CHAPTER 2. LITTLE WHITE LIES

Daddy had come back from a successful hunt, and had taken us out for dinner at the local pizza parlor. A neighbor walked up to the booth, and he and Daddy shook hands as they greeted each other.

"I've been out of town, what's been happening?" Daddy asked him.

"Well, I wanted to let you know, the Neighborhood Watch is going to be having a meeting soon. You'll get a flyer in the mailbox."

"Is the meeting for something specific?" Daddy looked up at him, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, there's been a rash of thefts and, I guess you'd call it mischief, in the neighborhood," Mr. Russell said, "Trash cans being tipped over, hoses being turned on full blast in the middle of the night, that sort of thing. Also stuff being stolen out of people's cars. And there's been a lot of theft at the Gas-n-Sip as well."

Daddy shook his head. "Do they have any idea who's behind it?"

"Not sure, but we're going to be discussing everything at the meeting. I hope you can be there."

"I'll try," Daddy said, and they nodded at each other, and Mr. Russell walked away.

I looked up to find Sam and Dean both watching me closely. I involuntarily gulped, and stared down at the table, stirring my drink with my straw.

"Anything you want to say, Alyson?" Dean asked casually. Too casually.

Daddy looked at him, and then turned to look at me.

"No," I said in a small voice.

"Dean?" Daddy said, looking at him again, "Want to tell me what's going on here?"

"Aly was hanging out with some of the neighborhood kids before," Sam said, "She had told us she was going to one of their houses, but they were really sneaking off to the Gas-n-Sip."

"And that was right after stuff started to go missing on a regular basis," Dean chimed in.

"Alyson Elisabeth, what do you have to say for yourself?" Daddy asked, and his tone was stern.

I shrank down in my seat before I was even aware that I was doing it, and I knew that would make me look guilty. I glanced up at Daddy and then over at my brothers.

"I—I- all we did was go there and get slushies! And some candy!"

"Where'd you get the money?" Dean leaned forward, watching me.

"Well, uh, Patty usually bought us stuff. She said her Dad always gives her 20 dollars a week, just to piss her Mom off, and she always buys candy and junk with it."

"And is that all that you guys would do while you were there?" Dean's eyes bored into mine intently.

"Uh- yes!" I protested, aware that my voice shook. I tried not to shrink down any more. I didn't want them to think I was lying or covering for anyone- even though I was.

Daddy turned his body towards me in the booth, and looked down at me. "Young lady, if I find out that you were stealing, I am going to blister your butt. You know better than that, and I'm not having any of my kids get into that sort of trouble."

I glanced up at him briefly, my mouth dry, stirring my drink again aimlessly.

"Alyson. Look at me, eyes here," he said sternly, and I had to force my head up to look at his face.

"Did. You. Steal?" he asked point-blank.

I made myself not blink. "No! No, Daddy, I swear!" I said.

He continued to look at me, his dark brown eyes flicking back and forth between mine.

"All right," he said after what seemed like forever, "I believe you," He shifted his body in the booth, and I let out my breath.

"Dean Winchester!"

We all turned at the angry, loud voice. A girl wearing a waitress's apron stalked over to the table and stood there, hands on hips, chewing gum furiously. "What the hell, man? You cancelled on me, tellin' me your kid sister was sick, and then I hear you was out with Brandi Peterman?"

Dean looked up at her and smiled. "It's not like that, sweetheart-" he said smoothly, reaching for her. She jerked away from him.

"I'm not your sweetheart, you jackass!" she glared at him, "Nobody two-times me!"

Dean slid out of the booth, glancing back at us. "C'mon, let's go talk," he put his hand on her back, and led her towards the front of the restaurant. They left.

"What was that about?" I asked, "What's two-time mean?"

"It's when a person is dating two people at once," Sam explained to me.

"But Dean dates lots of girls at the same time!"

"I know, but...not all of them know that."

Dean slid into the booth just then. "I took care of things," he said confidently.

Daddy raised his eyebrows at Dean. "Oh really? And how did you do that? More lies?"

