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Partially based on true events, and I wanted to give it a happy ending. Really hope you enjoy it! ", "description_bbcode_parsed": "This is one of my older series of stories. Partially based on true events, and I wanted to give it a happy ending. Really hope you enjoy it! ", "writing": "The next day a police officer showed up at the Carmichael’s while the boys were in school and had a long talk with Mrs. Carmichael. They showed up again that evening and swabbed the inside of Audie and Kevin’s mouth with a Q-tip, without explaining why. Audie let them, trusting the Carmichaels for the decision, relieved that he didn’t have to make it. He had reached the limit of his capability. He couldn’t cope on his own any more.\n\nAudie and Kevin had been given the spare bedroom for the duration. Both Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael were grateful that they had the room and that it had a double bed. Audie was given a pair of Greg’s PJ’s to wear to bed and Kevin was given an extra large T-shirt to wear like a nightshirt, it being understood that they couldn’t sleep naked any more. Mrs. Carmichael took over for Audie as cook and babysitter for Kevin, relieving the older boy of all his responsibilities for the first time in a long, long while. This helped Audie cope immensely. He didn’t have to worry about caring for his little brother on top of the major worry about the disruption in his young life.\n\nA couple of days later a policeman showed up in the evening accompanied by a lady social worker. Audie and Kevin were gathered together and the lady told them the sad news. The mouth swabs had collected samples of the boys’ DNA. This had been analyzed and compared to that of a previously unidentified body found in the burned out clinic, unidentified because it had been burned beyond recognition. Social Services had been adamant that a ten and 6-year old should never be forced to view that charred corpse, so they had made use of the crime lab’s DNA analysis capabilities. Audie and Kevin turned out to be half-brothers in the biological sense, although no pair of biologically full brothers could be any closer in any other way. That was of no concern, however, and the boys weren’t even told of that. What they were told was that their mother was dead, murdered along with the doctor, nurse, and receptionist in the bombed out First Street Clinic. The social worker, familiar with the reactions of children to such terrible news, was quite surprised at Audie’s response.\n\n\"What’s going to happen to us now?\" was all he asked, showing almost no concern for the loss of his mother.\n\nMrs. Carmichael didn’t let the social worker answer that. \"You will stay here with us for the time being,\" she said with a finality that dared the social worker to gainsay it. Actually, the social worker was only too glad that a \"situation\" was already at hand for this tragedy. She had come equipped with the necessary paperwork, having already talked it over with the Carmichaels when the boys were in school and the Carmichaels became foster parents until a permanent situation could be found.\n\n______________\n\nSummer came. Audie and Greg were both promoted to the sixth grade. Kevin was promoted to first grade. Relieved of his awesome responsibilities as Kevin’s defacto parent, Audie was finally able to play with other boys his own age. He could because he had the time. He didn’t have to be home to cook. He didn’t have to be home so that Kevin wouldn’t be left alone. He didn’t have to worry where his little brother was or what he was up to. Mrs. Carmichael was doing all that. In addition to taking advantage of that, Audie didn’t have to admit to being a bastard. He allowed himself to adopt Greg’s other friends as his own. Kevin, too, found friends in the neighborhood. The boys were finally allowed to be boys. They both completely forgot about their mother, not even knowing what had happened to her body, or caring. It was the happiest summer either of them had ever had. What few belongings they had left in the apartment were sold at an estate auction and the money, what little there was of it, was put in a savings account for the two boys. Audie let Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael take care of all that, trusting them explicitly. Not caring, actually.\n\nOnly one incident marred the picture. One of Kevin’s new friends had swiped some cigarettes from his father and a book of matches and had convinced Kevin to light up in the Carmichaels’ garage. Kevin had no experience resisting other boy’s demands, he was used to doing what he was told. Audie had smelled the smoke and caught them at it.\n\n\"KEVIN!\" he had screamed at his little brother. Kevin’s \"friend\" had tried to bolt when he heard that, but Audie was standing in the doorway and prevented the little boy from escaping. \"What the HELL do you think you are doing?\" Kevin turned white as a sheet when he heard that. His brother had never, never, NEVER, cussed at him before. He knew he was in trouble.\n\n\"I, I, I...\" he stammered, unable to complete the sentence.\n\n\"And who are you?\" Audie had turned to the other boy with that question, asked in Audie’s command voice he had learned in his role as Kevin’s parent. The kid recognized the tone and realized there was no way out. Audie was blocking the door and was defending his sibling.\n\n\"Simon,\" the boy squeaked, as if that was all the answer required.\n\nAudie stormed over to his brother and grabbed the burning cigarette out of the boy’s mouth, threw it to the floor and stomped it out. Simon could have made a break for it at that point, but was too frightened at Audie’s violent, angry action to make the attempt. \"Who’s idea was this?\" Audie demanded of the boys.\n\n\"Simon’s\" Kevin immediately responded, not so much to get the other boy in trouble, or himself out of it, but just to truthfully answer his brother’s question. He did so reflexively without thinking. He was used to doing that.\n\nAudie turned to Simon with a serious frown. \"And what do you have to say to that?\" he demanded.\n\nThat frightened Kevin’s 6-year old friend even more. He had nothing to say. He asked instead. \"What are you going to do to me?\" He was afraid that Audie was going to tear him limb from limb in defense of his little brother, the big boy looked ready to do just that. Audie smiled to himself when he recognized the other boy’s fear. He recognized the question as a confession, which, of course, it was. Audie allowed himself to adopt his parental role.\n\n\"What do you think I should do?\" he asked.\n\nSimon was relieved that Kevin’s big brother was asking questions and not pounding him into the ground. He didn’t have an answer, though. \"I dunno,\" he said.\n\nAudie snorted on hearing that. \"Neither do I,\" he replied. \"We’ll just have to let your mother decide. Where do you live?\"\n\nNow Simon really became frightened. \"Please don’t tell my mother,\" he begged. \"She’ll give me a whippin’!\"\n\nAudie stood up at attention and put his hands on his hips. As sternly as he could he looked down at the shaking youngster in front of him. \"And don’t you think you deserve one, young man?\" he asked ominously.\n\nSimon hung his head and thought it over. It only took a few seconds. He knew he was busted. \"I... I guess so,\" he admitted in a whisper.\n\n\"OK, then,\" Audie said. \"Let’s get you home for your spanking. Come.\" He held out his hand.\n\nSimon began to cry. He allowed the bigger boy to take his hand and walk him home, sniffling all the way. Kevin tagged along, afraid to be alone.\n\nSimon didn’t live very far away, just up the block. The three of them trudged up the steps of Simon’s house and the crying boy opened the door. Simon’s mother rushed in, her maternal ear having picked up the sounds of her child crying. \"What’s going on here?\" she demanded.\n\n\"Tell her, Simon,\" Audie demanded. Simon cried harder and said nothing. \"Tell her!\" Audie yelled and jerked the boy’s hand.\n\nSimon’s mother looked sharply at the bigger boy manhandling her unhappy son. \"Who are you?\" she asked sharply.\n\n\"I’m Kevin’s brother,\" Audie answered, aware that that probably meant nothing to the lady who had asked him and not caring that it didn’t. This wasn’t about him. He jerked Simon’s hand again. \"Tell your mother what you did to my brother!\" There, Audie thought. That ought to focus this properly.\n\n\"Let him go!\" the lady demanded.\n\nWhoops, maybe not. Audie dropped Simon’s hand and scowled, not at Simon, but at his mother.\n\n\"Tell me what this is all about, Simon,\" she barked at her son.\n\nWell, that was better. Getting it from his mother now, Simon decided that he had no choice. He sniffed and wiped his nose on his arm. \"I...I... I took a cigarette from Daddy’s pack and gave it to Kevin,\" he admitted to only one cigarette, actually it was several. He still had some in his pocket if his mother ever cared to frisk him. She didn’t.