I’m Colleen and this what happened on Saturday in the Bellflower household.  I’m not really the proverbial fly on the wall but the hired help that keeps things moving here as both parents work long hours.© Y Lee Coyote

I heard them come in at 0117 for they announced their arrival with the car and the tree both too proud to yield an inch.  Mr. Bellflower, the head of the house, went upstairs while Kent, the eldest son, just crashed on the back porch.  All was quiet after that.

The Master had his breakfast at eight and left for the store for the half workday as he normally does on Saturday. The rest of the family drifted into the kitchen for breakfast over the next couple of hours and Kent with a headache was the last about noon.

Mark, the youngest son, surveyed the interaction that the car and tree had and considered the section of the Rules about driving.  There were established rules about behavior and consequences for breaking them that the Master had prominently posted in the upstairs hall.  He was raring to take the paddle to his big brother’s bottom for his apparent infraction.  I suspect that he wanted revenge for all the times big brother painfully dealt with him.

Let me explain that the rules specified ten whacks with the paddle for a collision with a fixed object.  The paddle was to be used by the most senior male available.  To be fair to Mark, Kent was always anxious to deal with his kid brother and had paddled him over the years for various things.

The Mistress repeatedly kept telling her youngest “Just Wait Until Your Father Gets Home!”  Of course, it was not just the impatience of youth but once his father was home he would lose the right to wield the paddle on his brother according to the Rules.  Mistress was incredibly patient with him.

When the Master returned from work it was quickly sorted out.  The most significant facts quickly came out.
      1.  Kent had returned home in a taxi before his curfew.
      2.  Mr. Bellflower was alone when he attacked the tree with the car.
      3.  These two events occurred at the same time (which lead to the confusion).

Mark was understandably extremely disappointed but such is life.  A couple of hours later, Kent went out setting the stage for something new.

I was about to go to my room to relax before preparing dinner but Mark made a comment that got my attention and I remained in the kitchen where I could eavesdrop.

“Dad, I want to talk about the Rules.”  The Master agreed and he soon concurred that, like they stated, they applied to everyone in the household.  This was something he had said frequently when dealing with the boys’ errant behavior.

Then Mark pounced about the problem with the car and tree.  Master was trapped for he had broken the rules that he had admitted applied to him.  The lad fetched the paddle and said “Please drop your pants and get into position.  The Rules state you are due ten pops.”

That I was flabbergasted would be the understatement of the year.  I heard all sorts of variations of these sort of remarks but this time the roles were reversed with the boy talking of paddling the father.  It was unbelievable.  I couldn’t even pretend to be working but just stood there listening.

Master objected and insisted that he was the one that did the paddling but Mark attacked his honor insisting that he keep his word about the Rules applying to everyone equally.  They batted this about for a while and finally Master yielded much to Mark’s extreme delight and my astonishment.

I peeked through the gap between the door and the jamb and, yes, the Master had dropped his pants and was bent over the table.  Mark was in position with the raised paddle.  Then he swung and there was the familiar THWACK!

The Master was able to remain silent as Mark continued for the rest of the ordained ten strikes.  Mark proudly announced that it was over and told his father that he loved him and was sorry he had to do that.  They hugged.  Another familiar scene but with a reversal of characters.

I retreated to my room where I could relive this amazing event until I had to make dinner.

I haven’t any doubt that the expression  “Just wait until your father gets home.” now has an entirely new feeling for Mark now.