The Piano Teacher
Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 9:15 pm
Meeting the Piano Teacher
Mrs. Pamela Bonnet opened the side door of her house, the entrance that all her students used. Not that she was opening it now for a student, but she preferred face to face interviews with parents. Then a complication arose: the person at the door didn't look like a parent.
Elaine Grimshaw looked 20, give or take a year or so. Close to twenty years Pamela's junior and far too young to a child old enough to enrol. Then again, maybe the girl was booking lessons for a sibling, niece, or nephew.
A short greeting later, Pamela was escorting Elaine from the door into her instruction room. The piano dominated the room but there were also three chairs arranged around a desk. Pamela's chair was behind it, the parent(s) chair(s) were on the other side.
"I have heard good things about things about your methods, Mrs. Bonnet." Elaine began. "And how all your students excel."
"All?" Pamela laughed. "Heavens no. There isn't a teacher alive who can motivate all of her students. Sometimes the teacher student relationship just can't be established. Other times, well, the student has to have a certain level of talent to excel."
"Wow. It's rare to hear..." Elaine's voice faded out as she searched for the right word.
"The truth?" Pamela suggested. "I find that these interviews go much better when I am completely honest during them. I find that it prevents hard feelings later."
"The truth." Elaine nodded. "That's a good word for it."
"Now you say that you've talked to the parents of other students." Pamela continued. "Did they go into details about my methods?"
Elaine paused, considering her words.
"They said you were wonderful when it came to motivating students." Elaine revealed. "And that I should discuss your methods with you in person."
"A personal discussion is always best." Pamela agreed. "It prevents so many problems later."
"At the early stage in the teaching process, it doesn't take a expert to know if a student has been practising the assigned work. Anyone with an ear can hear if someone has skipped practice, even for just a few hours that week." Pamela continued. "And when my ear tells me that a student hasn't been practising I take action to deal with it. I hate having to do it, but if the parents can't motivate the student to practice then it falls to me."
"You give them a consequence failing to live up to their side of the teacher student relationship." Elaine said with a nod.
"Exactly." Pamela smiled. "However, I face a difficulty doing so. I only have the student for an hour at a time and in that hour I'm being paid to teach the student. There are no privileges to withdraw, no room to send the student to, no electronic devices to confiscate, which leaves only one tool left in the consequence tool chest."
"So you..." Elaine's voice dropped again.
"So I give their parents a form to sign, one that authorises me to apply corporal punishment." Pamela said calmly. "In theory me being in loco parentis over them is enough, but I find that a form makes things run so much more smoothly. Now not all of the parents sign those forms, but most do."
"Corporal... You mean you spank your students?"
"Only when duly authorised by the parents." Pamela assured her. "And the parents are always informed after each event."
"Mrs. Bonnet, you have a form and if the parents sign it you might spank their kid? Is that what you're saying?" Elaine asked.
"No, if they sign the form then I do spank the child." Pamela corrected. "In virtually every case once a form is signed the student ends up over my knee at least once."
Pamela was being diplomatic; if the form was signed the student was invariably spanked. Pamela had given this speech countless times, always inserting the word 'virtually'. Not to assure the parent that their child wouldn't be spanked but to shield her other students from embarrassment. Since new students came via word of mouth each of the new parents would know at least one of her existing students and by saying 'virtually' they could tell themselves that the student they knew might be one of the rare unspanked ones.
"What? Why?" Elaine asked.
"I'd like to say that it is because no student is perfect, but that's not always the reason." Pamela responded. "Once the student knows about that form being signed some of them obsess over it. Others want to test the limits just to see if I actually will do it. In those cases a spanking happens. Once the first one is over and done with the student can get over the idea of a spanking happening to them. Then they can get back to studying the piano."
"Um, and by spanking you mean..."
"For the first event I flip the student over my lap and deliver a short, rapid spanking." Pamela answered. "Then the student spends a few minutes in the corner. The entire event lasts five to seven minutes."
"The first event?" Elaine prompted.