\n\nAudie didn’t like that spin at all. True, Kevin had taken the cigarette and lit up by himself, and Audie would deal with that later, but he had been coerced into doing so by a new friend. Audie was about to correct this imperfect impression when Simon’s mother, coming to the right conclusion finally, made it unnecessary.\n\n\"Simon!\" she yelled at him. \"You know better than that! Go bring me the paddle. Now!\"\n\nJust like that, Audie thought. Well!\n\n\"NO, Mommy, Noooo!\" Simon cried.\n\n\"Do as I said or you’ll get it double, hear?\" the lady said in a calm but dangerous voice.\n\n\"Oh, man...\" Simon groused. Crying even harder the little boy trudged off out of the room. When he was out of sight his mother turned again to Audie.\n\n\"I’m sorry this happened,\" she said. \"Simon is going to be punished. He won’t do this again.\"\n\n\"Same for Kevin, here,\" Audie replied, just to make sure the lady knew it wasn’t ALL her son’s fault. He didn’t see Kevin stiffen at that news.\n\nIt took much longer than it ought to have, but eventually Simon returned carrying a small, but effective looking hardwood spanking paddle in his hands. About a foot and a half in length, rectangular with a handle, it was made of polished oak and had holes drilled in its business end. Audie had never seen a paddle like that before. Audie wondered what the holes were for, decided that they couldn’t be there for decoration or to reduce the surface area, and concluded that they probably were there to pinch the skin as the paddle struck to make it sting more. He didn’t know about wind resistance and that the holes really were there to reduce the air cushion as the paddle struck the target. In any case, Simon was in for it, Audie realized. Good, he deserved what was coming! With a big sob, Simon handed the paddle to his mother. She took it from his outstretched hand roughly and grabbed it firmly by the handle.\n\n\"Simon Ronald Cobb,\" she barked at her son, shaking the paddle where he could see it, \"you know better than to touch your father’s cigarettes. Now you’re going to get spanked good and hard. Pull down your pants.\"\n\n\"No, mommy, no.\" Simon whined. \"Please don’t spank me. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again, I promise!\"\n\n\"And we’re going to make sure of that right now,\" his mother replied, waving the paddle again. \"Bare that bottom, young man, or I’ll do it for you!\"\n\nThat made it final, even in Simon’s eyes. Bawling all out now, the boy reached for his belt buckle and unfastened it. \"Don’t paddle me hard, Mommy, please!\" he changed the point of his pleading now that he knew he was really going to get it for sure. \"I’m sorry, I really am.\"\n\n\"Not as sorry as you are going to be,\" his mother gave him that hoary old cliché. \"Hurry up and get those pants down. All the way to the floor!\" Simon got his belt undone and fiddled with his pants button. He had to do it by feel because his tears were blinding him. He really didn’t want to do this. He knew from sad experience that the paddle stung!\n\n\"It’s going to hurt, isn’t it?\" he whined, as if asking would make a difference.\n\n\"You bet it’s going to hurt, Simon,\" his mother corroborated the conjecture, as if such was needed. Simon unzipped his pants and slowly drew them down his legs, letting them puddle on the floor. He looked up at his mother with a pleading expression. No luck. \"Underpants, too, Simon,\" she ordered. \"Down to your knees!\" With a really big sob, Simon reached for the elastic band of his boxer shorts and stretched it. With a rueful glance at Audie and Kevin who were staring at him wide-eyed, he jerked his shorts down past his thighs.\n\n\"Oooom,\" intoned Kevin when he saw that. \"naked.\" Audie squeezed his brother’s shoulder to keep him quiet.\n\n\"Bend over and grab your ankles,\" Simon’s mother ordered next when she saw the boy’s underpants come down.\n\n\"No, Mommy, no,\" Simon wailed even as he did as ordered, turning away from the still open front door and the other two boys standing there, then bent down and grabbed his ankles, bending his knees to do so and stretching the elastic of his underpants bundled up around them. \"Don’t give it to me hard! Please! I’m sorry!\"\n\nHis mother approached Simon from the side and raised the boy’s T-shirt up to his neck to get it out of the way. Kevin was treated to a good look at his friend’s bare behind. He let out another \"Ooooom,\" very softly. Audie squeezed his shoulder again.\n\n\"Shooosh.\" Audie mouthed and turned around to watch what was going to happen next. The lady raised the paddle high over her shoulder and brought it down hard on Simon’s bare skin, right across the middle of his crack.\n\nSMACK! \"Owieeee!\" yelled the boy as he felt the first sting of his spanking. \"Not so hard! Not so hard!\" His mother ignored him, raising the paddle a second time and bringing it down again, this time on the boy’s right cheek.\n\nSMACK! \"AYYYYI!\" the boy cried. The lady raised the paddle yet again. Audie saw the bare buttocks in front of him start to redden already. She brought the paddle down on Simon’s little left cheek.\n\nSLAP! \"OOOOOOOW!\" Simon yelled and bawled at the same time. \"Hoo-hoo, bwaaa!\" He got it again, this time across his full fanny on the lower parts.\n\nWHAPPP! \"Ah-HA! OWIEE OWIEE OWIEE! No more, no more, please! It hurts! It hurts!\"\n\n\"Good!\" his mother yelled back at him and raised the weapon yet again, bringing it down once again on the same spot as before.\n\nSMACK! \"IiiiiiIIIEEEEEK!\" Simon wailed at the top of his lungs. With the open door and all, the whole neighborhood knew somebody was getting a spanking for sure! His mother waited a bit after that last one. For some reason, Simon didn’t try to get up during the pause. Audie surmised that the boy knew from previous spankings that he wasn’t to do that. For that matter, Audie also realized that Simon hadn’t tried to cover his burning butt with either hand yet. Maybe he needed both hands grabbing his legs to keep his balance? Or, more likely he just knew how to get a spanking. This couldn’t be his first! Audie stared at the boy’s bare fiery-red seat for a second or two. Finally his mother raised the paddle one last time and brought it down hard diagonally across the other welts.\n\nSMACK! \"OOOOOOW!\" yelled Simon, still boo-hooing away.\n\n\"OK, Simon,\" his mother finally said, loudly enough to be heard above the boy’s crying. \"Stand up!\"\n\nNeeding no other invitation, Simon bolted upright and began vigorously rubbing his backside. \"It hurts, it hurts!\" he wailed between sobs.\n\n\"That’s what happens to boys who take cigarettes!\" his mother reminded him. \"Pull up your pants and go to your room until you finish crying!\"\n\nAudie could clearly see that Simon really wanted to stand there without his pants on and rub what hurt, not caring a whit who saw what, either Audie, Kevin, or any passer-by who could see through the open door. However, he had heard his mother’s latest order and didn’t want the paddle to start up again. Six of those hard strokes was more than enough, so he left off rubbing long enough to pull up his underpants. He rubbed himself a good one before reaching down to retrieve his trousers and pull them up. He didn’t zip up and left the belt dangling as he ran to his room. He planned to pull them all down again when he got there and continue rubbing, but nobody saw that.\n\nSimon’s mother turned to the other two boys and didn’t apologize for her son’s behavior. Instead she barked an order. \"OK, show’s over. Simon’s been punished. You two get home now and take care of what you have to take care of.\" She looked good and purposefully at Kevin, who grimaced at the unfriendly stare. Without saying anything himself, Audie grabbed Kevin’s hand and turned away to head home.\n\nWhen he heard Simon’s door close, Kevin turned his face up to his big brother. \"Are you going to spank me, too, Audie?\"\n\n\"What do you think, Kevie?\" Audie asked in return. Wasn’t it obvious? \"You know better than to smoke. Yes, Kevie, you are going to get a spanking, just like Simon.\"\n\n\"With a paddle?\" asked Kevin, a catch in his voice making it hard to understand.\n\nThat gave Audie a moment’s pause. Was he, Audie, going to give Kevin his spanking? No, he decided. He was tired of being Kevin’s daddy. He wanted to be a brother, a normal kid. He’d had a taste of that for the past couple of months and he liked it. He didn’t want to go back to the bad old days. Having made that decision, he announced it to his surprised brother.\n\n\"I don’t know, Kevie. I’m not going to give you your spanking. I’m just your brother now, we have parents to take care of the discipline. You are going to wait until Mr. Carmichael gets home and tell him what you did and take your spanking from him with whatever he chooses, probably the strap he used on me. You better hope he doesn’t give it to you hard. Greg screamed when he got it.\"\n\n\"Did you, Audie?\" Kevin asked, still unaware that Audie’s spanking had been for show only.\n\n\"Never mind,\" Audie said curtly, letting the smaller boy think what he would.\n\n\"I’d rather get my spanking from you, Audie,\" Kevin then stated softly.\n\n\"I’d give it to you just as hard,\" Audie explained, thinking the younger boy was just trying to get an easier whipping.