"Has there been some kind of problem?" Mrs Miller asked, raising an eyebrow. Everyone went silent immediately. "Was there some kind of spill?"
"Yeah, sorry," Marcie answered right away. I could see the fear in her eyes as she spoke; she knew that she would be in for some kind of punishment just for spilling a drink. But she also knew that it was less than what I would face for peeing on the floor, and she had gotten used to her mother's punishments a little. "I knocked a glass over when I woke, I didn't realise there was a drink somebody didn't finish before bed, and–"
"Or did Lorna not manage to take the precautions that she promised?" that piercing voice interrupted. "You know, I don't think a simple spilled drink would spread so far across the floor, and I don't think you would be using the deodorising disinfectant to get it out of the carpet. Marcie, I expect better of you. Your friend needs to be punished if she can't act responsibly, that is exactly why her parents authorised me to administer appropriate discipline. They told me to punish her, specifically so that things like this will not happen in the future. But lying helps nobody, so I think it is appropriate that you face a spanking together. So that you will think twice before doing that again."
"But Mum–"
"Don't interrupt me, young lady, you'll only make it worse, and I don't think your friend would appreciate that. You will both accept fifteen strokes because somebody did not take care of the furniture while she is here as a guest, and refused to wear a diaper even though she is such a baby that she still needs one. And an additional twenty strokes each for lying about your sins. And five more for interrupting me."
My face was burning with shame as she so casually mentioned my problem and called me a baby in front of all my closest friends; but it didn't stop me giving the response she expected. Any argument could only have made it worse.
"Yes, Mrs Miller."
"Yes Mother."
"Good. Now, I dare say your punishment doesn't have to be immediate. In fact, I think that it would be appropriate to make you wait a little so that you can think about what you have done. So you will face your punishment after breakfast. Do you understand me?"
I just nodded. A glance around the room told me Elspeth was fighting the urge to complain. She'd always had a problem controlling her anger, and now there was something she could really be mad about. And she couldn't be spanked either, because her parents would never have agreed to it. But she knew that Mrs Miller would be happy to take it out on Marcie if someone else said something against her; and that was enough to make her hold her tongue.
When Marcie's mum left us, we all knew that we would have to finish cleaning up. I couldn't stop apologising to the others, especially to Marcie. But nobody seemed to be particularly upset. They all knew that this was just one sadistic parent taking any opportunity to punish us, and they didn't blame me at all.
Twenty minutes later, there was no trace of a stain on the carpet, and everything that needed washing was in the machine. We'd done everything we could reasonably be expected to do, and I think we all felt quite proud of ourselves.
"You know what?" Marcie said, while the girls who still had clean sleeping bags folded them away and everyone got dressed for a new day. "I don't care anymore. This is the last time Mum gets to punish me like this. When she treats my friends like that, I don't want to be in this house."
"I'd say move in with me," Elspeth suggested. "You know how much I'd love that. But as long as she has deferred parental responsibility, she could kick up a fuss about my parents."
"Stay with me?" Serena spoke up. "I know you were joking about it yesterday, but there's no real reason you can't. My house has a basement suite, two bedrooms with their own bathroom and kitchenette, and you can bolt the connecting door to the rest of the house if you want to feel like you've got a place to yourselves. Somewhere to stay until you find your feet, if you want it."
"Well, that's a nice birthday present," Elspeth chuckled. I could tell she wasn't quite sure if the offer was serious; but I thought I knew Serena well enough by that point to assume that it was. Or perhaps more accurately, it didn't need to be serious because she didn't consider a house to be a big deal. It felt like a good idea at the time, and that was all she needed. Serena added one more suggestion as well: that we should record the punishment that Mrs Miller had promised us. There was a good chance there would be something there we could use, if it came to a legal challenge over Marcie's right to move out. The status of kids who were eighteen but hadn't yet finished school was a complex issue, and in most cases we would have been expected to follow the demands of our parents, but a record of unnecessary cruelty should simplify the process if it became necessary.
The conversation broke down into idle chatter about movies; I think none of us wanted to dwell on serious subjects for too long. At one point someone suggested more truth or dare, but the mood didn't seem to be right for that. We chatted casually and let ourselves relax for a few minutes, before Marcie's mum called again to let us know that she was making breakfast. We could have pancakes and waffles, which was one of the good points about hosting a sleepover here. Breakfast was also the only time we would see Marcie's dad; he seemed to have little involvement with his daughters' friends, and in all the time I'd known Marcie I'd probably only heard a dozen words from the guy. But he knew what he liked for breakfast, and as long as he was sitting at the table his wife would keep quiet about the punishment she had promised us. Breakfast passed uneventfully, with meaningless small talk so that we weren't excluding the other members of the family as they came to the kitchen to get their share. The food wasn't anything special, but it was consistently good, and food and coffee kept on coming until we were all satisfied.
