Pairing: Mary-Oliver/Jackson (F/mm) hairbrush
"They call it a bloodscent," said Roger. "When the sky turns that color insects and animals come out in droves, especially the ones that lust after the smell of blood. The mosquitoes, the biting flies, chiggers, gnats, gators, and wolverines and wolves- rougarous, they call them around here."
― Margot Berwin, Scent of Darkness
Wednesday, January 3, 2011
Night
"It's real pretty out here with all these stars," Hayley said as she and Jackson sat on the porch with Tommy and Aiden.
"I bet you can't see them like this from the city," Tommy said shyly.
"Well, I wouldn't call the suburbs the city quite rightly, but hell no, it's nothing like this. And the swamp is so loud. Are those frogs? It's like there's a million things alive out there," Hayley mused.
Jackson couldn't take his eyes off her as she looked in wonderment around the Bayou.
"I guess we take it for granted. Wolves like us probably wouldn't survive in a city. I mean, how do they hunt out there?" Jackson laughed.
"I think they get in a good deal of bar fights, I reckon," Aiden said seriously, but in a judgmental tone.
Everyone laughed at his tone.
"What? I'm sure it's true," Aiden defended himself.
Mary opened the screen door and barked, "Where's Ollie? It's dark out. He ain't sniffing around the girls at the camp again is he?"
"Well, just one, really," Tommy said softly.
"Lord help us. He knows better than to be out this late. Didn't I warn him to be home earlier the last time," Mary said almost to herself.
"Yes'm, you did. Want Tommy and me to go fetch him for you?" Aiden offered.
"No, thank you, Aiden. I don't want you two out with some foul witch afoot. Y'all get your chores done?" Mary asked sternly.
Aiden and Tommy answered affirmatively, whereas Jackson was quiet.
"Jackson Kenner, I didn't hear you, boy!" Mary thundered.
"Grandma, I'm real tired. I'll do it tomorrow,"Jackson snapped.
"Yes, that would be nice, Jack, I plants okra, bell peppers, tomatoes and snap beans for us to eat, not for them to rot on the vines. Maybe I should just go pick and weed the plot myself, even though I do all the damn cooking, too," Mary growled.
"Yeah, why don't you! God damn!" Jackson retorted getting up and walking off.
"Jack!" Hayley gasped.
Ollie was stomping back to the house.
"Jack, what's the matter, man? Jack, y'all go deafer than a doornail?" Oliver said in confusion.
Mary stood on the porch in shock. She knew teenagers got hormones raging and got mouthy, but that didn't make it hurt any less.
"What's his problem?" Oliver said.
"Young man, you best worry about yourself. I told you to be back before dark. There's blue runners, cottonmouth and water moccasin in this swamp. A blue runner got old man Walters last year and kilt him before he hit the ground," Mary scolded.
"Yes, ma'am," Oliver said suddenly remembering her threat.
"This ain't the first time you done it this week. Now, wash up and get your butt to bed. I'll be in after we get Jack in," Mary said coming off the porch to call her grandson.
"Gran, let me go," Aiden said standing up.
"No, I'm gonna go after him, give him a piece of my mind," Hayley said patting Aiden gently on the arm.
"Hayley, I mean it, watch out for snakes!" Mary hollered, "Come on boys, bedtime. The two of you have never given me a second's worry. I only wish your ma and pa was here to see the two fine young men you become."
Aiden blinked to realized Mary was almost crying. He looked at Tommy and they put an arm around Mary.
"Gran, Jack didn't mean nothing by that. I think he was just trying to show off for Hayley. She didn't look none too impressed, though. She's gonna tell him off, but good. Y'all sit here a spell. They'll be back," Aiden reassured her.
Aiden took Tommy by the arm and they went in their room. He had a feeling it was going to hit the fan. He'd never seen Jackson act like that. Aiden thought about Josh almost non-stop, but he would never try to impress him by treating his relatives like that.
"Jack! Stop already. Jesus, I'm out of shape okay? I admit it," Hayley huffed as she put her hands on her knees to breath.
"What? Can't a guy go on a walk? Ain't this still a free country?" Jackson bellowed.
"Don't you yell at me! And no, you can't go on a walk when there are a shitload of poisonous snakes all over the damn place. Now, shut up about your rights and tell me what's wrong?" Hayley said strongly.