\n\n\"I know,\" Kevin replied, falsifying Audie’s assumption. \"That one you gave me with the belt hurt! Really bad, Audie.\"\n\n\"I know, Kevie, I meant it to. You needed it to hurt,\" Audie replied without thinking, then he realized what Kevin was saying. \"Then why do you want me to give it to you if you know I’ll make it hurt bad?\" Maybe the boy was worried that a spanking from a man would hurt even worse.\n\n\"Are you mad at me, Audie?\" Kevin asked, ignoring his brother’s question, or maybe just answering it in his own way.\n\nAudie didn’t know how to handle that question. He tried the blunt truth. \"Yes, Kevie, I’m mad at you. Here the Carmichaels go to all that effort to take us in and prevent the police from separating us and sending us to a ’home’ and you pay them back by playing with matches and smoking. That’s mean, Kevie. I’m disappointed in you.\"\n\nKevin started to cry for the first time. \"I’m sorry, Audie. I didn’t do it on purpose. Simon made me.\"\n\n\"No he didn’t, Kevin. He didn’t put a gun to your head. You could have said no. You should have said no. You should have said hell, no!\"\n\nThe cuss word startled Kevin. He began to realize how bad he had been. \"Will the Carmichaels call the police, Audie?\"\n\nAudie realized the real import behind that question, unlike the others. \"No, I don’t think so, Kevin. They won’t send us away. At least I hope they won’t\"\n\nKevin stopped dead in his tracks. He grabbed Audie by the legs and hugged with all his might. \"Oh, Audie, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I don’t want to be sent away. Please spank me yourself and don’t tell Mr. Carmichael!\"\n\nNow Audie had another big decision to make. Would Mr. Carmichael send them away if he knew they played with matches? To save their house from being burnt down? He didn’t think so, but what if? The risks were huge! He couldn’t decide, at least not right away. He stalled for time. \"I’ll think about it, Kevie. No promises.\"\n\n\"Oh, please,\" Kevin begged, \"give it to me with Mr. Carmichael’s strap as hard as you can. Bare like Simon. Just don’t tell Mr. Carmichael! Please!\"\n\nAudie said nothing at that, just resumed walking. Kevin followed, crying softly. When they reached home, Audie turned to his brother and ordered him to go to their room and close the door. Audie would decide what to do and tell Kevin in due time. Kevin hustled inside and hid out behind the closed door. Audie looked for Greg. He wanted to talk.\n\nHe found Greg in the garage, trying to replace the chain on his bicycle which had slipped off for the umpteenth time. It needed a link removed, but Greg didn’t know how to do that.\n\n\"Oh, there you are, Greg,\" Audie said when he peeked in the garage. He looked askance at the floor where the cigarette butt was still where he had thrown it after tearing it out of his brother’s mouth. Audie made a mental note to sweep that up ASAP.\n\n\"Damn chain,\" Greg greeted Audie with a grouse.\n\n\"Never mind the chain, Greg,\" Audie replied, rather petulantly at the irrelevancy \"I need to talk.\"\n\nThe seriousness in Audie’s tone caught Greg’s attention. Something was up. He stopped fussing with the oily chain and wiped his hands on a paper towel. \"Sure, Audie,\" he said, giving the other boy his full attention. \"What’s up?\"\n\n\"It’s Kevin, Greg,\" Audie started in. \"He was playing with his new friend, Simon, and Simon offered him a cigarette and Kevin lit up here in the garage. I caught him at it. There’s the butt.\" Audie pointed to the evidence on the floor.\n\n\"I wondered where that came from,\" Greg said. Neither of his parents smoked and, of course, neither did he.\n\n\"So you saw it?\" Audie sort of asked and stated at the same time. \"Better clean it up, then, before somebody else sees it.\" He grabbed Greg’s paper towel and swept it up.\n\n\"Somebody else being Mom or Dad, I suppose?\" Greg asked with a laugh. This wasn’t serious, or so Greg thought.\n\nAudie ignored the question. \"Greg,\" he said seriously, \"what am I going to do with Kevin? He needs to learn not to do things like this. Simon’s mom paddled him when we told her about it. Good and hard on his bare bottom.\"\n\n\"You aren’t suggesting that happen to Kevin, Are you?\" Greg asked with wide eyes. \"He’s your brother for Christ’s sake!\"\n\nAudie hung his head. \"Yes, he’s my brother. And I’m responsible for him. I don’t want him turning out bad, especially since you all have been so good to us and all. What am I supposed to do?\"\n\n\"Do?\" Greg exclaimed, \"why forget about it. Kevin won’t do that again!\"\n\n\"How do you know?\" Greg shot back. \"What would your dad do to you if he had caught you smoking?\"\n\n\"He did, a couple of years ago. Blistered my ass with that strap. Couldn’t sit down for two days. You can’t want that to happen to Kevie! He’s so little!\"\n\n\"He’s big enough to know right from wrong, Greg. I can’t let him get away with something this bad.\"\n\n\"Smoking a cigarette?\" Greg asked with a sneer. \"That’s not so bad! I bet he didn’t even inhale. I didn’t!\"\n\n\"There’s playing with matches, too, Greg,\" Audie reminded him. \"He had to light the damn thing. What if he burned the house down?\"\n\n\"Oh, come on!\" Greg blurted. \"You’re making a mountain out of a molehill here.\"\n\n\"Maybe, but Kevin still needs to be punished. I think he realizes it, too. He asked me to spank him.\"\n\n\"He did!?\" asked Greg, amazed.\n\n\"Yeah,\" Audie admitted, \"but probably just so that we didn’t have to tell your dad.\"\n\n\"You going to do it?\" Greg asked next.\n\n\"What? Spank him or tell your dad?\"\n\n\"Certainly you aren’t going to tell on him, Audie! That’s mean!\"\n\n\"Is it? What would your dad do if we did tell him?\"\n\n\"Bust the poor little guy’s butt good and hard, for sure!\"\n\n\"Would he send us away?\" Audie asked the main question.\n\nGreg stared at Audie like he was a stranger. \"Huh?\" he asked, stupefied. \"Send you away? God no, Audie. You’re family by now!\"\n\n\"You can’t mean that,\" Audie said, trying to soak that all in.\n\nGreg suddenly saw where all of this had been heading from the start. He was horrified at Audie’s fears. Send them away? Never. Suddenly he was confronted with a profound revelation. In the few short weeks since Audie and Kevin had come to live with them an amazing transformation had taken place. Greg no longer thought of Audie as a friend. They were brothers. That realization hit him as hard as anything ever had before. Without thinking he rushed Audie and embraced the startled boy in a tight bear hug, getting Audie’s shirt oily in the process (the paper towel hadn’t done a proper job). \"Audie, Audie,\" he whispered in his ear. \"We’re family now. We won’t send you away, never. I won’t let it happen. No, sir!\"\n\nAudie was startled beyond description. He teared up and hugged back. \"Gregory,\" he whispered, \"you mean it?\"\n\n\"You bet! Don’t worry a bit about being sent away. Won’t happen. End of story!\"\n\nAudie broke the embrace. He stared into Greg’s eyes. \"Then we have to tell your dad about Kevin. He needs to learn to behave. He even knows that. He’s expecting a spanking, needs it and knows it. Just so that’s all he gets and we can stay with you.\"\n\n\"I don’t agree with you, bro, but you seem determined. Poor Kevie.\"\n\n\"What did you call me?\" Audie asked.\n\n\"What? Oh, ’bro’. It’s short for ’brother’.\"\n\nAudie choked up. He turned away from Greg to hide the tear in his eye.\n\nWhen Mr. Carmichael made it home from work, Audie let him get settled, then hit him with the problem.\n\nMr. Carmichael?\" he asked. \"Have you got a minute? We need to talk with you.\"\n\n\"Sure, Audie,\" Mr. Carmichael said, putting down his newspaper and sitting up in his easy chair. \"We? Who else?\"\n\n\"Kevin, Sir. I’ll go get him.\" Audie hustled off to their room and knocked on the door.\n\n\"Come in,\" Kevin answered with a quaver in his voice. Audie opened the door.\n\n\"It’s time, Kevie. Mr. Carmichael’s home. Let’s go tell him what you did.\"\n\nKevin looked up at Audie with the saddest expression on his face. \"I’m sorry Audie,\" he said softly.\n\n\"I know you are, Squirt,\" Audie answered. \"Let’s go take care of it, OK? Just like we discussed earlier.\"\n\n\"Will it hurt really, really bad, Audie?\"\n\n\"Probably,\" Audie answered. He didn’t say \"definitely\", remembering his own spanking from Mr. Carmichael. \"Go ahead and yell if you have to, Kevie. Don’t try to hold it in to impress me, OK? If it stings bad, sing out.\"\n\n\"OK, Audie,\" Kevin whispered and followed his brother out to the living room where Mr. Carmichael was waiting.\n\n(to be concluded)", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "The next day a police officer showed up at the Carmichael’s while the boys were in school and had a long talk with Mrs. Carmichael. They showed up again that evening and swabbed the inside of Audie and Kevin’s mouth with a Q-tip, without explaining why. Audie let them, trusting the Carmichaels for the decision, relieved that he didn’t have to make it. He had reached the limit of his capability. He couldn’t cope on his own any more.

