  |
Back to Chapter 7
Chapter 8 - Robert's Ghosts
Amy and Suzanne slowly walked back to Suzanne's car shortly after dark.
Both of them were stiff from their punishments. Amy noted with amusement
that Suzanne was much more careful about hitting the speed-bumps on the
way back. Suzanne's cautious manner of driving had returned, and then
some.
When it became clear to Suzanne that Amy was perfectly willing to
forgive her for her behavior in the morning, she seemed almost bubbly
with happiness. On their way back Suzanne seemed to be happily lost in
thought. For once she seemed to have something else on her mind besides
her next photo shoot. It was strange for Amy to see Suzanne like this.
Amy started to wonder what had gone on between Suzanne and Robert while
she was asleep.
----------
Amy's problems with her history of economics class were not over. The
make-up term paper loomed over her and Wendy. That night Amy e-mailed
Burnside to ask her if she and Wendy could do a joint paper. Burnside
surprised her by responding within a few minutes.
"Have it your way. Remember that double the researchers means double the
paper. Hope you know what you are doing. -Burnside-."
Amy called Wendy with the news. They agreed that they needed to meet
early the next morning. Amy then decided to have Wendy drive her to
Robert's place to see what insight he could give them on choosing a
topic.
Amy and Wendy showed up at his apartment at 8:00. He delayed going to
work to help them with their problem. He posed a question to Wendy that
had never occurred to her, her family was in trade, why not research
something related to her father's business?
Robert's probing of Wendy's family history revealed that they had made
most of their fortune selling supplies to the US Army during the Vietnam
War. That's a coincidence; said Robert. Both his father and Amy's
grandfather were lieutenant colonels in charge of buying supplies from
Taiwan during their tours of duty. Robert pulled out a photo album and
showed Amy and Wendy his father's Vietnam War pictures, which also
included many photos of John's father. Most of the shots were of groups
of US officers, but suddenly Wendy's face brightened. She pointed to a
picture of Amy's grandfather and two other US officers posing with a
group of Taiwanese businessmen.
"That's my grandfather!" exclaimed Wendy as she pointed to one of the
Chinese executives. Wendy grabbed the album and thumbed over the next
several pages. She found two more group pictures that included her
grandfather. It turned out that Amy and Wendy were linked in a way that
neither could have imagined; their grandfathers had done business
together.
"Well, it looks like you two have your research topic. My Vietnam books
are on those two shelves. There are a couple about the economic impact
of the Vietnam War and some others on logistics. Amy, your grandfather's
Army file is in that file cabinet, with your father's other papers.
That'll get you started. I got to go. Make sure you lock up when you
leave."
After Robert left, Wendy pulled out her cell phone and called her uncle
in Taipei. In Chinese she asked him to send her any information he had
on her family's contacts with the US Army during the Vietnam War.
Meanwhile, Amy started paging through Robert's books and her
grandfather's military record.
----------
Amy's suspicions about her roommate and her father's friend intensified
over the following weekend. Suzanne was gone and Robert was not picking
up his phone. She did not know what to make of that. It was inevitable
that Suzanne would find another boyfriend, and that Robert at some point
needed to get over Tricia. But, Robert and Suzanne? What on earth did
they have in common? Amy felt jealous, but she knew that she had no
right to feel that way.
Suzanne headed over Robert's place Friday night. She had missed him
tremendously. She felt an excitement that she had rarely felt in her
relationships. While it was true that he was almost twice her age, she
had hopes that this relationship would be different from all the others.
Suzanne's love of photography and the arts had come at a huge price,
loneliness. Most of the men in the art department were self-centered,
irresponsible, or both. Suzanne had gone through several relationships
with guys from her department, none of which had given her any
satisfaction.
Suzanne knew that making a living off the arts was next to impossible
for most people; that a career back-up was needed for any aspiring
artist. Most of her male classmates seemed either not to realize that
fact, or to care. Suzanne saw the same pattern in relationship after
relationship; this guy is going to live off me if we stay together. As a
result of her caution about choosing a partner, Suzanne had become
unpopular among the men in the art department. One of her ex-boyfriends
even tried to spread a rumor that Suzanne was gay.
Robert was as different from her other boyfriends as Suzanne could
imagine. He most certainly had his faults; his age, the ghost of his
dead wife, his lack of any artistic taste, the fact that he seemed to
think that he was right about everything. What made up for all that was
that he was focused, he intensely cared about the other people in his
life, and was more than willing to take the time needed to help others.
Suzanne fell into Robert's arms as soon as she walked through his door.
He had fixed her dinner, but that could wait. She was hungry for
something else. She buried her mouth into his. She pressed her pelvis
against Robert's. The reaction from him was immediate. He reached for
the waistband of her skirt and pushed it off her hips to the floor.
