Melissa: Crack Goes the Tree, Crack Goes the Leg, Crack Goes the Brush and Hand

There is a level 2 wind emergency in effect as of 2:00 this afternoon. Winds of up to 90 miles per hour have been recorded in the area. No one is to be out on the roads except in emergency. It is highly recommended to remain indoors.

Notice that she said highly recommended. That doesn’t mean that it’s necessary… it’s just highly recommended. Yeah, that definitely meant I was going outside. I didn’t care what Mark said.

So here’s a bit of background for you.

Yes, it was hurricane season and no, that doesn’t normally affect this part of the country at all but this one was an exception. Yes, everybody, an EXCEPTION. Those DO exist. A particularly bad one had hit Louisiana and Texas, causing wind storms to take over the entire Midwest, including Michigan. It was ugly outside. And by ugly, I do mean UGLY. Limbs were being torn from branches and thrown across streets and over roofs. Branches were flying everywhere. I could hear the wind howling outside, rattling my windowpanes, shaking the house until I was sure it would break. It was the Friday before school started for me. Matt had already gone off to college, settling for Eastern Michigan University (yes, that spells emu… you can laugh later). It was in-state so it cost less, which was always better for our family. Essentially, I was left home alone, which was something Mark wasn’t very fond of letting happen, seeing what had transpired the last time. But hey, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right?

And that’s when my phone rang. Right as I was watching the news, my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and guess who it is? Yes, that’s right, Mark. Couldn’t have guessed it better myself. Picking  it up, I turned the volume on the t.v. down and answered. “Hello,” I said.

“Hey, Melissa, it’s Mark.”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“Look, this wind storm is getting really bad so I’m heading home early, okay?”

“Okay. That’s probably a good idea.”

“I want you to stay inside, do you hear me? Under no conditions are you to leave that house.”

He knew me way too well, especially since I had been planning on going outside to take pictures. But I didn’t let him know that. Instead, I decided to be a smart ass, as usual and replied, “What if there’s a fire?”

“Don’t be a smart ass, Melissa. Did you hear me or didn’t you?”

“Yes, I heard you, Mark.”

“It’s way too dangerous outside right now for you to be out in it. So no spinning, no taking pictures, no anything, got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“It may take me awhile to get home, considering how bad it is right now.”

“Okay.”

“But I’ll see you soon. Remember, STAY INSIDE. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Alright, Mark. I’ll stay inside.”

“Good. I’ll see you soon. Bye. I love you.”

“Love you too. Bye.”

I hung up the phone. Yes, everyone, I know what Mark said, but I still had every intention of disobeying him. You know how these things go.  I mean, I clearly hadn’t learned from the last time. Of course I knew that if I disobeyed him I’d be in for it, but ONLY if he caught me and he wasn’t going to catch me, now was he? Yeah, you know the answer to that question. And it wasn’t the one I wanted.

A storm like this one was the perfect time to go out with my camera and grab some shots. It’d be great. This was an awesome backdrop for some dramatic pictures. The saturation would be deep. The contrast would be intense. And there would be a perfect balance between the shadows and the light. All I could think of was how utterly and catastrophically beautiful the pictures would be. I didn’t eve bother thinking of the consequences. I guess I probably should have thought of that a little more, maybe just a little.

See, my brother Mark was incredibly protective of me, to the point that he even tried to protect me from myself. From the time we were all very young, Mark had been the one to protect Matt and me from our father. He had always been a good brother; except, sometimes, he took it just a little too far. Still, it almost made me think about what I was about to do. Almost. I stress the almost.

But the fact was, I lived for that thrill of doing something dangerous and surviving it. Perhaps it was the rush. I don’t know. But I loved doing dangerous things that incorporated aspects of my passions like music, photography and dance. Unfortunately, it came with a price which usually involved a punishment from Mark. However, as you’ll soon see, those punishments weren’t always the worst consequences.

I knew I had to hurry up if I wanted to do this before Mark came home so I dashed to my room to grab my camera and my house key, ran back downstairs, opened the front door then locked it and started taking pictures. Branches were flying everywhere. It was almost like I was in the eye of a tornado, looking from the inside out. This was SO cool. Maybe I should have been a meteorologist.

