“To be honest, yes, he was often naughty as a child. Don’t get me wrong; he was always very sweet. It’s just that he was incorrigible in many ways, just asking for a spanking. Especially after his father left us... “ Johnny’s mother shook her head. “I had to spank him almost every day.” She paused, “Well, until he was sixteen.” She picked up her glass and drained it of the remaining wine.

“What happened? Did he start behaving better?” Sally asked, refilling the wine glass. She was fairly successful in resisting her impulse to smirk, but her daughter Susie noticed it.

“No, it’s just he was too big,” she sighed.

“So, what did you do to correct him if he was still being so naughty?” Sally asked, raising an eyebrow sarcastically.

“Nothing... nothing much. I guess I scolded him a lot.” She glanced at her daughter-in-law looking for support, then settled for the comfort that another large gulp of wine might offer. It was very nice - dry and fruity. She swallowed it gratefully.

“Scolded?” Sally echoed scornfully. She laughed, making Jeanine feel even more inadequate than she had already begun to feel. “What awful things was he doing to deserve that?”

Jeanine shook her head. “No ... I told you ... He wasn’t so bad.” She drank some more of her wine. “He was always sweet. He was never in trouble at school or anything like that.” She reflected as she had at the time, that it was a good thing that she taught at a different school. No telling how he would have behaved if she had been around him. She was beginning to feel the wine muddling her thoughts a little.

“Well then, what did you have to scold him for?” Sally’s tone was becoming more derisive. Jeanine hardly noticed how authoritatively Sally was behaving. It seemed totally appropriate. Maybe that was because she was a little older, better educated. Jeanine had always felt inferior to her, ever since they first met when their kids got engaged.

She blushed. “He used to ... he was very naughty sometimes.”

“Mrs. Jamison,” Sally responded sternly, choosing to address her formally, “you know this is serious. Susie wouldn’t have asked us here if she weren’t seriously worried about her marriage. I think you owe it to us to disclose the details of Johnny’s naughtiness.” She pronounced the word with the utmost disdain.

Jeanine took another fortifying draught of wine, emptying her glass again. Still blushing to the dark roots of her blond hair, she tried to be calm and hoped she could trust the two women with her secrets. “I caught him looking through my things...” She looked up into Sally’s eyes inquiringly, searching for understanding.

“What things?” Sally wasn’t going to let Jeanine off easy. “Intimate things?”

“Yes ... He wouldn’t stop playing with my underwear and stuff...” She couldn’t meet Ms. Houghton’s eyes, but she watched the wine re-filling her glass. “Thank you,” she added feebly, grasping the stem of the glass and drinking deeply.

“And stuff?” Sally’s voice clearly conveyed a tired patience threatening to wear out. “Really, Jeanine, you’re going to have to be more specific.”

Jeanine sighed. The wine was warming her insides, calming her. “He found my dildo.” She kept her eyes down. The wine is such a pretty red color, she thought, staring into her glass before drinking more.

“Well,” said Sally decisively, “that is certainly inappropriate!” For the first time in a while, she actually sounded supportive. “I would have spanked him for that - I don’t care how big he was!”

Jeanine gasped. “Oh, but I couldn’t!” she cried. “You don’t understand...” She looked up at Sally imploringly. “He liked it too much.”

“What? What did he like so much?”

“Getting spanked, I mean...” Jeanine explained.

“He liked getting spanked?” Sally asked. “How do you know?” She was beginning to see a possible solution to her daughter’s problems, one that would be quite enjoyable to implement.

“I could tell...” Jeanine’s blush was now spreading down her neck and beginning to color her ample cleavage. “He would deliberately provoke me. And then he would give me this look ... He would look at me like ‘What are you going to do about it?’ and then he’d make a face at me.” She drained her glass again, gulping noisily and smiled gratefully when Sally opened a second bottle.

“He ‘made faces’ at you?” Sally deliberately sounded confused. She poured another glassful of wine

“He wanted me to get mad!” Jeanine insisted, picking up the glass and sipping.