"If the first few motivating sessions don't produce the desired results, I escalate." Pamela matter-of-factly. "Jeans go down or a skirt is lifted."
"That sounds embarrassing." Elaine noted.
"It generally is." Pamela agreed. "Especially for the older ones. If they continue to neglect their home practice, then I use an instrument. There's a space on the form that covers what, if any, instruments are usually applied in the home and if none are then there's a space to suggest one."
"So the spankings, I mean events, keep increasing?" Elaine asked.
"Not all the time. If the student returns to practising then I'll begin to reset the level of the events." Pamela said. "On the other hand, if the student doesn't return to practice then underwear gets lowered."
Elaine managed a weak smile.
"That sounds even more embarrassing." Elaine said, chuckling weakly.
"Completely embarrassing." Pamela agreed. "And no, I don't allow them to replace clothing before they stand in the corner."
"Oh. And what happens if that fails to motivate them?" Elaine prompted.
"If frequent application of the most severe form of correction fails to motivate them then I drop them as students." Pamela answered. "Which is why I mentioned that no teacher could motivate every student."
"You drop them?"
"If me repetitively painting their bare bottoms red with a brush, or a belt or wooden spoon or whatever, doesn't encourage them to practice then no amount of spanking will motivate them." Pamela informed her. "One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein said that, and he was right. When the combination of my efforts and the parents nagging them doesn't work then they either need a new teacher or to drop the piano all together."
"Um, what about the parents who don't believe in spanking?" Elaine asked.
"If they sign the form then I do what I have to do." Pamela replied with a sigh. "And some of them even seem to enjoy seeing someone taking their little hellions to task. Oh, there are some who withdraw the student after the first time it happens, but those are rare compared to the ones whose only method to motivate the student at home is to threaten them with one of my spanking. No, non-spanking parents are the reason that I am so blunt when I have these little talks."
Then Pamela sighed.
"Then again, sometimes the spankers are harder to accept." Pamela continued. "There are students who know that if I take them to task that they'll get it worse when they get home. A few of them even say that they'll take two spanking from me if I don't call home and report that I had to spanked them. With those, if things aren't working out I prefer to drop them quickly rather to spank a bottom that was red or bruised before I bared it."
"I can see how that could be an issue." Elaine nodded.
"Now in most cases I can hear if they've practised or not within the first few minutes of the student arriving and taking a seat at the piano." Pamela said, returning to her usual speech. "Occasionally the part that they haven't rehearsed comes up later in the lesson. Except for those rare times, everything is taken care of long before the student leaves for the day. The bottom is covered, the tears are gone, and everything is back to normal. But on those rare occasions the student might still be visibly distressed when the parent picks them up."
"You mean the lesson continues after ..." Elaine allowed her voice to drop once more.
"Of course it does. The parents are paying for the entire session." Pamela told her. "I feel guilty even taking those few minutes to deal with the situation. No, after the event I sit them down in front of the piano and continue the lesson. Often I provide a pillow for them to sit on but they do go back to the lesson."
"And if they don't want to..."
That dropped voice bit was beginning to get to Pamela.
"Sometimes they need a second seeing to, usually much briefer than the first, then they go back to the piano." Pamela revealed. "By that point they know what's good for them."
"I see." Elaine nodded.
"Which brings us to the reason behind this meeting." Pamela said. "A spot has recently opened up and someone passed my name to you. Now are we talking about a sibling, niece, nephew, or some other relation?"
Pamela added that last bit to cover cousins, step siblings, foster siblings, and any other possible relationship. It was much easier to say 'or other' than to list all the possible connections found in the modern world.
"Um, yes, as to that." Elaine said, blushing slightly. "Maybe I should have mentioned something sooner. Um, this is a bit embarrassing. Um, you see, when I was young I used to study the piano. Well, at least I supposed to. I dropped out early and now that I'm in college, well as my old teacher said I would, I now regret dropping piano and now I do."
"Ah, I think I see where this is going." Pamela said uncomfortably. "I generally only take juvenile students."
