The Wanderings of Amy

Chapter 7 - November 1

Amy expected to quietly slip into the apartment and into her own room. She would have to sleep on her stomach. She would have to figure out how to get the temporary tattoos off before Suzanne saw them. She needed to figure out an explanation for her hair. Most of all, she needed to figure out an explanation for the dark red marks on her bottom. But she could deal with all that tomorrow. At that moment she just wanted some sleep.

Amy quietly put her key in the door and eased it open. She was startled by the loud metallic crash of pans falling on the floor. A light went on in the living room. "Amy, get in here!...Now!" snapped Suzanne's voice. So much for a quiet entry.

Amy pushed open the door into the pans, which seemed to clatter in protest. Suzanne had stacked them next to the door precisely to warn her when Amy pushed it open.

"Nice hair."

Suzanne sat up on the sofa, a blanket wrapped around the lower part of her body, glaring at Amy. Her bare, folded arms covered her breasts.

"Amy, you have one chance, and one chance only, to tell me where you were tonight."

"I...I was at a professor's Halloween party."

"WHICH professor's Halloween party, Amy?"

"My economics professor."

"The name. I want to hear the name."

"...Ruth Burnside"

The expression on Suzanne's face and the tone of her voice made it obvious that she knew something. Amy wondered how much.

"Amy, were you a guest at this party?"

"I was invited..."

"That's not what I asked you. I didn't ask you if you were invited. I asked you if you were a guest."

Amy felt sick. Suzanne knew. "I...I...was a...hostess for Dr. Burnside. With another girl from my class."

"Now for the question that most interests me. WHY were you a hostess for Dr. Burnside?"

Amy looked that the floor. She could face Burnside easily enough, but not her roommate. Finally she managed to answer.

"I...I...downloaded a term paper from the Internet. I...made a couple of small changes and turned it in as my own work. Burnside caught me. It turned out that the other girl, Wendy, downloaded the same paper. Burnside...told us that...if we hosted her party, she'd let us re-write our papers."

"Were you planning on telling me this when you got back?"

Amy's emotional strength gave out. She had held up all evening, impressing Burnside and helping Wendy get through the ordeal. She was not prepared for the shock of having to face her roommate. She was beyond exhausted. Her spirit collapsed. She started to cry.

"No."

"And what were you planning to do if Dr. Burnside had not let you re-write your paper?"

Amy buried her face in her hands. "I would've gotten kicked out of school."

Suzanne looked harshly at her roommate for a few minutes. "Take off your clothes. I want to see happened to you."

Reluctantly Amy peeled off her clothes. At least she no longer needed to worry about getting the temporary tattoos off before Suzanne saw them...

"Turn around." Sadly Amy turned around. Fourteen dark red stripes, seven on each side, marked her bottom. She would have them for at least several days, possibly a week. Suzanne was infuriated. This would cause her to have to cancel the photo shoot she had planned for the following weekend.

"You're probably curious how I know. I guess you weren't aware that Lisa Campbell, your TA, is a friend of mine because she's a member of my photography club. Two nights ago Lisa mentioned that the professor who she works for caught two students cheating. They turned in the same term paper about the Marshall Plan. I thought that was somewhat interesting so I asked her for more details. When Ruth Burnside's name came up, I remembered seeing the Marshall Plan paper near the computer last week. I'd been wondering what it was for. Figuring out you were one of the cheaters was not rocket science."

"You really put yourself at risk, Amy." Suzanne continued. "It'll be interesting to see what Robert thinks."

"SUZANNE! PLEASE, NO!" begged Amy. "Please don't tell him! I've been punished enough!"

"Not by us you haven't. You stay right there, as you are. I'm taking you to Robert's place as soon as it's light outside. I want to watch you explain this to him."

Amy could not have been more miserable. Obviously there would be no sleep for her any time soon. She was terribly afraid that Robert might strap her over her welts. She dreaded having to face his cold stare once he found out that she nearly got kicked out of college. She stood in the middle of the living room crying.

It was getting light outside. Amy had not realized how late it was when she and Wendy left Burnside's house. Suzanne dialed Robert's apartment and handed her roommate the phone.

"Hello Robert? Suzanne and I...are going to come over in a few minutes."

