Subject: Story: Kate's General Store - Part 4
From: Carolina Jim <carolinajim@greenvillenc.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 21:37:21 -0500
"You should have enough change.", Kate said, making sure there was an extra roll of pennies in the register. "If you run out, there's plenty in the safe. Remember, Susie and Patty are upstairs if you need them. I should be back around two or three this afternoon."
Chrissy and Donna smiled at their all-dressed-up mother. It wasn't often that Kate took part of a day off. "Don't worry, Mom.", Chrissy told her. "We'll look after the store. It's a slow day, anyway. You and Mrs. Jenkins have a good time."
Kate wasn't worried in the least. Her two oldest daughters were more than capable of handling anything that came up. And Chrissy was right - the day after Christmas was just about the slowest day of the year. It was the perfect opportunity to go out to lunch with Eunice Jenkins, the Mayor's wife. The two women had been friends for years, and Eunice had offered nothing but support when Kate's husband died.
Having offered to drive, Eunice picked Kate up. "I've got an idea!", Mrs. Jenkins said. "Instead of eating at Howard Johnson's, lets go to that new place that just opened in Pine Grove!"
"Eunice! That's clear in the next county! Are you sure you want to drive all the way over there?"
Her friend nodded. "It's only twenty minutes away. We'll be back in plenty of time to cook supper."
So it was agreed. Eunice eased the Nash Rambler onto the main highway and headed for Pine Grove. "How is Annie doing in school?", Kate asked after they thoroughly discussed each other's Christmas the day before. "I didn't get a chance to talk to her when she was in the store the other day."
Eunice's face lit up. It was obvious that she was very proud of her oldest daughter. "She's doing terrific! Sam and I got her grades in the mail last week - all A's except for one B in something called Calculus, whatever that is. Annie says it's some kind of math. And she loves living in the dorm this year. Not like last year, when she was homesick all the time. I just wish her little sister would take after her. By the way, has Chrissy heard anything from the university?"
"Not yet, but it should be soon. Who knows, we may be sending our little girls off together next September. It's too bad Annie couldn't come with us today."
"I asked her...", Eunice replied, "but she already had plans. She was going to spend the day with a couple of girlfriends..."
The new restaurant did not disappoint. It was far fancier than anything Kate and Eunice were used to back home. A neatly-uniformed hostess greeted them at the door and ushered them to a table. "Wow, this is some place!", Kate exclaimed. "And it's not that expensive, either."
A waitress brought them glasses of water and took their orders. While they waited, the place began to fill up. Kate, facing the door, noticed a group of girls come in. One, a tall, lanky girl with brown hair and glasses, caught her attention right away. "Eunice! There's Annie!"
"What?" Eunice looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, there was Annie, wearing the new wool slacks and white blouse she had gotten for Christmas. She watched the girls be seated at the other end of the restaurant. "That's her, alright...", she said with a wide grin as she started to turn back to Kate. Then something caught her eye. Eunice twisted her head in Annie's direction and gasped. The 19-year-old had a cigarette between her lips and was lighting it.
"What's the matter?", Kate whispered. "Is something wrong?"
Eunice nodded. "I'll say there's something wrong!", she hissed. "Look - Annie's smoking!"
Kate looked over at the table and let out a small gasp of her own. Sure enough, Annie was puffing away on a cigarette, quite unaware that anyone she knew was in the restaurant. "I don't believe it..."
"Neither do I.", a shaken Eunice said. "I've warned her and Sheila a thousand times about that. I told them I better NEVER catch them smoking, no matter how old they were. I've got a good mind to go over there right now..."
Seeing Eunice starting to get up, Kate took her hand. "Don't do that.", she said, trying to calm her seething friend. "You'll only make a scene. Wait until she gets home. There will be plenty of time to talk to her then."
"I guess you're right." Eunice settled back in her chair. "I still can't believe it...Annie has never blatantly disobeyed me like this before. I guess I should have realized it, though. When we picked her up at the train station last week, I smelled cigarette smoke on her jacket. She said it was from the person sitting in front of her on the train. I didn't think she ever lied to me, either."
Eunice's appetite was ruined. Kate wasn't that hungry anymore, either, and she motioned for the waitress. No, the girl said, it wasn't too late to cancel their order. The women thanked her, and left the restaurant without Annie having the slightest idea she had been discovered.
"Just wait until she gets home!", Eunice fumed on the way back. "She's going to rue this day for a very, very long time."
Kate sympathized. "I don't blame you. I'd be upset, too, if I caught one of my daughters smoking. She wouldn't sit down for a week."
Eunice calmed down a little. "Sam's always talked me out of punishing the girls the few times I thought they needed it, but not this time. Annie's going to get the same thing I got the time my mom caught me smoking when I was 18, whether he likes it or not. She's never been spanked before but, believe me, her little bottom is in for the belt."
