I walked in through the back door of Kevin's house and found Dani standing in the kitchen; she greeted me with a smile as I set my backpack down and slumped into a seat at the counter. "Hey sweetie, how was your day?"
"Better than yesterday," I said trying to sound optimistic. "Is Kevvy home yet?"
"No, he should be home any minute, he told me you were coming. I was just getting a snack for the girls would you like something to eat?"
"No thank you, I'm too tired to eat." I said with a yawn.
"Poor thing, you look exhausted," Dani cooed as she called the girls into the kitchen for their snack.
"CECE!!" both Maddie and Ellie cried out when they entered the kitchen, running over and nearly tackling me off of the stool with a hug.
"What are you doing here?" questioned Maddie grabbing the stool next to me and sitting down.
"HEY! I wanted to sit next to CeCe!" shouted Ellie stomping her foot.
"Hey now! No fighting, just sit with me," I said pulling Ellie up into my lap.
"Are you here to play?" she asked, her eyes hopeful.
"I wish! Your daddy is going to help me with my homework."
"Boo! Homework is no fun!" argued Ellie jutting her lip out into a pout.
"Amen to that," I said holding out my hand for a high-five, Ellie quickly paid.
Kevin walked in and was immediately greeted by the girls chiming "DADDY!" He smiled, walking over to them and giving them each a kiss on the top of the head.
"How are my favorite ladies?" he said making his way around the counter to give Dani a kiss.
"Good," replied Maddie. "Is CeCe staying for dinner?"
"I don't know, she can if she wants but first we have some homework to work on, with no interruptions from you two," He instructed. "Go ahead and grab your backpack CeCe, we will work on your paper in my office."
I nodded and hopped down off my stool sitting Ellie in my place before grabbing my backpack and heading into Kevin's office.
"Alright, what is your assignment?" Kevin asked as he entered the office and closed the door.
I grabbed my old paper from my bag and handed it to Kevin. "Current Social Media and its Effects on Student Writing," Kevin read out loud then cocked a brow. "Is this the topic everyone was given to write about?"
"No, we were supposed to choose a type of technology or media popular in today's society and write about its advantages and disadvantages," I said.
Kevin remained quiet as he looked over my paper, gathering his thoughts before speaking. "CeCe, I think this paper is well written, I see some grammatical errors and a few things that I would change but overall definitely not a paper I would give a D."
I smiled. "I told you Joe was being unfair."
"I didn't say that he was being unfair," Kevin argued causing my smile to fall. "I said I wouldn't have given this paper a D, but he is your professor for Language Arts, not me. If Joe says that you need to rewrite the paper then you need to rewrite it without argument."
I lowered my head and nodded in agreement.
"And, if I hear of you talking the way you did to him yesterday again, I will take the belt to you myself, am I understood?"
I winced as the words left his mouth, being verbally reprimanded by Kevin was bad enough but him threatening to take a belt to me nearly brought me to tears. "Yes Sir." I nodded in agreement.
I could count on one hand the number of times I'd gotten the belt from Kevin, both in or out of school, and it certainly wasn't because I never got into trouble. I simply could not stand to disappoint him, so I made it a point to always be on my best behavior while he was around. The last time I received the belt from him was months ago but it was not one I will soon forget. Earlier in the week I had asked Joe if I could go see a movie with Morgan that Friday, he told me no, saying that later that week he and Nick had to go out of town for a seminar and I would be staying with Kevin. On Friday I asked Kevin if I could go to the movie, he made sure the rating was appropriate and told me I could go, however while I was gone Joe called and when Kevin told him I went to the movies, Joe informed him that he had already told me no.
*flashback*
Morgan and I walked in after the movie to find Kevin and Danielle sitting on the couch.
"How was the movie?" Kevin asked, his tone sounding sharp.
"It was good," I said.
"Good," he said, his tone turning more upset, "I hope it was worth it."
I looked at Morgan, confused, then back at Kevin.
He had given me permission to go.
"What do you mean?" I asked, still confused.
"I spoke with Joe earlier, I told him you went to the movie and he told me that he already told you that you couldn't go...is that true?"
"Well, yes, but..."
"Go wait for me in my office," Kevin said, cutting me off.
I immediately tried pleading my case. "No, Kevvy, please, I..."
"Now Cecelia!" Kevin cut me off again, his tone signaling that he was in no mood to negotiate.
As I made my way to his office, I heard Morgan start to apologize to Kevin trying to plead my case, and Kevin quickly dismissed her attempts as well.
"I appreciate your apology Morgan, it still does not change or excuse the situation."
That was about all I heard before entering into Kevin's office and sitting down in one of the chairs facing his large wooden desk. I sat there nervously for only a minute or so before I heard the office door close...my heart immediately started to pound.
Kevin came to lean on the edge of the desk in front of me, his arms folded across his chest. Ugh, the folded arms across the chest, a sure sign that this little "conversation" would not end well for me.
