Lizbeth

“Lizbeth”
part IV

I reached my house out of breath and nearly collapsed as I made it to the stairs.  But I knew I only had a few stairs to climb, then I’d be in Javier’s house.  I stopped for a moment, catching my breath a bit, then hurried up the steps, peeking in the window to see only Freddy, lying in the dark watching tv.  I tapped softly on the window, motioning for him to answer the door.  He just nodded and I climbed the rest of the steps and went inside, instantly falling onto the couch.

“What’s up, girl?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

I was shaking from fear and breathing heavily because I’d run so fast.  “Nothing,” I stammered.

He shook his head and leaned back on the couch.  “Nothing bad, I hope?  No drug dealers try to hurt you or anything?”

“No...” I began, considering lying again and telling him I hadn’t been in the streets at all, but Freddy was a friend of mine, and at that point I needed a friend.  Desperately hoping that he wouldn’t lecture me, I said, “I went to see a friend and his dad found out and said he was going to call Papa... so I ran home hoping that he’d come over here to make sure I wasn’t here and then find me and believe that I hadn’t left..”

Freddy nodded slowly.  “Wow,” he muttered.

“Pleaseee.. can you tell Papa I was here all night?”

“You’re better off not lying to him, Liz.  He knows that you were gone, your friend and his dad are two witnesses... all you need on top of that is to lie to him and get yourself into more trouble.”

I sighed.  As much as I hated to admit it, Freddy was right.  “Well, maybe he didn’t really call Papa... maybe he was just trying to scare me.”

Freddy smiled.  “I hope so, for your sake.”

We watched the tv for a little while, a silent agreement for me to stay over there until I calmed down a bit.  I did feel better, though, after I talked to Freddy.. and I’m glad he didn’t take the fatherly approach and start lecturing me.  Hell, with my luck, he might have just turned me over his own knee and spanked me!  But he didn’t... just listened to me and gave me some advice.  And that’s what I needed.

It was 1:42 when I decided to go back home.  I thanked him for helping me out and said goodnight, ambling slowly towards Papa’s apartment.  I could tell before I opened the door that he was sound asleep... because I could hear his snoring from outside.  At least that would be the reason I would have a hard time going to sleep, and not because I’d gotten spanked twice in the same night.  Rubbing my bottom softly, I opened the door as quietly as possible and went to my bed, stretching out and almost instantly falling asleep.  There weren’t many nights that I stayed up so late.

The next morning I had no idea what time it was when Papa got in the shower.  All I knew was that it was dark outside, I was tired as hell from staying up so late and that Papa was a horrible singer!! (he always sings LOUDLY in the shower)  I tried pulling the pillow over my head to drown out the singing, but it was useless, and by the time he was out of the shower, I was wide awake.

“Oh, good, you’re up,” he said, coming into the room clad in a pair of jeans and towel draped around his shoulder as he dried his hair with it.  He sat down on the couch.  “You know, Carlos’s pop called last night... said you were over there, but I could have sworn you told me that you were going to Javier’s house for a little while..”

I bit my tongue to keep from lying to him.  Freddy had told me, lying would just make it worse.  I had to listen to Freddy’s advice.  The truth was the answer.  “I went to Javier’s house... no intentions of going to Carlos’s... but I was bored over there and wanted to hang out with someone my age and you were dead asleep!”  So much for listening to Freddy’s advice.

He shook his head.  “Walking the streets that late at night is dangerous, Young Lady,” Papa told me.

I put on my best puppy face and the tears began streaming down my face, remembering all to well the position I was about to take over his lap.  No lie could get me out of the punishment I was about to encounter.

“I told you that you couldn’t go anywhere but Javier’s house and you did.  That’s blantant disrespect, Lizbeth, and I don’t like it at all.”

“I know, Papa.  I’m sorry.  I wasn’t thinking..”