I walked over to the big oak tree in front of our house and stood under it, taking pictures from the bottom up. Well, as you can probably guess, that was my mistake. Standing under a big tree in a windstorm isn’t the best of ideas. I had only taken three pictures before I heard something cracking and then saw the entire tree falling. “Oh, shit…” I said as I began to back away from the tree and then began to run, but I wasn’t fast enough. It seemed as if the tree was chasing me as it fell and while I hadn’t been entirely crushed by it, my leg had been. I let out a shriek of pain as I fell, being taken down by this massive plant. Mark was right. I shouldn’t have done this. I should have listened to him.

I started crying as I laid there. A searing pain shot up my right leg, causing me to scream. “Oww… somebody help me! Somebody help!” I was such an idiot. Why did I like danger so fucking much?

The pain was so much that before I knew it, I blacked out, falling into a state of unconsciousness.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Melissa, Melissa, can you hear me?” a voice shouted in my ear. “Melissa! Please wake up!” I felt someone shaking me awake.

The pain had quickly returned to my leg but slowly, I opened my eyes. Upon opening them, I saw Mark. Fear seized me. He was going to kill me. “I’m sorry, Mark,” I whispered, tears falling from my eyes.

“I have to get you to a doctor,” he responded. It was then that I noticed the tree was off of my leg and that I was now inside the house. Mark must have carried me in.

“No, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Melissa, a tree fell on top of your leg. You need to see a doctor.” He paused. “Can you even move it?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Sure I can. I can even walk.” With that I attempted to sit up, trying to prove to him that I was perfectly fine, but I couldn’t even do that. I let out a shriek of pain and lay back down.

“No, clearly you can’t. I’m taking you to the emergency room,” he said.

“Mark, please. I don’t wanna go to the hospital.”

“You should have thought about that before you did something as dangerous as going outside in this windstorm.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. I just began crying, unable to contain the tears. The pain in my leg was so horrible. I didn’t know how I could get through it.

“Come on, kiddo,” he said softly, lifting me up gently and carrying me to his car. The wind storm had ended. Now, all I saw was debris and all I felt was mild wind. I was such an idiot. And now, after everything was taken care of with my leg, I knew I’d be in for it.

Mark gently placed me in the backseat. He told me I’d be safer in the back and that he didn’t want me to get hurt any worse than I already was. I wasn’t in a place to argue.

He drove as fast as he could, getting us to the hospital in record time. Before I knew it, he was carrying me in through the doors of the ER and talking to a nurse. They sent me in with a doctor immediately. The details aren’t important. But I broke the bone in my right calf. They put me in a cast, gave me prescription strength ibuprofen and crutches and sent me on my way. It took the entire night. But that wasn’t the worst part.

The worst part was riding home with Mark, knowing how disappointed he was in me. He didn’t say a word to me the entire way home, just sat there silently, concentrating intently on the road. I tried to talk to him but it didn’t work.

“Mark, I’m sorry,” I told him.

“I know you are, Melissa. We’ll talk about it later.”

I’m just glad the ride home didn’t last long. Within 10 minutes from leaving the hospital, we arrived to our destination. Mark helped me out, handing me my crutches and making sure I didn’t fall, opening the door for me and then helping me up the stairs to my room. I lay down on my bed, putting my feet up on some pillows.

I fully expected him to take care of things right there and then, but he didn’t. Instead, he just asked, “Are you hungry, Melissa?”

I shook my head. “No,” I answered.

“You have to eat something. What about some soup?”

I sighed, “Yeah, that’s fine.”

“What kind of soup do you want?”

“I don’t care, Mark.”

“Chicken noodle, okay, then?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Alright then, chicken noodle soup it is. Just stay put and don’t try to get down the stairs on your own, Melissa.”

“Okay,” I sighed, exhausted from the day’s events.

Mark left, closing the door behind him. That’s when my phone started ringing. I reached in my pocket and looked at the caller ID. Well, one brother leaves, the other one comes. It was Matt. I answered it. “Hello?”

“Hey, Melissa, how are you?”

“I’m fine,” I answered.

“Mark called me and told me what happened.”

“Oh, he did? Yeah, well, I have a broken leg now.”

“Melissa, do me a favor.”

“What’s that?”

“Start listening to Mark. He knows what he’s talking about.”

“I know, Matt. I just have a tendency to like doing dangerous things.”

“Well, learn to have fun doing something else, okay?”

“Alright,” I responded.