I stared at Dean, realization dawning. "You- you lied to her! You told her I was home sick, and you had to take care of me, so you couldn't go with her! But you were out with someone else!"

"A little white lie," Dean waved his hand, and took a sip of his soda.

"That's not fair!" I cried, "How come you can tell lies and it's okay, but when I tell lies, I get in trouble!"

"Because little white lies are about unimportant things. She's already over it, and we're gonna go out next week," Dean explained.

"It's still not fair!" I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted.

Daddy looked at me and then at Dean. "Aly got in trouble for lying?" he asked.

Sam looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, she told me she had returned all her library books and there's one still out, and she owes money now."

"And she told me she was hanging out at Shelly's house, when really, a bunch of them were going over to the Gas-n-Sip. And then, after I told her she could only go and hang out in the circle, and not go in anyone's house, I found her with a group of kids, in a side yard, passing around a cigarette," Dean said.

Daddy turned to me again, and his face was angry. "What were you doing traipsing all over the neighborhood like that? Do you realize how unsafe that is? Your brothers didn't know what you were doing or where you were! If something had happened to you..."

"But it didn't, Daddy!" I protested.

"I am not happy about this at all, young lady," Daddy growled, "You do not lie to me or your brothers. I can't trust you if you lie, and we all have to be able to trust each other."

He looked at me. "New rule: from now on, when you lie, you're going to get a spanking with the hair brush, on the bare, the same number of swats as your age. Is that clear?"

"N-nine?" I asked, swallowing uneasily. Normally, I got a couple swats added at the end of a spanking, when I had done something particularly bad.

"Maybe that will help you remember how much I dislike lying, and it will make you take it seriously. You are going to stop lying, Alyson."

"Yes sir," I said, and I meant it. I did not want to get into any more trouble about lying.

Then he leaned forward. "A cigarette?" he asked, "Young lady, did you smoke?" and his voice was that deeper growl that he got when he was mad.

I gulped. "N-no, Da-"

He leaned evern further forward and got in my face. "If-I-ever-find-out-you-were-smoking-sitting-comfortably-will-become-a-distant-memory," he gritted out from between clenched teeth. He was glaring at me and I had to look down after a long moment, "Is-that-clear?"

"Y-yes, s-sir," I nodded at my hands in my lap.

"Alyson. Look at me."

I slowly raised my head and looked at him again.

"If I find out you were lying about stealing or smoking, you will be one very sorry little girl when I'm through with you. You understand me?"

"Y-yes sir."

He waited for a long moment, holding my gaze with his. "Got anything to tell me?"

"N-no s-sir."

He straightened up. "Then let's go home. I think we're done here."

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I was "confined to quarters" for the night. That meant I had to stay in my room, and could only come out to use the bathroom. No dinner, no reading at bedtime. And tonight, I was getting a spanking with the hairbrush at bedtime, for lying. Even though I knew that I would get a serious consequence for telling lies, I couldn't seem to help myself, and the lies just kept coming.

Dean and Sam had come up with a chore chart for me to "work off" my library debt. All week long I had been placating them, telling them, "I'm busy right now, I'll get to it later," or, "Yeah, I did it when you weren't here." and now I had been found out- I hadn't done any chores at all.

They had confronted about not doing my chores, and then I'd had to spend the day doing everything I had put off all week, and then been sent to my room.

There was a knock on the door, and I sat up and called, "Come in."

Daddy came into the room and closed the door. He had the hairbrush in his hand, and he came over and sat down on the bed. He set it next to him, and motioned to me.

"Come here," he said. I got off the bed and went to stand in front of him.

"I'm very disappointed in you," he said. "I don't like that you're lying so much, and I'm going to put a stop to it. You will not lie any more, is that understood?"

"Yes sir," I said quietly.

"You're going to do your chores when you're supposed to, and you're going to be honest about it."

"Yes sir," I shifted my weight from one foot to the other.

"You're grounded to the house for the next week, no playing outside after school. You come straight home, do your homework, and then your chores."

"Okay. I mean yes sir."

