By Terosk
Copyright 2022 by Terosk, all rights reserved
* * * * *
Ars Puniendi - Part III
Chapters 25-28
Chapter 25 - Awkward Q&A
“Mrs.
Stewart,” he asked with genuine concern on his face, “why is the end of
his penis so funny looking? Why is it all covered over with a layer of
skin? Is that normal?” He looked up at the teacher and then back at me
still pointing at my middle.
As determined as I was to
maintain an attitude of detached indifference to my naked state and
appear unfailingly confident as part of that facade, this sudden
specific focus on my uncut penis caught me a bit off guard and I became
suddenly super self-conscious … at least even more so than I already
was. The entire class stopped scribbling their notes as they all looked
up to see my reaction to the question. I could feel my face turning red
as I looked around; I saw Mrs. Stewart unsuccessfully hiding a grin and
as the kids saw her smiling, they too began to giggle. Angry at myself
for losing my composure, I took a deep breath to calm myself and then
tried to respond by simply explaining circumcision, but when I opened
my mouth to speak, my voice cracked horribly causing the entire group
to laugh spontaneously. I was mortified in the extreme as a warm wave
of red rushed to my cheeks, completely covering my face. Shit!
Mrs. Steward clearly saw my distress and decided to come to my rescue.
“Your observation, Johnny, is actually a very good, but you ought to
articulate it in a non-judgmental manner. The skin on the end of
Tyler’s penis is actually quite normal for most men in this world.
Every male child is born with skin covering the end of the penis, but
in some cultures, it is a tradition to have the skin cut off shortly
after birth. The cutting off of the skin is called circumcision. Since
you ask the question the way you did, Johnny, it is quite clear that
your own penis doesn’t have that skin, so that means you were
circumcised shortly after you were born, long before you could have any
memory of it. In fact, I suspect that most of you in this room are
circumcised because in this country, it is the common practice for
little boys to be circumcised by the doctor a day or so after birth
before they even leave the hospital.” At this comment, the class grew
strangely quiet, and I could see that many of the boys were themselves
turning red as their own little sex organs were being discussed. God
bless Mrs. Stewart I thought! Meanwhile, my own flash of blushing
embarrassment had begun to fade, and I decided that I’d better break in
at this point to regain some semblance of control over the flow of
events. I cleared my throat a few times hoping to ensure my voice could
be trusted not to crack again.
“I’m from an Italian family.”
I explained, “In fact I was born in Italy while my father was stationed
there on business. The Italians don’t believe in circumcision. What
you’re seeing is my foreskin which covers the head of my penis, and if
I pull it back,” I continued as I reached down to demonstrate on
myself, “you’ll see that the head of my penis looks every bit the same
as yours.” All eyes were wide as I turned around to make sure everyone
could see as I pulled my foreskin back revealing the head. “Any
questions?” I asked as I returned my foreskin to its natural state, and
then walked back up to the front of the room and sat back down on the
stool, placing my hands now on my lap. With all that unwanted touch and
attention, I had begun to feel that flicker in my groin that hinted at
a possible erection, and I was desperately hoping not to have to endure
that horrible awkwardness in addition to everything else. I needed to
distract myself asap. “So, are there any questions?” I repeated as I
looked around the room.
Once again it was Mrs. Stewart that
helped buy time for me to recover. “Before we go to the Q&A, I’d
like everyone to share at least one observation regarding the changes
that take place in puberty. I’ll make a list on the board. Who’d like
to go first?” She waited for a bit as no one volunteered right away.
Finally, one boy timidly said, “His voice has changed; it’s deeper.”
And the boy Phillip in the front row quipped without missing a beat,
“except of course when it cracks!” which prompted another outburst of
giggles from the entire class and once again I could feel the color
return to my cheeks.
Another boy then said, “Yeah, and there’s a lump in his throat that goes up and down as he talks.”
“Good observation.” Mrs. Stewart nodded with approval, “When boys reach
puberty, there’s an increase in testosterone levels, and their larynx
and vocal cords get larger which explains why their voices get deeper.
That bump in his throat is called an Adam’s apple. Any other
observations?”
“He’s really wide in the shoulders and chest.” another boy in the back row said.
“Yeah - and his stomach muscles show big-time. My older sister calls
them ‘six pack abs.’ Does that happen to all boys at puberty?”
“Wouldn’t that be nice!” said another boy with a big smile. “He must work out a lot - he’s got no fat on him.”
