The Suspicious Mr. Greenley (2 page)

“Girl, you are eighteen years old, graduating from high school.  Your Mama shouldn’t have to ask you for help.  Why, your Mama and me were married when she was your age!”

“I didn’t hear her, Daddy!  I’m so sorry!” Kady apologized, desperate to stop him from spanking her.  A spanking on top of her sore bottom would be unbearable.

“You were shirking responsibility, girl.  You’re old enough to know better and if you don’t, then you need a good lesson.”  William’s mind was made up.  “No more arguing, Kady Jo.  You go upstairs and get ready for bed.  I’ll be up in ten minutes, and if you aren’t ready for a spanking, you’ll get a second spanking with my belt.”

Kady burst into tears of self-pity and took off running for the stairs.  Arguing now would be futile… unless she was prepared to confess that Mr. Greenley already spanked her!  And, if she did that, her Daddy was liable to give her another spanking for trespassing and spying on the man after he’d warned her to leave the man in peace.  No, there was no point in arguing.  She would simply have to suffer another tanning, and tell her Mama that she was sick in the morning so she wouldn’t have to go to school all day and sit in those hard desk chairs!

Kady knew better than to leave her clothing lying on the floor, or even in a chair.  She neatly folded her pants, reminding herself to sew the rip before she put them in the wash   and her Mama asked questions.  Her shirt and her bra went into the basket in her closet.  She took out a pair of pajamas instead of the nightgown she preferred.  She would have more modesty if she was wearing pajama bottoms.  She tied them tightly at the waist, and then put on the top and buttoned it all the way to the top.  The part she hated most came next, but she knew that disrespecting her Daddy would earn her a belting, and that was to be avoided, no matter how embarrassing it was to prepare for a hairbrush spanking.  Kady cringed as she picked up her hairbrush, but she dutifully placed it on her bed, and then she positioned herself, laying over the foot of her bed so her feet were on the floor and her butt on the edge of her bed, turned up for the promised spanking.  Now all she had to do was lie there and wait on her Daddy to come in the room and make her backside hurt even more than it already did.  Just because he said he would be up in ten minutes didn’t mean he would be there in ten minutes.  There were times he came right away, but other times he would wait until a radio program he was listening to finished.  Other times he would help one of the other children with a math problem, and other times he felt the time lying there waiting for a spanking would make more of an impression than the actual punishment.  After several minutes of lying there, Kady knew that he was making her wait on purpose.

Finally, she heard his heavy step on the stairs, and in the hallway as he came to her room.  He knocked once on the door, and waited until she called out, “Come in, Daddy.”  It was a ritual he observed once her body turned womanly. 

“Have you given your behavior some thought, Kady Jo?” William asked.

“Yes, sir.”  Kady was a smart girl and she knew the required answer.

“And?”

“I truly didn’t hear Mama today, Daddy, but I will try harder to help out more without having to be asked.”

“I am disappointed that it takes a spanking to point that out to you, girl.  Your Mama works so hard, and you are old enough to be of help to her.  Until you graduate and get a job, you will make yourself available to your Mama… Is that clear?”

“Yes, Daddy.  I’ll do better,” she promised.

“I am sure you will,” he calmly agreed, picking up her hairbrush.  William sometimes wished Kady was a little girl again and he could simply use his hand, but he didn’t feel it was right for a father to touch his grown daughter’s buttocks.  A hairbrush was a lot harder than his hand, and this spanking would be more severe than he liked.  Still, he wasn’t a man to shirk his duty, and Kady Jo needed reminding that she was no longer a child.  He gave the usual warning, “Keep your hands clasped in front of you, little girl, and no kicking and no twisting about.  I expect you to take this spanking without a bit of fuss, or I will be forced to hold you down, give you double, and then you’ll get my belt for acting like a baby.”

Kady tried, she really did, but the hairbrush really hurt on her already sore backside, and there was simply no way she could take her spanking without twisting and kicking and reaching back.  William was angered by her lack of self-control, and he ended up taking her over his knee and giving her a much worse spanking with the hairbrush.   Kady then had to stand and put her hands on the foot of her bed while he took off his belt, doubled it, and gave her twenty hard cracks. 