"Um, do you ever make exceptions?" Elaine asked hopefully.
"Do you even have access to a piano to practice on?" Pamela challenged.
"Yes, of course I do." Elaine answered, then she hesitated. "But sometimes, well, um, the reason I came here was that when I was young I a real problem with practising and no one was ever able to motivate me."
"I see. But now that you've grown you are mature enough to stick to your lessons?"
"I hope so." Elaine answered. "But I'm not sure. That's why I was I was so focused on your motivating techniques."
"I see." Pamela pursed her lips. "Of course you're too old for your parents to sign off anything. Or even to require that type of motivating."
"Oh, probably." Elaine nodded.
"Probably?" Pamela asked in disbelief.
"Um, probably." Elaine said weakly.
"I see." Pamela said firmly. "Now did you come here to waste my time or did you have an idea of how I motivate some of my students?"
"Um, well... That is..."
"I see." Pamela said sternly.
"Um, well, um, I thought, well, may I could sign or um, well..." Elaine dropped her voice again.
"I see." Pamela said speculatively.
"Um, you do?" Elaine squeaked.
"I could modify the standard agreement." Pamela mused.
"Not that I would probably need it for motivation or, um, well..."
Pamela nodded.
"Perhaps if we went over the standard enrolment process?" Pamela said, wondering if this was some sort of trick on the younger woman's part.
"Um, I guess." Elaine agreed.
Pamela opened the folder on her desk. It wasn't anything special, just the standard 'new student' folder, but Pamela thought that there would be little standard about this student.
The first few pages did deal with the usual issues. The cost for lessons, when they would be scheduled, how much notice was needed for cancellation, and other purely business matters.
"Now which level did you reach in your studies?" Pamela asked.
"Um, level two, but that was years ago." Elaine said. "I doubt that I'll remember much."
"I see." Pamela said, deciding to skip over the usual 'you are responsible for your child' sections. There was no one to agree to drop Elaine off, pick her up, or to supervise her practice. Flipping halfway through the folder, Pamela reached the meat of the matter. "Then we should get to the consent form. Now what sort of things happen, I mean happened, in the home?"
"Um, just the usual."
"And what would that be?" Pamela pressed. "In some homes that's scoldings or timeouts. In others it's swats now and than. Then there's everything from symbolic one to three whack spankings to hard over the knee events that leave marks that last for days."
"Um, just swats when I was younger." Elaine said, then, after a pause, she added: "At home."
"At home?" Pamela pressed. "Just swats?"
"Um, there were a few over lap, um, 'events'." Elaine said, borrowing Mrs. Bonnet antiseptic term. "But only by, um, hand."
"I see." Pamela said, then borrowed something from Elaine's toolbox. "And under instrument..."
"Um, well, um, my aunt, um, I have an aunt who, um, well, a hairbrush." Elaine babbled.
"I see. So the swats 'at home' means hand at home and the other outside the home? I see." Pamela said, not quite seeing the entire picture.
Elaine nodded, not trusting herself to say anything more.
"And as for covering. I'll assume that the swats were over whatever you were wearing, but the spankings, were they over your clothes, on your underwear, or without underwear?"
"Um, in her house, um, my aunt spanked me bare." Elaine admitted in a small voice. "Other times, um, panties or, um, what I was wearing."
"I see. Well, normally the next part waits until a lesson, but in this case since you're the one signing the paperwork I think that you should know what you're getting yourself in for." Pamela said.
"Um, you mean..."
Pamela thrust a form towards Elaine.
"Sign there and be sure to initial everywhere I've pencilled in a change." Pamela told her.
"Um, so if I sign there..."
"Then your dress will going north as I show you what will happen if you fail to practice." Pamela revealed.
"But... But you said...um, over clothes?" Elaine squeaked.
"For normal students, yes, but you should know what we are dealing with." Pamela said. "Beyond that, you are more mature than my normal students. You should be able to apply yourself without my brand of motivation. That means we will be skipping the standard beginning step."
"Oh. I see. Um, I guess. Um, how? Where?"