Audie and Kevin had been given the spare bedroom for the duration. Both Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael were grateful that they had the room and that it had a double bed. Audie was given a pair of Greg’s PJ’s to wear to bed and Kevin was given an extra large T-shirt to wear like a nightshirt, it being understood that they couldn’t sleep naked any more. Mrs. Carmichael took over for Audie as cook and babysitter for Kevin, relieving the older boy of all his responsibilities for the first time in a long, long while. This helped Audie cope immensely. He didn’t have to worry about caring for his little brother on top of the major worry about the disruption in his young life.

A couple of days later a policeman showed up in the evening accompanied by a lady social worker. Audie and Kevin were gathered together and the lady told them the sad news. The mouth swabs had collected samples of the boys’ DNA. This had been analyzed and compared to that of a previously unidentified body found in the burned out clinic, unidentified because it had been burned beyond recognition. Social Services had been adamant that a ten and 6-year old should never be forced to view that charred corpse, so they had made use of the crime lab’s DNA analysis capabilities. Audie and Kevin turned out to be half-brothers in the biological sense, although no pair of biologically full brothers could be any closer in any other way. That was of no concern, however, and the boys weren’t even told of that. What they were told was that their mother was dead, murdered along with the doctor, nurse, and receptionist in the bombed out First Street Clinic. The social worker, familiar with the reactions of children to such terrible news, was quite surprised at Audie’s response.

