Less Trouble, More Tal

Have you ever noticed how you can sometimes see someone on a regular basis, but not see them? It happens to me a lot with my kids, where I’ll look up and suddenly realize how much they’ve grown. The same thing happens with a lot of their friends, boys who are around on a regular basis, and then I’ll one day look at them and… Wow!

Usually that happens because you’ve not seen someone in a while, and this was no exception. Tal Gallaher was leaning up against the kitchen cabinet, talking to me, as I was slicing vegetables for the kids’ snack tray.

I’m sure he would rather have been talking to the twins, who were his closest friends among my kids, but they were in Florida, visiting their grandmother, so that hadn’t worked out too well for him. He was obviously bursting to talk to someone, and I’m usually willing to lend a sympathetic ear, though sympathy wasn’t really what he needed.

"It kinda sucked, cause I had to share a hotel room with them, so there was like NO privacy, but that was only a couple of days. When we were at the beach, we rented this place that had a different room, and I got a cot there, which was better than a bed in their room."

"Well, it sounds like you still had a good time."

"Yeah, my cousin’s kinda boring… Noah’d like him, but I don’t get into all that sports stuff, and that’s all he talks about."

"You like getting out and throwing the ball sometimes, Tal."

"Yeah, but I don’t really care who’s got what batting average, and, I mean, he thought I was an idiot because I didn’t know which teams had designated hitters. Did you know that some did and some didn’t?"

"I knew it, but don’t get me lying about who."

He shrugged.

"Anyway, we only stayed there a couple of days, and it’s always nice to see Nana, and I didn’t have a bad time, even if my cousin is a tool. Then we spent a coupla days at the beach, and got to go to Schlitterbahn while we were down there, then we stopped by Sea World on the way back, which was awesome. And Mom just sat and watched the shows twice, or sat and read, so me and Dad could do a couple of the coasters."

"That was certainly nice of her."

"Yeah, it’s part of that therapy stuff they did." He dropped his voice and spoke with what might have been a vaguely Germanic accent, "You must respect each other’s desires. If vun of you vants to do something the other doesn’t, remember that to be together doesn’t mean you hav to be together all ze time."

I knew he’d met the councilor a couple of times, and thought about asking if that’s what he really sounded like, but didn’t want to get distracted, and figured it came more from cartoons and bad movies anyway.

"So, Mom and Dad both took two weeks vacation…?"

"Yeah, Mom took hers a week earlier than Dad’s, which kind of sucked, because she wanted to do all this house cleaning, and I got stuck helping her."

"Well, I’m sure it didn’t kill you."

Tal shot me a dirty look.

"Sorry, it’s a parental reaction. I couldn’t help it."

He went on to explain how his parents had overlapped their vacations, so each of them had a week to do their own thing, then they spent a week doing a family vacation. He’d been especially happy since his parents taking the separate weeks had meant some real quality time for him with each of them.

The drawback was, between his recent schedule and the twins’, they hadn’t seen much of each other since summer started. While they weren’t quite as close as they’d once been, they were still good friends. I’m sure that absence was what made me realize how much Tal had changed, though.

There was nothing especially different about him that should have drawn my attention to the growth. His nose might have been just a bit bigger in proportion, but it was still very angular. All his features were the same, not especially handsome, but very interesting. His brown hair seemed to be a bit darker now, but that might have been because the blond streaks he’d talked his mom into applying had finally grown out. He’d held onto them for a while, though, and, despite the heat, was wearing his hair longer than he had for a while.

Despite the fact that he didn‘t look different, I had suddenly realized that Tal, who had been right between Josh and Johnny, now stood an inch or two taller than either of them. I don’t know if I’d just not noticed him growing, or if he’d done it all in the few weeks since I’d last seen him. He was still very lean, and I’ll bet he didn’t weigh much more than one hundred pounds – not heavily muscled, but lean and defined, with just a hint of pleasant padding.



Tal had been arranging the veggies on the platter as I finished each one, talking at the same time. As I finished the last pile, he seemed to wind down.

"So," I asked to fill the silence, but also hoping to get a cheap thrill, "how’s Wheels doing?"