Jackson looked at her in the darkness, he saw specks of gold in her brown eyes and his mind went blank. His lips found hers in the darkness and his arms found hers. In his mind, fire works went off. It was better than anything he expected.
"Hayley," Jackson breathed.
"Oh Jack, I wish you wouldn't have done that," Hayley replied.
"Why not? I need you, Hayley, not as my queen, not as my alpha, I just need you. The real you. I mean it, Hayley, don't leave me," Jackson begged.
"That's just it, Jack. I can't stay here. There's nothing here for me," Hayley cried.
"I'm here," Jackson said in a low voice.
"Yes, and Jack, I feel the same way about you, but I need to make my own way. I have no education, no job, and no future. I don't know who I am. I need to find out what really happened to my parents. No one around here will tell me, I need answers," Hayley explained.
"So you're planning to leave, despite how you feel?" Jackson repeated.
"I have to," Hayley intoned.
Jackson grabbed Hayley and shoved her aside, she was about to punch his teeth out when she realized that he was stomping on something.
"Oh my god, was that a snake?" Hayley screeched.
"A blue runner," Jackson fumed, "Let's get home."
Jackson gently took her arm and led her around the dead corpse of the snake.
"I'm sorry, Jack," Hayley said softly.
"Me, too," Jackson replied.
"You know, you had no right to speak to your grandmother like that," Hayley admonished.
Jackson looked ashamed, "I know."
"Jack, I'll come back, okay?" Hayley promised.
"No, you won't. No one comes back to the Bayou," Jackson said bitterly.
Hayley held his hand until they got back to the house. She gave him a hard look and went to the bathroom to change.
Ollie was in bed when Jackson got into the room.
"Where the hell did you go, man?" Oliver asked sharply.
"No where, it was stupid," Jackson said changing into flannel plaid pants and a t-shirt.
"Aiden said you made Mary cry. What was you thinking? I thought she'd be in to whup me already for being so late. She told me she was going to use her hairbrush on me if didn't get home before dark again," Oliver ventured.
"Well, maybe you're getting lucky tonight? Now, shut up and go to bed," Jackson ordered.
"I don't feel lucky. Maybe you ought to go check on her. Come on, I'll go with you. Brother, we best get this over with," Oliver said.
Jackson sighed, he didn't want to get punished, but yet he was disgusted with himself. Jackson knew Ollie was right. He was proud of Ollie for being the one to do the right thing.
Jackson croaked, "Fine. Let's go get our butts whipped."
Jackson led the way. He knocked softly on Mary's door.
"Gran, can we come in?" Jackson asked.
"Come in, boys," Mary said.
She was in her flowered robe reading the bible in bed. It was clear she had been crying. Her pale face was blotchy and swollen. Jackson remembered all the times she took care of him when he was sick and after he parents died, carrying for him in this room, and he broke.
"Sorry, Grandma," Jackson wept going over to the bed. Mary held opened her arms and he crawled in them. She put her belongings on the table beside her bed. She then opened her right arm to Ollie and he got in the other side.
"Are you so mad at us that you don't even want to lick us tonight?" Oliver asked sadly. His face burned with shame and he ran his hand through his dirty blond hair. He needed a hair cut. Mary smoothed down his hair and then wiped away a tear from Jackson's face.
"No, honey, I just thought maybe you boys was getting too old for a spankin'. Maybe I can't take care of you no more and y'all have to go with someone else who can," Mary confessed.
"No, ma'am, we ain't too old...," Ollie said. He got up and found Mary's solid wooden hairbrush on her dresser. He picked it up and handed it to her looking down.
Mary swallowed and resigned herself to setting her boys straight. She had a feeling this was the last time. Wolves had to grow up fast here.
"Okay, Oliver, you're first. Jack, did you brush your teeth and wash your face? Get in there, boy," Mary reprimanded.
Mary tugged at Ollie's arm and pulled him over her lap so his legs were still on the floor. His upper body was supported by the bed and his backside was right over her knee.
She lightly smacked the seat of his pants a few times and warned, "Now ya try to stay still. I want you to think about how you should have told your friends you had to get home earlier. You know the dangers out there! This is to make sure you remember not to do it again."