"What’s going to happen to us now?" was all he asked, showing almost no concern for the loss of his mother.

Mrs. Carmichael didn’t let the social worker answer that. "You will stay here with us for the time being," she said with a finality that dared the social worker to gainsay it. Actually, the social worker was only too glad that a "situation" was already at hand for this tragedy. She had come equipped with the necessary paperwork, having already talked it over with the Carmichaels when the boys were in school and the Carmichaels became foster parents until a permanent situation could be found.

______________

Summer came. Audie and Greg were both promoted to the sixth grade. Kevin was promoted to first grade. Relieved of his awesome responsibilities as Kevin’s defacto parent, Audie was finally able to play with other boys his own age. He could because he had the time. He didn’t have to be home to cook. He didn’t have to be home so that Kevin wouldn’t be left alone. He didn’t have to worry where his little brother was or what he was up to. Mrs. Carmichael was doing all that. In addition to taking advantage of that, Audie didn’t have to admit to being a bastard. He allowed himself to adopt Greg’s other friends as his own. Kevin, too, found friends in the neighborhood. The boys were finally allowed to be boys. They both completely forgot about their mother, not even knowing what had happened to her body, or caring. It was the happiest summer either of them had ever had. What few belongings they had left in the apartment were sold at an estate auction and the money, what little there was of it, was put in a savings account for the two boys. Audie let Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael take care of all that, trusting them explicitly. Not caring, actually.

Only one incident marred the picture. One of Kevin’s new friends had swiped some cigarettes from his father and a book of matches and had convinced Kevin to light up in the Carmichaels’ garage. Kevin had no experience resisting other boy’s demands, he was used to doing what he was told. Audie had smelled the smoke and caught them at it.

"KEVIN!" he had screamed at his little brother. Kevin’s "friend" had tried to bolt when he heard that, but Audie was standing in the doorway and prevented the little boy from escaping. "What the HELL do you think you are doing?" Kevin turned white as a sheet when he heard that. His brother had never, never, NEVER, cussed at him before. He knew he was in trouble.

"I, I, I..." he stammered, unable to complete the sentence.

"And who are you?" Audie had turned to the other boy with that question, asked in Audie’s command voice he had learned in his role as Kevin’s parent. The kid recognized the tone and realized there was no way out. Audie was blocking the door and was defending his sibling.

"Simon," the boy squeaked, as if that was all the answer required.

Audie stormed over to his brother and grabbed the burning cigarette out of the boy’s mouth, threw it to the floor and stomped it out. Simon could have made a break for it at that point, but was too frightened at Audie’s violent, angry action to make the attempt. "Who’s idea was this?" Audie demanded of the boys.

"Simon’s" Kevin immediately responded, not so much to get the other boy in trouble, or himself out of it, but just to truthfully answer his brother’s question. He did so reflexively without thinking. He was used to doing that.

Audie turned to Simon with a serious frown. "And what do you have to say to that?" he demanded.

That frightened Kevin’s 6-year old friend even more. He had nothing to say. He asked instead. "What are you going to do to me?" He was afraid that Audie was going to tear him limb from limb in defense of his little brother, the big boy looked ready to do just that. Audie smiled to himself when he recognized the other boy’s fear. He recognized the question as a confession, which, of course, it was. Audie allowed himself to adopt his parental role.