“You’re old enough to know better than to do what you did..”  Hmmm, hadn’t I heard that before?  I didn’t like being so old anymore!  “You think it’s okay to just leave the house whenever you want to?”

“No, Papa, I don’t... I just..”

He interjected.  “Too late, Lizbeth.  Excuses won’t work.  I’m disappointed in you for disobeying me.  Disappointed that you’d go wandering around at night by yourself.  Do you understand how dangerous that is?  There’s plenty of prostitutes and drug addicts that wander around that that time of night... rapists...”

“But I have HIV!” I told him.

He blinked.  “What?”

“I mean... I was going to tell a rapist that I had HIV and he wouldn’t rape me!”

Papa gave me a weird look and shook it off.  I wish I’d known what HIV was in Spanish, that way he wouldn’t look at me so funny.  “I doubt it’d have worked, Lizbeth..”

“But I saw it in a movie.”

“That’s just a movie, it’s not real life.  And anyway, you’re getting off the subject.  It’s not safe to wander around at night, whether you’re telling someone you have HIV or not.  Kids get hurt on the streets, okay?  It is VERY dangerous, Lizbeth.  There’s crazy people around here, and I don’t want you to get hurt, you understand?”

“Yes, Papa.”

“So you understand why I’m going to spank you.”

I groaned, still feeling the pain in my bottom from the night before.  “Papa... I learned my lesson already..”

“Not well enough, Young Lady.”

“Pleaseee, Papa... I don’t want a spanking..” I begged.

“I know you don’t want it, and I didn’t want you to go out last night, but you did anyway.”

“But I won’t do it again.”

“No, you won’t.  Because you’re getting a spanking.”

The tears began streaming down my face again.  “Please, Poppy..” I pleaded.

“Come here, Lizbeth.”

I just kept crying, not having the strength in my legs to take those few steps towards him.

“Lizbeth, I’m going to give you to the count of three...”

“Papa... please don’t spank me... I’ll be good..”

“One..” he began, and I took those fateful steps, somewhere finding the physical strength and letting it lead me. 

He looked at me in the eyes, wiping some of the tears away.  “Lizbeth, you’re my baby girl.  Don’t do this to me... don’t make me worry like so.  If I hadn’t heard you sneak into Javier’s place last night I’d have been wandering around the neighborhood all night looking for you.”

“I’m sorry, Poppy,” I whispered.

“I know, baby.  I know you are.  And I know that you know you deserve this spanking, right?”

I bit my lower lip and nodded, knowing that this nod would seal my fate, and I’d be over his lap bawling my eyes out in a few minutes.

He hugged me tightly, then tugged my pajama pants down and helped me over his lap.  Only a few hours ago had I been in this very position, only a different Papa, a different house...  It felt so much better being my own Papa, though.  Even though it didn’t feel good at all.

I felt my panties being lowered to my knees and I quivered slightly and bit my lip again.  “Please, Papa... not too hard..”

He didn’t answer, just rested his warm hand on my bottom.  I closed my eyes.  “Lizbeth, you will not sneak out of the house again, do you understand me?” he lectured, lifting his hand and giving each of my cheeks a solid smack.

“Owww!  Owwww!  Yes, Papa!” I answered.

“You will not wander the streets at night, *SMACK SMACK*, and you won’t sneak into someone else’s house, *SMACK SMACK*, understand? *SMACK SMACK!*”

“Yesssss,” I cried.

He kept up the rhythm, alternating cheeks, which was nice and predictable.  It didn’t help the fact that he was spanking with nearly all of his strength and my bottom was on fire.

“Owwwwwwww, Poppyyyy... pleaseeeee,” I begged.  “Pleaseeee stopppp.”

“No, honey,” he answered, now concentrating on the sit spots.  “You disobeyed me and I’m teaching you a lesson, Lizbeth.  I’m far from finished.”