Ollie braced himself for the first whack. Smack!
Mary used her full strength to give Ollie a quick warm-up that had him fidgeting in minutes. Ollie heard Jackson come back in and Mary order him roughly to stand in the corner. The heat and sting was mild but every once in a while she would pop him on the top of his thighs.
"Now, it's time for the brush. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't care if y'all got eaten by a gator or stuck in the muck, but I do and I expect you to mind me, ya hear?" Mary growled with the first crack of the brush on Ollie right cheek. Crack!
"Yes'm," Ollie yelped. The woman still had some power in her.
Crack! Ollie tried not to twist back and throw back his left hand, but he failed. Mary cracked the brush down on the back of Ollie's thighs until he returned his hand to under his head.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
As Mary popped the brush down from cheek to cheek, Ollie began to kick and flail his legs and rose up twice.
"That's it," Mary snapped, "I guess your pants need to come down! "
Mary sat farther back on the bed after yanking down Ollie's pajama pants and dragged him fully over her thighs.
"Grandma, I ain't have no drawers on," Ollie whined.
"Well, your pants and drawers didn't misbehave so it's fittin'. You always learned better when I got through to yer bare behind! Now stay still," Mary demanded.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Ollie felt the heavy flat brush paddle him swiftly and soundly all over his backside. He never knew where the next crack would be.
Mary spanked until she felt that Oliver's backside was red enough and he was learning his lesson and then paused.
"Tell me why you're getting a licking instead of being in bed now,
youngster," Mary said smoothing the wooden brush over his burning mounds.
"I stayed to talk to the girls at camp and let it get too dark. I shoulda told them I had to go, but I didn't want them to think I was a baby," Ollie admitted starting to cry.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
"And now what's happening to you, little boy?" Mary asked patting his bright red butt with the wooden brush, then tapping menacingly. Tap. Tap. Tap.
"I'm gettin' a spankin' for not listening. I'm sorry, grandma! Please, don't," Ollie wailed.
"I'm going to teach you a lesson. Then, you're done, little one," Mary promised. Mary ended the spanking with a hard flurry of ten swats that had Oliver sobbing and bucking over her lap. She always finished with this when she used the hairbrush on them and it stung mightily over their already sore behinds.
Mary put the brush down and rubbed Oliver's backside as he cried out the rest of his tears. It had only been a few minutes and she knew he was hurting, but he would heal fast and be asleep even sooner. Mary had him lift and pulled up his pants, although Ollie hissed and fussed when the fabric met his stinging seat. Mary then turned and cradled Ollie on her lap, smoothing back his hair.
"I do love you, you fool boy. Now you promise me you're gonna be smarter and pay more attention to your safety. The girls would not be impressed if you got yourself all bit up and mauled, ya hear," Mary uttered to Jackson as she held him.
"I promise. I guess they wouldn't be impressed if they heard me squealin'so loud, too, during that paddlin', but I think you bruised my butt," Ollie smirked.
"Oliver, you know that I did no such thing, now you go brush your teeth and wash up, too. Then, go to bed. Jack will be in soon and he best come in and find you sleeping, you hear?" Mary said with a roughness belied by the soft touch of her hands on his back comforting him.
"Love you, too," Ollie replied getting up and rubbing his backside slowly. He knew she was right that he'd be asleep before Jack even got in bed.
As soon as Ollie left, Mary called Jackson over to her. She figured she would put him in the same position Ollie was in, it was more awkward, but as long as he didn't get up, easier for her to manage.
"Okay, boy, over my lap here. On second though, just pull down those pants," Mary said firmly.
Jackson frowned but obeyed. He tugged down the flannels he was wearing to his knees. Unlike Ollie, he had retained the white cotton briefs under them. Jackson climbed over Mary's lap and buried his head in his hands.
"You know this spanking ain't just for not doing your chores, right?" Mary asked patting him on the seat of his briefs.
Crack! Mary swatted him hard right across both cheeks.
"Ouch! Yes, ma'am, it's for sassing you and being disrespectful. I know better than that," Jackson admitted. Crack! Crack!
Mary began to warm up Jackson by smacking the center of each cheek firmly over his underpants. Mary swatted with her hand until Jackson's feet started to tap the bed and he began wriggling over her lap.
Crack! Crack!