I was feeling a bit self-conscious to say the least, but it’s nice to
be admired I guess. There was another lengthy pause at this point
before another boy to my far left spoke up about some of the more
obvious changes during puberty.
“He’s got hair on him in places we don’t.” said another boy.
“Yes, he does.” Mrs. Steward said encouragingly, “Once again, these are all good observations. Anything else?”
Phillip with a devilish smile said, “His penis is really big.”
“Yeah - and his balls are too.” added George, the boy directly to his left.
“And he has a full patch of hair above his dick as well.” a boy in the
back row called out. And at this point I could no longer keep track of
who was speaking. It was as the floodgates had been opened and everyone
started shouting out their observations at once.
“Yup - and there’s a little line of hair from his bellybutton to his dick.”
“He’s got some hair also under his arms.”
“and on his calves.”
“he’s begun to shave; you can see some stubble on his upper lip.” Drew added.
“I noticed that his balls hang down real low.” added Phillip who was
clearly enjoying this game. “…and the left one hangs more than the
right.”
“Mrs. Stewart, can we ask Tyler some questions now?”
Asked the red headed boy who had been the first to arrive. He hadn’t
spoken up till now.
Mrs. Stewart looked over at me as if to
see if I was ready to move onto that phase of the class and when I
didn’t respond negatively, she nodded her assent to him.
“So, Tyler, when did you start noticing these changes in your body?”
“About 3 years ago or thereabouts.” I replied.
“And what did you notice first?” the same boy followed up.
“Can’t really remember. I guess it was that my ‘genitalia' got bigger
and I noticed some pubic hair beginning to grow.” I responded trying to
be as matter-of-fact and formal as possible by using the formal
terminology a teacher might use. The more emotionally detached I could
be from my own thoughts and feelings was the only way I could think of
to navigate this profoundly embarrassing scene.
“And the hair under your arms and around your belly button? When did that start to grow?”
“And when did you notice your voice changing?” said another boy to my left at almost the same time.
I looked at both in turn, “To be honest, it all starts to happen at
once, little by little. It’s weird and exciting all at the same time.”
“My older brother has lots of skin problems called acne. Do you occasionally have pimples and that sort of thing?”
“Only rarely.” I reply, “I’ve been lucky that way - only an occasional
pimple but they seem to go away quickly. I do have some acne medicine
in my cabinet, but don’t have to use it often. I do wash my face more
carefully now than I used to and that seems to help.” Talking about
personal habits with total strangers isn’t easy especially in my
vulnerable state, but I was admittedly growing a bit more comfortable
at this point in the day. I guess you adapt to anything if you have to.
All I have to do is sit here and answer some silly questions about
myself and they’re not exactly hard questions. Just tell it like it is.
“I have a question.” said a boy to my right that hadn’t
spoken at all thus far. His name was Bryan I could see from the bold
lettering on his notebook. I nodded at him to ask his question. “Your
willy,” he began, “…your penis that is, …it’s really big.” and he
pointed to my middle which was still partially covered by my folded
hands.
“That’s not a question, you moron.” Phillip interjected with a smirk, “and I already made that observation.”
“What I mean is,” the boy continued, “…I want to know if that size is
normal when you reach puberty? Is that what we should expect ours to be
like?”
“My older brother is in college, and I’ve seen his,
…and it’s not nearly so long.” offered a voice from the other side of
the room. I turned my head to try to identify its source when there was
a comment that caught me a bit off guard. It was Phillip again
“Gotta wonder what it’s like when it’s hard.” He laughed loudly,
clearly enjoying being so boldly outspoken. Immediately the rest of the
class joined in his laughter while I did my best to pretend this line
of questioning and his brash comment wasn’t getting to me. In my hyper
self-conscious state, I once again felt that familiar tingle in my
groin that presages an erection and at the same time I could feel a
flush coming up to my cheeks. Even so, I was determined to maintain my
composure as best I could.
Chapter 26 - A Battle of Wits
Phillip
was directly in front of me, and I sharpened my gaze directly at him as
I frantically thought of something clever I could say in response. I
wanted to say something along the lines like “Not a chance buddy!” or “Not happening, you impetuous little jerk!”
but instead, since I could feel myself growing all the more swollen
which wasn’t something that I could hide much longer, I forced myself
to smile and calmly said, “One of the things you’ll all learn as you
enter puberty is that you’re not at all in control of when and where
your budding manhood will ‘rise up.’” and I paused briefly to see if
any of the kids caught the pun and I could see that Phillip was totally
with me; not sure any of the others understood. I continued, ‘Popping a
boner’ or ‘getting a stiffy’ - call it what you will - this will happen
to you at unexpected and sometimes inopportune times. There seems to be
a disconnect between what your head tells your body to do, and what
actually happens sometimes.”
