My name is sam, I'm 17 years old and I live in a small city in India. My family had always been strict. Like most Indian families, they wanted to know how I'm doing in school, when and with whom I go out, what I'm doing, everything. My dad works for a software company as a programmer and my mom runs a beauty clinic. I have an elder sister who's away staying in hostel for her collage. While I say my family is strict, there were no signs of specified punishments. We din't even get time outs, just an occasional scolding and we were too scared to do anything wrong, or at least hide it well enough. So my entire life I've lied to my parents about various things, mostly my grades. They never checked because they believed their children would never lie. They did occasionally find out about some small lies I've told and would follow up with a light admonishing followed by a tense day. Things would be back to normal the next day. This was pretty much my life until last month, which changed a LOT.
I'm in my 12th and close to my final examination and national entrance tests which were very important for any aspiring student. I was never interested in studies but this year was a disaster even to me. Although my grades were quite low for most of my schooling, I never failed any tests. Now I did, a lot. I knew I was close to fucking up my future but before I took it seriously I'm already here, close to my board exams. I was scared. I couldn't tell my parents, that would be a disaster. They would probably stop talking to me for god knows how long. With less than two months to go and over an year syllabus to cover, I couldn't find any motivation. I cried myself to sleep most nights and the others I couldn't even sleep.
This happened a month ago. I was out with my friends and got a call from my mom asking me to come home, that she needed to talk something. I was scared that she might have found out one of my lies. I get scared every time one of my parent calls but nothing ever happens. They just wanted to discuss a trip or my collage schedule. So I let it out of my mind and told her I'd be back soon. I took my time, had some laughs and started home after another hour. My dad was out on a week long tour to another city and my sister has no holidays close by so it's just me and my mom. I came home at about 6:30 in the evening, she was on the phone so I just turned to go to my room but she pointed towards a chair, signalling me to sit. She quickly ended her call and faced me.
" I met your principal today. He has something very different to say about your grades than what you tell us"
I could feel my heart pounding. A thousand thoughts rushed through my mind. I tried to think of any possible way to cover it up but finally decided to just accept it. I looked away.
" He says you only attend half the classes, failed most of your pre-tests and the teachers have put you in the hopeless category" she said, calmly. But I could sense the anger build up in her voice.
I din't know what to say, i just sat there mum lost in ambiguous thoughts.
"IS THAT RIGHT?" She suddenly shouted, making me jolt up.
" Ye..yes" was all I could mumble.
Mom stared at me for the next few seconds, which honestly seemed like hours.
" Come here" she said signalling with her hand.
I rose up and slowly walked towards her. I kept looking into her eyes and I could see no emotion. Her look was stern. I came close to her, about an arm apart and stopped. I din't know what to do, it felt awkward. She looked at me for another second and I felt a sharp sting on my left cheek.
SLAP!!
I couldn't believe what just happened. Not only have my parents never laid a hand on one of us, they completely stayed away from the topic of physical punishment. But I guess that was only because we managed to behave well, as it is becoming evident now.
" I always knew I was being easy on you. I wanted to start looking into you more a long time ago, but your dad always says you're a 'good' and 'matured' kid and you would handle things well."
I stood there, petrified, not knowing how to react, too scared to talk back.
" What else are you hiding from me? Do you smoke? Drink? what els.."
" No mom, really no, none of those, please believe me, i'd never do those" Now I started crying.
" I'll find out. I'll find out everything. Listen, from now on I'll be watching you. You go to collage, come straight home and sit with me to study. No more goofing. I'll arrange some tutions for all the subjects you've failed and you will attend them promptly, do you understand?" she said as she quicly paced from one window to another closing and locking them.
" Yes" I mumbled slowly through my tears.
" I'm not going to let you go so easily from now on. I'll make sure the thought of lying to me won't cross your mind again "
After closing all the windows, she went into the kitchen. Standing there, I heard the kitchen door that led outside open. In less than a minute I heard her closing the door and stride towards me.As I looked up, she appeared, with a long and moderately thick wooden stick.
