Disclaimer: I didn't come up with the idea for this story, but I wish I had. It is used with permission. THWACK stories are property of the Fruitcake Alliance. To join the alliance, e-mail fruitcake headquarters at fruitcakehq@yahoo.com
At the end of her afternoon out, Phoebe returned to her niece's house and wheeled herself over to the desk in the living room, where she located a deck of cards and slowly began to shuffle it. Maybe it was time she moved back to Wallingford Manor, she thought. Living with Brooke and Jamie had been convenient for a while and she enjoyed the company, but she did love her independence.
While Phoebe was considering the pros and cons of such a move, Brooke arrived home from her job at Tempo. "Hello, Aunt Phoebe," she greeted as she removed her coat and tossed her purse onto the nearest chair. "Did you have a nice day?"
"It was very... rewarding," Phoebe responded.
"Well, that's good." Brooke crossed the room to the answering machine and played her messages, while Phoebe placidly laid out her cards for a game of solitaire. She listened while Brooke mused, "Hmmm. Edmund wants me to call him. I wonder if it has anything to do with his business meeting at the Valley Inn today."
Phoebe turned over an ace as Brooke picked up the phone and called Edmund back. "Hello, Edmund, it's--*what*?" Brooke's voice rose to ear-piercing volume. "I can't believe--she *said* that? Oh, I'll certainly talk to her." Brooke hung up and turned back toward Phoebe, an expression of stunned horror on her face. "Aunt Phoebe, I can't believe what Edmund just told me. He--" Before she could elaborate, the phone trilled again.
Phoebe nodded toward it as she continued her game. "I advise you to answer that, dear."
A look of dawning dismay on her face, Brooke did as instructed. "Hello? ... Oh, Greenlee, I can't talk right now. ... What? ... She did it to Kendall, too? I'm so sorry. I will talk to her immediately." Again, Brooke placed the receiver back in its cradle and confronted Phoebe. "*That's* how you spent your day? Running around town hitting people?"
Phoebe played the eight of hearts on the nine of clubs and replied, "Not the whole day. Only the afternoon."
Brooke shook her head. "This is unbelievable. Should I expect a phone call from anyone else? I've heard about Edmund, Greenlee, and Kendall so far."
"Hmm." Phoebe thought for a moment. "No, I doubt Bianca Montgomery will make an issue of it."
"You attacked Bianca, too?" Brooke strode closer and stared down at her aunt. "What were you thinking?"
"Brooke, it is really none of your concern."
"I beg to differ. It became my concern when people started calling me with complaints." Brooke sighed and softened her tone. "We really need to talk about this matter. It's very disturbing." She then made her fatal mistake; she sat in the armchair next to Phoebe.
Sadly, Phoebe shook her head. "I'm sorry, Brooke, because other people are more deserving, but you give me no choice. I have to do this." In the next moment, THWACK! Phoebe smacked her niece upside the head, though this blow did have the sound of a gentler, more reluctant thwack than any other doled out so far.
Brooke gaped. "Aunt Phoebe? Why did you hit me?"
"Pick your reason." Phoebe resumed her hand of solitaire as she spoke. "It may have been because of your notoriously poor taste in men. For becoming involved with that child pornographer, Jim Thomason, or Eliot Freeman, the man responsible for the death of your daughter. Or for giving up on Edmund so quickly when Maria turned up alive. Or for your affair with Adam that you obviously covered up extremely badly considering the fact that your impressionable teenage son learned about it almost immediately. Or for butting into my personal business. Or it might simply have been because you have a brain, Brooke, but you just don't use it all the time." Phoebe played her last card, swept away the deck, and drove out of the room.
The burn of humiliation and confusion seared Brooke's cheeks. Through it all, though, one thought stood out: Had Aunt Phoebe gone senile?