“You go straight to bed, girl, and don’t even consider asking your Mama to let you stay home from school tomorrow.  You will be on the bus when it comes, and sit on that spanking all day long.  Maybe when you get home tomorrow you’ll be anxious to help your Mama.”

Kady cried herself to sleep that night, but she got up in the morning and got ready for school.  She didn’t eat much breakfast because it really hurt to sit at the table, but she was on the bus when it came, and somehow she made it through the long day.  It didn’t occur to her to try and find a moment of free time after school.  Her Mama made sure she had plenty of chores to do, but doing the chores didn’t stop her mind from thinking and plotting revenge on one Mr. Greenley.  It was his fault she was so darn sore!  And he was going to pay, too!  Just as soon as she could think of something really mean!  And something that no one would suspect her of doing!  She didn’t want another spanking… not ever!

Chapter Two

Steven shaved and then put on his Sunday shirt and tie, and then made an effort to comb his hair.  He hated getting dressed up but knew that he couldn’t very well set foot in the small church in Cinder without cleaning up and putting on a suit.  He’d done nothing but think about the accusations the little redhead made on Thursday and he wondered how many others thought him suspicious.  He wasn’t doing anything but building furniture in his shed, and it was time to put folks’ minds at rest.  Maybe then they would give him some peace and the darn kids would stop snooping around.  He didn’t need that. 

He drove his old, battered truck into town and parked in the Church’s parking lot.  He could feel eyes on him, but he merely nodded at people and went inside and found the pew his folks used to sit in when he was small.  He really should get into the habit of attending church, but that meant socializing with people and he wasn’t good at that…  Not after being held captive for so long.

Steven kept his eyes straight ahead, but couldn’t help noticing when a family came in and sat right in front of him.  He recognized the little redhead immediately and felt his face turn red from the neck up
!  She wasn’t a kid!  He’d taken down her britches and spanked her, and she was as grown up as she claimed to be!
  She was beautiful, too, dressed in a pretty pink dress trimmed with lace at the neckline. 
Now what should he do?
Steven wondered, but the organ started playing then, and the service started.  There was no way he could sneak out now…!

His second shock was when he heard her sing!  Her voice was beautiful and Steven was mesmerized.  He found himself wondering if she’d told her Father that he turned her over his knee, but for some reason, he was sure she hadn’t.  Her parents were obviously good people and her claims of being ‘not that kind of girl’ made sense now.  He’d mortally embarrassed her by lowering her britches for that last spanking.  It wasn’t well done of him and Steven knew he was going to have to apologize, if she gave him a chance to!

Kady wished the Reverend would hurry and finish his long-winded sermon.  Sitting on the hard pew was difficult and her Mama had already given her one warning look.  If she did it again, her Daddy would notice, and the penalty for misbehaving in church was a sound spanking the minute they got home, and then sitting on a hard dining room chair, facing the wall, for a solid two hours.  She knew for a fact her father didn’t consider her too old to face that punishment; she’d learned that the hard way six months ago when Connie Gleason caught her eye and started mouthing gossip from across the aisle!  Kady often suspected that her own Mama wasn’t too old for a spanking, either, if she somehow displeased her husband.  Kady didn’t think that right, but her Daddy had told her a few years ago that no female ever got too old for a good spanking, and he’d looked at her Mama right after he said that.  Kady was pretty sure she’d heard one of those spankings one night when she awoke from a sound sleep and wanted a cold drink of water from the kitchen.  She’d walked down the hallway, past her parents’ bedroom and heard what sounded like slaps against bare skin, and her Mama’s soft murmurs of protest.  Kady never mentioned it, of course. 

Finally, the Minister stopped speaking, and it was time for the final hymn.  Kady couldn’t place the voice behind her, but she was enjoying hearing him sing.  She couldn’t wait for the service to end so she could actually look behind her without doing something inappropriate.  She was expected to behave as a lady while in church, and truly, most of the time it wasn’t that difficult, but this Sunday she was dying of curiosity to find out who was sitting right behind her and singing with that great voice.

Steven closed his hymnal and placed it in the holder, and then straightened, fully prepared for the look of chagrin and embarrassment on the pretty little redhead’s face.  He started to speak but was interrupted by her mother.  “Why, Mr. Greenley, it is so good to see you in Church!” Elsie Rogers gave him a big smile.