"Do you know why you are in trouble?" Kevin asked.
Let me just state, I HATE when people ask this question, more than likely you know damn well why you are in trouble, and you are well aware that you are about to be punished for it, having to state it verbally is just embarrassing. However, in this particular case, I didn't have a clue.
"No, I don't." I answered honestly.
"You asked Joe if you could go to the movie, he told you no, but you didn't like that answer so you turned around and asked me."
"It wasn't like that," I stated, now seeing why he was so upset but still feeling completely justified.
"Oh really, enlighten me then," Kevin said, his tone snarky.
"Yes, Joe said I couldn't go to the movie, but I thought he said no because I would be staying here and you would be in charge," I said, arguing my case.
"It doesn't matter WHY he said no Cecelia. The answer was no. You do not get to pick and choose which answer you like best. You DO NOT get to play us against each other."
"I didn't!"
"You DID!" he countered, his tone causing me to flinch.
"I just misunderstood," I added, trying one last time to plead my case.
"Let me make it VERY clear for you then..." Kevin said, leaning down closer to my face and locking eyes with me. "If Nick, Joe, or I give you an answer...THAT is your answer. You do NOT keep asking until you find one that best meets your social schedule. I am really disappointed in you. You know better, don't pretend you don't."
It's true, I did know better than to play my brothers against one another. This was always a very big rule growing up in our house. You don't go to Dad and ask a question and then go to Mom if you didn't like his answer...that was a very big no-no in the Jonas household. "Don't ask a question if you are not willing to accept the answer." That was probably THE most repeated line by my parents, along with "It's not WHAT you said, it's how you said it" also something that got me into a lot of trouble when I was little. I didn't intend to play them against each other on the movie. I really did think he just said no because I'd be staying with Kevin, but that wasn't the point that Kevin was making. The point was I was told no, that was my answer, the answer I should have accepted. Tears filled my eyes as I saw Kevin's look of disappointment, and my breath hitched when he reached for his belt. He stood and pulled his belt from their loops and doubled the leather in his hands. No words were needed; I knew what I was supposed to do. A few tears were already trailing down my cheeks as I leaned over the desk and buried my face in my arms, not because I was going to get the belt but because he had said he was disappointed in me. That hurt, not that the belt feels awesome, but given the choice, I'd take the belt over disappointment any day. The first lick landed, and I mentally started to count down in my head. There were no surprises going into a punishment. The rules have been the same for as long as I can remember. When it comes to getting the belt, it's one lick per year of age. Sure, there are those "special occasions" when extras were added on, but this was the standard. Lucky for me, I was not yet 16...which brought my mental tally to 14 left. The next three came one right after another, each seeming to land on a completely different area of my butt. 11 left. Two more landed on the sensitive underside of my ass and another at the top of my thighs. I bit my lip and silently cursed my choice of clothing for the evening.
I just had to wear the skirt...couldn't have gone with the jeans...stupid girl.
8 left. Two more landed again on the underside of my ass, much harder than the ones before and my composure started to break as I let out a strained "Ugh" between my gritted teeth as each one hit. 6 left. The next two striped across my ass leaving a trail of fire in their path, and then one more almost immediately hit the tops of my thighs. Frick! Kevin didn't hit as hard as Joe, but his aim was certainly more strategic, causing more pain per lick. 3 left. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and cried out an "OW" through gritted teeth when the last three stripes landed on that sensitive underside of my ass in the exact same spot. I propped myself up on my forearms on the desk catching my breath and gaining composure before standing and turning to face Kevin, tears running down my face. Kevin finished lacing his belt back through the loops and looked at me with sad eyes before pulling me into a hug.
"I'm sorry," I muttered, burying my face into his chest. Kevin kissed the top of my head and let out a sigh.
"Please don't make me ever have to do that again." He said his tone pleading.
*End of flashback*
I couldn't sit right for days after that night; not only because of Kevin's punishment, but the next morning, I received the same from Joe. I knew it was coming. It's how Mom and Dad always handled it when one of us would try to play them against each other. You learn real quickly not to involve both parents when it means they both get to punish you.
***
"This is a good paper," Kevin said, grabbing a red pen from his desk and marking on my paper. After a few minutes, he handed the paper to me. "I want you to do the corrections and let me look at it once you are done."
"What about rewriting it?" I asked, now confused.
"There is no need to rewrite that paper, do the corrections, I will proof it, and then you can retype it."
"But..." I started to argue.
"Cecelia, don't argue with me. Just do it," Kevin said, sounding slightly irritated.
I made the executive decision not to argue with Kevin, even if Joe did get upset that I did not completely rewrite my paper. It was a good paper, why fix it if it's not broken, right?
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A Little look at Kevin and his family. Please take the time to click the star and leave me your thoughts below!