"Sucky," Tal replied instantly. "I hardly got to see him while the ‘rents were on vacation. I mean, I had a great time, but we were mostly busy. Anyway, his dad got mad at him about not doing some chores and some other stuff, so he’s grounded now. He don’t get ungrounded until Saturday, and they’re leaving on their vacation Monday, so I probably won’t get to see him until they get back, and they’re gonna be gone for a coupla weeks."

"Well, that is pretty rough. Grab that platter, would you?"

Tal nodded and picked it up, following me into the back yard, but I’d definitely killed his buzz. As I put the platters out on the ice and made sure the fans covered them to help keep insects away, Tal waved to some of the kids in the backyard, but he followed me back into the house.

There were really two big reasons Tal hadn’t been spending as much time at my house for a while now. One of them was divergent interests with the twins. Tal and the twins had first become friends at a New Year’s Eve party at the store, when they discovered each other’s mutual interest in collectible-card games and ‘Clix. Johnny and Josh both still played, but their interest in band and sports took up more of their time. While Josh was more interested in the fantasy gaming than his brother, he concentrated more on role-playing than Tal had. As a matter of fact, Tal was invited to join Josh’s role-playing group, but wasn’t interested. He has, since then, expressed more interest, and I’ve heard them talking about Tal joining the next time they start a campaign.

The other reason Tal hasn’t spent as much time with the twins is because of a new friend to whom I’d introduced him. And thinking of that new friend made me realize what I could do to make up for throwing figurative cold water on Tal’s excitement.

"How about you?" I asked.

"Ummmm…. Huh?"

"You said Wheels got grounded for not doing chores. I seem to remember you used to have a problem with that. Been keeping up with them better lately?"

Tal looked up at me, not quite nervous, but considering. He must have liked what he saw, because his lips quivered in a slight grin before he answered.

"Oh, mostly pretty good, I guess."

"Mostly pretty good, you guess? That’s not a rousing endorsement, Tal."

"Well, you know…"

"Tal, either you’ve been doing your chores like you’re supposed to, or you haven’t?"

"Well, I’ve been trying, but I forget sometimes, or get busy…"

"Uh huh. Didn’t I have to encourage you about that last year?"

He shrugged and nodded.

"It’s great your parents are back together, but it’s too bad you don’t spend as much time over here anymore. Maybe I should let your dad know how I encouraged you last year."

Tal’s head shot up, and he suddenly looked a little nervous. He calmed down after a second, obviously deciding I was still joking.

"Does your dad still spank you, Tal?" I asked, a bit more serious now.

I’m not sure if it was nerves this time or embarrassment, but he sucked in his lower lip for a second, then looked away before nodding.

"Not as much as he used to," he explained, without me having to prompt him, "but he uses that spanker more now."

"Ouch," I commented.

He nodded.

"Yeah."

After taking the snacks outside, I’d gone back to the kitchen, and had been wiping down the counters and washing the knives as Tal and I talked. With nothing to do, he was just leaning on the counter. He wasn’t sitting, but bending down a bit, mostly at the knees is how it looked from my side. He had elbows on the counter, his hands folded together, and his chin resting on them.

I’d turned to look at him for the last part of the conversation and suddenly realized that his eyebrows were a slightly darker brown than the hair on his head. With his fair complexion, and the fact that his hair was long enough now to hang over his forehead, it made for an intriguing look. After a few seconds, I noticed a few golden-red highlights in his hair, and decided those and the entire slightly lighter shade were probably just due to sun bleaching. He wasn’t heavily tanned, but with his complexion, I thought he must have learned a lesson about sunscreen early in life.

"So, would you rather get popped with the spanker or grounded like Wheels does?"

He didn’t have to think long.

"At least a spanking’s over with quick."

Then he paused, and you could tell he was thinking.

"I’m glad I don’t have to decide, though."

"Why’s that?"

"Spankings hurt too much. I’d probably choose grounding, then I’d be mad at myself the whole time."

I shrugged and was impressed that the barely thirteen-year-old kid understood that and knew himself that well.

"Been a while since you’ve had a spanking then?"