Pamela moved a chair into the middle of the room.
"Here, with your dress up."
"Um, if..."
"Did you want to enrol?" Pamela challenged.
Elaine signed the paper, sighed, then stood. As she lifted her dress Elaine was glad that her pantyhose were new, snag free, ones. She hadn't planned on this happening, at least not today.
Unlike some of Pamela's students, Elaine didn't put up any resistance as Pamela positioned Elaine over her lap. Elaine's head ended dangerously close to the floor while her feet were actually touching it.
"This is awkward." Pamela noted. "In the future it would be better if we used the bench for this."
"In the future?" Elaine squeaked.
"Normally I have a reason for this, but your need for a demonstration will be reason enough."
Then Pamela brought her palm down hard and Elaine squeaked again.
Elaine could barely believe that this was really happening. Pamela's palm kept thundering down, not quite mercilessly but firmly. Squirming there, Elaine could barely believe that she was being spanked. Only the burning sensations in her backside proved that it was actually happening to her.
Pamela might think that she was spanking Elaine for no reason, but Elaine knew better. Elaine knew that she was being spanked for lying. Lying about how she had been raised.
Elaine could barely remember ever getting a swat on her backside. As for the hairbrush, she had only seen it. Elaine would, no, could never forget the time almost a decade ago when her cool Cousin Bethany had been caught drinking and driving and Aunt Cathy had put that hairbrush to good use. Hearing Bethany crying like a baby, seeing that glimpse of colour on Bethany's bare backside when Aunt Cathy had opened the door and left her grown daughter crying in the corner, knowing that Aunt Cathy used that brushed on others - the entire night was practically unbelievable. Elaine was sure that if she hadn't been at her aunt's when it happened that she would never have believed that something like that could have happened to her idolised cousin.
That night had left a lasting impression on Elaine, as had the hairbrush. Not her aunt had ever used brush on Elaine. Oh, Aunt Cathy had given Elaine the bulk of spankings she had gotten - two of them and both so long ago that Elaine barely remembered them. Her third (and last) real spanking had come later when Elaine had gotten it from a friend's mom. But none of the spankings had involved anything accept the spanker's hand and only once had any clothing been moved. That one, bare bottom, spanking that her aunt had given her was barely a pale echo of what had happened to Bethany, but it too had left a lasting impression on Elaine.
Today's spanking wasn't long, but it was brisk and firm. It built a heat that was completely confined by her tight fitting pantyhose. Maybe it was the surprise (Elaine hadn't planned on this happening tonight), maybe it Elaine's emotional state, or maybe it was nothing more than the pain from Mrs. Bonnet's hand expertly crashing down on her backside; whatever the cause, Elaine burst into tears before the spanking was halfway over.
Not that her tears slowed Pamela's rain of smacks. The woman delivered her standard "you haven't practised for a good long while - didn't we already discuss this?" spanking. One that brought tears to most of Pamela's young pupils.
Once it was over, Pamela positioned the girl into a corner. With Elaine standing there sobbing, Pamela left the room.
Elaine barely had control of her tears when Pamela returned with a large cardboard box. Removing its contents to her desk, she turned to where Elaine was standing.
"You can leave the corner now." Pamela instructed. "If you're curious, it's been six and a half minutes."
"Huh?" Elaine asked, rubbing her seat as she turned.
"Six and a half minutes ago I led you to the chair and started to correct your behaviour." Pamela said, indicating her watch. "This might look like a normal watch, but it has several settings that I use while teaching. Now tell me if you recognise any of these."
Elaine stared at the selection of hairbrushes. Some where plastic, one or two were metallic, but the majority were wooden. As Elaine scanned the selection, her eyes stopped on one of them. Stopped and went wide.
"That one?" Pamela said. "Yes, that one was more popular brushes a few years ago. I'm not sure how commonly used it was on hair but I know several mothers who swore by it."
"That's the one." Elaine acknowledged.
"It might look like it, but we should be sure."