Suzanne suddenly made a strange sight, dressed in winter clothes from
the waist up and nude from the waist down. She struggled with his pants
and pushed them down past his knees. She grabbed his penis and massaged
it, enjoying the feel of Robert's erection throbbing in her hand. Robert
ran his hand between Suzanne's thighs and brushed it past her crotch.
She was wet immediately. Robert pulled off his shirt. He pressed his
nude body against Suzanne's coat. He ran his fingers into her hair and
kissed her hard.
Suddenly they were on the floor. Robert thrust hard, his sweat dripping
onto Suzanne's coat. She dug her fingernails into his bottom, the pain
just enough to excite him even more. Robert took his time, stretching
his orgasm out as long as he could. This time was even better for him.
When they finished, Suzanne suddenly started to laugh. "You know, we
didn't even say hello to each other."
That night, after another round of sex, Suzanne lay across Robert's lap.
He took his time to enjoy the sight of Suzanne's bottom. He studied the
marks remaining from her strapping a few days before, and gently ran his
hand across her bottom cheeks. Suzanne enjoyed the feel of Robert's hand
on her bottom. He pressed between her legs, teasing her. He traced her
labia and bottom hole with the tips of his fingers. Suzanne closed her
eyes, enjoying the intimacy Robert's touches. He took his time with her,
a nice change from her last boyfriend.
The next day, while Amy and Wendy buried themselves in the labyrinth of
military purchases and economic development, Suzanne and Robert enjoyed
their first full Saturday together. Robert allowed Suzanne to do most of
the talking, since what he did as an attorney was hardly the stuff for
romantic conversation. They went to several art galleries. Suzanne
actually was able to make art interesting for Robert, a real
accomplishment. A couple of the galleries had photo displays that
included Suzanne's pictures of Amy. Robert had seen some of the pictures
before, but it was interesting for him to hear Suzanne describe how the
pictures were taken and what Amy had to do for the poses. After the
galleries, Robert took Suzanne to his favorite restaurant, the one that
over-looked Chicago.
Suzanne's caution forced her to wonder about Tricia. When they returned
to Robert's apartment, Suzanne walked over to Robert's desk to examine
the items on top. From a large desk portrait, Tricia stared back at her.
Suzanne picked up the picture, trying to read Tricia's personality by
studying her eyes. Suzanne knew two things about Tricia. She had been
killed by a drunk driver, and she had a wildness about her that made
Robert think that he needed to keep a strap in his room. Suzanne needed
to fill in the blanks, before committing herself any further to Robert.
Robert sat down in the largest easy chair in the apartment, with Suzanne
sitting on his lap. They sat in the dark, looking out his living room
window.
"Robert, I have to know about Tricia." Suzanne finally said.
Reluctantly at first, Robert began the story. As he progressed, he
loosened up and the details flowed out.
----------
Robert and Tricia had known each other since middle school. They started
dating in the 9th grade. They broke up and got back together again
several times over the next 10 years. Finally they got married, each
convinced that they were made for each other, given the numerous
break-ups and reconciliations.
Tricia was addicted to alcohol. Robert was addicted to Tricia. He spent
night after night helping her recover from her latest binge. Time after
time Tricia apologized to Robert and promised to stop, but never managed
to stay off alcohol for more than a few weeks. In a perverse way, her
dependency fed his desire to take care of her.
After 10 years of dating Tricia, and 5 years of being married to her,
Robert watched his wife get drunk and then sick at a party at her boss's
house. She threw up on a sofa, in front of 30 guests. That finally did
it for Robert. He left immediately. How Tricia got home was not his
problem. He packed up the clothes he would need and headed over to his
office, where he had a sofa to sleep on and a bathroom with a shower.
Tricia spent the next two months begging Robert to take her back. He had
always taken her back before. They both knew that sooner or later he
would take her back again. However, one night Robert decided that this
time he would call the shots as to how they got back together. When
Tricia got drunk, she would get punished. It would be that simple.
Knowing that Tricia would call him that night and do her usual begging
for him to take her back, Robert went to a couple of adult sex toy
stores after work to look at something that would be effective to use on
her. Finally he settled on a thick leather strap and a pair of leather
cuffs that hooked together. That task accomplished, he went his office
to wait for Tricia to call him. Sure enough, she called him within a
half an hour.
"I guess I'll come back tonight. From this point on there will be a
condition if you want to stay with me."
"Oh please, anything. I want to be with you. I've missed you so bad."
She always said the same thing when they got back together. Robert was
not sure if this would work, but he had tried everything else. She had
gone for treatment three times. He could see no point in doing that
again.
Tricia was no better than she had been when Robert left her. He could
smell that she had been drinking as soon as she rushed into his arms.
