Alex sat alone in his car and watched Clay walk over to his parents. He could see Mrs. Jensen ask several questions. It was clear her son's answers did not satisfy her. Alex could see that Clay's description of his mom being lawyer-like with him was accurate. It reminded him of his own father's interrogative techniques with his sons, particularly when his dad suspected that he was not being told the whole story.

A tap at his window startled the boy. He saw his dad waiting for him to roll the window down.

"Uh, hi, Dad," he said nervously.

"Hello, son," Officer Standall replied. "I suggest you get your ass home in time for dinner."

"Yes, sir. Will you be home in time?"

"No, tell Mom to save me a plate. And stick to the speed limit, kid. Because next time, not only will I ticket you, but also I'll spank you, then and there. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Alex murmured.

"And put on your seat belt, dammit."

"Yes, sir."

"We'll talk more about this when I get home."

"Yes, sir. Night, Dad."

"Night, kiddo."

At dinner, Alex listened to his mom talk about her day the hospital. She had worked a twelve-hour shift, which had been eventful. The boy offered a few stories about school, but said nothing about being stopped for speeding by his father.

After doing the dishes, Alex announced he was going to his room to finish his homework. However, once he was in his room, the boy struggled to concentrate.

Would his dad ground him? Take the car away? Would he spank him? Alex knew he'd disobeyed lots of traffic laws and his dad's rules for driving. But, worst of all, Alex had put himself, his friends, and other drivers in danger with his recklessness. Breaking 2 of Dad's 3 Ds definitely meant he'd earned a spanking.

It had been over a year since he'd last been spanked, but the teen knew his father would not consider him too old to receive such a punishment. Alex remembered well his older brother Peter's last spanking. It had been the day after his brother's graduation from high school. After a night of partying, Peter had driven home still drunk the next morning. Alex had never seen his dad so mad before. The boy hoped his dad would not consider drunk driving and reckless driving equivalent offenses.

Mostly to take his mind off the trouble he was in, Alex took out his math homework and tried to complete it. Before he could finish the work, though, he heard his dad's voice downstairs. Alex crept to the head of the stairs, listening to his parents' conversation. His dad was telling his mom about the traffic stop. Although he could not make out what his mom was saying, her sharp tone conveyed her anger.

"Okay, I'm going to deal with Alex now," his father said, sounding resigned.

The teen did not wait to hear his mom's response, but hurried back to his room and resumed his homework. His dad's footsteps on the stairs made his heart begin to pound faster.

"We need to talk, Alex."

The boy looked over at his dad standing in the doorway and nodded. His father walked over and sat on the bed. Alex stayed seated at his desk and waited for his dad to begin.

"Your behavior tonight is really concerning. When I pulled the car over and realized it was you driving, going 90 mph with no headlights, every fatherly instinct I have was telling me to bust your butt right then. But I didn't want to embarrass you in front of your friends."

"Thanks for that," the boy whispered.

"But as I said before, that was a one-time pass. If I ever see you driving recklessly again, I will wear you out immediately. Even if your friends are in the car. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you have any explanation for your behavior tonight?"

Alex shook his head.

"Well, I suppose you know what is going to happen next."

The boy nodded.

"Then come here," his father instructed. The teen stood and moved slowly over to where his father sat. Then Alex bent over his father's right knee, so that he was able to lean on the bed also.

Once the boy was settled, his father asked, "Why are you getting this spanking, son?"

"For reckless driving. For going 90 mph. For not having the headlights on. For not wearing my seat belt. For disobeying a bunch of traffic laws and for putting myself and others in danger," Alex said quietly.

"Yes, I think that about covers it."

His dad placed his right hand on the boy's back, holding him in place. The first stinging crack caused the boy to yelp. His dad's heavy hand smacked his backside repeatedly and, by the sixth blow, tears ran down the boy's face. Alex usually felt more embarrassment than pain during such punishments, but today his dad clearly meant to make an impression. By the twelfth whack, the boy was crying softly.

"Please, Dad, I'll be good," he whimpered.

"It'll be over soon, son."

Alex counted in his head as each spank landed. Thirteen, the boy whimpered. Fourteen, he tried to stay quiet. Fifteen, Please, enough, he begged. Sixteen, ah, no more. Seventeen, he flinched and groaned. Eighteen, uh-hah. Nineteen, Daaaaad…. Twenty, Pleeeeaze…. The last stinging smack seemed especially sharp.

Alex stayed limply stretched across his dad's knee for a few moments before he realized the spanking was over. He stood up awkwardly and backed up. But his dad quickly got up and wrapped his arms around the boy. The teen hugged him back and tried to stop crying.

When the boy's breathing calmed, his dad said quietly, "Sit with me."

They sat on the bed. His dad put his arm around Alex's shoulder. "Son, I hope you know how much I love you. It scares me when you behave so dangerously. If anything ever happened to you, we'd be destroyed. Please be careful."

"I'm so sorry, Dad. I love you too. Please forgive me. I promise I'll never do anything like that again," the boy said, tears rolling down his cheeks again.

"Hey, hey, of course, I forgive you."

"Is Mom really mad at me?"

His father took a deep breath, "She's pretty upset. She said you're grounded from using the car for the rest of the month."

"Yeah, I figured that was coming."

"Why don't you go talk to her now? She deserves an apology too."

"Yes, sir," the boy said. He stood up and walked to the door. Then he turned to face his father again, "And, Dad, thank you for letting us off easy tonight."

"Judging from most of your friends' parents' reactions, I don't think anybody got off easy tonight."

Alex smiled and rubbed his behind. "Yeah, I know I didn't," he joked.

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