"Grandma! I'm sorry," Jackson shot out as she popped him hard on the tops of his thighs several times.
"I know, but you're gonna be a little sorrier after I take the brush to you," Mary revealed picking up the heavy instrument. She first slipped down Jackson's briefs to right below his backside.
Mary pressed it against Jack's left cheek a moment before swatting him. Pop! Then, she paused another moment on his right, before smacking him firmly. Pop!
"AWWWW... Sorry, G-Grandma. I d-don't know w-why I acted like t-that," Jackson yelled bursting into full, heavy sobs.
Pop! Pop!
"I think you let some feelings build up inside you, hmm? Then, they just exploded. It's easier to take it out on the ones you know are safe. I see how you look at her. Just be easy on yourself, boy. No one said love was easy," Mary said pausing a moment. She was ready to stop, but he wasn't there yet. Mary felt the heat radiating off his behind.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Jackson jerked and flailed but couldn't move his bottom out of the path of Mary's wide, flat hair brush. She began paddling him harder and faster, wanting him to let go of his guilt and sorrow.
"It's over. She don't love me,"Jackson wept as the swats cracked down on his behind steadily. He didn't realize but Mary was barely tapping his behind. She wanted him to hear her words and internalize them.
"Jack, she does love you, but it's not always the right time. If it's meant to be, she'll come back to you. There are other wolves other there, even humans. You have a long time to settle, okay, boy?" Mary said.
"Yes, G-Grandma. I get i-it. I-it's not excuse for me to be actin' up like this. I'm too o-old for t-that," Jackson insisted.
"No, Jack, I'm sorry I said that. Y'all still have some growin' up to do. You lost all that time due to the curse. You ought to have time with your friends and to be careful, but if get too big for your britches...I'm here to pull them down and tan you. Now, I'm going to finish and give you ten hard ones to remind you that you behave or pay the piper," Mary warned.
"Oh, Gran...I'm r-ready," Jackson whispered.
"I love you, Jack, but I ain't going to let you go down the wrong path," Mary promised.
Whap! Whap! Whap! Whap! Whap!
Jackson wailed and bucked at the tremendous sting in his behind. Mary pressed her left arm down and pinned him in place to give him the last five.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! PoP!
Jackson knew he hadn't taken the last part of the paddling well, but his buttocks were scorched. He was crying hard enough to feel the bedding wet with tears beneath his head, he needed to blow his nose. But for a few moments he just cried out all of his frustration with things with Hayley. His grandmother rubbed his back and even his backside. Her knew he should have been embarrassed about that, but no one else was in the room so he didn't care. As his supernatural healing took the edge off, he was able to let Mary pull up his briefs and pants. Like Oliver, Mary turned him to the side and held him a few more minutes.
"You're gonna be okay, Jack. Just remember who you are and where you came from. You're strong, you're brave, and you are good, even when you're a little smart ass, like tonight," Mary laughed.
Jack smiled, "You walloped that out of me. I love you, Grandma. I'll fix up your garden for ya right nice tomorrow."
"I know, dear boy. Now, get right to bed," Mary ordered kissing him on the head.
"Yes, ma'am. I'll limp back to my room, if I can," Jackson quipped.
"You best do it quick now. And put the hairbrush back, I'm sure I'll need it again before long. Shut the light out, will ya? Goodnight," Mary said.
Jackson replaced the heavy wooden hairbrush back on her dresser and shut off her light. Hayley intercepted him in the small hallway.
"Feel better?" Hayley smiled.
"Yeah, except for my ass. Did you hear everything?" Jackson flushed.
"No, ha, just when Oliver opened the door...Okay, that's a lie, I did," Hayley admitted looking down.
"Oh God," Jackson uttered.
"Jack, I love you, too," Hayley said reaching up to cup his face and kiss him gently.
Jackson forgot his embarrassment and kissed her back. They kissed until she smacked the seat of his pants and reminded him he was too go to bed.
"Yes, ma'am. I ain't taking my chances and getting another licking," Jackson smiled.
"Me, either," Hayley agreed.
And sure enough, Ollie was sound asleep when Jackson slipped into the bed. Instead of thinking of his still stinging rear end, all he thought about was the softness of Hayley's lips as he slipped into a heavy slumber.