"What do you think I should do?" he asked.

Simon was relieved that Kevin’s big brother was asking questions and not pounding him into the ground. He didn’t have an answer, though. "I dunno," he said.

Audie snorted on hearing that. "Neither do I," he replied. "We’ll just have to let your mother decide. Where do you live?"

Now Simon really became frightened. "Please don’t tell my mother," he begged. "She’ll give me a whippin’!"

Audie stood up at attention and put his hands on his hips. As sternly as he could he looked down at the shaking youngster in front of him. "And don’t you think you deserve one, young man?" he asked ominously.

Simon hung his head and thought it over. It only took a few seconds. He knew he was busted. "I... I guess so," he admitted in a whisper.

"OK, then," Audie said. "Let’s get you home for your spanking. Come." He held out his hand.

Simon began to cry. He allowed the bigger boy to take his hand and walk him home, sniffling all the way. Kevin tagged along, afraid to be alone.

Simon didn’t live very far away, just up the block. The three of them trudged up the steps of Simon’s house and the crying boy opened the door. Simon’s mother rushed in, her maternal ear having picked up the sounds of her child crying. "What’s going on here?" she demanded.

"Tell her, Simon," Audie demanded. Simon cried harder and said nothing. "Tell her!" Audie yelled and jerked the boy’s hand.

Simon’s mother looked sharply at the bigger boy manhandling her unhappy son. "Who are you?" she asked sharply.

"I’m Kevin’s brother," Audie answered, aware that that probably meant nothing to the lady who had asked him and not caring that it didn’t. This wasn’t about him. He jerked Simon’s hand again. "Tell your mother what you did to my brother!" There, Audie thought. That ought to focus this properly.

"Let him go!" the lady demanded.

Whoops, maybe not. Audie dropped Simon’s hand and scowled, not at Simon, but at his mother.

"Tell me what this is all about, Simon," she barked at her son.

Well, that was better. Getting it from his mother now, Simon decided that he had no choice. He sniffed and wiped his nose on his arm. "I...I... I took a cigarette from Daddy’s pack and gave it to Kevin," he admitted to only one cigarette, actually it was several. He still had some in his pocket if his mother ever cared to frisk him. She didn’t.

Audie didn’t like that spin at all. True, Kevin had taken the cigarette and lit up by himself, and Audie would deal with that later, but he had been coerced into doing so by a new friend. Audie was about to correct this imperfect impression when Simon’s mother, coming to the right conclusion finally, made it unnecessary.

"Simon!" she yelled at him. "You know better than that! Go bring me the paddle. Now!"

Just like that, Audie thought. Well!

"NO, Mommy, Noooo!" Simon cried.

"Do as I said or you’ll get it double, hear?" the lady said in a calm but dangerous voice.

"Oh, man..." Simon groused. Crying even harder the little boy trudged off out of the room. When he was out of sight his mother turned again to Audie.

"I’m sorry this happened," she said. "Simon is going to be punished. He won’t do this again."

"Same for Kevin, here," Audie replied, just to make sure the lady knew it wasn’t ALL her son’s fault. He didn’t see Kevin stiffen at that news.

It took much longer than it ought to have, but eventually Simon returned carrying a small, but effective looking hardwood spanking paddle in his hands. About a foot and a half in length, rectangular with a handle, it was made of polished oak and had holes drilled in its business end. Audie had never seen a paddle like that before. Audie wondered what the holes were for, decided that they couldn’t be there for decoration or to reduce the surface area, and concluded that they probably were there to pinch the skin as the paddle struck to make it sting more. He didn’t know about wind resistance and that the holes really were there to reduce the air cushion as the paddle struck the target. In any case, Simon was in for it, Audie realized. Good, he deserved what was coming! With a big sob, Simon handed the paddle to his mother. She took it from his outstretched hand roughly and grabbed it firmly by the handle.

"Simon Ronald Cobb," she barked at her son, shaking the paddle where he could see it, "you know better than to touch your father’s cigarettes. Now you’re going to get spanked good and hard. Pull down your pants."

"No, mommy, no." Simon whined. "Please don’t spank me. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again, I promise!"

"And we’re going to make sure of that right now," his mother replied, waving the paddle again. "Bare that bottom, young man, or I’ll do it for you!"

That made it final, even in Simon’s eyes. Bawling all out now, the boy reached for his belt buckle and unfastened it. "Don’t paddle me hard, Mommy, please!" he changed the point of his pleading now that he knew he was really going to get it for sure. "I’m sorry, I really am."

"Not as sorry as you are going to be," his mother gave him that hoary old cliché. "Hurry up and get those pants down. All the way to the floor!" Simon got his belt undone and fiddled with his pants button. He had to do it by feel because his tears were blinding him. He really didn’t want to do this. He knew from sad experience that the paddle stung!

"It’s going to hurt, isn’t it?" he whined, as if asking would make a difference.

"You bet it’s going to hurt, Simon," his mother corroborated the conjecture, as if such was needed. Simon unzipped his pants and slowly drew them down his legs, letting them puddle on the floor. He looked up at his mother with a pleading expression. No luck. "Underpants, too, Simon," she ordered. "Down to your knees!" With a really big sob, Simon reached for the elastic band of his boxer shorts and stretched it. With a rueful glance at Audie and Kevin who were staring at him wide-eyed, he jerked his shorts down past his thighs.

"Oooom," intoned Kevin when he saw that. "naked." Audie squeezed his brother’s shoulder to keep him quiet.

"Bend over and grab your ankles," Simon’s mother ordered next when she saw the boy’s underpants come down.

"No, Mommy, no," Simon wailed even as he did as ordered, turning away from the still open front door and the other two boys standing there, then bent down and grabbed his ankles, bending his knees to do so and stretching the elastic of his underpants bundled up around them. "Don’t give it to me hard! Please! I’m sorry!"

His mother approached Simon from the side and raised the boy’s T-shirt up to his neck to get it out of the way. Kevin was treated to a good look at his friend’s bare behind. He let out another "Ooooom," very softly. Audie squeezed his shoulder again.

