By Terosk
Copyright 2024 by Terosk, all rights reserved
* * * * *ARS PUNIENDI
PART IV
Chapter 33 - Dinner Invitation
[Theo]
I kept on replaying in my mind the scene of Tyler, wearing nothing but
his unlaces sneakers, departing the locker room with a defiant wag of
his bare behind. It was beyond me how he could stand there in front of
all of us totally naked and nevertheless maintain such self-confidence.
Our alternative punishment was designed to humble us, and it certainly
had done so with me and by all accounts with Thane. But Tyler, despite
clearly having to eat his words from the day before, was now parading
around almost as if he was enjoying the attention he was getting. He
was instinctively a show-off, and the fates had clearly favored him in
terms of academic and athletic ability, and even more so when it came
to looks. He was classically handsome in that Greek statue sort of way
which, now that I’d seen him naked, I could fully appreciate. I
couldn’t help becoming just a bit jealous. You would think that the
gods would dole out such positive traits a bit more equitably.
It was hardly a surprise that within the trio of which I was a part,
Tyler was unquestionably the leader. Mr. Innovata was totally right in
his assessment that the prank we pulled was Tyler’s doing and that
Thane and I just fell in line and did what he wanted. I have to admit
that I was stupid for following his lead on Monday, but it’s hard not
to get sucked into whatever Tyler has in mind; he has, along with the
rest of his amazing attributes, a contagious charisma about him that I
can’t resist. I know Thane feels it too. He’s just such fun to be
around.
As I headed off to baseball practice with my
teammates, the conversation centered entirely on Tyler, his punishment,
and his unexpectedly admirable response to the punishment. It was clear
that I wasn’t the only one impressed. Yesterday, I had to endure lots
of grief about my own naked episode earlier that day, and it was hard
to deal with even though I was by then fully in uniform and thus
dressed identically to my peers. I couldn’t imagine having to deal with
an entire day in that totally naked state; and yet here was Tyler
managing to do so without losing face - amazing!
I don’t
remember much about what we learned in practice - my mind was clearly
elsewhere. I dropped an easy ground ball that came my way, and then, to
make matters worse, overthrew the first baseman in my desperate effort
to compensate for my error. I’d been daydreaming. I had been picturing
Tyler in that art class instead of me and imagining the comments that
Eric, my sister Sam, and all their classmates would have made about
Tyler’s physique, and whether he would have popped a boner as I had.
…and given his advanced stage of puberty, I also couldn’t help
wondering what he’d look like with a full fledge erection. I quietly
kicked myself for not paying better attention during practice.
As soon as baseball was over, and I had collected my books from my
locker and stuffed them in my backpack along with my school uniform, I
grabbed my phone and texted Tyler. I was desperate to know how he was
doing and if he was going to get his clothes back from his father.
I had met Mr. Formale for real only a few times; mostly he was off
somewhere on business. On those rare occasions when he was in town,
he’d be in his large wood paneled office sitting behind his big ornate
antique desk, dressed in a perfectly tailored 3-piece suit. Tyler would
stand in the doorway and gently knock to get his attention, at which
point, he’d look up from what he was doing and give us a warm smile and
a few words of greeting before returning to his work. All I could tell
was that Tyler revered his old man.
Once, when by chance we
had caught him during a break in his busy schedule, he had ushered us
in to take as seat on the couch while he sat across from us in his big
chair. He proceeded to ask me and Thane all sorts of questions about
how we were doing at school, what sports we’d signed up for, and if we
had any hobbies outside of school. He also spent some time asking each
of us what our plans were for the future, what we were planning to
focus on in upper school, and if we’d given a thought about possible
careers. Thane and I struggled to find something intelligent to say to
all questions about our futures and, to his credit, he seemed to listen
to our responses with great care and always followed up with further
probing questions. It was, to be honest, quite intimidating. He went on
to ask how we had met Tyler, what sort of activities we typically
played when we got together, and what specifically we had planned for
that afternoon. Of course, we hadn’t made that decision yet; we just
were hanging out together like always. I remember glancing at Thane who
looked back at me and shrugged his shoulders, so we both then looked at
Tyler who cleared his throat and responded that we’d likely play a
video game or two before heading out and kicking a ball around. His
father nodded approvingly and then stood up to signal that our
conversation was over. I remember him pulling me and Thane aside before
we could leave and, with a slight twinkle in his eye, warned us just
loud enough so Tyler could hear, “Just do your best not to let Tyler
lure you into any of his mischievousness.”
“I heard that, Father,” Tyler laughed and then added, “…and why do you always think that I’m going to lead my friends astray?”
“I don’t know, my son, …why do you think?” Tyler looked at him as if
unsure what to think. His father then added, “Just be good, my son, and
do your best to steer clear of trouble.”
“Of course, father, I always do.”
Mr. Formale rolled his eyes at that and returned to his desk, and we
made our escape. His father seemed nice enough, but both Thane and I
found him intimidating nonetheless; it had been an intense 15 minutes.
And what was that last comment or warning about? Was he making a joke?