"Um, what do you mean? I mean, um, what do you mean?" Elaine babbled.
"I mean we should try out the piano bench." Pamela said, taking Elaine by the wrist. "I've never used it for something like this. We'll be testing the position as much as testing the brush."
"Um, but... Now?" Elaine asked.
Pamela didn't answer in words. She merely raised Elaine's dress and positioned the college girl over her lap. This time the piano bench supported most of Elaine's weight.
Pamela only brought the hairbrush down three times. Once on Elaine's right cheek, once on her left cheek, and once midway across her bottom. Only those three firm smacks.
But they landed on her already sore bottom. Elaine told herself that it was the force of the smacks and not her emotions, but either way Elaine burst back into tears.
Tears that Pamela ignored as she helped Elaine to her feet.
"Now you know, truly know, are you still fine with how I will be motivating you to practice?" Pamela asked.
"Sniff. Um. Sniff. Um, yes?"
"In that case, I'll pencil you in for Thursday as we discussed." Pamela said. "And when you arrive, I expect you to be wearing either shorts, slacks, or jeans. If you wear something with a skirt you should wear socks, not hose."
"Uh?" Elaine asked. "You're telling me how to dress?"
"I'm explaining that I may be required to bare your bum and I can't do that easily if you're wearing pantyhose. As for stockings, I'd had to leave a run in them. I thought it might be different with you, but your legs were just as active as any of my other students and their tights are usually a mess afterwards."
"Sniff. But you said you ... Mrs. Bonnet, you said... After several missed practises?" Elaine said, stumbling over her words.
"That's how it usually goes." Pamela agreed. "But the option is always there. While a steady escalation works with some students, others try to game the system. Pants down is always an option, even for the first offence, and in this case we've both agreed that since you should be more mature than my average student I will be handling things differently with you."
"Oh." Elaine whispered.
"In fact, if I wasn't worried about runs in your hose, you still wouldn't know what that brush feels like when it lands on underwear." Pamela revealed. "Which is why I'm telling you what to wear. Of course if you really want to wear hose you can, but you'll be taking them off when you walk through that door regardless of whether or not there will be an event. You might think that is an option, but with the way I schedule lessons you'll still be putting them back on when my next student arrives. If they see you adjusting your pantyhose then they will assume that I had a reason to take them down and then they'll start smirking or giggling. Now that would be embarrassing."
"It would." Elaine agreed. "Um, I hate to ask, but, um, I guess I'm the oldest one who you've, um..."
"Not really." Pamela said blithely. "Over the years several mothers have wanted to know, really know, what will happen if their little darlings fail to practice. Especially those who don't believe in spanking. Sometimes that's the last I see of those people but, in rare cases, that one experience changes how things work at home."
"Um, oh."
"And in two cases, the mothers took things a step further." Pamela continued. "They made arrangements to, well, when their little darlings fail to practice their mothers share the experience."
"What?"
"One of them shares this information with the student, accompanying her to each lesson in case it happens while the other drops by that evening to handle things then." Pamela revealed. "And if you think that a normal event is embarrassing for the student, imagine how red her face goes when she sees her mother over my lap."
"Um, but, um, if you aren't used to, um, I mean with the chair, I mean, um, not used to..."
"I don't handle the mothers in here." Pamela answered with a smile. "It takes up a bit of lesson time but since doing it is already consuming time I consider it time well spent. I take them to the next room and spank them while sitting on a sofa."
"Oh. Um, do you think... I mean it's not going to happening, but if I need motivating, um..."
"I'll treat you like any other student." Pamela said firmly. "Taking as little time from your lesson as possible."
"Um, oh. Um, okay?"
"Now on Thursday I'll asset your current level and we'll take things from there." Pamela said. "You'll be leaving here then with your first practice assignment. Is that acceptable to you?"
"Um, yes. Sure." Elaine nodded.
"Then if you'll just sign this agreement we can call it a day. Oh, and while you were in the corner I ran off an updated version of our agreement. Both of our agreements."