“So, you're saying that you’re
hiding a stiffy under your hands.” Phillip cut in with an unmistakably
devilish grin. While I wanted to kill the kid, I was at the same time
beginning to like him. He reminded me of me. I’d have said pretty much
the same sort of thing and reveled and seeing my victim squirm as I
riled up the rest of the class. It was clear that Phillip was a class
leader, and they were indeed following his lead; they began to giggle
without restraint and were fully focused on how I was next going to
respond. Going through my mind were the last words my father said to me
this morning, “the more fully you embrace this, the better it’ll go for you.” I therefore decided to be utterly honest, but not without a full dose the self-confidence I was determined to display.
“I had admittedly been hoping,” I began in a measured voice, “to avoid
getting an erection while I was with you today, though I suppose that
if you really are to learn about what going through puberty is all
about, that would have been a lost opportunity. So, I will now unveil
for you the full measure of my ‘budding manhood.’” and I looked around
the room slowly letting the tension build. “Are you sure you’re all
ready for this? Promise not to get too jealous.” The entire class had
gone totally quiet with every eye glued to my middle where my hands
were now pressing down my boner which by this point was nearly at full
bloom. Keeping my hands in front of me, I stood up from the stool and
faced the class. Every boy was leaning forward in his seat awaiting the
big reveal. Then, with deliberately slow and dramatic flourish, I
slowly removed my left hand and raised it up behind my head, leaving
only my right hand holding my erection pinned against my hip, but
leaving my balls free to swing as I swayed my hips to accentuate the
effect. There was a collective inhale of breath from the class as they
all leaned in even closer to see my balls bouncing back and forth and
anticipating the imminent removal of my right hand. And after just a
brief pause, I did it. I removed my right hand allowing my erection the
freedom to spring outward and point directly towards Phillip and the
boys right in front of me. There was a collective gasp as I did so, and
it wasn’t hard to see that these boys were impressed with what they saw
and the confident manner in which I stood in front of them. Never in my
wildest dreams (or most horrible nightmares more like it) did I ever
think I’d find myself in this position, standing naked with a
full-fledged hard-on in front of a classroom of punky kids. I refused
to allow myself to think about it further or I’d have turned bright red
and made a run for it, but of course there was nowhere for me to go,
nowhere for me to hide. So, I faced them straight on and said, “So
…what do you think?”
There was a long-stunned silence, and I
was amused to see that some of the boys were themselves turning red
with embarrassment. It occurred to me that their reaction must be a
by-product of growing up in a culture so prudish that we're made to
think that we’ve got to keep our bodies covered at all times, a culture
that makes us feel guilty if by chance we even glance at another kid’s
bare butt when they change into their bathing suit. Some of the boys
were averted their gaze or at least pretended to, but I decided not to
let them. I started to walk around the room between the desks as I
said, “Please take a careful look - it’s not often that you’ll get a
chance to examine an erection up close.” and with that I turned back
towards Phillip and added, “…. other than your own of course.” I
laughed and quickly the rest of the class joined in. I figured that I
had to get the better of Phillip, so I raised my eyebrows inquisitively
and asked, “Am I right about that Phillip?”
There were
nervous giggles at that pointed question and they all held their breath
awaited Phillip’s response. I baited him further, “Well Phillip, am I
right?” And I was secretly pleased to see him turn red himself - serves
him right I thought. There was an awkward silence as Phillip figured
out how best to respond. He didn’t. Instead, he upped the ante.
“So, Tyler, tell us this: how often do you ...ahem, play with your big
toy?” The class openly gasped as Phillip raised his eyebrows at me in
return, and Mrs. Steward cut in horrified.”