…just giving Tyler good natured grief? …or was there a hint of
seriousness in his warning? We didn’t have much time to process all
this for Tyler had quickly led us upstairs to his room and got us into
a heated game of Super Mario. That scene was about 3 years ago. Since
then, I’d only seen his father a half dozen times and only from the
doorway to his office with nothing more than a wave and greeting from a
distance. He wasn’t exactly a hands-on parent. Tyler clearly had gotten
used to it and was accustomed to admiring his high-powered father from
afar.
I texted Tyler a few more times, but got no response,
which clearly meant that he wasn’t near his phone. Then it suddenly
dawned on me that Tyler’s phone was likely stuck in the box along with
his clothes, and he’d not be getting it back until he got home, if even
then. Poor Tyler, how was I to play my role as one of his best friends?
I decided to called Thane. He answered before it rang twice.
He, like me, was keen on doing what he could to support Tyler, though
his parents had made it clear that, despite his good report from Mr.
Innovata, he was not to hang around Tyler for the next week. It made me
glad that my parents were so much more reasonable. When I had returned
home yesterday, they gave me the biggest hug and told me how proud they
were of the way I had handled the punishment. Thane told me in detail
about the History class he shared with Tyler and how Mr. Justi had set
him up in the middle of the room and purposely forced Tyler, in front
of everyone, to relive the moment when he was forced to strip. Thane
said it was so upsetting that he actually relived his own horrible
moment the day before in Mr. Innovata’s office. But then he told of the
miraculous transformation he saw in Tyler mid-way through class when
the discussion shifted to the definition of punishment as something
universally unpleasant, and Sydney’s observation that what might be
unpleasant for most, might not be unpleasant for all. Tyler, it seems,
decided at that moment to embrace his nudity as a positive thing, even
setting up an impromptu game of ultimate frisbee during recess after
class, cleverly making a joke out of it by calling it ultimate ‘discus’
as if he were back in the time of the ancient Greeks.
As I
listened to Thane, I couldn’t help the growing sense of awe I felt for
Tyler. How he managed to turn such a humiliation into something
positive was worthy of admiration. At the same time, I was also a bit
jealous of Thane for being there to witness that impressive scene. I’d
have loved to see Tyler proudly showing off his tan line. After hanging
up with Thane, I texted Tyler again just in case, “U OK? Call ASAP” but
still nothing. I even tried calling and left a message. All I could
really do now was wait.
I took the bus home and grabbed a
snack to tide me over till dinner and had just walked into my room
about to change out of my baseball uniform when my phone finally pinged
with a cryptically short response from Tyler. “Alive! crazy day. Come
over - fill u in when u arrive.” I didn’t think twice and responded,
“OK - OTW.” I raced downstairs and into the kitchen where my mother was
in the middle of chopping vegetables for dinner. I told her that I had
to race off to check in on Tyler who had had a rough day and had just
texted for me to come over. She forced me to explain, and I gave her an
exceedingly abridged version, focusing on the fact that he’d been
forced to endure the entire day in the buff, and that Mr. Innovata
didn’t have his clothes to return to him at the end of the school day,
but that Tyler’s father had his clothes and would only give them back
when Tyler got home from school and even then only if he got a good
report.
My mother’s eyes grew wide as I spoke. When I was
done, she simply responded, “Oh dear! I guess it would be good if poor
Tyler had a friend to help him debrief his day. Okay -you should go,
but you’ll miss the dinner I’m in the midst of making.” Then, after a
pause as she enumerated all the challenges she could foresee, “You’ll
have to ride your bike, so please be careful; it is getting near dusk
and drivers can’t see you clearly.” And with that she gave me a hurried
hug and a kiss on my forehead before repeating her warning, “Promise me
you’ll be careful.” All too eager to be off, I immediately reassured
her that I’d be careful and turned to go when she added in the tone of
voice that compelled my full attention, “Theo, don’t you think you
should change out of your grubby grass-stained baseball uniform before
heading off; they’re likely a bit smelly; wouldn’t you agree?”
I looked down at myself and didn’t really see what the big deal was
about but knew that I’d make a quicker escape if I agreed with her at
least in part. “Okay mom, I’ll grab a change of clothes to take with
me.” I turned to sprint upstairs to my room and heard her shouting
after me, “And throw in some pajamas just in case you stay for the
night, …and text me if that’s the case.” I shouted back, “Will do -
thanks.” and proceeded to throw a pair of clean shorts and tee shirt in
a backpack along with my toothbrush and pajamas. I then headed
downstairs straight to the garage, hopped on my bike and raced off. It
was early evening and while the sun’s heat had lost its bite, it was
still sticky hot, so I had to acknowledge that I was sort of glad mom
had urged me to get clean clothes - I should have tossed in a fresh
pair of underwear and socks as well. I then thought of poor Tyler and
had to wonder if he had even managed to get his clothes back. And then,
from somewhere in the recesses of my mind, a simple thought forced its
way to the surface. Did I really want him to?
Chapter 34 - Unexpected Admiration
[Mr. Alfred Formale]
There was look of quiet resolve combined with a faint hint of defiance
in my son’s eyes as he looked at me before turning and heading towards
the door. I couldn’t help admire the tenacity with which Tyler was
nursing his anger. I must confess that I thought for sure he was
bluffing; an act of bravado that would dissolve in the face of reality;
but here he was heading for the door with a determination that I
couldn’t have imagined.