“But why? Why would he want you to be angry with him?”

Jeanine was beginning to wonder if she was expressing herself clearly enough. The wine was affecting her, but she had always been able to hold her liquor - she had never been a ‘cheap date.’ And, at work, she’d always been known for her communication skills. She decided to slow down and focus her inebriated mind. “I said,” speaking slowly with exaggerated precision, “that he wanted me to spank him. That’s why he went out of his way to provoke me. That’s why he let me catch him doing those things.”

“Yes, yes,” Sally almost interrupted, “but why did he want you to spank him? Why did he like it so much?”

“I don’t know!” Jeanine replied loudly, her impatience overcoming her reticence as her inhibitions dissolved. She sighed heavily. She took another drink from her wineglass. “I always spanked him with my hand. Spanking was fine when he was younger, but at sixteen, he started to provoke me deliberately. That’s when it had to stop.”

“So, you’re telling me you couldn’t come up with another form of punishment? Like maybe one he didn’t like?” Sally asked, incredulously.

“I ... No, well, I ... It just upset me too much.” Tears came to her eyes. “You have no idea what it was like, raising a boy like Johnny. All on my own.” She was becoming maudlin now.

“What did he know, Jeanine?” Sally asked in a sympathetic tone.

Jeanine sobbed once and then seemed to collect herself. “When he was sixteen, he started to let me catch him playing with himself,” she explained fearfully. Should she really be telling them this? she asked herself.

“Masturbating? You caught him masturbating?”

“Yes ... He deliberately left the door open ... his bedroom or the bathroom ... sometimes ... well, never mind. I know it was deliberate. He also went around naked in front of me.” Jeanine was beginning to forget the embarrassment, remembering the frustration of those years alone with a horny teenaged boy.

“Naked? How old was he again?” Sally inquired, intrigued.

“It started when he was sixteen.” Jeanine thought about it for a few seconds, her brows knitting in a slightly comical way, Sally thought, also noting that she still looked rather stunning. “The first time I thought it was by accident, but then afterwards I wasn't so sure. It was so embarrassing! And I scolded him, and so then he just found ways to let me see it - him, I mean, well ... He liked to embarrass me, I guess.” She stared at her empty glass.

“Jeanine, you should have put a stop to it,” Sally said.

“How could I? If I scolded him he’d say ‘Why don’t you spank me, then, Mom?’ And sometimes he’d pull down his pants and stick out his butt. What was I supposed to do?” She looked at Sally imploringly.

“Well, I know what I would have done,” Sally answered decisively. “I’d have spanked him good and hard with a paddle. And I’d make damn sure it hurt!” She nodded toward her daughter. “I have half a mind to do it now! It’s what he needs.” She grinned. “That and a month of chastity. If a boy won’t stop masturbating, it’s the only thing to do. Lock it up!” She turned to Susie. “I think that’s what’s wrong, you know. I bet he masturbates all the time; nothing left for you, dear.”

Jeanine looked shocked. “Would you really...” She could hardly grasp the idea.

“Of course, you silly cow,” retorted Sally. “It wouldn’t be necessary if you had done your job in the first place!”

Jeanine didn’t know how to react to such an angry tone. It was so intimidating. “But I told you, I couldn’t spank him. That’s what he wanted.”

“No, Jeanine, that’s not the reason, is it?” Sally sounded like a DA cross-examining a hostile witness. “No, you liked it too, didn’t you? Admit it. You were afraid you wouldn’t be able to keep your hands off his dick!”

Jeanine just stared at Sally. All the color drained from her face. She knew it was true, though she’d tried to suppress it for so many years. Was she that transparent? How could Sally know this thing that Jeanine had kept buried, hidden even from herself?

Sally stepped up her verbal assault. “This whole thing is entirely your fault!’ she accused. “My daughter’s marriage is in shambles. It’s a travesty!” She knew well how to employ hyperbole. “And you’re to blame!” She shook her head. “All because you’re too weak and too much of a prude to put a little boy in his place! It’s pathetic!” Her striking green eyes glowered with smoldering ire.

