Traditional Values
By: Randall Austin
(© 2011 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 3

As everyone took their seats at the table there was an awkward silence, but once everyone was seated and saw all the familiar faces of siblings, parents, and an uncle, a reminder came to everyone that this had once been, for the most part, a very happy and well-adjusted family. A family in which everyone loved each other. The ice began to melt somewhat as food was passed around and everyone commented on the nice meal which mom and Flora had prepared.

And Flora was already, again, her curious and cheery self, "Bradley, how does that thing on your wiener feel? It looks like it would hurt."

Bradley tried to play cool, "What thing, Flora?"

Mother thought it best to be forthright, "Honey, your brothers and sisters accidentally got to see your pictures on the Internet."

Bradley put his head down, his face turned red. Martin glanced a furious look at Barbara, and put a comforting hand on Bradley's shoulder.

Quince tried to lighten the mood, "You're a regular porn star now, bro!"

Alban smiled, "Every social servant on that website is a porn star. They really shave em clean." Big smiles on the faces of the two younger brothers were followed by a serious frown in their direction from their father. Lowering his voice Quince leaned towards Alban's ear, "Did you check out that chick named Susan Imanti? Her pussy lips hung half way down her legs!"

Dad was disgusted by his two free sons, "Stop that kind of talk right now! This is obscene. I forbid all of you from ever going back to that site!"

After an awkward silence, dad made a serious attempt to get things back to normal, "Listen, all of you. This is an awkward time. You need to know that Bradley will be wearing the ankle cuffs; training paddles, and ring only until he's sold. He is going to be living nearby, and if he isn't one hundred percent happy with the arrangement he ends up in after a period of a couple of months, I am going to reclaim him, as is my legal right here in the state. If that happens, we will all be in for some major changes, but I intend to see us survive as a happy family. I want all of you to go out of your way and treat Bradley with the full dignity that he deserves, and to be extremely grateful for what he is doing for all us!"

And it worked. Everyone felt somewhat relieved after that, even Bradley, who finally took up a fork and jabbed a potato. When everyone saw that he was finally eating, they started eating in greater comfort.

But the thought of it not working out put some concern into the thoughts of Bradley's brothers. If it didn't work out they knew they would probably have to move out of their nice house, no private school for Alban, no more free handouts for Quince.

As the meal progressed, and everyone seemed more relaxed, Martin asked Bradley, "So, how are you doing son?"

Bradley just nodded a quick 'yes' and offered a somewhat bitter smile. Steven noticed. Dad tried again to cheer his son up, "Do you want to use the car and visit Ginger tonight?" Bradley shook his head 'no'. "How about joining all of us on a nice beach walk?"

When Bradley shook his head with another sullen 'no', Steven had to speak up. "Oh boy! Martin, we have a problem here!"

"How so, Steven?"

"Look, we all know Bradley is the sweetest kid in the world. But think what will happen if you are called for an appointment and he acts the way he is now. You just asked him a series of questions and he didn't even have the common courtesy to answer you with anything more than moping gestures. Do you think anybody would buy him when they see that kind of attitude, especially at the price your asking?"

Uncle Steven took a drink of coffee and continued, "There's no problem with him being a little confused right now as he tries to find himself, but this is what I warned you about when you were planning all of this. I told you that even the nicest boys need a little behavior training if you expect them to make a decent show in the sales room."

"Well then, what are you proposing?" asked Martin as if he didn't know, but now realized he might have to reconsider his initial decision to have Bradley forego any social services training.

"At the very least, the county's three week basic training program. It'll not only get him in shape for interviews, clarify social servant protocol, but most important, for his sake, save his ass down the line from a lot of punishment for misstepping. It can all be avoided if he knows what's expected of him."

Dad was decisive, "No, Steven. I think for now I'll stick with my initial decision. In the days ahead I'm just going to have Bradley read the training materials provided by the county. He's smart, reasonable, and naturally obedient. I want this to be a loving family thing. I believe his brothers and I can best offer the support that he needs at this time, rather than some ruffians at Social Services."

Alban was excited, "We're going to help you train Bradley, Dad?"

Martin attempted to make the idea seem more appealing to Bradley, who was still sulking, "I suppose you could put it that way. But your role will be to just be extra loving to Bradley. That is the support I want you to give him. That's what I mean."

It didn't conjure up an image of 'training' that Alban found very interesting, so he got up from his chair, took his plate, and said, "I'm finished eating, Mom." Barbara responded, "I want you and Quince to clear the table and do the dishes before you do anything else."

Steven reached his arm across the table and touched Barbara's arm, "Barbara, I think this would be a good time to help Bradley get out of his sullen mood by having him do such a chore."

Barbara was a little flustered, "Well, I suppose. I don't see why not. But I thought it would be good to let Bradley relax a bit."

"And go back to his room and mope for the rest of the day?" Steven looked at Martin, somewhat perplexed. "I thought you wanted me here to offer advice. I mean, do whatever you two want, but I warn you, you're going to have to start getting things in order pretty soon or it could get ugly. I've seen it happen before." After a silence, "It's just the dishes, for gosh sakes! It's not like we're asking him to build the pyramids!"

Dad smiled a bit, "Okay, okay! Alban and Quince, you're off dish duty for now. You're on next time."