I am, in my privileged position at
the top of a Fortune 500 company, so accustomed to having people
acquiesce to my will that this overt defiance was catching me off
guard. At the same time, I found his willingness to test me impressive.
Ironically, I was growing more proud of Tyler by the minute, even as I
was being out maneuvered. I had to wonder how long his obstinacy would
last; surely he didn’t really want to remain naked forever.
I couldn’t help replaying in my mind the conversation I’d had with Mr.
Innovata. He made it clear that my beloved eldest was navigating his
growing up with a spirited independence and a remarkably strong sense
of self, even if at times his sense of fun leads him astray. He was,
according to all reports on the academic front, a remarkably bright,
inquisitive and creative young man; and all the more impressive when it
came to his athletic prowess, especially in tennis. It was, as Mr.
Innovata saw it, a willingness to question authority and test the
boundaries of what were the accepted norms that had gotten him into
trouble with both teachers and the administration. His sense of humor,
not surprisingly, was very much an exploration of his budding manhood
(an inescapable part of adolescence, he acknowledged,) and that he too
often expressed it laden with sexual innuendo which many found
inappropriate and at times overtly offensive.
I then began to
replay the all too frequent conversations I’d had with Katherine in the
past months. She’d been finding Tyler increasingly moody and difficult
on the home front. She complained that it was all but impossible to get
him to share anything specific about his days at school, that he was
isolating himself more and more in his room when at home, or returning
late after spending the afternoons who knows where? He was getting in
trouble at school and it always fell on her shoulders to deal with it.
Her frustrations with Tyler had quickly morphed into complaints that
she was too much a solo parent and that I needed to figure out some way
to be more of a presence in our children’s lives. While she claimed
that she understood my unique position as CEO, and appreciated the
benefits that went along with that, she would far prefer that I were
more at home where I belonged, being the father figure that our three
boys needed.
Given Tylers disciplinary infractions over the
past months and the manner in which he responded to me this morning as
well as his rather dismissive response to me this afternoon, I was
beginning, finally, to understand and appreciate Katherine’s concerns.
The real question now was how best to deal with Tyler as he asserted
his independence in this most unusually bold manner. I prided myself on
being able to remain calm in the face of challenges and devising clever
strategies to solve whatever issues might confront me. I was determined
to deal with Tyler’s defiance in the same level-headed way. Thankfully,
I’d been keeping in touch with Katherine throughout the day. She was
clearly very unnerved by Tyler’s distress this morning and horrified
when I left with all his clothes, (something not originally part of my
plan, but which seemed an appropriate addition to his punishment given
his curse laden meltdown.) I assured her that Tyler would learn an
important lesson today and she should trust my instincts. After my
afternoon conversation with Mr. Innovata, I spoke again with Katherine
sharing what he’d told me. She was deeply relieved and suggested that
it would be nice to have a full fledge family sit down meal tonight to
help debrief the lessons of the day and hopefully put all this
unpleasantness behind us. It was an idea I fully embraced.
Of course, when I returned the box to Tyler, it was clear he was still
resented my intervention this morning and wasn’t quite ready to put
clothes back on. I figured it was likely a temporary display of
defiance, but I couldn’t be sure. I texted Katherine saying that Tyler
and I had spoken and that I’d returned his clothes, but that for the
time being, he preferred to remain as he was. I urged her not to be
shocked if she found him still in his birthday suit. She’d simply
texted back, “OK - but remind him about our formal family dinner.” And
then almost right away, she added, “and stress the ‘formal’ part.” So I
quickly went to tell Tyler about our dinner plans and gently suggested
he get dressed, but he made it clear that he wasn’t ready to yield.
There was little more I could say at that point that would help, so
when the doorbell rang, I found myself standing by the stairwell
outside my office while Tyler headed to answer the door. I was hoping
it was Katherine, but I couldn’t be sure.
There was a part
of me that found this whole thing quite funny. Should it matter to me
if Tyler was willing to answer the door in his birthday suit? I had no
illusions that Tyler thought doing so would upset me and that perhaps
I’d try to stop him for fear of some embarrassment that would rebound
upon me and my reputation. He wasn’t entirely wrong - given the world
we live in, I suppose it could be embarrassing for me, but I also
realized how important it was that I not validate his thinking. I was
determined therefore to feign amusement and let him think that I could
shrug it off with a straight face as simply some adolescent phase my
son was going through. Let him do his thing, I decided, and I’d look on
with a smile from the far end of the room. I noted that just as he was
about to open the door, he glanced back my way to observe my reaction.
I did my best to look amused but otherwise indifferent to what he was
about to do.
Chapter 35 - Cleaning up for Dinner
[Theo]
Pedaling hard without taking a break, it took only about 10 minutes to
get to Tyler’s house. I didn’t slow down until I arrived at the front
of his property and began peddling up the long driveway. I was all but
out of breath, and I could feel sweat dripping down my face. Just then
by chance, Mrs. Formale pulled into the driveway behind me. I quickly
pulled over to the side, hopped off, and waved to her as she pulled
alongside me. The window lowered and she greeted me, “Good evening,
Theo. I suspect you’re here to check in on your trouble making friend
Tyler. Given that there was an extra filet on my takeout from the club,
it seems you’ll be joining us for dinner; it will be a pleasure having
you. Perhaps you’ll be kind enough to give me a hand carrying the meal
inside. I’ve got my hands full with work related stuff.”