It’s funny, because with a lot of kids, I can’t have a conversation like this. A few questions about spanking and how they’ve been behaving, sure; but an entire conversation about it? Most kids might answer, but they start getting nervous (like they think I’m talking about it because I think they need one) or uncomfortable (maybe not wanting to revisit past embarrassments). And even if neither of these things were true, I try not to appear too interested without some reason, not wanting to give myself too bad a name. When a kid comes to understand that you like spanking – even if subconsciously – it makes it harder for them to accept one they deserve from you.

With Tal, that wasn’t a problem. He thought for a second, then shrugged.

"Not long enough. I kinda got in trouble when Mom took her first week a’ vacation. She was wanting me to help her with all kinds of cleaning and crap. I mean, if she wants to do that, I guess it’s cool, but how come her wantin’ to do it means I have to too?"

I shrugged. I could understand why, but I also saw his point of view on the matter. It obviously didn’t kill him to help, and it’s certainly a good thing for kids to have to help with things like that, but I’ve noticed most parents don’t feel very concerned about explaining why they expect the kid’s help, why it’s a good idea, or even letting them know that their help is expected until time to start.

"Yeah, well, I guess me and her got into it one afternoon because I was tired of slaving for her. I’d already mowed the lawn that morning, like Dad told me, and I’d cleaned my room, then she wanted me to do some other crap, and I guess I kind a’ yelled at her and then left."

My eyes went wide, because that didn’t really sound much like Tal at all. Then again, when I’d known Tal best, his parents had been separated, and he was torn between being upset with them and scared. He’d also been a year younger.

He hadn’t been watching me, but now looked up to see my wide eyes and nodded.

"My worst mistake was not getting home before Dad. I mean, I felt kind a’ bad about doing it, and I would a’ apologized to Mom, but she’d already told Dad about it, and he sent me to my room as soon as I got home."

"Ouch again."

"Double ouch," Tal assured me.

"So, you been doing better on your chores since then?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"C’mon, Tal. You know my three strike rule. I seem to remember having to ‘motivate’ you last summer."

He glanced up with me with a nervous smile and nodded.

"Yeah, I remember."

"Was that the only time you slipped on your chores lately? Maybe I could call your dad and let him know how I did it. Or do you think I should just take you to my bedroom and take care of it myself?"

It was hilarious. Tal was obviously trying to be serious, but the left corner of his lips was twitching, and there was a hungry gleam in his eyes. Still, a few seconds went by before he answered.

"I guess you should take me now."

"Okay," I agreed, wiping my hands on a dishrag, then dropping it and stepping around the counter. "Let’s go."

Tal stepped away from the counter and turned. I stepped up beside him and dropped my arm around his shoulders. After a second, he leaned into me a bit, letting his head rest in the hollow of my shoulder. A moment after that, I felt his arm moving across my back, and his hand came to rest just above my hip.

It was a little slower walking like that, but it just felt too comfortable to worry about. It’s not like we were on a schedule anyway. Soon enough, we were at my bedroom door. I stopped, leaned my head over on his for a second, then let him go. Tal stepped away, and I motioned for him to proceed me through the doorway. He did, then turned to look back at me questioningly. I took a moment to give him the once over.

Tal was dressed like a lot of boys do during the summer: blue jean cargo shorts, a white, tank top-style undershirt, and a brown short-sleeved shirt worn unbuttoned over that, along with black sneakers and ankle socks.

The thing is, while Tal’s father and I both spank bare, we approach it in different ways. I’d spanked him both ways before – sending him to strip to his briefs and removing those after the lecture, or pulling his pants and undies off for him but nothing else.

"Since we’re at my house, Tal," I told him, coming to a decision, "I think we’ll do this my way. Take off the overshirt and kick off your shoes."

His head gave a jerky nod, and he stepped over to my bed, taking the shirt off and dropping it at the foot, while toeing out of his shoes at the same time.

While Tal was doing his partial undressing, I took the straight-backed, armless wooden chair that was in my room for only one purpose and moved it to where we’d have plenty of room. I did turn in time to see him pulling an arm from the shirt, and realized that his underarms were still as smooth as his legs, making me wonder if he had any body hair yet.

With his shirt and shoes off, he stood for a second, uncertain. I sat, then beckoned for him to come to me.

He did.

"Hold your t-shirt up, Tal."