"I don't envy you.", Kate said with a sigh. "I had to give Chrissy a spanking a few months ago, and I think I hated it almost as much as she did. It's all part of being a mom, though..."
"Boy, Annie, it must be great living in the dorm at school!", Laurie Ann said from the back seat of Janice's car. "You can come and go as you please, and there are no parents always telling you what to do!"
Annie puffed out her less than ample chest just a bit. The teenager was starting to enjoy all the adulation she was getting from her three friends. None of them were fortunate enough to be able to go away to school, although they did attend the local community college. That meant living at home. "Yes, it's terrific!", she gushed. "I can stay out all night if I want, and I can cut a class anytime. My mother's not after me to do my homework, either. And no Sheila! That 13-year-old can be a real pest!"
"How many times did you stay out all night last semester?", Terry asked.
That question required some quick thinking. Annie, for all her bravado, never even THOUGHT about staying out all night. Most nights, including weekends, she was in bed by ten. As for skippping class, she wouldn't dare. "Oh, about six or seven.", she replied off the top of her head. "They have a lot of all-night parties there."
"Did you drink?"
"Sure!", Annie said without hesitation. After all, how were they ever going to find out that she was lying. "All the time!" The response gathered a chorus of oooohs and ahhhhs. Who would have ever thought that Annie Jenkins, the Mayor's daughter, would do such a thing!
They were getting close to home by then. Laurie Ann reached into her pocketbook and took out a pack of gum. "Anyone want a stick?", she asked. Three hands reached out. "Does your mom know you smoke, Annie?"
"Of course she does. She even buys cigarettes for me when I'm home. I just wanted some gum, that's all."
The others looked at her in awe. Even Janice took her eyes off the road. "Wow!, the pretty 18-year-old said enviously. "I'd get the spanking of my life if my mother knew I smoked..."
Since being mayor was mostly a ceremonial job and didn't pay much, Sam Jenkins also ran a small insurance agency from his office at the house. He was out calling on a customer when Eunice returned, and returned only a few minutes before his daughter. He knew there was something wrong right away. His wife was sitting in the chair next to the Christmas tree with an angry expression on her face, the likes of which Sam had rarely seen. "What's the matter, Eunice?", he tentatively asked.
Eunice took a deep breath. "I'll tell you what's the matter, Sam Jenkins! Our precious daughter is smoking!"
"Annie?" Sam was dumbfounded. "You're kidding - she'd never do anything like that. Not after all the warnings you've given her."
"It's true.", Eunice replied with a forlorn shake of the head. "Kate Hollings and I went out to eat at that new restaurant in Pine Grove this morning. Who should walk in but Annie and her friends. She sat down at the table and lit a cigarette. I saw it with my own eyes, Sam."
"Did she see you?"
"I don't think so. She was facing the other way when we left. But she is certainly going to hear about it the minute she walks in the door.", Eunice stated adamantly.
Sheila picked an unfortunate time to come bounding down the stairs. "Hi, Daddy!", the 13-year-old squeeled.
The Mayor eyed his youngest daughter sternly. "Hush, child. Your mother and I are talking. He turned his attention back to his wife. "I guess I need to have a talk with her."
Eunice slowly rose from the chair. "Not this time, Sam. Annie needs more than a talking-to. I'm going to handle this situation my way." Her tone of voice left no doubt what she had in mind, nor did it leave any room for debate. Her mind was made up.
Before another word was spoken, the front door opened. "Hi, everybody!", Annie greeted while taking off her coat and hanging it in the closet. "You're home early, Daddy! Can we have a fire in the fireplace tonight? It's supposed to get real cold!"
"Sam, why don't you and Sheila go down to Kate's and get a loaf of bread. And take your time."
Sam took his wife's hint. "Come on, Sheila. Get your jacket on."
A puzzled Annie watched her father and sister leave. "Is something wrong, Mom?"
Eunice didn't mince words. "You were smoking today, weren't you."
Every bit of color disappeared from Annie's thin face. "Of c-course not, Mom...", she said through trembling lips. "Y-You know I w-wouldn't do that."
"Don't you dare lie to me on top of everything else!", Eunice bellowed. "I was at that restaurant in Pine Grove when you came in today! I saw you!"
A desperate Annie shifted her eyes towards the Christmas tree, wishing there was another present underneath that would get her out of this. "I'm sorry, Mom...I was just trying it."
"Just 'trying' it, huh? Well, that's not the way it looked to me!" Eunice pointed towards the stairs. "Go to your room!"