Both Alban and Quince high-fived and walked out into the backyard. Martin got up from his chair and suggested that his wife, Steven, and he go out into the back yard and chat. As they exited the dining room, Martin looked at his son still seated at the table, "You heard. Do the dishes then join us out in the backyard, son."

"Dad, I'm 22 years old. I've been paying you room and board this summer from my job. It's not my duty to do dishes."

"It is now son. Just do it. As Steven says, it's just the dishes." As Martin walked out he heard an exasperated "Fuck!" from Bradley. As Martin took his seat in the backyard lawn chair he thought it best not to mention that to Steven.

But the moment he settled in, he changed his mind and thought it better to seek help, "Okay, Steven. What am I supposed to do? As I walked out just now I heard Bradley say 'fuck' after I told him to do the dishes."

"I'm glad you told me that. The way he is acting is perfectly understandable, and he'll continue acting that way until the law is spelled out. He doesn't know the law. That's why he's acting this way. The law is that he has got to be obedient to every command, move quickly, be efficient, and be polite at all times. Enforcing that will be unpleasant for a few days, but after initial firmness most social servants quickly find their place. That's why training at an outside source is recommended. Most parents find it hard to offer their indentured children the necessary firmness. But it can be done. But, you are right, having training done in the home is always less traumatic then at a training center. But it won't work unless you do what has to be done."

Barbara asked, "So what do we do in this case?"

"The guidebook you were given spells it out very clearly. It suggests various punishment options for various missteps. The important thing is to be consistent. What needs to be done, if you want this thing to succeed, is that we all go in there right now and confront him, tell him what he did wrong, why it was wrong, and then either wash his mouth out with soap or...", he paused a bit, concerned about Barbara's presence, "this is according to state guidelines, give him a good ball squeezing."

Barbara winced, "Let's just do the mouth washing."

Steven was pleased, "That's good. It's important to let him know that if he swears again, he can expect another mouth washing. And the most important thing for both of you to realize as his parents is that you are simply enforcing traditional values. What we are about to do is sanctioned by not only the state, but by the federal government. Good parents like you throughout this entire country are at this time doing the exact same thing you are about to do and that is help a child be all that he can be. The role of social servant is a dignified one, and that role is honored by parents like you who help ensure that their children bring the necessary dignity to their station."

Both Barbara and Martin shook their heads in agreement.

"Call your sons and let's go into the kitchen!"

Martin had a quick chat with Alban and Quince about what was about to happen and why, and what procedures would be followed. When finished, the three of them, along with Barbara and Steven entered the kitchen, where Bradley was standing at the sink, cleaning debris from the dishes. They all approached him and he turned towards them, worried.

Dad spoke, "Bradley. You are now a social servant. It is an honorable position to serve in. The law requires that you be obedient to every command given you by your overseers and owner, that you always do what you are told to do immediately upon being told, that you perform each assigned task as quickly as possible while maintaining top quality job performance, that you perform all tasks in an efficient manner, and that you are polite at all times in all matters and situations."

"Because just now you used a swear word as I was walking out of the kitchen the law mandates a disciplinary action. Your brothers and I are now going to wash your mouth out with soap. We hate to do this because we love you so much. But you need to know that if you use another swear word, we will do this again. And if you fail to follow any of the requirements of your station which I have just mentioned, you will be punished with an appropriate disciplinary action each and every time you violate the law."

Bradley stood speechless with his mouth open as dad went in back of him and quickly and tightly gathered his arms behind his back. Alban took a bar of soap at the sink and ran warm water over it. Quince stepped in front of Bradley, motioned to Alban for the soap who then gave it to him, and pinched Bradley's nose. Bradley opened his mouth to breathe, Quince rammed the bar of soap into his mouth, and worked it back and forth, and released his nose. Bradley struggled to shake his head away but Alban reached up and grabbed his head and held it tightly as Quince worked the soap in and out of Bradley's mouth.

Steven saw that things were going well, "Good job, boys! Good job! Keep it up!"

Bradley was sputtering and coughing. Quince kept working the bar of soap as instructed and Alban tightened his squeeze on Bradley's head. "Are you going to watch your language from now on, son?" asked Martin from in back of him. Bradley moaned an affirmative "uh-huh" through his anguish. Steven told the boys to keep going at it.

When it seemed like Bradley might be starting to vomit, Steven called for an end to the mouth washing. Quince took the bar out, and Alban and Martin released Bradley, who turned towards the sink and started spitting out the soap. He grabbed a dirty coffee cup, filled it with water, and rinsed out his mouth. His family and Steven watched him rinse out his mouth in silence.

When he had rinsed his mouth clean of the soap he started to hobble out of the room, sniffling and not looking at anyone. "Where are you going, Bradley?" Asked Martin. Bradley said he was going to get a towel to wipe his face. His dad was firm, "No you are not. We have towels here in the kitchen. You are not leaving this kitchen until these dishes are done!"

Bradley froze in his tracks, looked down, and then started crying out loud. He sunk to the floor and grabbed his head. His family watched him. His dad suggested that everyone leave Bradley alone. As everyone exited the kitchen Martin walked to his bawling son and touched him on the shoulder, "I know its hard son. But everything will be downhill from here."

To be continued...

Posted: 01/13/12