He was nervous now, his hands a bit jerky as he obeyed me, but the bulge in the front of his pants not only showed that he wasn’t too nervous, but that taller wasn’t the only way he’d been growing.

As the lower hem of the tee climbed up, I saw that he had basically no definition yet. His belly was fairly firm, but not quite flat – having a slight curve that suggested just a bit of softness. The rising shirt also revealed the waistband of some red and dark blue boxers, which was a disappointment, but not a surprise. Tal had occasionally worn boxers even back when he was eleven when we’d first met. For him to be wearing them now when he was in middle school and showering after gym class was to be expected. To the best of my experience, at least three-quarters of all boys had switched to boxers by seventh grade.

It was still a bit sad though.

Being as careful as I could to not make contact with his erection, I undid Tal’s fly, then spread the shorts wide and slid them down his smooth legs. Tal remembered my system, and as soon as they hit his ankles, he stepped out without being told.

His boxers were the type with a button on the front, so nothing had popped out when I’d slid his jeans down, but he’d gone from a bulge to a definite tent. I looked up to see the boy staring down at me, seeming both embarrassed and fascinated. I tossed his shorts towards the end of the bed, where his shirt lay, then reached for his boxers.

Tal stiffened a bit as my hands settled against his hip, then flinched a little when my fingers slipped inside the waistband of the boxers.

Despite the slight padding he had, Tal actually did have a distinct waist, sloping inward from his underarms, then curving back to his hips. His boxers were riding low enough to show the upper part of the ‘v’ his hips made. I had to pause just a moment to admire it.

I moved slowly at first, carefully easing the boxers over the obstruction, then quickly slipped them the rest of the way down his legs. As soon as the obstruction was uncovered, it flopped out, pointing almost at my chin.

I’d been wrong about Tal having no body hair yet though. There wasn’t much – just a thin, narrow arch right above the base of his penis. It wasn’t even especially thick yet, since you could still see hair through it, but many of the hairs were already long enough to have some real curl to them. They were a dark brown that matched his eyebrows.

He’d definitely grown since the last time I’d spanked him as well. I remembered his little buddy as a skinny two inches or so, though he’d obviously been in the earliest stages of puberty. Now, though he wasn’t exactly what you’d call thick, he was jutting a proud five inches, and it was definitely thick enough for him to get his hand around, rather than the two-finger version I’d caught him doing before.

After a quick glimpse, I looked up at him. His head was jerking around, looking at me for a second, and then looking away before being drawn back. He seemed obviously embarrassed and nervous, so I decided not to comment on the probable cause.

"You ready, Tal?"

He nodded.

"All right then…" I said, motioning across my lap.

He stepped to the side, leaned down to put his hands on my left leg, and leaned forward. His undershirt was tight enough that it stayed up when he released it.

It only took a second for Tal to lay himself across my lap. I knew his dad normally sat on the edge of his bed to spank him, and he’d not gone across my lap since he’d had the growth spurt. I took him by the hips and adjusted him a bit, to get him just where I wanted.

Tal wasn’t as athletic as a lot of boys I know, but he’s no couch potato, either. That slight bit of paddling covered his rear too, but it lay over firm muscles. Of course, his rear had changed with his growth spurt, but it was still nice: the two mounds made a slight rise from his back, with a slight, v-shaped valley between them until it narrowed and deepened into a crevasse. The lower slopes, where the cheeks separated and melded into his legs, weren’t as pronounced as I could wish, but he was far from flat. His rear also wasn’t as narrow as a lot of boys, and he only had very mild dimples at each side.

When I rested my hand on his smooth cheeks, he flinched again, and the dimples briefly became more pronounced, but he relaxed as I gave his cheeks a gentle massage, ending with a firm squeeze on each side.

"You sure you need this, Tal?"

"Oh, yeah," he answered in a deep, rough voice, completely unlike his normal tone.

"Good."

My hand came up and quickly went back down.

It’d been a long time since I’d been able to spank Tal, and I didn’t plan to disappoint either one of us. I made sure each swat was firm, without being too hard, and gave it a careful flick of the wrist to add some extra sting. I took my time between swats, sometimes snapping my hand right back up, and sometimes holding it in place, maybe even giving a quick rub or squeeze. Each swat was carefully aimed to cover every inch of that cute little bottom, but avoiding as much overlap as I could – to start, at least.

