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#Post#: 16438--------------------------------------------------
It Happened One Christmas Chapter Sixteen
By: Jack Date: December 17, 2019, 4:31 pm
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“Why did you show me that?” I demanded.
“Can you think of a reason now you should care if they were a
loving family?”
“Why?”
“You already know that actions have consequences, Bailey. What
did you think?”
I wanted to throw up. This time Charlie didn't have to answer
as I flashed back to just last Christmas. I’d been shopping in
a discount store, trying to spread the rest of my money far
enough to get a gift for Harry, plus two I needed for parties to
which I was invited.
The kid had been with his Dad when I first noticed him. He
wasn’t an exceptional looking kid - pretty average really, but
he’d been wearing this horrible, awesome sweater. It was black
with mostly red, white and blue designs, but the main design was
a shark, wrapped in Christmas lights, bursting out of the water,
and screaming ‘Jaw Humbug’.
That sweater is what really made me notice the kid - David, I
now realized - and it’s probably what made me pay him enough
attention that, as I was trying to add figures in my head and
guess at taxes, I noticed him step back from his dad, pause a
second, then hurry across the aisle. He grabbed something off
the shelf and quickly slipped it under his sweater, then hurried
back to his dad.
The thing is, I didn’t just notice that - I also noticed the
store clerk watch him do it. Suddenly less interested in my
shopping, I watched the clerk turn and walk to a desk, where he
picked up a phone.
After a moment, I walked over to the kid. I tried to tell him
that the clerk had seen him, but he just shushed me. I tried
again to tell him, but he was obviously distressed - distressed
enough that his dad noticed us talking.
Once his dad noticed us, it went from two guys talking to an
adult being there. When his dad asked what was wrong, my mind
went blank. Maybe I should have lied, but I’m not sure I could
have made anything up quickly enough Then I saw the clerk
talking to a security guard or maybe a cop, and I just told his
dad.
His dad made the kid lift his sweater, and he took the item out
from beneath it. Both of them turned to me. Dad was clearly
not happy, but I would have died if David’s eyes had been
lasers. His dad thanked me, made David thank me, then they
left. I’d never known what had happened after that. I hadn’t
really cared. I’d remembered feeling a bit bad for the kid, but
not enough to worry about it or wonder.
Now I knew, and I felt all kinds of regret.
“Why should you regret it, Bailey?”
“Didn’t you see what happened to him?” I demanded.
“Yes. Didn’t you? Didn’t you listen?”
“To what?”
“To his dad say he could have gone to jail. Like his dad, I
doubt it would have happened that way, but it could have, and it
would have been a very expensive ticket even if they didn’t
arrest him. You stopped that.”
“But I didn’t mean to get him whupped,” I protested.
“No, you didn’t, but it still happened. You didn’t do it
yourself, but you know what’s more important than that?”
I shook my head numbly, trying to figure out how wrong I’d been.
“What’s more important than that is that you stopped him from
getting a ticket that their family couldn’t really afford right
then. Yes, David got switched because you stepped in, but you
also kept his family from having to return his new PC to pay a
ticket. Yes, he got switched, but you gave him a chance to
learn a lesson. It was a painful lesson, but you already know
about learning those, don’t you?”
I winced, remembering my own strapping for the same thing. I
hadn’t even thought of that when I’d snitched on David. I also
hadn’t known about his PC. Now I wondered if I’d done the right
thing.
“Besides, I don’t know why you worry about what happened to
David. He wasn’t a teenager after all. Isn’t it teenagers that
are ‘too old to be spanked?’”
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#Post#: 16439--------------------------------------------------
Re: It Happened One Christmas Chapter Sixteen
By: db105 Date: December 17, 2019, 5:23 pm
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Ah, so it wasn't Bailey's father...
#Post#: 16489--------------------------------------------------
Re: It Happened One Christmas Chapter Sixteen
By: David M. Katz Date: December 20, 2019, 5:13 pm
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Bailey poses a good question. I think CP is still effective for
many teens.
I think Bailey has dug himself a hole he can't get out of.
I know Charlie is trying to convince Bailey of the fairness of
things but, given all he has experienced, I am not sure Bailey
can be receptive. I wouldn't be. In every scenario that
Charlie has shown Bailey the spankings were justified but will
it change Bailey's feelings about his day?
[emoji318]
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