“Of
course, happy to help and thanks for feeding me a real meal!” She
smiled and continued up the rest of the way and parked just beside the
path leading to the front door. I quickly hurried after her so I could
be of help.
“If you’d grab the large, insulated box with all
the entrees, I’ll be able to handle the smaller bag with the salads and
appetizers.”
“Of course; happy to help.” And I dutifully
extracted the box from the back seat and carefully headed for the front
door keeping the box level and inhaling deeply the mouth-watering
aromas of a first-rate meal. Mrs. Formale meanwhile got out of the car
and began to follow with her briefcase in one hand, and the bag of
salads in the other. I arrived at the front door and had to carefully
balance the box on one knee in order to grasp the ornate knocker. I
gave it 3 quick raps before getting my two hands back on the box. While
I stood waiting, Mrs. Formale arrived and stood behind me. I didn’t
hear anything from inside for quite a while and I was beginning to
think I should knock again when finally the knob turned and the door
opened.
I’m not sure what exactly I had expected, but it
certainly wasn’t Tyler totally starkers save for a royal blue baseball
cap. He opened the door boldly and greeted me and his mother as if all
were normal and he was welcoming long lost relatives. “Hello Theo!
Hello Mother! So glad you’ve arrived.” He opened his arms wide in
welcome while my eyes simultaneously went wide in shock, and my breath
caught in my throat. He ignored my shock, “That smells awesome - so
excited for our gourmet meal. Come in Theo and put the box in the
kitchen. And mother, let me help you with that bag.” And with that he
stepped back to let me through and then went out to grab the bag from
his mother. I noted that his mother eyes got wide upon seeing Tyler’s
state of undress, but she said nothing. She simply let him take the bag
and followed him on in. As I headed through the hallway to the kitchen,
I noted that Mr. Formale was standing by his office door looking upon
the scene with undisguised amusement. I placed the box on the kitchen
counter and quickly returned to witness the interplay between Tyler and
his parents.
“Tyler,” Mrs. Formale finally said, “This ought
to be a wonderful meal, but I believe your father passed along to you
that it was to be a formal sit-down family gathering. I ask that you
hurry upstairs and get appropriately attired. And please take Theo with
you so he can get cleaned up and appropriately attired as well. His
grubby grass-stained uniform doesn’t exactly qualify.”
“But
Mother, this morning, you seemed to approve of me removing my coat and
tie so that I could spend the day attired exactly as I am now. Surely
if my birthday suit is appropriate for the formality of St. Francis
Academy, then it should suffice for a family dinner?”
“We
will certainly be discussing the dynamics of your day during our meal.
Indeed, I look forward to hearing how it went and what lessons you
learned along the way. But that part of your day is over, and we’ll be
dining in our traditional manner. Now please get a move on.” She then
turned to me and added, “Theo - Be a good friend and help Tyler find
some appropriate clothes for you to wear while he gets himself ready
for dinner. And, by the way, it looks like you could spend a few
minutes getting yourself washed up as well - it looks like you came
straight from practice. I’ll keep the meal warm while you get
yourselves ready - but please be quick about it.” The look in her eyes
made it clear that she expected me to compel Tyler’s cooperation, and
so I turned towards the stairs and called out to Tyler.
“Let’s
go, Tyler. I’m starving. If I’m to eat, I’ll need to change into
something more ‘appropriate.’ I did bring a change of clothes – a tee
shirt and the fresh pair of shorts – but clearly that won’t do for this
‘formal’ occasion; I’ll need to borrow something from you.” As I headed
for the stairs, I took hold of his elbow and nudged him along. I
thought perhaps he’d resist, and he did hesitate for a split second,
but then seemed to think better of it and turned to lead the way
upstairs, I followed from behind inescapably admiring his athletically
toned back end.
When he opened the door leading to the third
floor, he suddenly stopped. Directly in front of him was the box - the
very box inscribed unmistakably with Mr. Innovata’s handwriting. The
sight of it triggered an immediate flashback to the horrid scene I had
had just two days prior in Mr. Innnovata’s office, and I could tell by
the way Tyler stiffened up and the way his breath caught in his throat,
that it had a viscerally negative effect on him as well. I could see
that his school clothes were still inside. After an awkward pause, I
decided I’d better speak up and push onward. “That’s a scary sight,
isn’t it - I had a nightmare about my box last night and Innovata’s
mock friendly voice gently telling me to remove my clothes. So glad
this whole thing is over.”
“For you perhaps.” he responded, “but I’m not sure I’m ready to put all this behind me and the sight of this box doesn’t help.”
“Well, we can talk about that later. For now, you’d better grab the box
and take it upstairs. We have to get ready for dinner, and I should
grab a quick shower, or your mother will be upset with me.” With that I
nudged him forward and up the stairs, but he sidestepped the box
leaving it for me to pick up.
He then added as I followed
him up to his room, “As you’ll soon discover, it is like a sauna up
here - no air conditioning on the third floor, so you might prefer to
be attired as I am - there are some advantages to nudity.” He turned
his head to observe my reaction.