"Great. What do you want for breakfast?"

Amy put her hand over the phone to pass the question to Suzanne.

"Tell him I'll have whatever's convenient for him to fix. Tell him that you're not having anything."

"Suzanne says that she'll have whatever you want to fix. She says I can't have anything."

Robert was silent for a moment. "Amy, what's wrong?"

"I...have to tell you something when I come over." Amy's voice broke. "You're not going to like it."

When she hung up Suzanne passed her a robe. There was no point in getting dressed, she explained. As soon as they got to Robert's place he would see the full picture.

For the second time in less than an hour Amy's bottom throbbed as the welts were pressed into a car seat. Suzanne, normally a cautious driver, seemed to delight in hitting all the speed bumps hard that morning.

Suzanne was genuinely infuriated at her roommate. Amy's clumsy effort to cheat with the Internet paper disgusted her. Suzanne was an idealist when it came to academic integrity, to the point of not being realistic in her expectations of fellow students. There were two reasons for her feelings. First, about four years before she met Amy, she had been accused of plagiarism herself when she had actually been innocent. She managed to prove her innocence by showing her notes and the list of books she had borrowed from the school library, but still felt that she was not really being believed. Much worse for her was the time that another photography student stole and attempted to copyright some of her pictures. Suzanne was unable to prove the pictures were hers, but got revenge by helping the photos' model file a suit against the thief for not having a model release. For Suzanne a breach of academic integrity was unforgivable.

When the two roommates entered Robert's apartment, he looked at them with astonishment. Suzanne was almost speechless with anger. Amy, with a miserable expression on her face, was wearing only a thin bathrobe with nothing underneath. She had that strange black haircut. When Suzanne ripped off the robe, Robert shocked eyes first went to the tattoos on Amy's arms and thighs. "What in hell did you do that for?"

Amy mumbled "They're temporary. They'll come off in a few days."

"Turn around" snapped Suzanne. When Amy hesitated, she grabbed her arm and twisted her around. "Now, explain please, why you look like this."

Amy, between tears and sobs, told him the story of the paper, her office visit with Burnside, Wendy, and the party.

Robert's reaction relieved Amy and dismayed Suzanne. He did not explode; he did not pull out his strap. He simply said, "Sounds like you had one hell of a night. I take it that you learned your lesson, that you won't be doing this again?"

Amy nodded. Robert picked up the robe from the floor and handed it to her.

"Good. Let's sit down for breakfast. Then Amy, I want you to take a bath and go to bed."

Suzanne stared at Robert in disbelief. "I don't believe this! You're going to just let her get away with plagiarism? Plagiarism?"

Robert looked at Suzanne. His temper began to get short with Amy's roommate. "Look, you need to calm down! You need to get some things into perspective! I'm not letting her get away with anything!"

They sat down for a very strange breakfast. Amy was so tired she could barely get her food down. Suzanne was fuming at both Robert and Amy and ate very little. Robert looked from Suzanne to Amy and back again, more interested in Suzanne than in Amy. The idea was forming in his mind that he needed to talk to Suzanne once Amy was asleep.

Amy's remaining energy was fading fast. She skipped the bath and collapsed on the guest bed. Robert took a closer look at the welts on her bottom, then covered her up. That professor had been quite vicious. Robert did not fault Burnside for having whipped Amy. There was no question in his mind that she had deserved her punishment, because what she had done was sheer stupidity. She was lucky to still be enrolled in college. However, now that she had been punished and the matter apparently settled, it was time to move on.

Robert was irritated that Suzanne wanted to punish Amy further. To hit her on these welts would risk real injury. What on earth was she thinking? Her apparent desire to hurt Amy disappointed him, because he had always liked Suzanne. He was seeing a different side of her, one that he did not like.

Suzanne glared at Robert when he re-entered the living room.

"She's asleep. Come on, it's a fairly nice morning for this time of the year. Let's go for a walk."

Once on the street Robert pondered how to begin talking to Suzanne. Finally he said "You know, it seems that the issue of plagiarism pushes your buttons a bit."

"I just can't believe that Amy could do such a thing! She knows how I feel about it!"

