the hard way that an incensed Aunt Polly would cane him anywhere that wouldn't injure him. He got so many strokes to his thighs, that it was a wonder he could sit down the next day. He had watched Micheal get the same treatment this afternoon with a wooden ruler. He remembered all too vividly, Aunt Polly driving him in a circle that exact way, with stinging strokes to his backside.

It had only been about 20 strokes, which in reality should be nothing to Tommy. If he was mentally prepared he might not have cried through the punishment, but the gravity of his own action horrified him, and he was mildly worried that she was going to kill him when she locked the door.

When Arthur came home and heard what Tommy had done, he promised him a strapping once he had recovered from the caning. And good God, had Arthur delivered on his promise. Tommy's mouth got soaped out every night that week. After his strapping, he'd skipped school the next day to be with some horses. That had earned him another spanking, and he was grounded for days, only allowed to sit on a hard chair and read his books until he was called for a meal or ready for bed.

Tommy cringed where he lay in bed, as a far more embarrassing memory came to his mind.

His drunk men had stolen some guns instead of motorcycles, only a few years ago. On finding out, Aunt Pol had flipped out in the church, slapping the shit out of him. While he wasn't expecting his aunt to ask him to go into a back room and wait for her, his immediate suspicion was that she wanted privacy to discuss the future of the guns. He had not expected her to come back with two switches, and ask him to bend over the table.

"You can't be serious, Pol"

"Do I look like I'm playing, Thomas?"

Tommy scoffed and sat down, feigning indifference. She had called him Thomas, that was never a good sign. In his childhood, his full name was an indicator that his aunt had committed to punishing him. And even since becoming an adult, she would call him Thomas just before a good tongue lashing.

"We can talk like adults, Aunt Polly. For God's sake put those absurd things down "

"I will have Arthur step in, and I trust he will not hesitate to hold you down and beat some sense into you. If I remember correctly, you used to dread his belt"

Tommy couldn't believe his ears, he considered walking away from his aunt, but Polly didn't make idle threats. While his brother might think it was a ridiculous idea, Arthur was easily swayed, and Tommy knew he had been considerably disrespectful to the older Shelby over the past few weeks. He could not say he hadn't recently seen the hard glint in his brother's eyes that would've preceded a trip over his knee if they were still boys. While he knew his brother considered that part of their lives to be long over, aunt Polly's endorsements were not taken lightly around their house. If Arthur did buy into the idea, it would be a slippery slope. Tommy hadn't answered to anyone since the war. Allowing Arthur to resume his disciplinary role would set the new dynamic ablaze. Not to mention, Arthur had a hard hand and an ungodly swing. A single smack from him promptly brought young John and Ada to tears, and his spankings would have even Tommy howling from beginning to end.

His aunt was folding up her sleeves. She knew she had him. Tommy eyed the switches she had brought in. Fuck. Polly knew how to pick a switch. They were thin, whippy, and so very green. They would make his ass sting for days. He folded his arms, careful not to look as panicked as he felt. He didn't have a lot of options, plus how bad could a switching be? He had a good couple of clothes on, and had survived bullet wounds in this same lifetime. Deciding to take his chances with Polly, he got up and bent slightly over the table, eyes shut, trying to keep out the embarrassment.

The first stroke of the switch still caught him off guard. It whistled sharply through the air. That sound was everything he dreaded. Its sting was sharp and painful and receded with a burning that felt like an itch. Fuck he wanted so badly to rub. As a boy, for all his self-control, Polly's switchings would always have him rubbing in between strokes. Tommy looked over his shoulder to evaluate his Aunt's disposition, and to his utter horror, Polly was using both switches at once. "Aunt Poll, come on, is that really necessar- fuck" She had caught his undercurve with her next stroke, and the sting was insane.

That day years ago, when she had brought two canes into his room, she had only used one of them. The second was just to scare him, she'd said. She also explained to him later, that during John's punishments he would sometimes catch and break her implements to buy himself some relief. When she knew she was going to be harsh, she would bring a backup, just to be safe.