“Not a chance - yesterday was bad enough!” I responded instantly.
“Suit yourself; it was just a suggestion.” he shrugged. He then added,
“I think we may have to have a ceremonial sacrifice of the box later on
after dinner. I’d prefer never to see it again.” We had arrived in his
room, and he then turned around and faced me directly. He began to
smile in that devilish way of his, “Destroying the box will be fun,
don’t you think?” I didn’t exactly know what he had in mind, but I
noticed how utterly unfazed he was about facing me totally naked. He
made no effort at all to cover himself up.
While my eyes
were eager to look him over from top to bottom, I was careful to keep
my eyes from wandering. “Uh, yes …I suppose. We can certainly demolish
this box later on.” I replied as I tossed the box on his bed, “I’d
enjoy that - A symbolic end to this unpleasant disciplinary adventure
we’ve been forced to endure. But for now, I’d better grab a very quick
shower while you put on something more “appropriate.” He laughed at my
lame attempt to mimic his mother’s tone of voice, and then turned
towards his closet to find us some clothes. I decided it was time for
me to head for the bathroom and get cleaned up as requested.
I quickly stripped off my baseball uniform and noticed that my mom was
right - there was a huge grass stain on my back side which I couldn’t
see while wearing. It also was soaked through with sweat, so it was a
good thing that I was being compelled to clean up and wear something
freshly laundered. I was in the shower before the water warmed up
which, given the steamy conditions on the 3rd floor, I found
rather refreshing. I turned the knob to keep it on the cool side while
I lathered up my head and scraped the dirt from my arms and legs. I
quickly hopped out of the shower and dried off as best I could in this
sauna-like space. I then wrapped the towel around my waist, rolled up
my soiled socks and underwear inside my uniform, and headed back to
Tyler’s room.
Tyler was almost dressed and buttoning up a
dress shirt when I entered. “That was quick.” he said, “You must be
starving; me too.” He motioned to the large double bed where he had
laid out for me a blue blazer, a pair of slacks, a dress shirt and tie
to match, as well as a pair of loafers.
“Thanks” I said as I
headed over to the bed to grab the clothes but noticed that it didn’t
include any underwear, so I unrolled my uniform and extracted my own,
but they were at this point uncomfortably damp and unquestionably rank.
I quickly rolled them back inside my uniform, thinking it might be
better to borrow a pair. I was about to ask when Tyler spoke, his back
to me as he faced the mirror.
“While I’m very hungry and this
will be a good meal, I must confess that I’m not too keen on the
inevitable interrogation I’m going to have with my parents. So, I’m
glad you’re here - If you see me getting upset, please feel free to
interject.” He said it offhandedly as he began looping a tie around his
neck, but I could tell he was genuinely worried about it. His parents
were a bit intense, and I knew from Tyler that they were tough on him,
especially his mother, but I wasn’t at all sure how I could be of help
in this situation. He continued, “And I suspect they’ll be asking you
about your experience yesterday as well, so be warned. They’ll want to
know what specifically we’ve learned from this custom designed
punishment.” He pulled on his own blazer and then turned towards me. I
had put on the shirt and tie, but my lower half was still wrapped in a
towel. “Let’s get a move on Theo. I know it’s uncomfortable putting all
these clothes on when it’s so unpleasantly hot, but we can shed them
soon enough once we’ve survived dinner. By the way, thanks for being
here; they can’t be nearly as tough on me while you’re here.”
“I guess that’s a good thing, though I’m hardly keen on reliving what I went through yesterday.”
“And you can bet my twin brothers will be keen on getting all the embarrassing details, so be ready for that as well.”
“Oh great - your brothers are cute and all, but they can be relentless.”
“For sure - but just so you know, they joyfully stripped off their own
clothes this afternoon when I got home, and we played some awesomely
hilarious naked soccer. It was, to be honest, the best part of my day.”
“For real?”
“Honest truth! …in fact, they were so into it that they tried to get
Stephanie to strip down as well! …which, no doubt, would have been
totally awesome; she’s hot, you gotta admit! …but, not surprisingly,
she wasn’t willing.”
“Must have been quite a scene!” I said as
I stepped awkwardly into the slacks with my towel still wrapped tightly
around my waist.
“It was.” he said in agreement, then added as
he saw me wiggling into the pants, “I would think that after your
experience yesterday, you’d be a little less shy about your body. It’s
a silly hang-up really. After today, I think I’m getting over it.
Anyway, let’s get a move on. Time to eat!”
Chapter 36 - A Formal Meal
[Mrs. Kathrine Formale]
I had managed to get the meal ready and the rest of the family seated
at the table. The twins, as I understood it from Alfred, had been quite
a handful since their earlier adventure with Tyler and we had Stephanie
to thank for managing to get them appropriately attired and settled
down for a civilized formal family meal. It was a shame that she had
plans this evening and had to miss the meal, though it occurred to me
that given the circumstances it might be for the best. On the other
hand, I had to acknowledge that Theo’s arrival, though unexpected, may
have been a blessing in disguise as he seemed to be the only person
Tyler might be willing to listen to at this moment and break through
his determined stubbornness.