Annie didn't dawdle. Once in her bedroom, she sat down on the bed and wiped her forehead. The 19-year-old considered herself lucky; she had expected a much longer lecture. Just as her heartbeat was returning to normal, the door opened. Annie's eyes widened. Standing in the doorway was Eunice, holding one of Sam's belts in her hand. "M-Mother...w-what are y-you going to do!"
"I'm going to show you what happens to young ladies who don't do as they're told.", Eunice said calmly as she doubled the belt. "Now take down your pants and underpants and bend over the bed."
The teenager jumped to her feet and instinctively put both hands on her seat. "Mother no! You've never spanked me before!"
Eunice snickered. "That's something I'm going to remedy right now. Now get those pants down."
"Please Mommy! I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"
In a flash, Eunice pushed her face-down on the bed and delivered two stinging blows to the seat of the slacks. "Are you going to pull your pants down or am I?"
Slowly, Annie got up. Facing the bed, she lowered her slacks and panties to just above the knees. Two pink stripes stood out on the snow-white, slim buttocks. She bent forward and placed both palms on the mattress. "Please, Mommy...", she whined. "I'm sorry..." Already her eyes were moist.
Eunice took a measured step backward. "You wanted a fire tonight, young lady, and you're going to have one." The doubled-up belt sailed through the air and landed with a vicious SMACK! across the small but girlish bottom.
"OHHHH!", Annie yelped, standing straight up and grasping her behind. "Please Mommy don't! It hurts!" Eunice replied with a blow to her upper thighs and an order to get back in position. "But Mommy!"
"Don't 'but Mommy' me!", the angry Eunice shouted. "Bend back over this instant! And if you move one more time, I'll give you another spanking the day you go back to school! You'll be standing up on the train all the way there!"
Reluctantly, Annie did. SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! The doubled-up belt took no time at all to turn her bottomcheeks a glowing red. "Aieeeeee! Aieeeeee! Nooooooo! Ohhhhhhhh! Pleeeease! No moooooore! Aieeeeeee!" SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! "Mommmmmy..."
"Daddy, how come Mom wanted us to leave?", Sheila asked on the way to Kate's. "We have plenty of bread. What did Annie do?"
Sam was waiting for that. "Well, Hon...she was caught smoking today. You know how often Mom's warned you two about that. Your mom decided that Annie deserved a spanking for what she did, and I have to agree with her."
The petite 13-year-old thought about what her father just said. "You and Mom are right. Annie does deserve a spanking. I just hope I never do anything that bad..."
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! "Are you ever going to smoke a cigarette again?", Eunice demanded, poised to deliver yet another burning kiss with the belt to Annie's swollen, welted backside.
"No Mommy...", Annie whispered through her tears, "I promise."
Eunice lowered her arm, letting the belt rest against her leg. "Good. You can pull your pants up now. But don't EVER do that again, or this won't be the last time you have a sore bottom. Do I make myself clear?"
Annie shakily stood straight up. "Yes, Mommy.", she sniffled, wincing as her slacks and panties touched the crimson skin of her thighs and buttocks. It was too much. "Oh Mommy, I'm sorry!", she sobbed as one hand massaged her enflamed seat.
"Now, now...", her mother comforted, putting her arm around Annie's shoulder. "You go ahead and have a good cry." She gave her a kiss on the forehead and started to leave the room. "Stay up here until supper's ready. I'll call you when it's on the table..."
Sam heeded his wife's suggestion to take his time. After picking up a loaf of bread, he and Sheila headed for the Soda Shop and bought a gallon of ice cream. "I'll tell you what we're gonna do tonight...", he told her. "After the dishes are done, we'll build a fire in the fireplace, turn off all the lights, light up the Christmas tree, and have some ice cream. How does that sound?"
It was over an hour before they got home. While Sam and Eunice talked in the living room, Sheila went straight to Annie's bedroom. She found her big sister combing her hair in front of the mirror, her eyes still red and puffy. The slacks had been replaced by a long, pleated skirt. "Did Mom really spank you?"
Annie's already red face started burning, though not nearly as bad as the blaze raging in the seat of her panties. She nodded weakly. "Did it hurt?", the inquisitive youngster asked.
Again, Annie nodded. "Yes...", she said softly, having to choke back another onrush of tears. "It really hurt."
"Sheila Jenkins! You leave your sister alone! Get out of here this instant!" Eunice's voice sent her scrambling. She couldn't leave the room fast enough. "Are you feeling better, Dear?", she asked Annie. "Your father bought some ice cream while he was out. We'll have it after supper."
A small smile creased Annie's face. "That sounds good, Mom." And, just as promised, the family gathered around the fireplace that evening. Sam and Eunice took the couch, while Sheila sat cross-legged on the floor. Annie sat on the chair farthest from the fire, a soft pillow under her, and ate her dessert. The logs in the fireplace weren't the only things giving off heat in the living room that night...
The End Part 4