“How could you!” Mark’s mother shrieked as she held up the pictures of broken windows.
Mark sat at the table, resentful of having been caught in the act. However, he’d never quite been able to defy his mother, forceful character that she was. He simply looked down at the floor in silence.
He had certainly helped throw the rocks at the windows of Ms. Hubert’s house, but he was by no means the one who’d suggested it. Jeff and Brad had both been mad at Ms. Hubert for the low grades they’d received in her class and so had decided to get revenge. Mark had gone out of loyalty to his two friends, though he had also noticed that Ms. Hubert had been especially hard on the three of them while seeming to reward suck-ups like Diane Simmonds or Chris Ballard for no reason.
That was why Mark had thrown rocks at Ms. Hubert’s windows, despite being a B-average 16-year old high school student who didn’t usually do stuff like this.
Of course, he’d been caught. One of the neighbours, rather than confront the youths, had taken pictures of them. Even though it had been at night, the street lights had provided ample opportunity for Mark’s face to appear in the pictures. Now he was in deep trouble.
“I did not raise you to act like this!” His mother’s anger filled the room, even as she waved the incriminating camera photos in his face, as though showing him what he’d been up to.
“It wasn’t my idea…” Mark began, but his mother refused to allow him that escape.
“Don’t you dare try to avoid responsibility or I will make you sorry!”
Mark shut up, knowing that there was little else he could do except hear out the lecture and find out what sort of punishment he was getting.
He was curious just what was going to happen. He hadn’t been on school property so he surely wouldn’t get suspension or something like that. Was Ms. Hubert going to call the police? He suddenly felt fear creep into his mind, even as he kept listening to what his mother said to him in her heated voice.
Finally, she concluded with an angry question, “Well? What do you have to say for yourself, young man?”
Mark paused, knowing what was expected of him to do now.
“I wasn’t thinking like an adult, and I should have tried to stop Jeff and Brad from doing what they did, and I’m sorry.”
Mark’s mother frowned darkly at the bland contrition in her son’s voice. She knew when he was just humouring her.
“I suppose you want to know what’s going to happen now?” she said threateningly.
Mark simply nodded his head.
“Well, I had a long chat with Ms. Hubert. You’re very lucky that she decided not to press charges against you, but don’t think you’re getting off the hook. First off, your video games are being taken away for two months.”
Mark had expected that, so he simply nodded slowly.
“Second off, you’re going to pay for the damage to windows, and you’re going to work off that debt here at home with more chores.”
Mark held back a growl to nod again. He hadn’t saved up much money from his part-time job so he’d definitely have to get plenty of shifts to replace the deduction.
“And finally,” his mother concluded, “You’re going to spend this weekend helping out Ms. Hubert around the house.”
For the first time, Mark’s eyes widened in shock. He hadn’t expected that. He almost wanted to scream “No way!” but he knew better than to contradict his mother at
this point.
Instead, he nodded his head, “Fine…”
“You’re going to listen to her, treat her with respect, and whatever chores she has you take care of the next two days, you will carry them out with no complaints. Or else I’ll hear about your misbehaving and make you especially sorry.”
Mark didn’t doubt his mother’s threat. He was already out of video games for two months. He didn’t want to risk more than that.
“”” “” “”” “” “”” “” “” “
The next day, his father dropped him off on the way to work. His father had had another stern talk, mostly repeating the things his mom had said.
Mark got out of the car, looking at the house he’d paid a visit to only two nights ago. The windows were still broken, but aside from that it was a nice little house from the outside. The garden was in full bloom, it being a nice spring day, though the grass seemed a bit due for a mowing. Mark mentally guessed that he’d be busy doing that today.
He went up to the door and rang the doorbell. It was only 9 am, and he was used to sleeping in on Saturdays. He normally had soccer practice Saturday afternoon, but his mother and father had informed the coach that he would be absent this week. Another way he’d be punished for what he’d done.
Honestly he hadn’t thought it was a good idea from the start. But Jeff and Brad were insistent on it, and he felt like he’d be mocked for chickening out. He wondered if they had also been caught and were going to be here with him. That thought cheered him up a bit, but he realized then that neither would ever agree to this kind of punishment, nor would their parents have enforced such behaviour. Brad was more likely to get a few smacks over the side of the head by his stepfather, and Jeff’s mother, even harder on her son than Mark’s mom was on Mark, would likely have agreed that a visit to a juvie centre would scare Jeff straight.
He waited for Ms. Hubert to respond to the doorbell. For a second he wondered if he’d been too early. Then the door finally opened.
Ms. Hubert was a few inches taller than Mark, and with the advantage of the door step she was able to tower over him. She had pale skin and dark brown hair which curled naturally. She always tied her long hair into a ponytail, however, as if trying to force her curls to straighten. She was in her late thirties, and since she didn’t use much make-up, she was showing signs of her age. She also dressed more conservatively than the other teachers did, avoiding necklines and skirts. Today was no exception, as she was wearing a light jacket over her shirt, with a pair of black jeans on her weekend off. She gave a cold look at Mark, who felt once again that she was almost a human X-ray with that stare of hers.
“So, Mark. Nice to see you here to pay for what you did to my windows.”
Mark tried to think of something to say, but decided to just nod in response.
Ms. Hubert imitated his nod and expression, and raised an eyebrow, “Is that it?”
She was so good at this, Mark realized. Seeing through his feigned actions and exposing them for the bullshit that they were. He felt even more uncomfortable.
She stepped to the side, “Come in, then.”
Mark entered the hallway, not sure if he should take his shoes off. He decided to stay in the doorway and wait for Ms. Hubert’s say-so. He didn’t want to risk losing further privileges.
Ms. Hubert closed the door and stood in front of him, arms folded beneath her breasts and looking him in the eye, “Let’s make something clear here, Mark. You’re going to be here until 8pm when your parents pick you up for supper. Until then, you’re going to work off what you owe me. You’re going to do what I say, when I say, without question. Do you understand?”
She said all of this so matter-of-factly, yet Mark could hear the ominous threat in her voice. She was so confident in her control of the situation that she didn’t even need to try and be imposing. Strangely, he couldn’t help but notice that the position of her arms exposed the figure of her bust. And while Mark struggled to maintain eye contact, he liked what little he saw. He had noticed it before in her class. She must be a size D at least, he thought.
He tried not to think about it as he nodded respectfully to what Ms. Hubert had said.
“Good. You can start with the glass that hasn’t been cleaned up yet.” She pointed to the open entry from the hall to her living room. Mark took off his shoes and began to walk towards the room.
“Where are you going?” She suddenly asked.
Mark stopped and turned around, confused, “You want me to clean up the glass right?”
Ms Hubert rolled her eyes, “And I suppose you want to clean up the glass with your bare hands, smart guy?” She pointed to closed door, “Your tools are in there. Go get them.”
Sighing, Mark turned and walked towards the closet door.
He had only taken four steps when he felt Ms. Hubert grab his hands and force them behind his back.
“What the hell!?” He yelled, as he felt metal cuffs click over his hands before he could wrench them away. He drew breath to yell again, but Ms. Hubert placed a firm hand
over his mouth and nose while holding a cloth. Mark struggled, noticing that the cloth smelled funny. Ms. Hubert held him tight, an arm around his waist, and the other holding the cloth to his face as he writhed where he stood. Slowly, he began to feel tired, and his eyes began to close.
“Shhhhhh.” A voice whispered in his ear. Ms. Hubert’s lips seemed an inch away from touching his ear, “Don’t fight it, Mark. You’re mine, honey.”
That was the last thing Mark noticed before his world darkened......