" This is what I'm going to use from now on" she said raising the stick up for me to see.
I din't know if it was a cane, but it did look like one. It had small light patches of dry dirt sticking to it. It should probably be lying somewhere in our garden, used to support a plant or something.
It made me gulp. I just looked at mom with teary eyes. I was more confused than scared. I was never hit as punishment before, not even at school. I did see a lot of kids getting caned and thought I might someday as well but I never, not even in my dreams pictured my mother doing it. Does she even know how to use it?
" Get it?" she asked, waking me from my state of shock.
" I'm not going to be a soft parent anymore. This is what you get for your mistakes from now on, small or big" she said walking towards me.
As she said that, I thought maybe she was using it to threaten me so I'd know she's really serious this time, but boy was I wrong.
She moved closer to the center of the room and tapped the stick on the floor.
" Come here" she said.
I slowly moved in. When I was close enough, she grabbed my hand and gave me a slight pull.
" Talk to me sam. Is what you did wrong?"
" Yes" I said, looking down.
"Look at me, you understand how important these two years are for your future?" She said bending to look into my eyes.
I looked up and slowly nodded my head. My tears have dried up. My thoughts became clearer.
" What do you want me to do?" she asked.
"I'm sorry. I became too careless. I should've told you this a long time ago but I was scared. I should be scared of lying, not telling the truth. You're right, maybe you shouldn't have been so soft on me. I'll accept whatever you say"
She looked at me for a few seconds, she was surprised maybe, seeing me confess everything. The way she looked at me changed too. Minutes ago, it was like she wanted to beat the shit out of me with that stick, now she became calm. She let go of my hand and took a deep breath.
" I don't want to do anything when I'm angry. It's more harm than good. Come down before dinner and we will decide. " she said walking away.
I went to my room, but I couldn't do anything. I just sat there for two hours thinking of what happened. The more I thought of it, the more I was relieved. Sure I have to face my moms wrath but it was much better than dealing with the problem alone. Besides, she was talking to me.
At 9 PM I went down and knocked on my moms door.
" Come in" she said.
I entered the room slowly and closed the door behind me. She was sitting before the mirror and brushing her hair. She had dark, moderately long hair, with very small curls at the ends that aren't often noticeable. I've always liked her hair.
" Sam, I know this is not something either of us are used to but I don't see another way. Lying is bad. I don't mind the bad grades but hiding something so big from us is serious. And from now on I'm going to use the stick every time I find you out of line" She said bunching her hair into her fist.
" One more thing, I don't want your dad to know that you're doing poorly. He's already stressed out with work and he doesn't need to hear this. Understand?" She said looking at me through the mirror.
I Nodded. She finished tying her hair into a ponytail. It's very rare that I see her do that. She almost always keeps her hair down. Getting up she signaled me to come out as she went around her bed to fetch the stick.
We walked into the family room.
" Turn around" she pointed towards our television, away from the door. "Put your hands in front of you and don't move until I say"
I Complied. I din't know if this was really happening but I turned and moved my hands slightly to the front. A second passed, two and then I felt it, a sharp sting that almost made me flinch.
WHACK!!
I can see that she din't hit too hard but it was still painful enough. I just hoped she wouldn't hit any harder.
WHACK!!
The second one came just as hard. I gulped and stood still. She picked up the pace a bit and kept hitting.
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
By now tears have filled my eyes to the brim, although each hit wasn't agonizing, she was concentrating over a small area and the pain is slowly becoming unbearable. I counted 8 until then so I thought she would stop noticing that the next hit hasn't come yet. But that was only a second break to position herself better. She took a step back and started again.
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
At this point I couldn't stop myself from crying out loud and small muffles of 'please' escaping my mouth which I doubt she even heard. But she did hear me cry and came forward to put a hand on my shoulder.
" Promise me you won't ever lie to me again sam" she said.
" I won't I promise" I said between my cries.
" We will talk later, go to your room and rest" she said going through the kitchen again, probably to replace the stick.