"Shooosh." Audie mouthed and turned around to watch what was going to happen next. The lady raised the paddle high over her shoulder and brought it down hard on Simon’s bare skin, right across the middle of his crack.

SMACK! "Owieeee!" yelled the boy as he felt the first sting of his spanking. "Not so hard! Not so hard!" His mother ignored him, raising the paddle a second time and bringing it down again, this time on the boy’s right cheek.

SMACK! "AYYYYI!" the boy cried. The lady raised the paddle yet again. Audie saw the bare buttocks in front of him start to redden already. She brought the paddle down on Simon’s little left cheek.

SLAP! "OOOOOOOW!" Simon yelled and bawled at the same time. "Hoo-hoo, bwaaa!" He got it again, this time across his full fanny on the lower parts.

WHAPPP! "Ah-HA! OWIEE OWIEE OWIEE! No more, no more, please! It hurts! It hurts!"

"Good!" his mother yelled back at him and raised the weapon yet again, bringing it down once again on the same spot as before.

SMACK! "IiiiiiIIIEEEEEK!" Simon wailed at the top of his lungs. With the open door and all, the whole neighborhood knew somebody was getting a spanking for sure! His mother waited a bit after that last one. For some reason, Simon didn’t try to get up during the pause. Audie surmised that the boy knew from previous spankings that he wasn’t to do that. For that matter, Audie also realized that Simon hadn’t tried to cover his burning butt with either hand yet. Maybe he needed both hands grabbing his legs to keep his balance? Or, more likely he just knew how to get a spanking. This couldn’t be his first! Audie stared at the boy’s bare fiery-red seat for a second or two. Finally his mother raised the paddle one last time and brought it down hard diagonally across the other welts.

SMACK! "OOOOOOW!" yelled Simon, still boo-hooing away.

"OK, Simon," his mother finally said, loudly enough to be heard above the boy’s crying. "Stand up!"

Needing no other invitation, Simon bolted upright and began vigorously rubbing his backside. "It hurts, it hurts!" he wailed between sobs.

"That’s what happens to boys who take cigarettes!" his mother reminded him. "Pull up your pants and go to your room until you finish crying!"

Audie could clearly see that Simon really wanted to stand there without his pants on and rub what hurt, not caring a whit who saw what, either Audie, Kevin, or any passer-by who could see through the open door. However, he had heard his mother’s latest order and didn’t want the paddle to start up again. Six of those hard strokes was more than enough, so he left off rubbing long enough to pull up his underpants. He rubbed himself a good one before reaching down to retrieve his trousers and pull them up. He didn’t zip up and left the belt dangling as he ran to his room. He planned to pull them all down again when he got there and continue rubbing, but nobody saw that.

Simon’s mother turned to the other two boys and didn’t apologize for her son’s behavior. Instead she barked an order. "OK, show’s over. Simon’s been punished. You two get home now and take care of what you have to take care of." She looked good and purposefully at Kevin, who grimaced at the unfriendly stare. Without saying anything himself, Audie grabbed Kevin’s hand and turned away to head home.

When he heard Simon’s door close, Kevin turned his face up to his big brother. "Are you going to spank me, too, Audie?"

"What do you think, Kevie?" Audie asked in return. Wasn’t it obvious? "You know better than to smoke. Yes, Kevie, you are going to get a spanking, just like Simon."

"With a paddle?" asked Kevin, a catch in his voice making it hard to understand.

That gave Audie a moment’s pause. Was he, Audie, going to give Kevin his spanking? No, he decided. He was tired of being Kevin’s daddy. He wanted to be a brother, a normal kid. He’d had a taste of that for the past couple of months and he liked it. He didn’t want to go back to the bad old days. Having made that decision, he announced it to his surprised brother.

"I don’t know, Kevie. I’m not going to give you your spanking. I’m just your brother now, we have parents to take care of the discipline. You are going to wait until Mr. Carmichael gets home and tell him what you did and take your spanking from him with whatever he chooses, probably the strap he used on me. You better hope he doesn’t give it to you hard. Greg screamed when he got it."

"Did you, Audie?" Kevin asked, still unaware that Audie’s spanking had been for show only.

"Never mind," Audie said curtly, letting the smaller boy think what he would.

"I’d rather get my spanking from you, Audie," Kevin then stated softly.

"I’d give it to you just as hard," Audie explained, thinking the younger boy was just trying to get an easier whipping.

"I know," Kevin replied, falsifying Audie’s assumption. "That one you gave me with the belt hurt! Really bad, Audie."

"I know, Kevie, I meant it to. You needed it to hurt," Audie replied without thinking, then he realized what Kevin was saying. "Then why do you want me to give it to you if you know I’ll make it hurt bad?" Maybe the boy was worried that a spanking from a man would hurt even worse.

"Are you mad at me, Audie?" Kevin asked, ignoring his brother’s question, or maybe just answering it in his own way.

Audie didn’t know how to handle that question. He tried the blunt truth. "Yes, Kevie, I’m mad at you. Here the Carmichaels go to all that effort to take us in and prevent the police from separating us and sending us to a ’home’ and you pay them back by playing with matches and smoking. That’s mean, Kevie. I’m disappointed in you."

Kevin started to cry for the first time. "I’m sorry, Audie. I didn’t do it on purpose. Simon made me."

"No he didn’t, Kevin. He didn’t put a gun to your head. You could have said no. You should have said no. You should have said hell, no!"

The cuss word startled Kevin. He began to realize how bad he had been. "Will the Carmichaels call the police, Audie?"

Audie realized the real import behind that question, unlike the others. "No, I don’t think so, Kevin. They won’t send us away. At least I hope they won’t"

Kevin stopped dead in his tracks. He grabbed Audie by the legs and hugged with all his might. "Oh, Audie, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I don’t want to be sent away. Please spank me yourself and don’t tell Mr. Carmichael!"

Now Audie had another big decision to make. Would Mr. Carmichael send them away if he knew they played with matches? To save their house from being burnt down? He didn’t think so, but what if? The risks were huge! He couldn’t decide, at least not right away. He stalled for time. "I’ll think about it, Kevie. No promises."