Elaine barely glanced at the student teacher agreement before turning to one that authorised corporal punishment. Her eyes went wide at one of the changes.
"It's locked in?" Elaine asked.
"Of course." Pamela nodded. "It's because of the uniqueness of this situation. Normally the only say the students have in these matters is whether or not they actually practice and that's all you will have, in three month blocks. How could I properly motivate you if you could call me the day before your lesson to call off the probable consequences of your failure to practice? No, that wouldn't properly motivate you would it?"
"Um, I guess not." Elaine admitted.
"I'm glad you understand." Pamela smiled. "Until next Thursday."
"Um, until then." Elaine agreed.
Elaine ran things through things in her mind as she walked back to her car.
Her entire story hadn't been a lie; she did have regrets over missed opportunities in her childhood. It was just piano playing wasn't the main thing she had missed out on. Back in her childhood she had some near misses when it came to spanking, far more misses than spankings. At the time she had done anything she could to avoid them but in hindsight she wished that she hadn't been so successful at ducking them. Especially her Aunt Cathy's hairbrush. Elaine knew now that her aunt hadn't used it because Elaine's parents weren't really spankers, but now she thought that if she had said something... If she had said "Aunt Cathy, I hate the way you treat me like a child. You paddle the others with that brush and they tease me because you don't spank me that way." then her aunt would have showed her how the hairbrush felt. But back then Elaine had been too chicken to do that. Back then she had thought spankings were something to be avoided. Back then she didn't really understand why she was so fascinate with spanking and hadn't had the guts to say anything like that.
'I'll have to time things just right.' Elaine thought.
Elaine hadn't expected the woman drop unmotivable students. She would have to actually learn to play the piano, practising most of the time and only needing 'motivating' some of the time. There was one thing she knew for sure; she would make sure that she met the students who had the time after her. Once she did she would pick which day to 'forget' and wear hose. And she would 'forget' to practice that week, so the girl (Elaine knew she couldn't do it in front of a boy) would see Elaine struggling into pantyhose with a red backside.
Watching the girl walk back to her car, Pamela wondered if the girl was really interested in taking up the piano or if Elaine would be like Chloe Unger. Chloe Unger, who sometimes made it impossible for her son to practice. Pamela took pity on the boy, usually giving him nothing more than love pats when he failed to practise, then taking it out on Chloe when the woman came by that evening.
Not that Pamela liked being part of something like that, but you didn't get rich teaching piano. Young Frank Unger was almost tone deaf and would never be one of her more promising students while Chloe Unger double paid on days that she made Frank miss his practises. Elaine would only be paying standard rate, but occasionally a mature student was able to shine. And if Elaine was wasting her time, well, it would only be a matter of time before that hairbrush was crashing down on the girl's bare bottom.
'The second time.' Pamela mused. 'The first time will be what she expects, but the second time will be bare with the brush. Then the third time will be over her clothing.'
Pamela smiled at that thought. Switching things up would confuse the girl and leave the decisions in Pamela's hands. Elaine would never know for sure what neglecting practice would bring.
Then another thought occurred to Pamela. Teaching piano to a bunch of ungrateful, unmotivated, sometimes untalented children wasn't the easiest thing in the world. The constant whining, the ones who tried to manipulate her, and worse of all - the ones with real talent who didn't bother developing it. Whatever Elaine's game was, the college girl's bottom represented a guilt free way for Pamela to release a bit of life's frustrations.
A smile on her face, Pamela closed the door behind her newest pupil.
Goodgulf
Mrs. Pamela Bonnet opened the side door of her house, the entrance that all her students used. Not that she was opening it now for a student, but she preferred face to face interviews with parents. Then a complication arose: the person at the door didn't look like a parent.
Elaine Grimshaw looked 20, give or take a year or so. Close to twenty years Pamela's junior and far too young to a child old enough to enrol. Then again, maybe the girl was booking lessons for a sibling, niece, or nephew.
A short greeting later, Pamela was escorting Elaine from the door into her instruction room. The piano dominated the room but there were also three chairs arranged around a desk. Pamela's chair was behind it, the parent(s) chair(s) were on the other side.