We din't talk much that night and we din't talk about the beating at all after that. It did take a few weeks for us to go back to being normal around each other but now I've improved a lot with my academics. She makes sure I study and attend all my tutions everyday. I'm more confident now but more importantly I'm not scared anymore, at least not scared of failing. This punishment my mother gave me albeit impulsively, probably saved my life. I don't think I'd ever do something to risk another thrashing from her, but you never know.
I'm in my 12th and close to my final examination and national entrance tests which were very important for any aspiring student. I was never interested in studies but this year was a disaster even to me. Although my grades were quite low for most of my schooling, I never failed any tests. Now I did, a lot. I knew I was close to fucking up my future but before I took it seriously I'm already here, close to my board exams. I was scared. I couldn't tell my parents, that would be a disaster. They would probably stop talking to me for god knows how long. With less than two months to go and over an year syllabus to cover, I couldn't find any motivation. I cried myself to sleep most nights and the others I couldn't even sleep.
This happened a month ago. I was out with my friends and got a call from my mom asking me to come home, that she needed to talk something. I was scared that she might have found out one of my lies. I get scared every time one of my parent calls but nothing ever happens. They just wanted to discuss a trip or my collage schedule. So I let it out of my mind and told her I'd be back soon. I took my time, had some laughs and started home after another hour. My dad was out on a week long tour to another city and my sister has no holidays close by so it's just me and my mom. I came home at about 6:30 in the evening, she was on the phone so I just turned to go to my room but she pointed towards a chair, signalling me to sit. She quickly ended her call and faced me.
" I met your principal today. He has something very different to say about your grades than what you tell us"
I could feel my heart pounding. A thousand thoughts rushed through my mind. I tried to think of any possible way to cover it up but finally decided to just accept it. I looked away.
" He says you only attend half the classes, failed most of your pre-tests and the teachers have put you in the hopeless category" she said, calmly. But I could sense the anger build up in her voice.
I din't know what to say, i just sat there mum lost in ambiguous thoughts.
"IS THAT RIGHT?" She suddenly shouted, making me jolt up.
" Ye..yes" was all I could mumble.
Mom stared at me for the next few seconds, which honestly seemed like hours.
" Come here" she said signalling with her hand.
I rose up and slowly walked towards her. I kept looking into her eyes and I could see no emotion. Her look was stern. I came close to her, about an arm apart and stopped. I din't know what to do, it felt awkward. She looked at me for another second and I felt a sharp sting on my left cheek.
SLAP!!
I couldn't believe what just happened. Not only have my parents never laid a hand on one of us, they completely stayed away from the topic of physical punishment. But I guess that was only because we managed to behave well, as it is becoming evident now.
" I always knew I was being easy on you. I wanted to start looking into you more a long time ago, but your dad always says you're a 'good' and 'matured' kid and you would handle things well."
I stood there, petrified, not knowing how to react, too scared to talk back.
" What else are you hiding from me? Do you smoke? Drink? what els.."
" No mom, really no, none of those, please believe me, i'd never do those" Now I started crying.
" I'll find out. I'll find out everything. Listen, from now on I'll be watching you. You go to collage, come straight home and sit with me to study. No more goofing. I'll arrange some tutions for all the subjects you've failed and you will attend them promptly, do you understand?" she said as she quicly paced from one window to another closing and locking them.
" Yes" I mumbled slowly through my tears.
" I'm not going to let you go so easily from now on. I'll make sure the thought of lying to me won't cross your mind again "
After closing all the windows, she went into the kitchen. Standing there, I heard the kitchen door that led outside open. In less than a minute I heard her closing the door and stride towards me.As I looked up, she appeared, with a long and moderately thick wooden stick.
" This is what I'm going to use from now on" she said raising the stick up for me to see.
I din't know if it was a cane, but it did look like one. It had small light patches of dry dirt sticking to it. It should probably be lying somewhere in our garden, used to support a plant or something.
It made me gulp. I just looked at mom with teary eyes. I was more confused than scared. I was never hit as punishment before, not even at school. I did see a lot of kids getting caned and thought I might someday as well but I never, not even in my dreams pictured my mother doing it. Does she even know how to use it?