“Mrs. Rogers, it’s good to see you, too.  Mr. Rogers,” he said cordially, nodding.

“Why don’t you join us for Sunday dinner?” Elsie asked impulsively.  “After all, we are neighbors, and we’ve barely said hello since you returned to Cinder.”

“I wouldn’t want to put you out, Mrs. Rogers,” Steve tried to decline as politely as possible.  The look in the girl’s green eyes was nothing short of outrage and she clearly did not want him to come and sit at the same table with her.

“Nonsense.  We would love to have you, and it will give us a chance to get reacquainted.”

“Elsie is serving fried chicken, son, and no one does fried chicken better,” William said with a grin.  “I don’t imagine you’d want to hurt her feelings, now would you?”

“Of course not.  Thank you for the invitation,” he dutifully replied, positive the little redhead hadn’t mentioned a word about the tanning he gave her a few days ago.

“Just come right on over,” William said as he escorted his wife out of the pew.  The younger children had run outside already, and William said with a wink, “This is our eldest, Kady Jo.  Her Mama and me are real proud of her.  She’s the first in our family to graduate from high school.”

“Kady Jo, I’m Steven,” he said nervously, unsure of her reaction.

“Mr. Greenley,” Kady said formally.  “Daddy, the Reverend is waiting for us by the door,” she pointed out.

“Oh, come along, Elsie.  We’ll see you at the house, Steven.”

“I’ll be there,” Steven replied, his face red as Kady glared at him behind her father’s back.  “I thought you were a little kid,” he whispered.  She turned up her pert little nose and hurried after her parents.

* * *

Kady was furious that her mother invited Steven Greenley to have Sunday dinner with them! “Mama, why did you invite that awful man to come and eat with us?” she asked as soon as they were in the car and headed home.

“Why, Kady Jo!  What an unkind thing to say, and right after Church, too!” Elsie scolded.

“What do you have against Greenley, daughter?” William caught his daughter’s eye in the rear view mirror.

“I don’t trust him, Daddy!”

“The man served our country.  He was a prisoner of war, Kady.  He was in a hospital for a long time to recover.  I think we all owe him a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.”

“Tommy Fellow’s Pop heard that Mr. Greenley won’t talk about the war,” Kady’s twelve year old brother announced.

“That is his right, Kevin.  Kyle, stop kicking Keith.”  He glanced sideways to make sure the two youngest, Karen and Kasey were perfectly fine.  Karen was in the car seat, Kasey snug in her Mama’s arms.  “Talking about war can be painful.”

“I still think he is up to no good.  Why else would he come back here after all these years?”

“Maybe because his grandparents left their place to him?” William said softly, and when Kady sighed, he added, “I expect all of my children to make Steven feel welcome, is that clear?”

The boys answered immediately, but Kady merely looked out the window.  “Kady Jo, what has gotten into you lately?”

“I don’t trust Mr. Greenley, Daddy,” she said forthrightly.  “I will be polite, however, since it will please you and Mama.”

“See that you are,” William replied, and then turned his attention to Elsie, leaving his daughter to sulk in peace.

Of course Kady Jo was pressed into service the very minute the car pulled into the drive, her Mama giving her a list of things that she was to do at once.  Kady knew better than argue.  Her Daddy made it clear she was to be of help, and as long as she lived under his roof, she would obey.  The alternative was a sore bottom, and she still wasn’t sitting without discomfort.  Her father had given her a couple of strange looks, but refrained from commenting.  Kady was sure she would die if Steven Greenley tattled on her.  Knowing her stern parent, she would probably get another spanking for earning one from that horrid man!

Steven knocked on the door shortly after they arrived home and Kady was relieved she was spared having to run and greet him again.  She heard her Daddy explain that his wife and daughter were in the kitchen putting the finish to Sunday dinner.  William invited Steven to have a seat and Kady strained to hear their conversation as she set the dining room table.

Her Mama called everyone to the table and Kady was pleased she didn’t have to make conversation.  Her parents were talking enough for all of them, and Steven was busy answering their questions.  Kady learned that Steven was a craftsman and was busy building furniture for several stores in the surrounding counties.  By the end of the meal she felt guilty for thinking all of those rotten things about him.  She caught herself smiling and hanging on his every word.