"I have heard good things about things about your methods, Mrs. Bonnet." Elaine began. "And how all your students excel."
"All?" Pamela laughed. "Heavens no. There isn't a teacher alive who can motivate all of her students. Sometimes the teacher student relationship just can't be established. Other times, well, the student has to have a certain level of talent to excel."
"Wow. It's rare to hear..." Elaine's voice faded out as she searched for the right word.
"The truth?" Pamela suggested. "I find that these interviews go much better when I am completely honest during them. I find that it prevents hard feelings later."
"The truth." Elaine nodded. "That's a good word for it."
"Now you say that you've talked to the parents of other students." Pamela continued. "Did they go into details about my methods?"
Elaine paused, considering her words.
"They said you were wonderful when it came to motivating students." Elaine revealed. "And that I should discuss your methods with you in person."
"A personal discussion is always best." Pamela agreed. "It prevents so many problems later."
"At the early stage in the teaching process, it doesn't take a expert to know if a student has been practising the assigned work. Anyone with an ear can hear if someone has skipped practice, even for just a few hours that week." Pamela continued. "And when my ear tells me that a student hasn't been practising I take action to deal with it. I hate having to do it, but if the parents can't motivate the student to practice then it falls to me."
"You give them a consequence failing to live up to their side of the teacher student relationship." Elaine said with a nod.
"Exactly." Pamela smiled. "However, I face a difficulty doing so. I only have the student for an hour at a time and in that hour I'm being paid to teach the student. There are no privileges to withdraw, no room to send the student to, no electronic devices to confiscate, which leaves only one tool left in the consequence tool chest."
"So you..." Elaine's voice dropped again.
"So I give their parents a form to sign, one that authorises me to apply corporal punishment." Pamela said calmly. "In theory me being in loco parentis over them is enough, but I find that a form makes things run so much more smoothly. Now not all of the parents sign those forms, but most do."
"Corporal... You mean you spank your students?"
"Only when duly authorised by the parents." Pamela assured her. "And the parents are always informed after each event."
"Mrs. Bonnet, you have a form and if the parents sign it you might spank their kid? Is that what you're saying?" Elaine asked.
"No, if they sign the form then I do spank the child." Pamela corrected. "In virtually every case once a form is signed the student ends up over my knee at least once."
Pamela was being diplomatic; if the form was signed the student was invariably spanked. Pamela had given this speech countless times, always inserting the word 'virtually'. Not to assure the parent that their child wouldn't be spanked but to shield her other students from embarrassment. Since new students came via word of mouth each of the new parents would know at least one of her existing students and by saying 'virtually' they could tell themselves that the student they knew might be one of the rare unspanked ones.
"What? Why?" Elaine asked.
"I'd like to say that it is because no student is perfect, but that's not always the reason." Pamela responded. "Once the student knows about that form being signed some of them obsess over it. Others want to test the limits just to see if I actually will do it. In those cases a spanking happens. Once the first one is over and done with the student can get over the idea of a spanking happening to them. Then they can get back to studying the piano."
"Um, and by spanking you mean..."
"For the first event I flip the student over my lap and deliver a short, rapid spanking." Pamela answered. "Then the student spends a few minutes in the corner. The entire event lasts five to seven minutes."
"The first event?" Elaine prompted.
"If the first few motivating sessions don't produce the desired results, I escalate." Pamela matter-of-factly. "Jeans go down or a skirt is lifted."
"That sounds embarrassing." Elaine noted.
"It generally is." Pamela agreed. "Especially for the older ones. If they continue to neglect their home practice, then I use an instrument. There's a space on the form that covers what, if any, instruments are usually applied in the home and if none are then there's a space to suggest one."
"So the spankings, I mean events, keep increasing?" Elaine asked.
"Not all the time. If the student returns to practising then I'll begin to reset the level of the events." Pamela said. "On the other hand, if the student doesn't return to practice then underwear gets lowered."
Elaine managed a weak smile.