Jeanine was speechless. She cowered before her son’s haughty mother-in-law. She hung her head and she seemed to shrink into herself, practically fetal in her self-protective posture. “Nooo,” she moaned softly.

“Oh, yes!” Sally lambasted, unrelenting, “How could you ruin such a lovely young man that way? You, stupid, worthless cunt!” She rose to her feet, looming over her victim.

Jeanine gasped and clutched herself as if she expected physical blows to descend upon her. Even Susie was surprised, and she knew how domineering her mother could be.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” Jeanine whimpered, repeating it like a propitiative mantra. She looked up at Sally imploringly. “What can I do? I didn’t realize... What can I do? How can I...”

“Well, don’t you think you’d better have a talk with your son?” Her eyes, piercing in intensity, seemed to bore into Jeanine’s soul. “That’d be a start. You’d better get a hold of yourself. What are you, a slut? Some kind of repressed nympho? My God, woman, get a grip!” She snorted derisively. “And straighten that boy out! Because, if you don’t do it, I will, damn it!. I’ll teach Susie. I know a thing or two about correcting male behavior, believe me!”

Jeanine was in awe. How she envied Sally’s forcefulness! ‘If only I were strong like that,’ she thought, ‘We wouldn’t be in this mess. She’s right, I really am pathetic.’

Sally sat down next to Jeanine and took her hand. “Look, sweetheart, I realize you’ve got problems. I’m sure you did the best you could, being by nature a needy slut. You obviously thought avoiding the problem was the best course. But I can tell you, it wasn’t. It never is. And now you’re going to have to face your demons and straighten things out with Johnny. Can you do that? Will you try, Jeanine? It would do so much for Susie’s marriage.” She gave Jeanine’s hand an encouraging squeeze. “And it would mean a lot to me, too,” she added softly, with a sympathetic smile.

Poor Jeanine was at sea in a tumult of confusion, doubt, shame, and guilt. Being half drunk didn’t help, either. Nor did her growing attraction to Sally. ‘What’s wrong with me?’ she asked herself. She had always fallen for guys who pushed her around, and now Sally was having the same effect. She knew she would have to try to appease her.

“I’ll try ... I’ll talk to him. I’ll tell him that he has to grow up and quit acting like a brat,” Jeanine said, trying to sound decisive.

“And you’ll spank him,” Sally stated firmly.

“Spank him?”

“Of course, dear,” Sally said soothingly. “How else can you put that chapter behind you. Until you both face up to your feelings about each other, perverted as they may be, you will both be stuck in the past. It’s time to move forward, don’t you agree?” she cajoled.

“Uh, yeah, sure ... but I don’t know if I...”

“Sure you can, dear.” Sally patted Jeanine on the hand she’d been holding and got up. “Tell you what. Johnny should be...” She turned to Susie. “What time does he get home?”

Susie answered, “Around six.”

“Well, it’s a quarter of now,” Sally continued. “We’ll just leave you to it. Susie and I will go out and pick up some dinner for all four of us. Do you like Chinese?”

“Yes, but Johnny...”

“ ... only likes American food. I forgot,” Sally said, stifling the urge to add, ‘stupid brat.’ “We’ll plan on being back at seven and then we’ll all have dinner. That will give you a whole hour with Johnny.”

“Uh, okay,” said Jeanine. “I’ll do my best.”

“Yes, good luck,” Sally said. She and Susie went out the front door and drove off, leaving Jeanine alone.

Jeanine was confused. She went over in her mind what Sally had said, hoping that she’d understood her correctly. She was supposed to talk to Johnny about ... About what exactly? ‘Facing his feelings’? Or was that my feelings, she wondered. Her alcohol-muddled thoughts were far from clear. But she really didn’t want to let Sally down. ‘Well I know I’m supposed to spank him,’ she remembered, ‘but what for? Something about being a brat and not acting like a grownup. But what does that actually mean?’ she pondered. The prospect of provoking Sally’s anger was daunting, despite her inebriation.