That sentence made me cry even more... maybe I was even howling a bit.  I was crying so hard that everything was blurry and all I could concentrate on was the rapid fire being inflicted upon my aching bottom.  I kicked as best as could, squirmed a little to dodge smacks (was futile), and clasped my hands together with my face buried into them.  “Popppyyyy,” I cried, “I’m sssooorrrrrryyyy!!”

“I know, Lizbeth.”  But he kept the spanking, occasionally hitting the sitspots, and even hitting my thighs a couple of times.  He even started spanking *harder* which I didn’t know was possible at the time.

I began choking on my tears... “P-leasee... I w-on’t d-do it-t again!” I sobbed.  “I’ll be g-good!”

I couldn’t feel his heart breaking with my pleas.  “I’m sorry, baby.  I have to do this.”

Even though I was bobbing up and down and kicking with all my might, I knew he was right -- he did have to do this.  I deserved it, as much as I hated to admit it. 

My sobs increased as the spanking neared its end.  I finally held onto the couch and buried my face into the cusions, not squirming anymore, not kicking, just crying.  He took this time to give me a final smack, covering my entire bum, and then resting his hand there.  “Oh, Lizbeth.  You’re my babygirl and I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, Poppy!” I cried, feeling like a six year old.

I felt him take a deep breath in and then move his hand, and that’s when I realized that it wasn’t over...

“I’m sorry baby.  Just a little spanking with the hairbrush and I’ll be finished,” He told me.

“Poppppyyyyy, pleaseee nooo!” I cried, lifting my head and looking at him in the eyes.  I didn’t notice the tears that he had in his own eyes, only the hairbrush that he had in his hand that I hadn’t realized had been lying on the couch the whole time.

He gently pushed me back down, only to make me cry harder as I buried my head again in the already tear-stained cushion.

The first whack with the hairbrush was nearly deafening... a loud crack as like that of one car running into another (and you know this if you’ve ever been in a car accident).  The screamed that followed that first blow was just as loud, probably louder.  The noise echoed through the house, probably waking up Papa’s roommates, if they hadn’t already been awake.  “Pleaseeee, Poppyyyy... no moreeee,” I begged, trying to catch my breath.

But it didn’t work.  He crashed that damn hairbrush down on my backside a dozen times, and by the time he was finished, I was a baby, bawling and shaking to no end, trying to apologize but not having the strength.

“Shhh, Lizbeth, honey.  I’m finished down,” Papa said, rubbing my back.

I choked out a few apologies but he just scooped me in his arms. 

“I love you, baby,” he said.

“Me too, Poppy,” I blubbered, burying my head into his chest, smelling the cologne and using that as well as his warm embrace to comfort me past tears.  He held me tightly, rubbing my back and talking to me in a soothing voice until I was all cried out and only sniffling.

“Te amo mucho, mucho, mucho!” he said (sorry, that was too cute to put in English).

I smiled, sniffling and wiping away the last of my tears and letting him kiss my forehead.   “I love you lots, too, Papa,” I answered.

“Why not have a shower and then we can have a talk, okay?”

I raised my eyebrows.  “A talk?  I thought..”

“No, not that kind of talk,” he said, tickling me.

I giggled and sniffled again.  “Okies!” I said, stealing one of Kat’s words.

He rolled his eyes, but I got some clothes and went on my way..

I took a warm shower, letting the hot water soothe me as I ran my fingers through my hair, using one of Papa’s roommates’ shampoo.  The man had gorgeous hair and I figured it was all in the shampoo, so I took it upon myself to use it every so often.  And today was one of those days.  And besides, Kat would be coming soon and we’d be doing something fun, so I’d have to look “spiffy.” 

I finished my shower and dried off, dressing in my baggy jeans (because anything else would have hurt!) and a T-shirt.  I brushed my teeth and stretched out a bit, seeing the sky lighting up outside.  Papa must’ve gotten up super early!  I wobbled outside to where Papa sat on the couch watching tv, noting that the roommates were snoring again so at least they wouldn’t hear *this* talk.  I think at the time I had some kind of idea what it might be about, but didn’t want to admit it.