Even so, I was keeping my
fingers crossed as I heard footsteps descending the stairwell,
desperately hoping that the two of them would in fact be fully dressed.
It was Alfred at the far end of the table who spotted them first and I
breathed a sigh of relief when I heard him speak, “Delighted to see you
fine young gentlemen appropriately attired for what promises to be a
delicious dinner. Your mother and I are excited to be sitting down for
one of our formal meals; it has been far too long.” I said nothing but
greeted them with a relieved smile as I motioned for them to take a
seat.
Being a parent has its difficult moments to be sure,
and it was clear that Alfred and I were in the midst of one of those
moments now. Of course, the warning signs had been there for months. At
first I had thought it was something I could handle on my own. Tyler
was a good kid at heart, an honest hard-working student, and a talented
athlete. He was also a great older brother to Leo and Luke. Given how
much he had going for him, we mistakenly thought that we could let
things play out without parental intervention.
The first
sign of trouble that I could point to was an email about two months ago
from the school disciplinarian, Mr. Innovata, who explained that Tyler
had used inappropriate language and gestures both in class and during
recess, and, despite multiple warnings from different faculty members,
hadn’t amended his behavior. He suggested that Tyler was probably going
through a phase, as many kids do when they enter puberty, and was
testing boundaries, but warned that if such behavior didn’t stop, there
were going to be consequences. He urged me to reiterate that message to
Tyler. However, when I tried that night to talk to him about the
school’s concerns, he just rolled his eyes and insisted that the school
was over-reacting and that he had been just joking around.
A
few weeks after that, I remember getting a call from Mr. innovata
informing me that Tyler had once again been turned in for an
inappropriate and disruptive comment he made during class and that as a
result, he was being given a detention that afternoon. He again urged
me to address the issue with Tyler that evening, and again Tyler
rebuffed the concerns as overblown. I’m not sure my getting angry and
raising my voice did any good, and since then we’d pretty much avoided
talking about it. I was too busy at work to exhaust myself at home with
this unpleasant phase that my oldest was going through, and I was just
hoping that it wouldn’t last too long and things would improve on their
own. Alfred, at my urging, did try to address the issue with him one
weekend a month ago when he happened to be home, but clearly didn’t
make much headway. And so it was that we found ourselves at this
present crisis. I was admittedly horrified by the way things had played
out this morning and couldn’t get the image of Tyler’s impotent rage
out of my mind all day. I was all but useless at work; I could only
pray that the school’s unusual punishment would finally turn Tyler
around.
Once we were all seated, Alfred gave the traditional blessing:
Our
Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy
will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily
bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Then he added after a brief pause,
And Lord, we further ask that you be present with us tonight as we
discuss the events of the past week and struggle to learn the hard
lessons of this particularly difficult day. We ask this in your son’s
name, Jesus Christ, who sacrificed his life to redeem our sins. Amen
I have always marveled at how poised Alfred seems to be even in the
midst of such chaos - no doubt his unflappable, soft-spoken
self-confidence is why he’s done so well in the business world as well.
People always seem to follow his lead. I noted that Tyler acknowledged
the last part of the prayer with a smile.
“So, as we dig
into our meals, it would be wonderful if you would share the highlights
of your day with your loving parents. Luke, perhaps you’d be willing to
share the best parts of your day.”
A brief silence ensued as
we all picked up our utensils and took our first bites, but Luke was
clearly more than willing to start off the evening’s conversation. “I
got an “A” on my vocab quiz, and Mrs. Watkins said I’d done really well
on my presentation in history.
“How exciting, Luke! Can you
remind me exactly what your history presentation was about and what
Mrs. Watkins thought was so worthy of applause.”
Luke loved
being the center of attention and I marveled at how quickly the
evening’s conversation got underway. I had, admittedly, been worried
about addressing the day’s real issues with Tyler, so I admired the
strategy that Alfred employed to get the conversation going. Luke
quickly launched into the details of the project and Alfred followed up
with further questions to keep him on center stage. Eventually he
turned to Leo and proceeded in the same manner to investigate what he
had to share with us. I noted that Tyler and Theo looked on with
relieved amusement as that all took place. Leo had also done well on
his daily vocab quiz, but looked a bit embarrassed as he confessed that
he’d made one mistake so didn’t earn the “A” that his brother had.
“Not at all a big deal, Leo, provided that you’ve learned from your
mistake and won’t make the same mistake next time. Learning is a
process and making mistakes is very much a part of that. The important
thing is to make sure you learn from whatever mistakes you do make.” I
noted that Alfred looked at Tyler as he made this observation., though
Tyler pretended not to notice. I took the lull in the conversation to
encourage everyone to take a healthy portion of the salad as I passed
the bowl around the table.
Alfred didn’t wait too long
before shifting his focus to the older boys. “What a great pleasure it
is, Theo, to have you join us for this all too rare family sit down
dinner; we welcome you warmly to the family! And if I get this right, I
believe you too have had a bit of a disciplinary adventure this week
since you were involved in Tyler’s unfortunate prank on Monday. In
speaking with Mr. Innovata, I understand that the penalty he imposed on
you both was specifically designed to teach a critical life lesson.
Perhaps you would be kind enough to explain what lesson Mr. Innovata
was aiming to impart.