"Oh, I think you made your feelings quite clear, to both me and Amy. I take it that you had negative experiences in your own life as a result of plagiarism?"

"Of course." With that Suzanne launched into long description of her bitter feelings about the two incidences of cheating in her life. Her bitterness about having been falsely accused of plagiarism weighed on her even more than the photo incident. She wanted to get her hands on the people who actually did cheat and caused her so much embarrassment...

Robert sympathized, and laid out a couple of examples of ethical violations he had witnessed as an attorney. "The point is that these violations exist everywhere. They're a part of life."

"Well, I don't want them as part of my life!" snapped Suzanne. "I don't want them as part of the life of anyone around me!"

"Maybe. Many people would think that your outlook is admirable. But the point is that I am curious as to what exactly you expected when you dragged Amy over here."

"I expected you to come down on her! I expected that you would punish her so hard that she wouldn't even think of trying to plagiarize again! I didn't expect that you would simply hug her and say 'It's OK, Amy, I understand. You had a rough night. Go beddy-bye.'"

"You don't think she had a rough night? That professor punished her worse than I would have. I, personally, think she behaved admirably with that other girl, if I understand the story correctly from the way she told it."

"The point is she did something that disgusted me. She knows how I feel about plagiarism. She knows it's the one thing I can't stand. She did it anyway! I take it personally and I think she should pay for it!"

"And you don't think she paid for it last night? You don't think that being stripped, being caned, being forced to serve drinks in the nude all night, having to keep that other girl from going to pieces the whole time, facing an angry roommate at the end of it all, and finally having to re-do the term paper...that's not paying? You don't think she was punished?"

"Not by me. Not for her betrayal of my principles..."

"Your principles? What does this have to do with you? It's Amy that we're worried about, not you. Didn't you see those welts? Do you really think that punishing her over those welts would in any way help her?" That punishing her when she can barely stand on her feet would help her? That punishing her, when she still needs to complete that make-up term paper would help her?"

Robert paused. Suzanne said nothing, not liking the direction of the conversation. Suddenly he felt that he had enough information to understand what she really wanted.

"Suzanne, I've always liked you. I've always thought that you've been a good influence on Amy. She loves you like you were her sister. But this morning I'm seeing a different side, a vindictive side, of you that I don't like at all. I believe that it is not Amy who you are trying to punish. It's that guy who stole your pictures. It's the people involved in your plagiarism accusations that you want to punish. Subconsciously, because Amy did the same thing they did, you were going to take out your anger on her. You were going to take out all your hostility against everyone who ever committed plagiarism on one person, on Amy."

Robert paused, then drove home his point. "Think about this for a second. You are struggling with your own issues when it comes to this, not Amy's. You're mad at everyone who ever committed plagiarism. Because Amy tried it, you wanted to transfer your anger against the world of plagiarists onto the one person who trusts you the most. You wanted to humiliate her, punish her, hurt her, grind her down. Not because you wanted to help her, but because you hate all plagiarists. If what I'm saying is true, then I find it reprehensible. I find it reprehensible that you would want to hurt your best friend because of personal issues that you are dealing with. You tell me if I'm close to the truth."

Suzanne went white. She looked directly at Robert. It was not in her nature to look away when confronted with an ugly fact by another person. She paused to think, to try to give him an honest answer. He had pushed through her veneer of self-righteousness and had forced her to do so as well. She realized he was right.

"I guess that's the truth. I never thought about it like you described, but you're right. I'm afraid I owe Amy an apology. I owe an apology to you for disappointing you."

They walked in silence for a long time. Suzanne was lost in thought. Robert had forced her to see something about herself that troubled her. She now realized how cruel she had been to Amy. She felt horribly ashamed for what she attempted to do to her friend at Robert's apartment. Worst of all, she had disappointed Robert, the only man in her life she had ever respected. Suzanne was not one to cry easily. However, her face clearly reflected her sadness and anger at her own behavior. Suddenly she looked up.

"Robert, I have a favor to ask of you when we get back."

Robert glanced over at Suzanne. Her next words surprised him.

"I'm the one who should be punished, not Amy."

"I think that Amy should be the one to do that. She's the one you wanted to hurt."