Papa was now fully dressed, ready for work.  “Sit down, honey,” he said, patting the floor in front of him.  “I’ll braid your hair like I used to.”

I gave him a look as if saying, yeah right, like I can sit down after *that*, but I sat down anyway, wincing terribly when my bottom made contact with the hard floor.  Papa brushed my wet hair softly, running his smooth fingers through it and nearly putting me to sleep.  I had always loved it when Papa did my hair... he was always more gentle than Mama.  Surprising, seeing as his spankings were *way* worse than hers were. 

I could tell he was uncomfortable when he cleared his throat.  That, if anything, should have given me the hint of what he wanted to talk about.  “Lizbeth,” he said, voice almost cracking as he sat the brush down and began braiding, “what exactly... were you and Carlos... doing?”

I looked up at him, causing him to stop braiding for a second.  “What do you mean?”

He took a deep breath.  “I mean, when I talked to Carlos’s father, he said that the two of you were lying on the bed kissing...”

“Oh..” I said, then blushed.  *Now* I knew why Papa was uncomfortable!  I was, too!  “We, er... were.”

“And..?”

“And that’s... all.”

He began braiding my hair again, making me feel a little more comfortable, but still uneasy.  “Lizbeth, you know about sex, right?”

My heart thumped wildly... were we *really* having this conversation?  I hesitated, but answered:  “Yes, Papa.”

“Do you have any questions?”

Questions!  Why would I put myself through the torture and embarassment of asking questions!  “No, Papa..”

“Okay, well... if you ever do, you can ask me, or Mama, or even Kat, okay?  And one of us will answer..”

“Yes, Papa,” I answered, wishing the conversation would be over.

“And I want you to know to be careful... you’re too young to be getting into that kind of stuff yet.  Carlos is a bit older than you and might want to try some stuff that you needn’t try.  You know?”

“Yes, I know, Papa,” I said, blushing.

“A kiss is okay, but make sure that’s as far as it goes.”

“Okay.”

“And when you are ready to go farther than that, make sure that you use some kind of protection... because I don’t expect you to tell me or Mama, but I expect you to be smart about it.  You don’t want to end up with a disease or a baby..”

“A disease?” I asked, stupidly.  “I could get a disease from that?”

“Well, sure, baby,” he said, and I could feel him relaxing a bit.  “There’s a number of them.. called STDs.  Most of them are curable, but some aren’t, like AIDS and herpes..  But even the ones that are curable aren’t any good.  And if you ever have a problem with something you might think is an STD, you need to tell someone right away, okay?  Some of them can make you go blind if you don’t deal with it in time, and some can make you never be able to have kids..”

I knew within the next couple of weeks I’d think *something* was an STD, just because he mentioned it.  “That isn’t good, Papa... how would I know if it was an STD or not?”

“You’d have to go to the doctor..”

Ew, I hated doctors..  “But how --”

We were interrupted by a knock at the door and I think we were both relieved.  Papa finished braiding my hair and put a rubber band in it, then answered it.  There was Kat, standing in the doorway, very sleepy.  “Hey,” she mumbled, smiling weakly.

I giggled and lept up.  “Hey, Kat!  Spiffy plans for the day?” I asked.

She smiled and nodded.  “Sure, kiddo.”

Papa kissed my forehead and gave me a big hug.  “We can talk later, okay?  Think about any questions you might have and ask them... or you can ask Kat, okay?”

“Okay, Papa.  See you later!  Love you!”

“Yeah, yeah!” Katrina said, all giddy.  “Hasta luego, te amo, too!!”

She loved it when she understood what we said.

We just giggled at her and Papa ruffled her hair, telling us that he loved us and all that stuff.  I invited Kat inside to sleep a while, but she didn’t want to.  She had a spiffy day planned and couldn’t wait to get started, even if she was sleepy.  First thing on our agenda -- coffee shop :)