“Phillip! I expect
you to be respectful of our guest speaker. He’s doing a wonderful job
of being open and honest with you about this next stage in your lives
and I expect better from you.” Again, there was silence in the room,
but I didn’t get the sense from looking at Phillip that he was in any
real way chastened by this rebuke. Again, I couldn’t help but think
that I might well have been as obnoxious just a few years ago; I was
growing to like this kid. While in theory I was the one on stage and
utterly vulnerable in my exposed state, I was coming to realize that
that was oddly to my advantage now. After all, once the class has seen
everything there is to see of me and with a full-fledged boner besides,
then there was little left for me to worry about. Nothing left for me
to hide. I was in the advantageous position of being able to be
completely forthright, and in so doing, I was both fulfilling my
assigned role as guest speaker in this class, and ’embracing my
punishment fully,’ as I’d been advised. I decided, therefore, to up the
ante further.
“You’re talking, I believe, about masturbation
and yes, that is very much a part of the adolescent experience and
something one begins doing upon reaching puberty. Though by the way you
asked the question, it is clear to me, and I suspect everyone in here,
that you yourself already have some experience with this activity. Is
that right Phillip?” and I was delighted to see him turn a deep shade
of red as the entire class laughed along with me. I saw Mrs. Stewart’s
eyes grow wide as a hint of a smile appear on her face. I looked over
at her and upon catching my eyes, she gave me a subtle thumbs up. She
was clearly enjoying this exchange. I suppose that there’s nothing more
fun as a teacher than seeing the class clown, the arrogant pain in the
ass, get his comeuppance.
Phillip was clearly tongue tied at
the moment and the lengthy silence only drew more attention to his
embarrassment. It was admittedly fun to see and to know that I’d
managed to turn the tables on him. I would have loved to keep the focus
of class upon poor Phillip, but another kid who happened to be right
next to me suddenly asked, “What’s that goo dripping out of your penis?”
Immediately all eyes shifted back to me and at my middle where to my
horror a drop of pre-cum was now dangling from the end of my swollen
shaft. ‘Embrace the experience fully’ I reminded myself as a
wave of self-consciousness once again threatened to derail my facade.
“Oh that?” …I began as my voice cracked slightly betraying my unease,
“that’s a slippery substance that often accompanies an erection.” I
finally managed to say. “It’s a super slippery lubricant that the body
produces that’s designed to help in the act of sex.” And as I spoke, I
reached down and gathered up the drop in my hand, even giving my penis
a squeeze to extract the rest of the gathering goo. I then held out my
hand to the boy. “Here. Feel how slippery it is.” With great reticence
he reached out with the tip of his finger and touched the stuff and
rubbed it between his fingers. I then offered the same opportunity to
the kid next to him who did the same, and even turned to his neighbor
and shared his sample. I then turned walked to the other side of the
room and invited any of the others to have a feel as well. Some waved
off the invitation feeling too embarrassed by this whole thing, but
most seemed genuinely intrigued and willing to participate. I then
started to walk back to the front of the room where Phillip had by now
recovered once the class’s attentions had shifted back to me. But as I
approached him, I said, “Hey Phillip, I would happily share a sample
with you too, but I suspect you already know all about this stuff from
your own experience.” Again, I laughed, and the others now joined in
without hesitation - I think they were enjoying the rare moment when
their self-proclaimed class leader was put in his place. But this time,
Phillip wasn’t having any of it.
“Very funny, Tyler,” he
pronounced my name through gritted teeth. But then, after a brief pause
in which a cleverer response occurred to him, he pasted upon his face a
look of total innocence and added, “but I’m not sure what you’re
talking about. What’s this thing you speak of, ‘masturbation?’ Perhaps
you can demonstrate for us. After all, if it’s such a natural part of
puberty, as you suggest, we ought to know more about it, don’t you
think.”
I had to smile; this kid was deviously quick. This was
clearly going to be a battle of wits. “Nice try, my clever friend, but
that would be inappropriate, and I surely wouldn’t want to offend
anyone in this class or anyone who might stop by. One of the things
you’ll inevitably learn, or at least hopefully learn, is that there are
some activities, masturbation being one of them, that is best enjoyed
in private. If you don’t know what it is, then rest assured that you’ll
figure it out on your own in due time without any demonstrations from
an outside source.” And with that I gave Phillip a knowing grin and
returned to my stool at the front of the room. He returned my smile
with a begrudging smile himself which I interpreted as a signal that
our verbal sparring was, at least for the moment, at an end.
