Ars Puniendi

Ars Puniendi Part 3 (chapters 10-11)

By Terosk

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This work is intended for ADULTS ONLY. It may contain depictions of sexual activity involving minors. If you are not of a legal age in your locality to view such material or if such material does not appeal to you, do not read further, and do not save this story.
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PART III

TYLER

(Two thirds of the troublemaking trio, Theo and Thane, have been duly sent off on their afternoon of punishment - It is now time to take on their ringleader, Tyler)

Chapter 10 - Defiance
[Mr. Innovata]
(An hour earlier)

I was pleased thus far with the cooperation I had gotten from Theo and Thane but was fully aware that Tyler wasn’t necessarily going to respond so willingly to the plan. He was an exceedingly bright young man, and I knew he’d figure out instantly upon seeing his two friends sitting naked outside my door what to expect upon entering my office, so I figured I should set up the room so I really wouldn’t have to say much of anything. I took Thane and Theo’s boxes down from the shelf behind me and placed them on the table beside the box with Tyler’s name on it and removed the lid so that Tyler would be able to see their neatly folded clothing along with the empty box with his name on it. He’d no doubt understand what was expected of him without me having to give him direct instruction. I knew he’d arrive any minute.

I didn’t have to wait long. I heard the distant sound of Eric’s voice as he led Tyler to the office, and I could feel the horrible silence as he laid his eyes on his two wretched friends, and then I heard the derisive comment he made to Theo and Thane just before he entered my office. My door opened. He looked at me with narrowed eyes, then intently at the three boxes on the table, the two filled with the clothes of his friends and the empty one awaiting his own. After a brief pause, with his jaw firmly set, he said slowly and clearly, “You’re not making me take off my clothes – no way, no how!” This was the unfortunate response I thought I might get from him, even though I had held out hoped that maybe the sight of his two friends might dislodge him a bit from his high horse; …it was not to be.

I responded in direct contrast to his aggressive tone, “Hi Tyler, glad you’ve arrived. Please know that I have no intention of making you do anything at all against your will. I respect you too much for that.” and I gently invited him to have a seat. This was going to be difficult; Tyler wasn’t remotely in the proper frame of mind to cooperate with what I had planned for him nor to learn any lesson about empathy. Indeed, I wasn’t so sure he was even willing to admit that what he did was wrong, no matter how obvious it may seem to me and everyone else. I therefore took a different tact.

“Tyler,” I said slowly “I am fully aware that the alternative punishment I’ve designed for you this afternoon won’t work at all unless you’ve in some way accepted your own guilt and recognize the punishment as both just and appropriate. So, before we even discuss punishment, we need to spend a few moments discussing your role in the prank on Monday and why it was wrong. Are you willing at least to acknowledge that it is wrong of you to steal Arthur’s clothes while he was in the shower?”

“It was only a prank for god’s sake – no one got hurt.”

“Ok – I suppose that’s true, there was no bones broken or blood spilt. But can you tell me how you would have felt if it had been you?”

“I don’t shower at school.”

“That doesn’t answer the question, Tyler. Use your imagination. What if for some reason you had to shower at school and one of your classmates took your clothes …as a joke of course?”

“No one would dare take my clothes.”

“Why is that?”

“They’d know I kill them.”

“Really? …even if it was some upper school kid twice your size? or a group of them. …three of them perhaps?”

Tyler just looked at me without answering. I waited but his defiant expression gave me little hope that he was willing to play along.

“OK,” I said, “So you don’t have an answer for that last question. That’s because there isn’t an easy answer. Sometimes kids do mean things to one another and there isn’t much the victim can do about it.” Tyler wasn’t budging, his face frozen in what seemed dismissive impatience. I decided to spell things out from a different angle.

“I believe you had a talk with your mother last night and she explained to you that given your past record with a series of earlier infraction, the next step on the disciplinary ladder is that of a 2-day suspension and probation for three weeks during which you would be ineligible to represent the school in any extracurricular events. For you that would mean you’d miss a few varsity tennis matches – I’m sure that wouldn’t endear you to your coach or teammates, would it?” I waited for a response, but it was quickly clear to me that he wasn’t engaging, so I continued, “In the student handbook on the page which outlines disciplinary procedures, you may have noticed that there is a footnote that allows for the disciplinarian, in coordination with a child’s parents, to design an alternative punishment better suited to help the child learn. In your case, it is your lack of empathy that seems to be the root cause of many of the infractions you’ve committed. Therefore, with your parent’s blessing, I was planning on having you spend the afternoon in the uncomfortably vulnerable position that you forced upon Arthur on Monday – it seemed like an experience that might help you understand first-hand what it might have been like if your positions were reversed. So here’s the deal, since we’re already quite late if this is to work for today. You must willingly embrace this alternative punishment right now, or you and I will reconvene in this office tomorrow morning, along with at least one of your parents, to discuss the details of your suspension and probation, which is likely to be increased if you choose not to go along with the plan that your parents and I designed for you.” I waited for a few moments in the off chance he’d change his mind, “So, what’s it going to be?”

“Like I told you before, I’m not taking my clothes off for you or anyone.”