Today, however, Aunt Polly wasted no time laying into Tommy with her double switch.
"I want you to think very long and hard about what you've done. Did you think it through, Thomas?"
Tommy shook his head. No, ma'am.
"Why not?"
"I don't know"
She intensified her efforts for the next three strokes, and Tommy immediately balled his fists.
"Why didn't you think it through, Thomas? You're an intelligent young man. You think everything else through"
"Fuck, Aunt Pol. I don't know"
"I won't be taking that as an answer" she once again intensified her strength, and Tommy inhaled sharply.
"Fine I knew it was dangerous, but I was willing to gamble"
"Ah, we're getting somewhere." She tried not to sound too smug. "Now that you've taken this extreme decision on behalf of the company, how will you remedy it?"
"I'll call a family meeting! Jesus!"
"Hey!" She cautioned, swiping his thighs. "Not in the lord's house"

Tommy stamped his foot, seeking relief for the first time since they started. His hands were already clenching and unclenching. But for his attempts to maintain what semblance of dignity he could manage, he'd have tried to sneak in a rub between strokes. Polly gave no fucks if someone's hands interfered with their punishment. Red splotches on their palms were often a telltale sign that one of the Shelby siblings had recently gotten a thrashing.

"And what will you say during the meeting Tom?"
"Whatever you want me to say"
"That's not how this works and you know it" She unleashed four rapid-fire strokes, and Tommy pounded on the table.
"Fuck"
She stopped hitting him, straightened the man up, and sat on the table where he had been leaning.
"I'll put it to a vote" Tommy looked over at the window. Happy to rest his eyes anywhere but his aunt's piercing ones.
She reached out and gave his face a little slap. He looked at her briefly, then lowered his eyes. He felt like a thoroughly chastised child.
"You will first apologize to everyone. For putting their lives and our livelihood in danger"
"I'll apologize", Tommy replied, his cheek pinkening the tiniest bit.
Polly looked him in the eye, under his apparent contrition, Tommy still held a bit of stubbornness. You have your mother's smarts but your father's devilment. She hopped down from the table, and gave him a rather hard swat as she left the room. "Let your mother win"

The door slammed shut behind her, and Tommy gingerly rubbed his burning bottom, whispering a quiet "Fuck me" to himself.

For the rest of the day, he tried to walk around with his usual haughty energy, but inside, though not sorry for his actions, he was truly humbled by his punishment, and looked forward to curling up in bed and pouting. His punishment had him thinking about consequences very differently than he had viewed them in a good couple of years. When he sat a bit gingerly at the dinner table that night, Ada eyed him suspiciously.
"Are you hurt, Tommy?"
"Oh yes, I hurt my leg getting off a horse today. It's nothing"

As dinner neared the end, Aunt Polly cleared her throat and asked across the table"Tommy was there something you meant to say to the family tonight?"
"Yes, uh I-" He cleared his throat. Apologies didn't come easy to him. Especially not here in front of young Ada and Finn. "I meant to call a family meeting early tomorrow. "
"Can I come?"Ada eagerly asked.
A unanimous reply of "NO!" came from around the table. Her lower lip trembled. She looked over to her eldest brother, "Arthuuur" Everyone at the table rolled their eyes.
"Hey, come here sweet" Arthur beckoned to her, and she allowed herself to be pulled into a hug. "Hey listen when you're 16 we can talk about it, okay? You're young and it's dangerous"
"But John gets to go" She stamped her foot and pouted even harder.
"Hey!" Tommy snapped. "Cut that out"
"It's not fair" She yelled back at him, stamping even harder. The insolence of this child. Tom wondered with amazement at the fact that Arthur was letting her get away with this behavior. He would've received a good hard smack upside his head for this if not an actual spanking. "If you're going to be such an intolerable brat, then you can go to bed without any pie"

"But Tom," she began to protest. Tommy's patience was at an end today, and he was not having it. "Keep this going, Ada, and we will have to have a chat tonight. Clear your dishes and go to bed. I'll be in to check on you."
12-year-old Ada was aghast. Her lip trembled again, and this time her eyes flooded. She looked to Arthur for help, but he knew better than to undermine his brother in front of their spoiled baby sister.
"Go on then, kid. Be good for Tommy. I'm sure aunt Pol will save you some pie for tomorrow."

Ada snuck one last look at Tommy. Deciding that he was indeed cross enough to go through with his threat, she did as she was told, attempting to look meek, but her petulance still showed through as she flung her cutlery in the kitchen drawers after washing them. Tommy shook his head and massaged his temple. There was no way he could retain any dignity while spanking this child when he himself had been bent over a table only a few hours ago. He let out a tired breath and decided to let it go.

A/N: I've taken you on this journey of the wanderings of my mind because I really don't know where to take the story. I'm trying to help Tommy figure out whether to take his sister in hand, or send her away to boarding school. Maybe by the time Tommy/ Arthur decides to go through with the spanking, they find that John is already on it? I'm still playing around. We'll see. Please send feedback by PM, or in the reviews.