Tal took it like a massage – not jumping, jerking, and yelping, but squirming a bit and making small, pleasurable moans.

When I’d covered his whole bottom, leaving it a dark pink from those upper arches down onto his legs, and curving my fingers to get his inner thighs, I started again. This time, each swat was a bit firmer and ended with a quick but firm rub to massage in the heat and sting. His squirming became a bit more pronounced now, and the pleasurable moans came close to resembling yelps a couple of times as I worked his upper legs.

I paused a second to admire his rosy rear before starting for a third time. This time, there was nothing slow, careful, or methodical about it. My hand was flying up and down, not as fast as I could, but much quicker than it had been. There was no rubbing or squeezing between swats, and his squirming became much more energetic as his legs started to jerk around and kick. The moans ceased, and the yelps were much more definite.

I worked all around his quickly reddening butt, smacking all over, and not forgetting to place an occasional swat on his upper legs. It was after one of those that I heard a yelp broken by a sob.

I slowed, and each swat landing was carefully placed and firm, but with no rest between each. Now I was evening everything out, and these were really burning as they feel on already tenderized flesh.

He protested each smack now with an ‘ouch’ or ‘ow’, but it didn’t stop me. The sobs were becoming clearer now, but it wasn’t until I moved down onto his legs that they became steady.

Tal was still struggling, but not too hard, and my left arm across his back kept him in place. I paused just a second, waited for the struggling to ease back slightly, then released a deluge of rapid-fire swats, using just my fingertips to cover both cheeks and upper legs with a swarm of stinging smacks.

Tal’s lighting sobbing had started to ease in the quick break, but he nearly howled an ‘ow’ as the newest assault began; then he broke into true crying.

I stopped.

Tal lay over my lap, crying softly. I took my left hand and reached down to rub his rear. I was enjoying the sting in my right hand and the heat against my left hand. After a moment, with Tal’s cries already dying away, I reached down and helped him sit up.

Even sitting in my lap, part of him was standing upright.

"Why don’t you go on into the bathroom and take care of that?" I suggested.

"Can’t I stay here a minute?"

I was surprised, but not reluctant.

"Okay, but no playing."

"Okay," he agreed. "My dad never does this."

With that, he laid his right arm around my shoulders and cuddled his face into the crook of my neck. He was tall enough that it couldn’t have been extremely comfortable, but he didn’t seem to mind.

He was mostly still, and I could feel a few tears against my neck, but he was barely sobbing at all. His sore rear was mostly on my left leg, and it must have been a bit uncomfortable, based on how he kept shifting. Of course, considering how he was shifting around, I wondered if he realized he wasn’t the only one standing upright right then.

Finally he stood, no longer seeming shy at all about the erection. He reached behind him for a rub.

"That was a good one."

I smiled, not sure what to say.

"Ummm…" He said after a minute. "I’ll, uh…"

He nodded at the bathroom, and I nodded agreement.

As soon as Tal stepped into the bathroom, I put the chair back and nearly ran to my office, where I grabbed a clean handkerchief and took care of my own problem.



A few minutes later, I’d cleaned up, washed up, and was back in the kitchen, when I heard Tal calling my name.

"In here."

"Hey," he said a second later, joining me. "Umm… Thanks, by the way."

"You’re welcome."

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Why does that happen when you or Wheels spank me, but not my dad?"

"I dunno, Buddy. A friend of mine says it might be because of emotion. It’s not that the spanking is that much different, but because, when you’re in trouble, you feel different because you’re worried and upset that you let your dad down."

"But it doesn’t always happen when you spank me."

"True, and the times it hasn’t happened, as best I can remember, are when you were in real trouble."

He thought about that for a minute, then nodded.

"It also means that, anytime you do get in real trouble over here, there’s no question that I’m going to use the paddle."

"Gee," he replied dryly. "Thanks a lot."

"All part of the service. Speaking of which, you think you’re going to remember to do your chores for a while?"

He looked up at me. A devilish smile crossed his face.

"I dunno. You might have to remind me in a week or so."







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