Chapter 2 - Robert's Strap
After a day of shopping it was a new Amy that sat next to Robert on the way back to his apartment. With new clothes, her hair cut short but neatly, her fingernails cleaned and polished, no one would have recognized the girl beside Robert as the same one who left with him in the morning. Amy felt grateful to her father's partner, and shuddered to think what would have happened to her had he not been there to pick her up from the police station. It was wonderful to ride in a car again as a simple passenger, to sit where it was warm and watch the grime of the street from the safety of her seat.
As they rolled down the streets, Amy's thoughts wandered, finally focusing on Robert's strap. She had spent too many nights thinking about how the implement would feel on her, too many nights with her hands between her legs fantasizing about it. She had to know. Finally she blurted out: "Robert, how come there's a strap hanging in your room?"
Robert glanced over. "I used it on Tricia while we were still married. We both felt that Tricia's getting the strap every so often did her some good."
"You actually punished her with it? For what?"
"Tricia was a lot like you. She had a wild side that when let out of control, would wreck her life. In Tricia's case, it was drinking. I don't think you're old enough to remember, but Tricia was an alcoholic. It got so bad, I was thinking about divorcing her. But then one day we made a deal. Every time she drank alcohol, I strapped her. She knew that would be the price of a drink. If she had more than one drink, she got more than one strapping. After a while, Tricia quit drinking."
"And you punished her on the bare bottom?"
"Of course I punished her on the bare bottom. How else would I punish her?"
Amy was quiet for a few minutes, then softly said "I keep having this fantasy, that I was Tricia. I...I wanted you to strap me like you did her. I can't stop thinking about it."
Amy's heart jumped into her throat. That just came out! She had not meant to say it! Oh my God! What would Robert think of her?
The tension in the car mounted as Amy sat in mortified silence. Finally Robert looked over at her and commented, "That's something for us to discuss when we get home. I suppose some punishment might do you good, given the crap that you've pulled and everything that's happened."
Amy felt whirlwind of emotion. She was terribly afraid, but at the same time was intensely aroused. She became wet, and hoped that Robert would not notice. Was he serious? Was he actually thinking about strapping her? True, Amy had fantasized about it endlessly, but now that it might actually happen...
Another side of Amy told her that the whole thing was impossible. Of course he would not strap her. How could he? That thought, of nothing happening after all, filled Amy with as much anxiety as the thought of being punished.
Robert and Amy arrived back at his apartment and he parked the car in the underground garage. Upon entering the apartment Robert said "Amy, put your stuff away and then we can talk."
Amy simply took all of the boxes out the bags and stacked them neatly in the closet. She folded the bags and brought them to the kitchen and then went to the living room were Robert was going over some of his business papers. He looked up at her with a very irritated expression.
"A couple of things. First, I want to know what you were doing in my bedroom. I never said you could go in there."
"I'm sorry...I was just curious. But I swear I didn't touch anything except the strap."
"You touched the strap. Amy, didn't it occur to you that maybe that was something private between Tricia and myself, that maybe you had no right to be in my room, and maybe you had no business touching Tricia's things? Don't you have any respect for anyone? For anything at all?"
Amy said nothing, but her face went pale and she looked like she was about to cry. Robert sighed loudly. He wanted to berate her over the violation of privacy, but held his tongue. She had meant no harm, and it was clear she felt guilty enough about it already. He pushed ahead with the second, and much more important question...why.
"All right, enough said about that. Now, what's this about you wanting to be punished?"
"I really don't know. I guess I did some bad things... It just sort of came out I guess."
"You did some bad things. Yeah, I guess you did, didn't you? And you think that somehow a sore butt will fix everything?"
"I...don't know. I don't know why I'm thinking these things."
"'Thinking these things'...what things?" Robert stood up and walked over to her. "Amy, would you for once, try to help me figure you out? What is it that you want? What is it that you're after? I mean...are you really serious about this business of wanting to be punished?"