Johnny arrived at 6:00 on the dot. He was proud of his ability to predict the rush-hour traffic and time his commute perfectly. The fact that it was only a 10-mile, 15-minute commute only proved how astute he had been in selecting a home. Once he had accepted that great job offer after earning his master’s degree, he had made up his mind. The fact that Susie wasn’t thrilled - her commute was twice as long - just wasn’t a factor for him.

Seeing his mother’s car in the driveway was a surprise. He wondered why she had come, since her visits were not very frequent. He parked and let himself in. “Mom?” he called out.

“I’m in here,” Jeanine called back from the living room.

“HI, Mom, how are you doing?” said Johnny, entering from the hall. “I didn’t know you were coming.” He smiled politely at his mother; he didn’t see much of her these days, and still harbored some of the ambivalence that most sons grow out of as their teenage years recede. He noted that she was a little flushed and her eyes looked a bit bleary. He gazed down at her bosom. She was wearing a blouse that buttoned up the front, open at the top to reveal the soft, deep cleavage he loved to admire. ‘Still hot at forty-five,’ he thought. He’d always been proud of his mother’s good looks. “Is everything okay?”

“Well, no, not exactly...” Jeanine answered, trying to summon the will to admonish her only child. There he stood, looking so grown up in his business clothes, such a good-looking young man! Her heart faltered, but then she thought of Sally and drew herself together. “I’m here to try to straighten out your marriage,” she started to explain.

“What are you talking about?” Johnny interjected, sounding angry already and not a little petulant. “Did Susie call you?”

“No, dear,” Jeanine said, trying not to slip into appeasement mode, but nonetheless sounding less sure of herself. “Sally asked me to come over and talk with her and Susie.”

“Oh, then it’s Sally!” said Johnny, “That figures!” His anger was tinged with a soupçon of fear. His mother-in-law intimidated him and he could tell she didn’t think he was good enough for her precious Susie. “What the fuck is wrong with that meddling bitch?!”

“Johnny!” his mother admonished, with all the indignation she could muster. “How dare you use that kind of language!” She pouted at him. “And with your own mother, too!” Jeanine had no idea how cute she looked when she pouted. “Now, you see, this is exactly the kind of attitude Susie complained about,” she continued, improvising.

Johnny was taken aback at his mother’s reprimanding tone, so reminiscent of his childhood, when he loved his mom more than anything in the world. And he was smitten by her adorable little pout and the way her soft breasts shook in indignation. He said, “Oh, Mom, I didn’t mean to yell at you, I’m sorry. But Sally’s got it in for me. There’s nothing wrong with my marriage. She just doesn’t like me.” He was starting to whine.

“Well, I don’t know about that, but I do know you.” She looked up at her darling boy; it pained her to say what she said next. “I know what a brat you can be and how far you will go to get your own way.” She looked at him with sympathetic love. “That’s not how a healthy marriage works, you know,” she added. But who was she to say anything about healthy marriages? she wondered; her marriage had failed despite her giving Johnny’s father everything he wanted. ‘Never mind that,’ she scolded herself, knowing that in her state, she could easily fall prey to self-pity. She had to refocus on Johnny’s future, not her past.

“But, Mom,” Johnny whined like a teenager. “You don’t know anything about Susie and me.”

He meant their marriage, of course. After all, what does anyone know about the inner workings of a couple’s life? Jeanine didn’t even know that Johnny chose Susie because of how much she looked like his mother, petite, with big breasts and thick, luxurious hair. You’d almost think Susie was Jeanine’s daughter; Sally had a completely different build, taller and rangier, long in the legs and in the waist.

But Jeanine had a mother’s intuition and she’d heard Susie’s complaints - well, she’d heard them from Sally. She had a job to do, she remembered, thinking of Sally. “You stop your whining, Johnny, it won’t do you any good. I’ve already made up my mind. You need a...