" Get it?" she asked, waking me from my state of shock.
" I'm not going to be a soft parent anymore. This is what you get for your mistakes from now on, small or big" she said walking towards me.
As she said that, I thought maybe she was using it to threaten me so I'd know she's really serious this time, but boy was I wrong.
She moved closer to the center of the room and tapped the stick on the floor.
" Come here" she said.
I slowly moved in. When I was close enough, she grabbed my hand and gave me a slight pull.
" Talk to me sam. Is what you did wrong?"
" Yes" I said, looking down.
"Look at me, you understand how important these two years are for your future?" She said bending to look into my eyes.
I looked up and slowly nodded my head. My tears have dried up. My thoughts became clearer.
" What do you want me to do?" she asked.
"I'm sorry. I became too careless. I should've told you this a long time ago but I was scared. I should be scared of lying, not telling the truth. You're right, maybe you shouldn't have been so soft on me. I'll accept whatever you say"
She looked at me for a few seconds, she was surprised maybe, seeing me confess everything. The way she looked at me changed too. Minutes ago, it was like she wanted to beat the shit out of me with that stick, now she became calm. She let go of my hand and took a deep breath.
" I don't want to do anything when I'm angry. It's more harm than good. Come down before dinner and we will decide. " she said walking away.
I went to my room, but I couldn't do anything. I just sat there for two hours thinking of what happened. The more I thought of it, the more I was relieved. Sure I have to face my moms wrath but it was much better than dealing with the problem alone. Besides, she was talking to me.
At 9 PM I went down and knocked on my moms door.
" Come in" she said.
I entered the room slowly and closed the door behind me. She was sitting before the mirror and brushing her hair. She had dark, moderately long hair, with very small curls at the ends that aren't often noticeable. I've always liked her hair.
" Sam, I know this is not something either of us are used to but I don't see another way. Lying is bad. I don't mind the bad grades but hiding something so big from us is serious. And from now on I'm going to use the stick every time I find you out of line" She said bunching her hair into her fist.
" One more thing, I don't want your dad to know that you're doing poorly. He's already stressed out with work and he doesn't need to hear this. Understand?" She said looking at me through the mirror.
I Nodded. She finished tying her hair into a ponytail. It's very rare that I see her do that. She almost always keeps her hair down. Getting up she signaled me to come out as she went around her bed to fetch the stick.
We walked into the family room.
" Turn around" she pointed towards our television, away from the door. "Put your hands in front of you and don't move until I say"
I Complied. I din't know if this was really happening but I turned and moved my hands slightly to the front. A second passed, two and then I felt it, a sharp sting that almost made me flinch.
WHACK!!
I can see that she din't hit too hard but it was still painful enough. I just hoped she wouldn't hit any harder.
WHACK!!
The second one came just as hard. I gulped and stood still. She picked up the pace a bit and kept hitting.
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
By now tears have filled my eyes to the brim, although each hit wasn't agonizing, she was concentrating over a small area and the pain is slowly becoming unbearable. I counted 8 until then so I thought she would stop noticing that the next hit hasn't come yet. But that was only a second break to position herself better. She took a step back and started again.
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
WHACK!!
At this point I couldn't stop myself from crying out loud and small muffles of 'please' escaping my mouth which I doubt she even heard. But she did hear me cry and came forward to put a hand on my shoulder.
" Promise me you won't ever lie to me again sam" she said.
" I won't I promise" I said between my cries.
" We will talk later, go to your room and rest" she said going through the kitchen again, probably to replace the stick.
We din't talk much that night and we din't talk about the beating at all after that. It did take a few weeks for us to go back to being normal around each other but now I've improved a lot with my academics. She makes sure I study and attend all my tutions everyday. I'm more confident now but more importantly I'm not scared anymore, at least not scared of failing. This punishment my mother gave me albeit impulsively, probably saved my life. I don't think I'd ever do something to risk another thrashing from her, but you never know.
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