Chapter 1: The Beginning
Brandi stood in front of me, defiant with her arms crossed. She wore her skin tight ripped jeans and a t-shirt that was extra small and clung to her perky breasts.
"What you need, young lady, is a good spanking. Out half the night, and we couldn't get a hold of you! What the heck?"
She looked at me with that angry stare.
"What were you thinking, Brandi?"
Silence.
"Brandi. Talk to me!" I yelled.
"What do you want me to say? I was at Stephanie's. We stayed up. My phone died. I forgot. What do you want me to say?"
"I want you to be a little more responsible and call us."
"Okay. Can I go now?"
"No you can't. There needs to be a consequence for this."
"Sam. NOTHING HAPPENED. OKAY? SO, CAN I PLEASE GO NOW?"
"No, Brandi, you can't. "
"What do you want me to do? I said I was sorry."
"Brandi. Sorry isn't a consequence. I think I'm gonna take your phone."
"NO!"
"You didn't use it to call us like you're supposed to, and it's the one thing you don't want to lose. So, yeah. Gimme your phone."
"Sam, no. I'm not giving you my phone!"
"Brandi. Give me the phone, please. Don't make me get upset."
"You are not my Dad. I'm NOT giving you my phone!"
It wasn't too long ago that we used to call Brandi, frumpy Brandi because she wore baggy jeans or sweatpants, baggy sweatshirts or sweaters, and no one knew whether she was fat or thin or wide or narrow.
That all changed when her lithe, young teenage body began to blossom. As the little buds on her chest turned to full, round globes, and her legs took on shapeliness in the hips and the calves, and as her bottom turned into a round, heart-shaped ass, Brandi began to wear the types of clothes that instead of covering up the body, actually accentuate and draw the eyes toward the body, toward those parts that men desire most.
As the body changed, Brandi discovered the power of makeup, and mascara, and lipstick, and sparkly body lotion, and perfume. She discovered ribbons for her wavy blonde hair and necklaces, and colorful bracelets. She discovered leggings and tight jeans, and she discovered extra small tops that hugged her breasts and exposed her taut belly and her belly button ring.
For many teenage girls, these discoveries of makeup and clothes and accessories happen well in advance of bodily changes, but for Brandi, the transformation from frumpy girl to nubile young woman happened in tandem and took about six months, or so it seemed. As the body changed, so did the outerwear.
As the man who married her mother two and a half years, I suppose I'm her stepfather, but I had no part in raising her until I moved in when Brandi was 15. But in these last two years or so, I have seen this remarkable change in Brandi from young girl to young woman. And I could see that she changed not only the outerwear, but the underwear as well—from boxers to panties, from sports bras to push ups.
Now, I say that Brandi transformed into a nubile young woman—that's true for her body—it has become a sexually attractive object of desire, no doubt. But Brandi's maturity level was still that of a teenage girl still wrestling with the transition from girlhood to adulthood.
"Brandi. If you want to prolong this, I'll keep the phone for a week, rather than the three days I was planning on."
"Three days? NO. Where's Mom? I want to talk to her."
"Your Mom left today for a three-day conference. Like it or not, I'm in charge."
"I am not giving you my phone for three days. Not even one day."
I was silent, returning her angry stare.
"Okay, Brandi. What do you propose as an appropriate consequence to coming home at 3AM without calling or texting when your curfew was 12?"
"I'm 18, you know! I'm an ADULT! I can do what I want!"