Chapter 27 - Administrative Censure
[Mr. Innovata]
After
leaving Tyler with my colleague Mary Stewart, I was thinking that
things were going pretty well all things considered. Yesterday’s
punishment with Thane and Theo had been far easier, if only because I’d
been able to plan it all out in advance and each had only one period to
navigate. That Tyler’s punishment spanned the entire day made this not
just harder on him, but on me as well, especially because Tyler was
admittedly really bright and willing to test boundaries in a way that
others weren’t. But overall, things seemed to be working out for the
best - at least that is what I was thinking as I made my way back to my
office, stopping first for a quick bite to eat at the cafeteria. When I
arrived, my secretary, Jennifer, handed me a note. It was from our
headmaster, Dr. Everett C. Cornwall. The note was succinct to say the
least. It read, “James, I have concerns. Please come to my office.” As
I looked up Jennifer said, “He seemed quite agitated. He’ll be waiting
for you.” and then she added with a timid look, “Good luck.”
I
was certainly taken aback by the note and Jennifer’s obvious angst. I
had not anticipated any blowback from the administration. Well, I
thought, I’d better deal with this without delay. I turned and headed
down the hallway to the headmaster. His secretary was clearly on the
lookout for me and immediately ushered me into Dr. Cornwall’s office.
I stood in the doorway, “You wanted to see me sir?”
“Yes James, please come in and shut the door. I must confess I was a
bit uneasy when you first proposed this unusual disciplinary tactic
when you told me about it on Tuesday. I went along with it because I
could see the poetic justice behind the punishment, and it was a
clearly defined single period exercise all within the confines of the
middle and upper school wing of this campus. But what’s all this about
today? You’ve sent a naked child waltzing through the hallways of the
lower school! Scandalizing a class of kindergartners who happened to be
lined up on their way to class. Ms. Prude was beside herself when she
called a half hour ago - said that there was a group of grandparents
arriving midafternoon for a special 3rd grade presentation.
Listen James, I know you’ve spent a great deal of time trying to find
the right way to set these boys on a the right path. I do appreciate
your creative efforts, but I can’t sanction this today. You need to get
that boy, Mr. Formale, out of the lower school as quickly as you can.
There’s no time now for you to explain yourself, so go. I don’t want to
be fielding angry and upset calls from parents and grandparents for the
rest of the day, …or week! Just return to the lower school and get that
boy out of there.”
There was indeed a lot I’d like to have
explained to justify myself but thought the better of it. I simply
nodded and said, “My apologies sir, my focus admittedly has been
entirely on what I felt was best, most educational for these 3 boys; I
didn’t much consider the possible impact it had otherwise. I’ll go
fetch Tyler right away.”
“Thank you, James. Please know that
in that regard, I do believe you do and for the most part, I trust your
instincts, but I must look at things from a far wider lens, from the
affect it has on this institution as a whole. I wish I’d spent more
time thinking this through when you first proposed it to me on Tuesday.
No matter. We’ll get past this I think, but for now just go fetch Tyler
from lower school. I want him out of there before any grandparents
arrive.
“Will do, sir, right away.” I turned and left. My mind
was reeling; it horrified me to be on the receiving end of such a
rebuke and the cause of controversy. I chided myself for not being more
attuned to the fuller consequences of my creative approach to this
punishment. Yesterday had gone well by all accounts, but perhaps only
because I’d been focusing on how the kids directly involved in it had
responded and the genuinely positive feedback I’d received from the two
boy’s parents. I began to wonder if Everett had gotten any negative
feedback about yesterday. I supposed I’d find out at some point later.
For now, I had to return quickly to Mary Stewart’s room and tactfully
extract Tyler without him becoming aware that his presence there had
become a source of controversy and that I was in the hot seat because
of it. Of course, given what he was likely going though right now, I
was reasonably confident that he wouldn’t question his early departure
from class as anything other than a blessed escape from the humiliating
scene that he was being forced to endure. Even so, I needed to be
careful; Tyler was surprisingly bright and quick to read between the
lines; I didn’t want in any way to provide him with an opportunity to
twist this punitive exercise into anything other than what it was.
It occurred to me also that I’d better figure out a way to minimize the
amount of time that Tyler remained on campus after getting him back to
the upper school wing. He had to write the apology letter of course,
and after that he would be heading to the tennis courts for afternoon’s
practice. Not sure Everett would like the idea of getting calls from
the neighbors when they see Tyler ‘waltzing’ around the tennis courts
which happen to be on the edge of campus. I guess that I’d better call
coach Terrell and ask him to keep our naked friend away from public
scrutiny as much as possible. Oh my, this was going to be a long
angst-filled afternoon.
Chapter 28 - Letter of Apology
[Tyler]
It was at this point that I heard the classroom door open and saw Mr.