It occurred to me how clever Alfred
was to steer away from the specifics of the boys’ punishments and focus
instead on the lesson they were to learn from the experience. Theo
appeared relieved to begin his part of the evening’s interrogation on
the lesson. He responded matter of factly. “The golden rule” and then
added after a brief pause, “you know; ‘to do unto others as you would
have them do unto you.’”
Alfred nodded encouragingly and then
pressed further, “Good. I think you’ve summed it up well. …and can you
tell me in what way this alternative punishment helped illustrate that
lesson?”
“Well, I guess it forced me, …and Thane and Tyler to endure the same embarrassment that we forced upon Arthur Little.
“True enough; and in your opinion did the punishment fulfill its aim? …Did you truly learn the lesson?”
“Absolutely - while in the midst of the punishment, I really did think
of what we’d done to Arthur and was horrified to realize how cruel it
was. It certainly forced me to see it through his lens. I would have
been so upset if someone did that to me.”
Alfred again nodded
in approval, and it looked like he was about to follow up with another
question when Luke, barely able to contain himself, intervened. “Didn’t
you have to pose naked for some art class? …Or maybe that was Thane; I
can’t remember who got what penalty. All I know from the rumors that
reached lower school was that one had to be naked in front of upper
school art students and the other had to go to his own gym class naked.
“Yeah,” Leo exclaimed wide eyed, “And I heard that you both ended up popping a boner right in front of everyone. Is that true?”
I was mortified to hear the questions my two youngest were throwing
Theo’s way, and I could feel my face turn a bit red, “Excuse me Leo,” I
said sharply, “that is not an appropriate question. Let us please focus
instead on the lesson that the punishment was designed to reinforce.
please!” The menacing edge to my voice quickly put an end to that line
of questioning and the twins looked appropriately chastened, though
clearly sorely disappointed.
A brief silence ensued before
Luke looked up at me a bit timidly and asked, “Would it be okay if I
ask Theo just one more question; not anything specific about being nude
and all, I just want to know from his point of view what he thinks was
the worst part of this punishment.” I wasn’t so sure this was the
appropriate focus either but as I looked at Theo, he seemed willing to
respond, so I nodded his way and yielded the floor.
“Well
Luke, I’ve been thinking a lot about yesterday and while the whole
thing was a nightmare to be sure, the worst part by far was the moment
I truly understood what Mr. Innovata had devised for my punishment. He
had placed three boxes on a table, one with each of our names on it. He
then reviewed my role in what we’d done to poor Arthur on Monday and
pointed out that it was only fitting for me to undergo the same acute
embarrassment that we’d forced upon Arthur. It was at that moment that
I realized to my horror what he was expecting me to do; that I was
going to have to remove my clothes and put everything in the box. To be
honest, it wasn’t just the agony of knowing that I was going to have to
spend time in front of my classmates totally naked, but the horrifying
realization that I actually deserved the punishment. That, I think, was
the worst part of the whole day. …well that, …and that other super
embarrassing moment you spoke of earlier.
“You mean when you popped a boner?” Luke quickly clarified.
“Luke! Please be polite. We don’t focus on those sorts of things at the
dinner table, for goodness sake!” My British upbringing recoiled at
such direct talk of sexual matters, and I couldn’t believe Luke and Leo
would violate that boundary.
Tyler interjected mocking me
with my own words, “For goodness sake, mother, it is a perfectly
reasonable question and Theo has given it a perfectly reasonable
response. If you want us to discuss the lessons we’ve learned from the
day’s punishment, surely you can’t expect us to shy away from the
specifics of what we experienced?” He looked at me intently with an
inquisitive eyebrow raised. That facial expression instantly reminded
me of how much he looked like his father, and I then had to wonder if
facial expressions were as inheritable as were facial features. He had
become quite a handsome young man, and his insightful question to me
made clear that his maturity was not just physical. I had to admit that
he had a point, and I nodded in acquiescence. Tyler then turned back to
Theo and invited him to complete his response.
Theo shrugged
his shoulders and said simply, “That’s it really. As much as I hated
going through yesterday's punishment, it was hardest I think to
acknowledge that I deserved it and that what we had done to poor Arthur
was horribly cruel.” And then he added, “And I suppose the punishment
worked as designed since there’s no way I’ll ever do anything like that
ever again.” With a great sigh, he sat back in his chair clearly
relieved that he’d completed his part in the night’s difficult
conversation.
For my part, I was deeply encouraged to hear
he’d thought the punishment was fair and effective, and I was now
hoping that perhaps Tyler would follow suite. I looked his way to see
if he’d now offer his own assessment of the day’s difficult experience.
He sat quietly for quite a while seemingly reflecting on what Theo had
said and how he wanted to share his own assessment of the day. I looked
over at Alfred to see if he was planning on speaking up, but he was
clearly willing to wait for Tyler. I reminded myself that Alfred had
already had his one on one with him, so it was unlikely he’d intervene
now. Eventually Tyler spoke, “Instead of telling you what the worst
part of my day was, I will tell you the best part. It was when I got
home, and my most wonderful brothers joined me in a game of naked
soccer. Wasn’t that great fun Leo? Wasn’t it Luke?” The twins were
quick to agree.