Suzanne looked at Robert, her eyes full of sadness and fear. She struggled to express her next words.

"Amy is not that strong. She wouldn't be able to...hit me hard enough. She wouldn't want to hurt me anyway. You'll have to do it."

----------

They said nothing more on their way back. Robert could tell that Suzanne was terrified of the impending punishment that she had requested for herself.

Outwardly Robert maintained his cold demeanor towards Suzanne. Inwardly he was thrilled at the thought of seeing and punishing Amy's attractive roommate. Although her figure was not girlish like Amy's, Suzanne's body was intensely feminine. She was much more solidly built, with full hips and a nice large bottom that would take a lot of punishment.

Robert's emotions were much more confused than the simple conflict between his anger at Suzanne and his thoughts about her body. He looked over at her sad expression and the long strands of loose hair that were blowing about her face. Robert actually found Suzanne extremely desirable. Secretly he had wanted to ask her out for several months. There was not the issue of her having been under his care, as had been the case with Amy. However he had held back, worried about their difference in age and the possibility of problems with Amy.

As soon as they got back Robert checked on Amy. She was deeply asleep. He closed her door.

Suzanne looked sadly at Robert, waiting for him to speak.

"Do you still want to do this? Have me punish you, I mean?"

"It's not that I want to. But I have no choice. I have to. I don't know how else I can ...I mean it's what I wanted you to do to Amy." She walked over to an easy chair. "Is it OK if I put my clothes here?"

When Robert nodded, Suzanne began to undress. She neatly folded each piece of clothing as she took it off. As was typical for her, she wore no underwear. When finished she stood next to the chair, one hand resting on the back, waiting for his next instructions. Her figure reminded Robert of the Roman frescoes of Venus he had seen when he and Tricia had visited Italy a few years before.

"The strap is on the wall in my room, next to a dresser. Go get it."

Robert admired Suzanne's bottom as she walked to his room. Quickly she re-appeared with the strap in her hand. From Suzanne there was none of the modesty that Amy had shown the time Robert punished her.

Together they moved the side table to the middle of the room. Robert realized that there was no need to tell Suzanne to be still during the punishment. Quickly she bent over one end of the table and grabbed the other end with her hands.

"Put your feet on the outside of the table legs." Suzanne complied, exposing herself to Robert. Suzanne did not shave, but she did not have much hair on her vulva nor between her bottom cheeks. Robert had as clear a view of Suzanne as he had of Amy when he had strapped her. He paused for a moment to enjoy the sight of Suzanne's bottom, and then tapped it with the strap.

Robert stepped back. Suzanne closed her eyes.

CRACK! The first blow landed in the middle of Suzanne's left bottom cheek. The familiar pink rectangle made its appearance on Suzanne's bottom. Suzanne did not move, or make any sound at all other than a faint gasp.

CRACK! Robert landed the second swat across both sides of her bottom. Suzanne gasped again. CRACK! Another swat across both cheeks, immediately below the first. Robert realized that it was going take a longer and more severe punishment to get through to Suzanne than had been the case with Amy. He would not time the strokes like he did with Amy at the beginning of the year. If he did, he and Suzanne would be here all day. CRACK! Robert landed the fourth swat to overlap the others. He hit hard, but the only result was a slightly louder gasp from Suzanne. She was tough, no question about it.

Robert moved to Suzanne's right side. CRACK! A back-handed blow to her right side shook her whole bottom. CRACK!...CRACK! Robert laid two more backhanded swats against Suzanne's right bottom cheek. CRACK!...CRACK! Two more back-handed across both bottom cheeks deepened the color somewhat. Her breathing became heavier. She bit her lip. Still, she had not made a sound or even started to cry.

Robert switched sides again. This time he did not hold back. CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!... Robert laid five vicious blows into the left side of Suzanne's bottom. He switched sides. CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!... Robert laid five backhand blows into Suzanne's right bottom cheek. She gasped with each swat. Her voice broke with the last three. Tears were running down her face. Robert was just starting to get to her.

CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!... Robert laid three backhanded blows across both Suzanne's bottom cheeks. She began to cry quietly. Robert switched sides. CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!... Three more swats across both sides of her bottom. Suzanne sobbed quietly on the last one.