If you've expressed interest in the thwacking of a particular character, please be patient. I will probably get to it eventually. Next chapter will contain the thwacking of either J.R., Maria, or Aidan. (Haven't decided yet.) And I won't take so long to post it, either.
At the end of her afternoon out, Phoebe returned to her niece's house and wheeled herself over to the desk in the living room, where she located a deck of cards and slowly began to shuffle it. Maybe it was time she moved back to Wallingford Manor, she thought. Living with Brooke and Jamie had been convenient for a while and she enjoyed the company, but she did love her independence.
While Phoebe was considering the pros and cons of such a move, Brooke arrived home from her job at Tempo. "Hello, Aunt Phoebe," she greeted as she removed her coat and tossed her purse onto the nearest chair. "Did you have a nice day?"
"It was very... rewarding," Phoebe responded.
"Well, that's good." Brooke crossed the room to the answering machine and played her messages, while Phoebe placidly laid out her cards for a game of solitaire. She listened while Brooke mused, "Hmmm. Edmund wants me to call him. I wonder if it has anything to do with his business meeting at the Valley Inn today."
Phoebe turned over an ace as Brooke picked up the phone and called Edmund back. "Hello, Edmund, it's--*what*?" Brooke's voice rose to ear-piercing volume. "I can't believe--she *said* that? Oh, I'll certainly talk to her." Brooke hung up and turned back toward Phoebe, an expression of stunned horror on her face. "Aunt Phoebe, I can't believe what Edmund just told me. He--" Before she could elaborate, the phone trilled again.
Phoebe nodded toward it as she continued her game. "I advise you to answer that, dear."
A look of dawning dismay on her face, Brooke did as instructed. "Hello? ... Oh, Greenlee, I can't talk right now. ... What? ... She did it to Kendall, too? I'm so sorry. I will talk to her immediately." Again, Brooke placed the receiver back in its cradle and confronted Phoebe. "*That's* how you spent your day? Running around town hitting people?"
Phoebe played the eight of hearts on the nine of clubs and replied, "Not the whole day. Only the afternoon."
Brooke shook her head. "This is unbelievable. Should I expect a phone call from anyone else? I've heard about Edmund, Greenlee, and Kendall so far."
"Hmm." Phoebe thought for a moment. "No, I doubt Bianca Montgomery will make an issue of it."
"You attacked Bianca, too?" Brooke strode closer and stared down at her aunt. "What were you thinking?"
"Brooke, it is really none of your concern."
"I beg to differ. It became my concern when people started calling me with complaints." Brooke sighed and softened her tone. "We really need to talk about this matter. It's very disturbing." She then made her fatal mistake; she sat in the armchair next to Phoebe.
Sadly, Phoebe shook her head. "I'm sorry, Brooke, because other people are more deserving, but you give me no choice. I have to do this." In the next moment, THWACK! Phoebe smacked her niece upside the head, though this blow did have the sound of a gentler, more reluctant thwack than any other doled out so far.
Brooke gaped. "Aunt Phoebe? Why did you hit me?"
"Pick your reason." Phoebe resumed her hand of solitaire as she spoke. "It may have been because of your notoriously poor taste in men. For becoming involved with that child pornographer, Jim Thomason, or Eliot Freeman, the man responsible for the death of your daughter. Or for giving up on Edmund so quickly when Maria turned up alive. Or for your affair with Adam that you obviously covered up extremely badly considering the fact that your impressionable teenage son learned about it almost immediately. Or for butting into my personal business. Or it might simply have been because you have a brain, Brooke, but you just don't use it all the time." Phoebe played her last card, swept away the deck, and drove out of the room.
The burn of humiliation and confusion seared Brooke's cheeks. Through it all, though, one thought stood out: Had Aunt Phoebe gone senile?
If you've expressed interest in the thwacking of a particular character, please be patient. I will probably get to it eventually. Next chapter will contain the thwacking of either J.R., Maria, or Aidan. (Haven't decided yet.) And I won't take so long to post it, either.