"Oh, please," Kevin begged, "give it to me with Mr. Carmichael’s strap as hard as you can. Bare like Simon. Just don’t tell Mr. Carmichael! Please!"

Audie said nothing at that, just resumed walking. Kevin followed, crying softly. When they reached home, Audie turned to his brother and ordered him to go to their room and close the door. Audie would decide what to do and tell Kevin in due time. Kevin hustled inside and hid out behind the closed door. Audie looked for Greg. He wanted to talk.

He found Greg in the garage, trying to replace the chain on his bicycle which had slipped off for the umpteenth time. It needed a link removed, but Greg didn’t know how to do that.

"Oh, there you are, Greg," Audie said when he peeked in the garage. He looked askance at the floor where the cigarette butt was still where he had thrown it after tearing it out of his brother’s mouth. Audie made a mental note to sweep that up ASAP.

"Damn chain," Greg greeted Audie with a grouse.

"Never mind the chain, Greg," Audie replied, rather petulantly at the irrelevancy "I need to talk."

The seriousness in Audie’s tone caught Greg’s attention. Something was up. He stopped fussing with the oily chain and wiped his hands on a paper towel. "Sure, Audie," he said, giving the other boy his full attention. "What’s up?"

"It’s Kevin, Greg," Audie started in. "He was playing with his new friend, Simon, and Simon offered him a cigarette and Kevin lit up here in the garage. I caught him at it. There’s the butt." Audie pointed to the evidence on the floor.

"I wondered where that came from," Greg said. Neither of his parents smoked and, of course, neither did he.

"So you saw it?" Audie sort of asked and stated at the same time. "Better clean it up, then, before somebody else sees it." He grabbed Greg’s paper towel and swept it up.

"Somebody else being Mom or Dad, I suppose?" Greg asked with a laugh. This wasn’t serious, or so Greg thought.

Audie ignored the question. "Greg," he said seriously, "what am I going to do with Kevin? He needs to learn not to do things like this. Simon’s mom paddled him when we told her about it. Good and hard on his bare bottom."

"You aren’t suggesting that happen to Kevin, Are you?" Greg asked with wide eyes. "He’s your brother for Christ’s sake!"

Audie hung his head. "Yes, he’s my brother. And I’m responsible for him. I don’t want him turning out bad, especially since you all have been so good to us and all. What am I supposed to do?"

"Do?" Greg exclaimed, "why forget about it. Kevin won’t do that again!"

"How do you know?" Greg shot back. "What would your dad do to you if he had caught you smoking?"

"He did, a couple of years ago. Blistered my ass with that strap. Couldn’t sit down for two days. You can’t want that to happen to Kevie! He’s so little!"

"He’s big enough to know right from wrong, Greg. I can’t let him get away with something this bad."

"Smoking a cigarette?" Greg asked with a sneer. "That’s not so bad! I bet he didn’t even inhale. I didn’t!"

"There’s playing with matches, too, Greg," Audie reminded him. "He had to light the damn thing. What if he burned the house down?"

"Oh, come on!" Greg blurted. "You’re making a mountain out of a molehill here."

"Maybe, but Kevin still needs to be punished. I think he realizes it, too. He asked me to spank him."

"He did!?" asked Greg, amazed.

"Yeah," Audie admitted, "but probably just so that we didn’t have to tell your dad."

"You going to do it?" Greg asked next.

"What? Spank him or tell your dad?"

"Certainly you aren’t going to tell on him, Audie! That’s mean!"

"Is it? What would your dad do if we did tell him?"

"Bust the poor little guy’s butt good and hard, for sure!"

"Would he send us away?" Audie asked the main question.

Greg stared at Audie like he was a stranger. "Huh?" he asked, stupefied. "Send you away? God no, Audie. You’re family by now!"

"You can’t mean that," Audie said, trying to soak that all in.

Greg suddenly saw where all of this had been heading from the start. He was horrified at Audie’s fears. Send them away? Never. Suddenly he was confronted with a profound revelation. In the few short weeks since Audie and Kevin had come to live with them an amazing transformation had taken place. Greg no longer thought of Audie as a friend. They were brothers. That realization hit him as hard as anything ever had before. Without thinking he rushed Audie and embraced the startled boy in a tight bear hug, getting Audie’s shirt oily in the process (the paper towel hadn’t done a proper job). "Audie, Audie," he whispered in his ear. "We’re family now. We won’t send you away, never. I won’t let it happen. No, sir!"

Audie was startled beyond description. He teared up and hugged back. "Gregory," he whispered, "you mean it?"

"You bet! Don’t worry a bit about being sent away. Won’t happen. End of story!"

Audie broke the embrace. He stared into Greg’s eyes. "Then we have to tell your dad about Kevin. He needs to learn to behave. He even knows that. He’s expecting a spanking, needs it and knows it. Just so that’s all he gets and we can stay with you."

"I don’t agree with you, bro, but you seem determined. Poor Kevie."

"What did you call me?" Audie asked.

"What? Oh, ’bro’. It’s short for ’brother’."

Audie choked up. He turned away from Greg to hide the tear in his eye.

When Mr. Carmichael made it home from work, Audie let him get settled, then hit him with the problem.

Mr. Carmichael?" he asked. "Have you got a minute? We need to talk with you."

"Sure, Audie," Mr. Carmichael said, putting down his newspaper and sitting up in his easy chair. "We? Who else?"

"Kevin, Sir. I’ll go get him." Audie hustled off to their room and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Kevin answered with a quaver in his voice. Audie opened the door.

"It’s time, Kevie. Mr. Carmichael’s home. Let’s go tell him what you did."

Kevin looked up at Audie with the saddest expression on his face. "I’m sorry Audie," he said softly.

"I know you are, Squirt," Audie answered. "Let’s go take care of it, OK? Just like we discussed earlier."

"Will it hurt really, really bad, Audie?"

"Probably," Audie answered. He didn’t say "definitely", remembering his own spanking from Mr. Carmichael. "Go ahead and yell if you have to, Kevie. Don’t try to hold it in to impress me, OK? If it stings bad, sing out."

"OK, Audie," Kevin whispered and followed his brother out to the living room where Mr. Carmichael was waiting.

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