Innovata entering. He looked at me briefly, a raised eyebrow the sole
indication that he was noticing my erection. I successfully fought off
the impulse to hide it from him. He simply said in a quiet voice,
“Sorry Tyler, I didn’t mean to interrupt. Please carry on, though you
should think of finishing up since we will need to return to the upper
school building very shortly.” He then turned and handed a note to Mrs.
Stewart which she quickly unfolded and read to herself. Not
surprisingly, the full attention of the class had now turned to see
what the intrusion was about and how their teacher was going to
respond, but she simply looked up at me and signaled for me to carry
on.
So I said, “It seems that there’s only time for a few
more questions.” and I looked around the room to see if any hands were
raised. … Anyone?”
“Yes, I have a question.” said one boy who
hadn’t spoken up at all earlier. “Did you actually volunteer to come
speak with us today or is this some sort of punishment. Isn’t he (and
he gestured towards Mr. Innovata,) the disciplinarian? What exactly did
you do?”
Given the grand facade of self-confidence that I was
desperately trying to maintain, I quickly responded, “Of course I
volunteered for this; I love to volunteer in whatever way I can to be
helpful. Besides, it was a great way to get out of science class which
was going to be painfully boring.” They all looked at me quite unsure
as to whether to buy into my lie. So, I added, “To be honest, I can’t
imagine a more entertaining way to spend the afternoon. Can you?” And I
looked back at the class with the most sincere expression hoping they
might buy into my response. Mr. Innovata however looked over at me with
eyebrows raised and a give-away grin. The class was clearly catching on.
“Yeah …sure about that?” Phillip chimed in with a big smile.
I decided I’d better come clean. “Actually - No. I got in trouble a few
days ago when I pulled a prank on some kid during gym class. I swiped
his clothes when he was showering and hid them. I’m here today to pay
the price for my actions. …but don’t get me wrong; it is a privilege
and pleasure to be with you this afternoon.”
Mrs. Steward then
spoke up, “Thank you Tyler for being honest with the class, and for
being upfront and candid with the class regarding the changes to expect
during puberty. I think the boys got a lot out of your visit today.
However, it’s now time for Mr. Innovata to take you back to the upper
school building. On behalf of the class, I thank you again for joining
us today.” and with that she handed me the towel and ushered me out of
the room.
Mr. Innovate said to me as we headed down the
hall, “Delighted to hear that your visit with Mrs. Stewart’s class went
well. Please wrap yourself in the towel as we traverse these lower
school hallways - we don’t want to upset Ms. Prude again. She’s quite a
handful herself.” I could see that he’d said this only partially in
jest. He seemed a bit nervous as we made our way past her desk and out
the door towards the parking lot. The outdoors hit us with a wave of
heat as we exited. It felt like walking into a sauna after the
comfortable cool of the air-conditioned building except that the sun
doesn’t beat down on you in a sauna. “You can keep the towel on until
we get back into the main building. There is of course, one more
critical task in front of you this afternoon before I can release you
to go to tennis practice. You do know what that is, don’t you?” and he
looked at me as he awaited my response.
“Not really - what do
you have planned for me now?” I finally said. And I was being totally
honest for I didn’t have the faintest idea what he was talking about.
“Your final ‘writing’ assignment for the day?” he was clearly trying to
prompt me, but I was still baffled so he finally clarified, “…the
letter of apology that you owe to Arthur.”
“Yes, of course.
I’ll take care of that right away.” I assured him, and then added, “Mr.
Innovata, I trust you’ve noticed that I’ve followed your advice. You
know - the advice you gave me before English class - that I should
‘fully embrace’ this experience; and if I did, it would be better for
me. You weren’t wrong, I must admit. I wasn’t at all happy this
morning. …and I’m still pissed at my father, but it hasn’t been as bad
as I imagined.”
We had arrived at Mr. Innovata’s car, and he
said as we got in, “Happy to hear it - a positive attitude often helps
one survive the tough moments in life. By the way, those were your
father’s words; I just thought it wise to reminded you of them before
class. Anyway, I’m glad you have found them helpful, and I must admit
that you’ve managed to deal with this unusual punishment remarkably
well thus far. Your visit to the that class just now seems to have gone
quite well; you have a knack with younger kids - I was impressed with
how you handled them, with a good-natured honesty. While I was only
there for a short while, it seems that those boys truly enjoyed your
visit.”