Robert sighed. She was getting worse. She started sobbing as she gripped
him. She spent the next hour sobbing as she held on to him. Finally he
ordered her into the bathtub. He gave her a couple of glasses of water
to help her flush out the latest round of drinks. Tricia was quiet when
she got out and came into the bedroom. She seemed fine, but Robert knew
this was all part of her pattern.
"Don't bother to get dressed. You told me that you would do whatever it
takes to have me back. Instead I show up here to see you drinking again.
OK. I'm not going to take off again. We're going to do something else."
With that he ordered her to sit down. He told her that she was not to
get up from that chair. If she did he would leave and she would never
see him again. Then, in the same way that he would cross-examine any
other witness, he cross-examined his wife. Pacing the floor, Robert bore
into Tricia. He started with the latest incident, which, he found out to
his dismay, had resulted in the loss of her job.
For hours, as she sat crying, Robert forced confession after confession
out of his wife. He forced her to remember her worst binges in detail.
He forced her to remember what she drank each time and how much. He
forced her to remember all the times she threw up. He forced her to
remember embarrassing incidents. He made her describe in her own words,
the results of several of her binges. Then he returned to the latest
incident. He forced her to describe the faces of her co-workers as her
vomit spread across the sofa. She could not remember, so Robert filled
in the awful details.
Tricia was terrified, because she had never seen her husband like this.
The truth was that Robert was acting; he had put on his lawyer's mask.
But in the end he extracted from Tricia what he needed, a confession.
"Tricia, explain to me why you have done all these things. You have a
problem, and that problem has a name. What is it?"
Tricia was still crying, but she had been crying so long that she was no
longer sobbing. Robert repeated the question.
"I drink too much."
"You're close, but you haven't named your problem. I need the correct
term, Tricia."
"I...I'm an alcoholic."
"What does that mean for our relationship?"
"If...I don't...stop, you'll leave me."
"Do you want to stop?"
"I'll try."
"There will be no 'trying", Tricia. Either you will stop, or you won't.
Now answer the question. Do you want to stop?"
"Yes Robert, I want to stop."
"And how do you plan to stop?"
Tricia started crying again. "I don't know. I need you to help me."
"Well, here's the deal. I am going to make you pay for your drinking
from now on. If you want to stay with me, when you drink, you will have
a sore butt." Robert held up his strap. Tricia's eyes went wide with
horror.
"You can't do that to me. You don't have the right..."
"You're free to go. You're free to tell me to take off. The choice is
yours. You can drink, or you can stay with me. You can't do both. I told
you that if you stay with me, it will be under a condition."
Robert held out the strap in both hands. "This is the condition. Every
time you drink..." Robert swatted the dresser hard. The loud crack
against the wood made Tricia wince. "...you'll get it."
"Robert...Please, I promise..."
"Yeah-yeah-yeah. You promise. You promise. You always promise. Well,
don't promise, because we both know how much your promises are worth!"
She got up and tried to hug him. "I'm sorry." He pushed her away.
"Tricia, you don't get it! It's always the same! You promise. You're
sorry. So's the damn airlines! They're sorry too! But they never improve
their service! Just like you never stop your drinking. Everyone is
sorry. 'Sorry' has become just a lame excuse to not do anything! But now
you are going to learn what 'sorry' really means. Don't move."
Robert got a couple of hard pillows from the living room and stacked
them on the bed. Tricia clasped her hands in front of her chest in
anticipation and worry as she watched him.
"I'm going to do this to you every time you drink. You'll need to get
used to it. Or, you can get dressed and leave."
Robert tapped the pillows and motioned his crying wife to lie across
them, her bottom in high the air. She started to cry louder when he
wrapped her wrists in the leather cuffs and hooked them together in
front of her. Now she would have to keep her hands in front. She could
not try to cover her bottom.
Robert suddenly felt aroused seeing his wife's nude body draped over the
pillows, her white bottom waiting to be marked. He had not expected that
he would actually enjoy this.
Tricia buried her head between her arms. She could not believe that her
husband was actually doing this to her. Still, she realized that she had
forced him into this situation. It was true that she had made his life a
living hell for 15 years. In a way she actually respected him more at
this moment. He had demonstrated that indeed he was not going to put up
with this any more. Tricia had unconsciously held power over Robert by
always coming back to him. Now with the threat of punishment every time
she drank, the balance of power in the marriage suddenly shifted to his
favor. Every time she drank, Tricia would be faced with a choice; leave,
or take a punishment.
Robert hit Tricia hard. A thick pink stripe immediately appeared across
both of her bottom cheeks. Tricia screamed and rolled off the pillows.
He hit her across the thighs. "That's fine. Butt or thighs, you'll get
it either way."
Tricia, sobbing, struggled to get back over the pillows. She managed to
stay in place for the next four swats. He hit Tricia hard across both
bottom cheeks. She screamed each time her husband struck her, and sobbed
in between. Robert had to learn through trial and error how to punish
effectively. He had not yet worked out the technique that he later used
on Amy. However, what he lacked in technique he made up for in anger.