“Yeah!” Leo said, “It was totally awesome on a day this hot to run around without sweaty clothes sticking to you.”
“I agree!” Luke chimed in, “If tomorrow is hot like today, we should do it again. And Theo can join us too!”
“Excuse me Luke,” I intervened in the hope of redirecting the
conversation and putting an end to any talk of more nudity in or around
the house, “Both Theo and Tyler have successfully survived their
punishment and they can thankfully put that now behind them.” I then
turned to Tyler and prompted him to continue in a different direction.
“So please tell us what lessons you learned from the day.” It was my
hope of course that he’d say something similar to what we’d just heard
from Theo, but that turned out to be wishful thinking.
“So,
you want to hear about the lessons I learned from today. Are you sure
that’s what you want?” He looked at me inquisitively. Not at all sure
what he was thinking, I said nothing, though again I marveled at how
much like his father that expression looked. He continued, “Well, for
one thing, getting naked is far worse than being naked. We live in a
society so obsessed with the clothes we wear that we’ve been trained to
think that being in our natural naked state is somehow taboo. When I
started this day, I couldn’t have imagined spending one second without
the protection of the costume I’ve been wearing daily. It wasn’t until
History class with Mr. Justi that I revisited that misconception. The
human animal is the only species that wears clothes is one thing among
others that I learned today, though I suppose I already knew that if
I’d thought about it. And the only animal that cooks its food too for
that matter, but that’s beside the point. We had a good class
discussion about the purpose of clothing and that what had originally
been simply for warmth and protection against the elements evolved over
time into a way to identify class and worth. We wear the school uniform
for instance to mark our adherence to the school’s values.
We talked a lot also about the nature of punishment and that in an
earlier era teachers could hit students physically to enforce the rules
but that recent laws now forbid that sort of thing, so we now use the
revoking of privileges and detentions instead. Clearly St. Francis
Academy is now adding forced nudity to their repertoire. Of course, I
also learned today that punishment is only punishment if the recipient
considers it so, and I discovered, much to my surprise, that being
naked is really not a big deal; indeed, on a steamy day like today, it
may actually be preferable. I learned that if I just carried on as if
it wasn’t a big deal to me, that others grew quickly tired of trying to
give me grief about it. So, these, dearest mother, are some of the
lessons I learned today.” I couldn’t help but note the defiant edge in
his voice which made it clear that he wasn’t about to give me the kind
of answer that I had been hoping for, none of the earnest contrition
that Theo had shown just minutes ago. Yet he was now looking at me with
that distinctively raised eyebrow, clearly awaiting some response from
me.
I took a few long breaths to collect my thoughts. I
could feel his anger and instinctively knew it would not help matters
at all if I responded in kind. So, after collecting my thoughts, I
responded in as measured a manner as I could muster, “I guess I should
be glad that you feel you learned some important lessons today, Tyler,
and that you feel that you navigated this punishment successfully.
Indeed, your father and I were very pleased with the report we got from
Mr. Innovata. He said that you’d done remarkably well today given the
circumstances and even wrote a good letter of apology. I was, I must
confess, sort of hoping to hear at least something apologetic about the
incident on Monday that precipitated this whole thing.” I left it at
that and looked at him with my own inquisitive eyebrow raised hoping to
solicit the apology I’d originally been hoping for.
There
was a long pause as Tyler considered the proposal to continue.
Eventually he did. “Yes, mother, I did write Arthur an apology and it
was, I assure you, a sincere one. I understand more fully now the
position our prank put him in, and I am even willing to admit that it
wasn’t really all that funny and that if someone had done that to me,
I’d be less than happy about it.” I was deeply relieved to hear this
and was about to commend him on the admission, but before I could do
so, he waved me off and continued, “While that is indeed true, I should
also share with you another observation I’ve made about the lessons
I’ve learned today.
You may recall that the last bit of
advice father gave me this morning, before you both left me totally
naked and defenseless, was that the more fully I embraced my
punishment, the more successfully I’d navigate it.” He paused for a
second to allow me to confirm my words. I nodded and he continued, “You
were right. What’s noteworthy however is the following: That as time
passed and I became better at pretending that I was OK with my own
nudity in front of others, the more uncomfortable others became with me
being naked. Ironic isn’t it! When I was taken to visit the lower
school, it created quite a stir with the secretary, Mrs. Prude, who I
suspect complained about it behind the scenes, and I got the
impression, when Mr. Innovata returned to get me, that he wasn’t really
so keen on me being paraded around the whole campus naked. I tested
that theory when I got back to the main campus. He had invited me to
keep the towel wrapped around me until I got back inside the upper
school wing, but instead I pealed it off and tossed it to him,
reminding him that I was supposed to ‘embrace’ this punishment ‘fully.’
and as I did so, I noted his clear discomfort. And I should add that
even now, as I suggested to Leo and Luke that we play some naked soccer
tomorrow, that you were all too quick to change the direction of the
conversation. So, it seems that you too aren’t so keen on my running
around without my clothes. Funny isn’t it the way things can be flipped
around.” And with that Tyler smiled triumphantly and awaited my
response. I averted his gaze and glanced instead over at Alfred hoping
that he might say something to rescue the situation. He nodded ever so
slightly which I took to mean that he’d do his best.
*****