"Come here," he patted his thigh, and I walked over to him and laid myself over his lap. He lifted me over so that my torso was on the bed, and I clutched the bedspread in my hands. My stomach twisted with nerves- this was the first time I was going to get spanked for lying with the hairbrush according to the new rule.

The spanking began, and in no time I was crying. When every inch of my bottom was stinging, he pulled my pajama bottoms and underpants down.

"Hand me the hairbrush," he said.

I glanced back at him. "Daddy-" I protested.

"Do I need to add more to the 9 you're already getting?" he asked sternly.

"N-no," I said, and I reached over and picked it up. I turned back, offering it to him, and he took it from me. I saw him raise it, and turned quickly back to the bed and hid my head in the covers. A second later it smacked my bottom, and I yelped. Daddy paused a moment between each swat, and I cried out each time the brush landed. The swats were light and stinging, not as hard as when I got a few tacked on the end of a spanking. Still, I was crying a lot harder when the spanking was over. He put the brush back on the bed, and then lifted me up into his arms.

"I'm s-sorry, Daddy," I sobbed into his flannel chest.

"I want the lying to stop, is that clear?" He rubbed my back.

"Yes, sir," I sobbed. He held me until I was calm, and then he tucked me into bed, on my stomach.

He carried the hairbrush over to the dresser, and set it down there. "I want this to stay here, as a reminder to you to behave, and not lie. Understand?"

"Yes, Daddy," I said.

He turned off the overhead light and shut the door quietly. I laid in bed, feeling my bottom stinging, and wiped my eyes again. Why couldn't I stop telling lies? I raised my head and looked across the room at the dresser, and in the low light of my nightlight I could see the hairbrush. I already hated it. I hoped I could stop lying, I didn't want to ever have to get another spanking with it.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I was putting my shoes on to leave for school Monday when Dean came out to the living room dressed in his suit.

"Sammy's going to pick you up from school today, Dad and I have a case the next town over, we'll be gone for a day or two," Dean told me, adjusting his tie. He fiddled with it and then pulled it out of the knot. "Damn I hate these things," he muttered, and walked back into the bathroom.

Daddy came out to the living room, also wearing a suit, and holding his duffle. The contrast between the fancy suit and his worn olive-green bag was funny, and I laughed.

"How come you guys are wearing suits?" I asked him.

"Dean, do you have your badge?" Daddy called down the hall.

Dean stepped out of the bathroom, his hands still at his neck. "Yeah, it's in the inside pocket of the weapons duffle," he replied.

"Badge? What, are you pretending to be policemen?" I looked up at Daddy, laughing again. "Policemen don't wear fancy suits!"

"FBI agents," Daddy told me, "We need to talk to the police, so we're pretending to be FBI."

I stared up at him, coming to a realization. "But- but that's lying!" I crossed my arms over my chest as Dean walked out of the bathroom.

I looked from Daddy to Dean. "How come it's okay for you guys to lie, and it's not okay for me?" I was outraged.

"Because, short stuff, this is for a job," Dean said, coming over to me and tweaking my nose.

"But—it's still lying, and lying is bad!"

"Not all lies are bad-" Dean started to say.

"We have to—tell untruths so that we can figure out what's really going on. When something supernatural happens most people don't believe, so they cover the facts up with falsehoods and make-believe. We have to get in there and tease out the facts from all of that, and sometimes in order to do that, we have to lie." Daddy explained.

I frowned. "Then- then if it's okay for you to lie, it should be okay for me to lie too!"

"Nope," Dean leaned down and straightened the laces on his shoes.

"Why not?"

"Because when you lie, it benefits you only. Like if you lie about not doing your chores, that's so that you can get away with it. When we lie, it's to help people."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"Really, it is, Aly," Dean insisted, "We save people's lives sometimes when we get the proper information."

"All right, we need to go," Daddy said, "Do you have your duffle?"

"Already in the trunk," Dean said, "Come here," he said to me, and I went to him and hugged him.

"Behave yourself for Sam," Daddy told me. I walked over and hugged him, and he gave me one of his big bear hugs that he always gave before he left on a hunt. He kissed the top of my head, and they went out to the car.