“How’s junior year going?”

“It hasn’t started yet, Matt.”

“Oh, right,” he chuckled. “I forgot.”

“How are your classes going? Do you like it there?”

“Yeah, it’s great. Good to get away, you know?”

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” I muttered.

“Well, hang in there, sis. Whatever Mark does, just know he’s doing it for you. He worries about you a lot. So do I, actually.”

“I know, Matt.”

“Well, I just wanted to check in on you, see how you’re doing and everything. I hope that leg of yours feels better and I hope things go over okay with Mark.”

“Thanks, Matt.”

“I love you, Melissa. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

“Bye, Matt. Love you too.”

I waited ‘til the line was dead then closed my phone, ending the call and thought about what Matt said. I did need to start listening to Mark but I couldn’t imagine ever not doing things like this. It was just so fun. How could I stop? I guess I’d just have to learn. And I’m sure Mark would help me to learn. No doubts about that.

Not too long after I’d finished my call with Matt, I heard a knock on the door. “Come in,” I croaked.

Mark came in, carrying a tray with a bowl of soup on it, some saltine crackers and some water. “Here you go, Melissa. Eat up.”

I didn’t really want to eat anything but I knew what Mark’s reaction to stuff like that was and I knew it wouldn’t go over well if I didn’t eat anything, so I started eating the soup. Of course, as soon as I started eating, I realized how hungry I was, and wolfed it down, burning my tongue in the process. “Oww,” I choked.

“Slow down, Melissa,” my brother laughed. “Don’t choke on your food.”

I smiled, “okay,” then slowly drank/ate the rest of my soup, ate my saltine crackers and drank my water. I was still done sooner than expected. And that’s when Mark started talking to me.

He took my tray from me and set it on the chest at the end of my bed then sat down next to me. “We need to talk, Melissa.”

“I figured this was coming.”

He smiled sadly, “Well, you did go against my orders.”

“I know and I’m sorry.”

“When are you going to learn to listen to me? I don’t tell you those things to hear myself talk. I do it for your own good.”

“I know, Mark, and I realize that I need to start listening to you, but sometimes, I just get caught up in the excitement of my own ideas and forget about what I should be doing and just do what I want to do.”

“You’re going to have to learn to not do that.”

“Yes, I know.”

“I guess you know you deserve a spanking.”

“Yeah, I know, Mark.”

“I’m going to let you rest for the rest of the night though and we’ll do it first thing tomorrow when you wake up.”

“Wait, Mark, can’t we just do it right now? Get it over with?”

“Since when did you ever just want to get your punishments over with and done?”

“Since today.” I paused. “Look, Mark, I feel really bad and I’d just prefer if you’d get it over with now so we can put this behind us.”

“Alright, Issa, I understand,” he said. “Come on, let me help you stand up.” He pulled me up and helped me to stand and then guided me over his lap, not even bothering to take down my shorts.

“I take it you already know what you’re getting this spanking for?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” With that, he began, lifting up his hand and smacking me over and over again until I was sure I was going to die. He didn’t spank me for long before he was pulling down my shorts and smacking me over my panties then pulling those down to spank me some more on the bare.

I felt him reach over to my nightstand table to grab something off of it. I didn’t realize what it was until he said, “Just a little spanking with this hairbrush and then we’re done, Issa. I trust you won’t do anything this dangerous again?”

“No, sir,” I responded. Shit, I hadn’t realized I’d left that there.

“Good.” He lifted the brush high in the air and smacked it down on my bottom, only spanking me for about five minutes before finishing, although it felt like an eternity. I had started crying before he was over, it hurt so badly and not just physically either.

“I’m sorry, Mark,” I sniffled.

“I know you are, Melissa,” he responded, gently rubbing my back. He let me lay there for a few more minutes before pulling my shorts and panties up and helping me to stand then lay back down on the bed, propping my leg up on some pillows and putting the covers over me.

“I love you, Issa,” he said, softly kissing my head. “I only tell you what to do because I want to keep you safe.”

“I know, Mark.”

“Good night, Issa. Sleep tight,” he whispered, turning out the light.

“Good night, Mark. I love you.”

“Love you too,” he answered, closing the door behind him.

Slowly, I shut my eyes and drifted into peaceful sleep, something I hadn’t had for awhile.

It was going to hurt when I sat down in my desk on Monday morning.