There were 15 years of anger built up in him that came out in his
strokes.
Tricia again rolled off the pillows. "Robert! Please! I'm sorry!" She
curled up on her back to protect the fronts of her thighs, but in doing
so she again exposed her bottom, leaving it turned up and at a perfect
angle for another hard swat. Robert swatted hard, marking the spot where
Tricia's bottom ended and her thighs began. Tricia screamed again and
flipped onto her stomach. "Robert! I'm sorry! Please!"
"Sorry" was the worst thing that Tricia could say to Robert. She had
been "sorry" for 15 years. He was sick of "sorry". He clamped his left
hand on her back and slashed as hard as he could with the strap in his
right hand. In spite of the inconvenient position, Robert took out 15
years of resentment over Tricia's behavior in his next series of swats
against her bottom. She clenched her bottom cheeks hard, which seemed to
reduce the effectiveness of the strap. Suddenly Robert stopped.
"Tricia, put your legs over the side of the bed! I'll show you sorry!"
Crying, Tricia managed to throw her legs over the bed. She put her
cuffed hands close to her forehead and sobbed.
"SORRY!" screamed Robert as he laid the next swat hard against Tricia's
bottom. This time Tricia struggled to stay in position for him. "SORRY!"
he screamed again. He laid on another hard swat. "YOU'RE SORRY!"
CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!... He hit her hard with three rapid strokes.
"You're..." CRACK "...always..." CRACK "...SORRY!" CRACK....CRACK!
Robert ended the punishment and left her crying for a few minutes.
Finally he helped her up. She was sobbing and shaking, but she threw her
cuffed hands over Robert's head and hugged him. His anger turned into
passion. He motioned Tricia to get on her knees and elbows on the bed.
He pulled off his own clothes. The sight of the marks on Tricia's bottom
excited him in a way that she had never excited him before. He grabbed
her thighs and thrust hard into to her. Tricia's sobs mixed with groans
of pleasure. She had her first orgasm in months.
Afterwards they lay together, their arms around each other, Tricia still
in her handcuffs. She seemed relaxed in a way that Robert had not
noticed before. Finally he took off the handcuffs. Tricia rolled on her
back and held her arms out to him. Robert was aroused at the sight of
her. They made love yet again.
The marriage changed after Robert started strapping Tricia. She still
had episodes of drinking, but they became fewer and farther between.
Tricia could count on a severe strapping whenever she drank. Robert
improved his technique over time, making the punishments longer and more
painful.
Tricia found that, as much as she feared being punished, she was always
extremely aroused afterwards. Her best sessions of sex with her husband
were always after a strapping. As much as she dreaded the strappings,
she loved the sex that followed.
Robert approached his wife's boss to ask him to help her get another
job. The response from Tricia's boss surprised him.
"I am changing departments two weeks from now. I can take her back then,
if she gets some counseling. Tell her to turn in an application."
Tricia's boss continued "I didn't want to fire her, but, you see, I
couldn't just let her throw up on my sofa in front of 30 of my employees
and not do anything about it. Tricia�s actually a good worker. I fired
her because I had to for the morale of the others, not because I wanted
to. I'll take her back when I transfer, because there won't be anyone
from my old department in my new one."
Eight more years passed. Finally Tricia went for alcohol counseling and
was serious about it this time. The punishments became more sexual,
since the original reason for them disappeared. Tricia discovered that
she was a masochist, which was part of the reason she drank. She enjoyed
the pain and humiliation of being strapped, which over time replaced the
pain and humiliation of binge drinking and getting sick. She was able to
accept that part of herself and enjoy it with her husband.
Robert's anger with Tricia faded. They started to travel and have fun as
a couple. They had passionate sex, at the cost of welts on Tricia's
bottom. They had eight good years together. The Tricia of the final
years was the Tricia that Amy saw and remembered as a young teenager.
It was ironic that Tricia's life was cut short by a drunk driver. Robert
felt that it was fortunate that the drunk driver was killed in the
accident as well; usually that does not happen.
The loss devastated him. Tricia had been a good partner for him over the
last eight years. They had even been thinking about having a child,
since Tricia had been completely clean for a long time. The morgue
revealed that she was two months pregnant. There was a prenatal care
book in her purse.
Robert closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the easy chair. This
was the first time he had been able to talk about Tricia to anyone since
she died.
Suzanne said nothing. She realized that Robert needed a few minutes of
silence to recompose himself. She realized the responsibility she had
assumed by getting him to talk about Tricia
Her thoughts went back to the picture on the desk. It must have been
taken after the change in the marriage, she reflected.
The Wanderings of Amy - Chapter 9
|