"NO!" I screamed as I tried to pull out of Darry's strong grasp. He just held onto me tighter.
My head was spinning.
I looked at Soda, tying to make eye contact - hoping I could silently plead with him to not hand Darry that damn belt.
But, Soda didn't look at me. He just started unbuckling his belt and pulling it out of his jeans.
I thought I would die.
This can't be happenin', I thought. Darry can't mean to take that strap to me - I'm 16.
I'm too old for this. And although Darry did slap me once, nobody in my family had ever spanked me. Nobody.
I started struggling. I needed to break loose. I had no desire to feel the sting of that belt.
I shook, as Darry raised his voice to Soda.
"Sodapop, NOW!"
And I watched as Soda handed him that damn belt.
My knees went weak.
Before I realized what was happenin', Darry was sitting on the couch, flippin' me over his knees and holding me firmly in place with his left hand. I was struggling something fierce.
There was no way I would let Darry do this without a damn good fight from me, that's for sure.
I looked back at Darry for a moment - he was doubling the belt and started raising it in the air.
Forget fighting, I thought.
Maybe pleading would work...? I had to get out of this somehow.
"Darry, please, no! Don't do this!", I begged. "I'm so sorry, Dar! I'll be good! I promise!"
"And I'll make sure of that, little brother."
Then that belt landed on my backside so hard I screamed.
"Noooo!"
I put my hands back for some sort of protection...but Darry just grabbed them and pinned them behind my back.
The belt landed again. Glory, it hurt so bad.
I started struggling again...bucking and kicking my legs. If I could just break free,
I thought...but Darry only held me tighter.
And suddenly I realized all I could do was submit myself to this punishment.
How the hell did I ever let it get to this...?
And the belt landed again.
I couldn't hold back anymore. I started bawling. And Darry just kept bringing that damn belt up and down.
I wondered, briefly, why soda wasn't jumping to my defense like he usually did.
"Darry...p-please! No more!" I choked out between sobs. "You're hurtin' me! I'm sorry!
I'm soooo sorry!
But he kept right on spanking me. Damn him, I thought.
I pleaded with Soda next.
"Make him stop! Soda, please! It hurts! Ow! I'll be good...just make him stop!"
But my pleas obviously fell on deaf ears because Soda didn't say a word.
I lost count at seventeen. I honestly don't know how many more times Darry strapped me.
When he finished, I just stayed there, over his knees, trembling and sobbing, while Darry gently rubbed my back.
As my sobs receded into whimpering, Darry helped me off his lap and held me close to him, with my head burried in his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, gently stroking my head while he let me cry for a few moments longer. Then he turned my face up to look at him,
pushing back my bangs so he could see into my eyes.
He spoke calmly when he told me "Don't think I won't do this again, Ponyboy. If you're gonna continue behavin' the way you've been lately, I'll have you over my knees again so fast it'll make your head spin. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yyyes." I managed to whimper.
"Good. Now, get to your room and get to bed. Oh, and Ponyboy...you're grounded. Two weeks."
I turned quickly - glad to finally be able to get the hell outta there. I glanced briefly at Sodapop, who was still standing exactly where he'd been standing when he handed that damn belt to Darry.
I swear there were tears sliding down his cheeks.
"I HATE YOU!" I hissed as I ran past him into our room and slammed the door.
I threw myself onto our bed and lay there, sobbing into my pillow and trying not to think about the fire in my backside. I tried not to think about bein' 16 and bein' across my big brother's knees like I was a little kid. I tried not to think...and the more I tried not to...the more I thought.
I cried myself to sleep.
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