Carrie Part III

[MichiganHeadmaster]

Part III

Justin held Carrie’s hand on the way home. “How is your bottom?” he asked.

“It hurts,” came the obvious reply. It was an understatement, actually. Carrie felt like her bottom was on fire for the entire hour ride home. She wanted to crawl in back and lay on her stomach but decided to tough it out. It seemed like it would be days, even weeks, before the sting would go away. How could she ever endure two dozen on her bare bottom, especially so soon after these six? Had she bitten off more than she could chew?

“You know, you don’t have to do this. You haven’t even done anything to deserve it, after all.”

“No, I need to. I’ll be okay. Just be there with me. That’s all I need.”

“Of course, my dear.”

After about 20 minutes of driving in silence, Carrie spoke up. “I haven’t told you about this. I haven’t told anyone. I’d almost forgotten about it myself.”

Justin’s curiosity was piqued. “Oh? Go on.”

“When I was in high school, I was dating Kent Graebler.”

“Graebler? The guy your class voted most likely to do time in a federal prison? And who is actually doing time there right now?”

“Yes. We dated for a few months. He introduced me to marijuana, cocaine, and speed. I might have been dead if I hadn’t broken it off and flown right.”

“So, you were the bad girl, huh? I’m seeing a side of you I never knew.”

“I was ashamed of it. He talked me into doing stuff I knew was wrong. I wanted to put it out of my mind.”

“Well, it sounds like you straightened up before anyone got hurt.”

“No, someone did get hurt. The principal. He had just gotten a new Firebird, and Kent promised me a joyride in it. All I had to do was sneak the keys out of his pocket while I was working in the office, and Kent would make a copy in shop class. Later on I’d slip the keys back into this pocket. It worked, and Kent was supposed to pick me up that night. Kent was taking the car from Mr. Tolbert’s apartment complex after dark, and Mr. Tolbert saw it and tried to stop him. Kent backed into him, knocking him down and fracturing his leg, and took off to pick me up. We drove around but he didn’t tell me what had happened. About an hour later we passed a cop on the county road, and saw it turn around. Kent gunned it, and lost the cop. He ditched the car in a ravine and called a buddy to pick us up. No one ever found out who took the car and broke Mr. Tolbert’s leg. He was in a cast for six weeks after that.”

“Oh, my God, Carrie. You never told him?”

“No, I was afraid I’d go to jail, and that Kent would, too. I still loved him even though I stopped seeing him. I was stupid!” Carrie was in tears.

“Where is Mr. Tolbert now?”

‘He’s retired. He still lives in town. I could never tell him what happened, but I’ve felt guilty about it this whole time.”

“Well, the statute of limitations is long past on your actions as an accomplice. Why don’t you tell him now?”

“I couldn’t. I would be too embarrassed. He always liked me. I could never face him after that – I even had to stop working in the office. He never understood why.”

Justin squeezed Carrie’s hand. “I think we know what your punishment is going to be for now. I’ll call Mr. Logan later on.”

Justin had Carrie go to the bedroom and nurse her stinging behind. He then called Mr. Logan and spent about an hour on the phone with him. Then he went into the bedroom and sat next to Carrie. “Mr. Logan wants you to contact Mr. Tolbert and make amends, and then he wants us both to report back next Saturday. He says that, unless you do this, he won’t be able to proceed with what you want. Also, once you’ve seen Mr. Logan again and agreed to the punishment he imposes, there will be no turning back. You will have to go through with it, and I have to make sure that you do. What do you want to do?”

Carrie wiped a tear. “Let’s go ahead with it.”

Mr. Tolbert, now 63 and in his second year of early retirement after several years as superintendent, was surprised when Carrie called. “Of course you may come over,” he said.

Mr. Tolbert welcomed Justin and Carrie into his living room and listened as Carrie struggled through her story and tearful apology. She didn’t say why she was doing this now, and it didn’t seem to matter to Mr. Tolbert.

“Carrie, I’m surprised you didn’t tell me this years ago. I would have forgiven you. The bad thing was that Kent got away with what he did. Who knows? If something had been done then, he might not have gone on to get shot robbing a liquor store and finally get 20 to life for kidnapping. That’s not your fault, of course, but you did enable him for a time. I just wish you had come to me.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Mr. Tolbert. Can you ever forgive me? I’ve suffered with this for years!”

“Of course I do, Carrie. I forgive you, and it is brave of you to come see me about it. But I have to ask, what made you decide to do this now?”

Carrie looked at Justin. “It’s up to you,” he said.

Mr. Tolbert listed as Carrie told the story of the Headmaster, and what had happened at Mr. Logan’s study the other day. Without giving details of the punishment that had been discussed, she explained that she desperately needed physical correction for what she had done.

“Well,” Mr. Tolbert replied, “they did away with corporal punishment some years back, but I have to admit that I’ve always thought it had its place, properly administered.” He smiled at Carrie. “There were a couple times I thought you could use a few swats with the old ‘board of education,’” he teased. Carrie smiled back, remembering the paddle hanging in his office, and the times she fantasized about bending over for it.

“Well, Carrie and Justin, I want you both to know that there are no hard feelings at all about what happened, and I hope you won’t make yourselves scarce in the future. As to what you have planned, please don’t do it on my account. If you do go through with it, feel free to let me know how it has helped you, but don’t feel any obligation. I won’t ask unless you bring it up.”

As Justin and Carrie left, Mr. Tolbert shook Justin’s hand and Carrie gave Mr. Tolbert a long, warm embrace.

For the next few days, Carrie was conflicted. She felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted off of her. Still, she needed, for want of a better word, “closure.” Mr. Tolbert had suffered tremendously because of her, and had accepted it graciously, continuing his long workdays working tirelessly for his student body. He was the most popular principal in the school system. A handsome 52 years old at the time, many of the girls, including Carrie, admitted to having a crush on him. The dozens of signatures and love notes on his cast attested to his popularity.

Finally, on Friday afternoon, Justin took Carrie by the hand. “Tomorrow is the day the Headmaster holds your ‘trial’ and determines your punishment. It may be more severe that what we talked about last week, and you won’t have any choice about it. I will, of course, but I will make you go through with it, since it’s for your own good. You realize that, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. I’m ready. Let’s do it.”

The meeting with the Headmaster took only 45 minutes. He listened as Carrie confessed her sins and described the years of guilt. Carrie told him about the meeting with Mr. Tolbert. When she was done, he asked her how she wished to proceed.

“I have nothing to say in my defense. I’m wrong, and I want to be punished.”

“You realize that, if you submit to my correction, I will be the sole arbiter of your penalty, taking into consideration the gravity of your sin, your evasion of responsibility over the years, the result of your evasion, your remorse now, and the actions you’ve taken to rectify it. Once your punishment is read, you will have no choice but to report back on the day I set forth. It will be your husband’s responsibility to insure that you report on time and prepared. He may change his mind, but not you. And if he does change his mind, our relationship will be over. Finally, once the punishment starts, you will be unable to stop it until it has been carried out in full. Is that understood, and do you wish to continue?”

Carrie felt something like a sense of impending doom, but couldn’t back out. “Yes, Headmaster, I want to pay for my sins. Please sentence me as you see fit.”

“Please tell your husband the same thing.”

She looked at Justin. “My Lord, I wish to be corrected for my sins. Please allow me to submit to any punishment the Headmaster deems worthy.” Justin looked at Mr. Logan and nodded.