Hot Cross Buns

>It was quiet in the room.
>Loan knew what that meant.
>The silence from her mother across from her was what she dreaded most.
>It didn't matter to her that she was going to get punished, she was used to that.
>But the silence meant she wasn't just going to get yelled at and grounded.
>What was coming to her was far, far worse.
>Her mother finally stood up, tightly gripping the leather of her belt.
>It wasn't one of those firm strips that she sometimes wore when she put on pants.
>It was interlaced and had holes throughout.
>The terror gripped her tightly as her mother snapped it together taut.
>"Put your hands on the couch, Loan."
>The twelve year old girl shook as she obeyed her mother.
>She knew that if she disobeyed, it would only get worse.
>"I told you what would happen if you got another B in math. I even hired you a tutor to help you. But no, you were so focused on trying to finish that little book you got from the library that you didn't study hard enough."
"Mommy, I'm sorry."
>"I know you're sorry, Loan. But you didn't listen to me, and that means you need to be punished."
>Lori slowly pulled down her daughter's shorts, exposing her soft cheeks to the balmy spring air.
>Loan could feel the breeze running through the open window of her mother's office.
>Yet it wasn't felt for long.
>Soon it was replaced with the sound of the air being torn with a hard crack from the contact of the belt and her skin.
>Loan went weak at the knees instantly.
>Lori simply waited until Loan got back into the proper posture before administering the second blow.
>As it made contact, Loan's tears began to stain the cushion below her.
>Lori did not stop, as she made two quick smacks in succession.
>The feeling sent Loan to the floor, her ragged breathing and choked back sobbing making even further a mess on the couch.
>Lori quickly picked up her daughter and sat her down on the couch.
>The heat on her bottom made her want to jump off.
>But she knew doing so would only make it worse.

>"I have told you, time and time again, I expect you to do better in school. I have been nothing but lenient with you like your father, but it seems that all you do is ignore me. Is that it, Loan? Do you not respect your mother?"
>Loan's crying prevented her from properly expressing the words she wanted to give her mother.
>How she wanted to tell her she didn't mean to be bad.
>She just wanted to finish her book and she studied as hard as she could.
>Lori quickly took the sobbing wreck that was her child in her arms and softly stroked her short hair.
>"I only do this because I love you, Loan. But when you're bad you have to be punished. This hurts me more than it hurts you."
>Pulling a bit of cloth from her shirt pocket, Lori dried off the snot and tears from her daughter's face.
>Loan looked up to her mother, still shaking as the imposing woman stared down at her.
>"I don't want to do this, but you leave me no choice. Now, you'll work on your math or next time it's going to be eight."
>Loan nodded as she still tried to calm her breath from earlier.
>Her mother then left her, and went back to working at the desk in front of her.
>Loan simply lied down on the couch, too worn out to move.
>As she did, she thought of her father.
>She missed him.
>He was so much nicer to Loan.
>He protected her from her mother's spankings.
>But it had been months since his accident left him in the hospital.
>Months with no one to save her from her mean mother.
>With her belt.
>As Lori went through her answering machine and made several calls, Loan hoped her father would get better and come home soon.