Orphan’s Tail

(Usual Disclaimers Apply)

There I was again, positioned on the bed so my
brother-in-law could leather my bare tail with
his belt. Danny was a decent man who had taken me
in after my parents had been killed in a tragic
accident, and, with my sister’s help, raised me
as his own.

The year was 1950, a time when boys expected to
be kept in order with corporal punishment. Most
lads had outgrown the need for physical
discipline by the age of 16. Although I had
passed that milestone, Danny showed no sign of
slowing down. He still gave me a hiding at least
once a month.

The belting got harder and harder. I yelled and
wriggled as each fresh broad river of pain snaked
around my upturned buttocks. Although small for
my age, I was able to take the stinging hurt
without bawling. So, I forced myself to think of
that awful time when a well-meaning but terribly
misguided parson had encouraged me view the
remains of my dead parents in the undertaker’s
Chapel of Rest. The images which lingered in my
mind’s eye, caused the tears to flow as I knew
they would. Danny, who had been watching my face
in the dressing table mirror for the first sign
of tears, relooped his belt.

“You’re a tough little toe-rag”, he said
affectionately, ruffling my hair. Then he left
the bedroom.

I lay on the bed with my backside in flames.
Danny was not yet 30, a farmer and fit as a bull.
A handsome man who I loved with a passion. The
act of having to bare my bottom for him and
submit to a belting, always made me hard. I
reached under the bed and groaned with the fresh
pain caused by having to stretch my fiery
buttocks. I retrieved a tub of petroleum jelly
and had a good wank. When I ejaculated, Danny’s
handsome, smiling face flashed, unbidden, before
my eyes. The sensation was the best, ever.

Danny was a sexual animal. He made love to my
sister at least once a day and every night. Their
bedroom was down the hall but I could still hear
the sounds of their lovemaking. Those noises made
me feel excluded and alone. I’d already worked
out that I was attracted to males. It was a
confusing, unhappy time. Thank God I had the love
and support of Sis and Danny. If they ever found
out I was queer I might lose them forever.

The outside door slammed. My sister who had been
arranging flowers at the church, was home. I
stood up and admired in the mirror, the bright
scarlet mounds which Danny had given me. I got
dressed and washed my face.

That night I wondered if something was wrong.
There was no noisy lovemaking down the hall. ‘Sis
might have her period’, I thought but it took me
a long time to get to sleep in the unaccustomed
silence.

It was the summer holidays. I helped Danny with
the farm work. Having a dairy herd meant that the
farm was a seven-day-a-week operation with no
chance of a holiday. I didn’t mind that at all. I
was with two people who loved me and that was all
that mattered.

This particular morning we went back to the house
for smoko, as usual. Sis seemed a bit flushed as
she poured out the tea. I helped myself to a
fresh-baked scone.

“Danny and I have something to tell you”, Sis
said. Her face was glowing with good health. My
brother-in-law looked a bit embarrassed.

“We’re having a baby!” she announced,
breathlessly.

Well, I congratulated them and somehow found the
right words to say.

“That’ll make you an uncle’, Danny said with a
shy grin. “The thing is, Maisie has to take
things a bit easy. The doctor is concerned about
her blood pressure”.

“Lot of fuss about nothing”, Maisie said with a
frown.

“Anyway”, Danny said to me, “I need you to keep
an eye on her. Don’t let her do any heavy
lifting. Stuff like that”.

So, I spent more time inside with Sis. When she
had a snooze after the midday meal I went outside
with Danny. I still helped with the early morning
milking, as well. Apart from that, life was
pretty much normal except for a lack of noisy
lovemaking. Also, my brother-in-law tanned my
ever-growing backside just as often than before.

One day Danny drove Sis to the doctor’s surgery
for a check-up. She was only in the fifth month
of the pregnancy but the doctor was worried about
her blood pressure. It was decided to keep her in
the rural town’s cottage hospital until the
birth. When Danny came home without Sis I burst
into tears. He gently explained the situation but
I only stopped crying when I realised I hadn’t
lost her for good.

A kind woman from a neighbouring farm called in
every day and prepared our main meal. Other good
country women did the washing and cleaning.
That’s just how it was in 1950. People helped
each other out.

One afternoon I forgot to turn off a tap and the
water supply to the cattle dried up. My
inattention caused Danny a great deal of extra
work carting water for the stock and then
re-routing the water pipe from the creek. He was
angry and I knew he’d take it out on my bum,
first chance he got.

Sure enough, the minute I’d finished drying the
dinner dishes I felt his big hand on my shoulder.

“Ready for your hiding?” he asked in his deep
voice.

So, we went through to my bedroom and the familar
ritual began. I dropped my shorts and underpants
and lay down on the bed. My shirt-tail was pushed
clear. I heard the rustle his belt made when he
pulled it through the loops of his trousers. Then
he laid into my upturned buttocks with the belt.
It hurt, as was the intention, but he was not
brutal.

When my bottom was very sore I tried to summon
the tear-inducing images of my parents but
instead all I could see was Danny’s handsome face
looking at me in the mirror, to see if I was
crying yet.

The belting stopped and I felt his hand touch my
scorched mounds.

“Fry eggs on those”, he commented. “Asbestos
cheeks, that’s what you’ve got”. I turned on one
side and he caught a glimpse of my erection.

“You little tosser! Do you LIKE getting
hidings?”

I gulped. “Only from YOU, Danny” I squeaked.

He sat on the edge of the bed.

“Well, I’ve got to admit I like the male arse.
Saw plenty of them in the army but not one of
them was a patch on yours. The way it juts
out..”.

His voice trailed off. My big, masculine
brother-in-law’s confession shook me to my
foundations.

“Sorry, son. I shouldn’t have told you that.
Guess I’m just so darn horny without Maisie”.

He looked at my flaming bum-cheeks.

“You queer, boy?”

“Think so”, I replied, miserably.

“Heck, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. I did it
with boys when I was your age. I seem to be
attracted to both sexes. Best of both worlds”.

“Will you do it with me?”

Danny scratched his muscular buttocks before
answering.

“Well I’m flattered, son, but there’s Maisie”.
His face softened at the thought of her. “I’m
sure you’ll find someone closer to your own age
to play with”.

He must have seen the look of rejection on my
face and hastened to soften the blow.

“Your bottom is like two golden peaches”, he
said, softly.

“Two red cherries, more like”, I retorted,
feelingly. My bum was still throbbing painfully
after that belting he’d given me.

“And whose fault was that?”

“Mine”.

“I think you’ve outgrown hidings”, my
brother-in-law said, relooping his belt.

“I guess so”, I replied, feeling both relieved
and disappointed.

Danny tickled me until I laughed so hard I rolled
off the bed and onto the floor. He helped me up
and I got dressed.

That night we went to visit Maisie in the
hospital. She was sitting up in bed.

During the conversation, Danny said: “I’ve been
thinking about the boy. What do you say we adopt
him?”

Maisie smiled her secret smile.

“If that’s what he wants”, she said, softly.

Danny looked at me.

“We’d never forget your parents, son. They’ll
always have a special place in our hearts, you
know that. It’s just that I’d count it as a real
privilege if you’d consent to becoming our son,
in the eyes of the law, that is.”

That was probably the longest speech I’d ever
heard Danny make. I looked into his kind eyes and
grabbed Sis’ hand in mine.

I breathed one word: “yes!” – and my life changed
forever.

author’s email: unclesteve_1999@yahoo.com