“There were some awkward moments, I have to
confess.” I said as I shared with him the request by one obnoxious kid
for a masturbation demonstration and how I had deflected that request.
And I even shared with him the begrudging respect I had developed for
that boy acknowledging that he reminded me of how I would have behaved
if the roles had been reversed. I saw Mr. Innovata smile at that.
We had now arrived back to the upper school and as I got out of the
car, I peeled the towel from around my waist, wiped the sweat off my
face and shoulders, then tossed it to him as I said, “Looks like you
could use a wipe down as well - it’s oppressively hot, isn’t it! …and
in keeping with my goal to “embrace fully” this experience, I really
shouldn’t be wearing anything, should I?”
I was wondering
how he’d react to both my unhesitating willingness to relinquish my
towel unasked, as well as the apparent eagerness with which I was ready
to tackle the next challenge he might put in front of me. “So, I
believe I have a letter to write. I’m ready. Are we heading back to
your office?” He caught the towel I had tossed to him and did, in fact,
wipe his brow.
“Yes - it is hot.” he acknowledged with a hint
of unease, and I got the impression that my nakedness actually made him
a bit nervous. Then he observed, “Your attitude toward being without
your clothes has certainly changed since yesterday. It’s almost like
you’re beginning to enjoy it. Are you?”
“Not really, but
since it’s been made clear to me that I have no choice, and I do want a
good report from you to my father, I figure I’d better make the best of
it. Otherwise, knowing how unyielding my father can be sometimes, I
might be back here tomorrow in a similar state.” I looked carefully at
Mr. Innovata’s expression to see if it might confirm the earlier
nervousness. It did, though I could tell he was trying to hide it. I
added with a nonchalant shrug, “Of course, if it is as oppressively hot
and humid as it is today, I suppose it wouldn’t be all bad.”
He quickly changed the subject, “I do hope that you also have learned
the critical lesson that it was designed to help you learn. I’m eager
to see what you write to Arthur. Let’s get a move on.”
A few
minutes later, I found myself sitting alone at a small classroom desk
not far from Mr. Innovata’s office with a blank sheet of paper in front
of me. I began to write,
Dear Arthur,
I must
confess that what I thought was funny on Monday afternoon when I
snagged your clothes and hid them from you wasn’t really so funny - at
least not if I put myself in your shoes. The very thought of having 3
of my classmates laughing at me derisively would have been awful to say
the least. I am horrified to have to acknowledge that I was the
ringleader of such a thoughtless prank.
As you know, I’ve had
the great ‘privilege’ today of spending the entire day in just the same
state as I forced upon you - quite an eye opener! It has certainly
forced me to see things through a different lens.
I suspect
you’ve already heard rumors about how I navigated my day totally
starkers, forced to stand in front of my classmates and pretend that I
wasn’t too bothered about it all. You might have heard also how I spent
my afternoon in a lower school class full of pre-pubescent boys who
examined every inch of me (and I mean that literally if you know what I
mean!) as part of their introduction into what awaits them in another
year or so when they begin reaching puberty themselves.
I
don’t really mind being the center of attention, but only when I can
control, more or less, the way events unfold, and that’s not so easy
when you’re naked and all those around you are in uniform.
Mr. Innovata is keen on my learning the lesson of ‘empathy’ and I
readily admit that this experimental punishment has laid bare the naked
truth - it’s hard to be without one’s clothes when everyone around you
has theirs. You feel horribly vulnerable and it’s hard to keep your
dignity. So I want to apologize to you for my cruel and thoughtless
prank. I now have a better sense of how it must have felt to be you in
that awful moment Monday afternoon. It wasn’t at all funny. Please
forgive me.
Sincerely, Tyler
It wasn’t a
hard letter to write; it didn’t take long. I knew what I was supposed
to learn from all this and what I had to say to demonstrate that I’d
learned my lesson. So I figured that I’d give them what they wanted and
I could get on with the rest of the day. After all, I had another few
hours to survive my nakedness. I still had tennis practice in front of
me, and then the ride home with my twin brothers and Stephanie, our
live-in babysitter who’d be driving. I laughed as I thought of hopping
into the car in my naked state and my brothers hooting and hollering,
and Stephanie likely turning bright red. It could be quite awkward,
…though I suspect my mother will have told her about why I wasn’t on
the bus and why she had to pick me up, so she’d probably know in
advance. I’d have to deal with the trip home as I had been doing the
rest of the day - boldly and without apology.
****