"Mercer today?" Jodie asked, pushing an empty plate away from her. We thought about the suggestion; it was usually safe to assume that on any given Saturday there would be at least a couple of us hanging around the mall, simply because there was little else to do.
"I'm going with Lance to visit his uncle," Nikki answered. "Maybe catch up with you later."
"Mercer sounds good," Elspeth said with a smile. "I got some gift certificates, too. So might have an excuse to check out different stores."
There was a murmur of agreement, as well as some curiosity about what other gifts Elspeth might have got, or what she was hoping to buy. Most of us were going to be at the mall now. I knew that Mrs Miller would need her pound of flesh before we could go anywhere, but I was sure that all of our friends were planning to offer comforting ice cream as soon as we got to the Mercer Center.
"I'll drive," Serena offered. Nikki wasn't joining us this morning, and Elspeth needed to stop at home first for some quick errand, so it looked like the rest of us would be able to fit in a single car. I looked down at my outfit; I'd changed into the spare clothes I brought with me, and hadn't been making any particular plans when I picked them out, but the ensemble seemed good enough for a day at the mall.
"Sounds good to me," I said, and got up from the table and turned towards the bathroom. But before I could move, Mrs Miller was right there grabbing my wrist.
"Not so fast, young lady. Breakfast is over now, and it's time for your punishment. I hope you've had plenty of time to think about it now."
"Yes," I said. "Can I use the bathroom?" At my side, one thumb moved quickly to start my phone recording. It was a bad habit, and I probably wouldn't have earned Becker's ire in the first place without my habit of making videos of anything that seemed important. But as Serena had said, there was a good chance today that we would capture some evidence that Marcie could use against her mother.
"No. I said that it is time for your punishment, and I am not used to repeating myself. Come to the lounge. It won't take long."
The atmosphere was strange then; nobody knew what to say. But we all filed through into the lounge. I wasn't just getting a spanking; this was in front of my friends as well, for maximum humiliation. I glanced sideways at Serena, who gave me a little nod. She was recording as well, and this kind of cruel punishment would make all the difference when it came to Marcie's freedom. She might even be able to get custody of her little sister, although it was debatable whether she was mature enough to take responsibility for a child's education at this stage.
Mrs Miller stood in the middle of the room while we took the places she indicated on the couch. Then she gave a little speech, talking about how Marcie was a disgrace, lying to her mother, and trying to cover up things that needed an adult mind to fix. She didn't mention that she'd left us to clean everything up by ourselves in any case, and hadn't done anything to help anyone. She did, however, go into some depth telling us all what a disappointment Marcie was to her family, and how she would have a boyfriend by now if it weren't for this rebellious attitude making her unattractive. It was the kind of diatribe that we should have laughed at, but the situation was too serious even for incredulity.
After what seemed like an eternity, Mrs Miller grabbed Marcie by the shoulder, dragged her into the centre of the room, and forced the girl to lean over her knee. Some of us looked away automatically, but Mrs Miller yelled and told us that we needed to watch this; and that Marcie would be spanked an extra time if any of us tried to slow down the punishment. So we sat in silence and watched as Mrs Miller's hand rose in the air and came down hard on Marcie's backside. She was in tears after the first five strokes, but Mrs Miller had no concept of mercy, and she was determined to go through with the exact punishment that she had decided on. She would strike three or four times, and then stop for more venting about what a disgrace Marcie was, or how she was a terrible person; she was dishonest and worthless, and her mother wished that she had never been born. It was hard to understand how a parent could be so cruel, but we all knew there was nothing we could do. Mrs Miller had been acting like this ever since we'd known Marcie, and the only thing we'd ever been able to do about it was trying to avoid giving her any excuse for a punishment.
By the time she counted to fifty, we were all feeling numb. Marcie stumbled over to the couch, where Elspeth hugged her close as she sobbed. But then it was my turn, and I knew that any argument would only make it worse. I stood and stepped forward as the woman beckoned, and hoped that it was the last time I would find myself in this kind of situation.