“Ok, …then I guess you are free to go back to your normal class which I believe is English. I’ll let Mr. Skidmore know that you won’t be helping out today in Science, and I’ll call your folks to let them know that we’ll have to get together tomorrow morning. Sorry the alternative punishment wasn’t to your liking – I guess you’ll have to learn this key life lesson through more ordinary means – a shame. In any event, have a good rest of your day, and I’ll be seeing you tomorrow morning.” I got up and ushered him out the door. I was admittedly disappointed but knew full well that there would be no point in pushing the issue with Tyler – he wasn’t about to learn the lesson that he needs to learn before he first acknowledges his guilt and sees the punishment as part of his growth. He stood up and left without another word, a triumphant smile on his face. Of course, the matter wasn’t yet settled, and he might be sorry in another week’s time that probation will keep him from many activities he’d normally enjoy, especially the tennis. Oh well, I thought, some kids will have to learn the hard way.

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Chapter 11 - A Victory
[Tyler]

I left his office feeling that I’d won that battle since I was still wearing all the clothes that I had on when I entered. The idea of suspension didn’t really bother me but missing out on 2 weeks of tennis was a real bummer and he was right about the coach being less than pleased – he’ll be pissed for sure, and it won’t be pleasant, but it’ll certainly be better than allowing everyone at school seem me humiliated. I have long grown accustomed to being in charge of how I navigate life; I like being in charge. School is easy – I’ve got straight A’s and even an A+ or two, and I do so without breaking too much of a sweat. I’ve successfully cultivated a reputation for being one of the smartest kids in the class, an independent thinker, and most importantly, my own boss. My 8^th grade classmates clearly hold me in high regard and seem eager to follow my lead …or at least show me deference. And this proposed alternative punishment Mr. Innovata outlined would destroy my image in a big way, so while I wasn’t at all happy about being punished, I also knew that having a bit of a bad boy, defiant image wasn’t at all bad for enhancing my reputation among my impressionable classmates. I therefore was ready to accept the suspension and probation as the price I had to pay for keeping my clothes on.

I was curious, I must admit, to find out how Theo and Thane’s afternoons were going. They no doubt were still in whatever classes they were assigned to and were no doubt being forced to endure total humiliation. I really couldn’t believe that they allowed themselves to be put in that situation, but since they had, I was keen on knowing the details of their experience. I figured I’d call them later this afternoon once classes were over and we got our cell phones back. I looked forward to giving them some grief – and, of course, I wanted to make sure they knew that I didn’t play by Mr. Innovata’s rules. …that I was my own boss.

I really did like them both – they were tons of fun to hang out with and clearly saw me as the leader of the pack. I had now arrived at English. I tried to make an inconspicuous entrance but as soon as I appeared, the whole group looked my way and had a look of surprise. “Greetings Tyler,” said Ms. Tomaso, “We didn’t expect to see you in class today. We were told you were involved in another …ahem, …experiential learning exercise.”

“Yes, I think that was the original plan, but it didn’t work out, so I am here now. Please forgive me for being late.” I spoke with a self-assuredness that put an end to that line of inquiry and I took my seat, took out my copy of the book we were discussing along with my notebook. To the inquisitive looks that my classmates were giving my way, I simply gave an amused smile. Ms. Tomaso gave a briefly puzzled look but then shifted her focus back to teaching the class. I did likewise and even asked some impressively insightful questions about the book which I knew only added to my reputation. Life, I thought to myself, is a game …and I’m pretty good at it.

I finished out the academic day on a good note. English class had gone well and so too did math – got back another A+ on a test. Things however were a bit different when I got to tennis practice, for when Coach Terrell sent the rest of the team on our warmup mile run, he summoned me instead into his office.

“So let me get this right, Tyler. You got yourself in some disciplinary trouble on Monday and rather than accept a single afternoon of punishment, you opted instead for the traditional suspension and probation which means that you’ll be ineligible to represent the school for nearly three weeks – the heart of our tennis season. What were you thinking? Do you have any idea what it means to be a part of a team, to be a part of something larger than yourself?”

“I’m …I’m sorry coach,” I stammered out, “I just couldn’t do what was asked of me …. he wanted me to spend the afternoon naked in class and in front of everyone. There’s no way I could do that.”

“OK, Mr. Modesty - so you’re so uncomfortable in your own skin that you can’t trade in a little bit of embarrassment for the sake of your teammates and the success of the team, …your team.” He was really upset. After a long pause as he glared at me, he added, “You’re supposed to be this really smart up-and-coming super star, both in academics and athletics. But you’ve now revealed the truth: you’re just an immature, selfish middle school punk – I shouldn’t have even let you try out.”

I didn’t have much to say that would help the situation and since I didn’t respond to defend myself, he continued, “Hard to believe that you managed at the end of last week to earn a coveted spot on the singles lineup and I was beginning to think that there was a real possibility that we could vie for the championship this season ….but that’s not likely now that you’ll have to be removed from the lineup. I had hoped for more from you, Tyler, I really did.” and he shook his head in overt disapproval.

Since I was to be removed from the lineup, he told me to spend the practice running in circles around the eight courts. He told me that after I had done twenty-five laps, I should just go home. So that’s what I did –and the rest of my new upper school teammates simply shook their heads at me disapprovingly and then, after I’d circled the courts a few times, they all ignored me. It wasn’t fun and was worse than I anticipated, but I knew I really didn’t have much choice since the consequences of spending the afternoon in the manner which Mr. Innovata designed for me wasn’t going to happen – no way!

On my way home, I called both Thane and Theo but neither answered; I suspected that they were too embarrassed about what they had been through and weren’t keen on reliving it by sharing with me all the juicy details, especially since I called them both “total wimps” when I saw them last. I was confident however that when we all next got together, perhaps during recess after the third period, I’d get the full scoop. I smiled at the thought.

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