"That sounds even more embarrassing." Elaine said, chuckling weakly.
"Completely embarrassing." Pamela agreed. "And no, I don't allow them to replace clothing before they stand in the corner."
"Oh. And what happens if that fails to motivate them?" Elaine prompted.
"If frequent application of the most severe form of correction fails to motivate them then I drop them as students." Pamela answered. "Which is why I mentioned that no teacher could motivate every student."
"You drop them?"
"If me repetitively painting their bare bottoms red with a brush, or a belt or wooden spoon or whatever, doesn't encourage them to practice then no amount of spanking will motivate them." Pamela informed her. "One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein said that, and he was right. When the combination of my efforts and the parents nagging them doesn't work then they either need a new teacher or to drop the piano all together."
"Um, what about the parents who don't believe in spanking?" Elaine asked.
"If they sign the form then I do what I have to do." Pamela replied with a sigh. "And some of them even seem to enjoy seeing someone taking their little hellions to task. Oh, there are some who withdraw the student after the first time it happens, but those are rare compared to the ones whose only method to motivate the student at home is to threaten them with one of my spanking. No, non-spanking parents are the reason that I am so blunt when I have these little talks."
Then Pamela sighed.
"Then again, sometimes the spankers are harder to accept." Pamela continued. "There are students who know that if I take them to task that they'll get it worse when they get home. A few of them even say that they'll take two spanking from me if I don't call home and report that I had to spanked them. With those, if things aren't working out I prefer to drop them quickly rather to spank a bottom that was red or bruised before I bared it."
"I can see how that could be an issue." Elaine nodded.
"Now in most cases I can hear if they've practised or not within the first few minutes of the student arriving and taking a seat at the piano." Pamela said, returning to her usual speech. "Occasionally the part that they haven't rehearsed comes up later in the lesson. Except for those rare times, everything is taken care of long before the student leaves for the day. The bottom is covered, the tears are gone, and everything is back to normal. But on those rare occasions the student might still be visibly distressed when the parent picks them up."
"You mean the lesson continues after ..." Elaine allowed her voice to drop once more.
"Of course it does. The parents are paying for the entire session." Pamela told her. "I feel guilty even taking those few minutes to deal with the situation. No, after the event I sit them down in front of the piano and continue the lesson. Often I provide a pillow for them to sit on but they do go back to the lesson."
"And if they don't want to..."
That dropped voice bit was beginning to get to Pamela.
"Sometimes they need a second seeing to, usually much briefer than the first, then they go back to the piano." Pamela revealed. "By that point they know what's good for them."
"I see." Elaine nodded.
"Which brings us to the reason behind this meeting." Pamela said. "A spot has recently opened up and someone passed my name to you. Now are we talking about a sibling, niece, nephew, or some other relation?"
Pamela added that last bit to cover cousins, step siblings, foster siblings, and any other possible relationship. It was much easier to say 'or other' than to list all the possible connections found in the modern world.
"Um, yes, as to that." Elaine said, blushing slightly. "Maybe I should have mentioned something sooner. Um, this is a bit embarrassing. Um, you see, when I was young I used to study the piano. Well, at least I supposed to. I dropped out early and now that I'm in college, well as my old teacher said I would, I now regret dropping piano and now I do."
"Ah, I think I see where this is going." Pamela said uncomfortably. "I generally only take juvenile students."
"Um, do you ever make exceptions?" Elaine asked hopefully.
"Do you even have access to a piano to practice on?" Pamela challenged.
"Yes, of course I do." Elaine answered, then she hesitated. "But sometimes, well, um, the reason I came here was that when I was young I a real problem with practising and no one was ever able to motivate me."
"I see. But now that you've grown you are mature enough to stick to your lessons?"
"I hope so." Elaine answered. "But I'm not sure. That's why I was I was so focused on your motivating techniques."
"I see." Pamela pursed her lips. "Of course you're too old for your parents to sign off anything. Or even to require that type of motivating."
"Oh, probably." Elaine nodded.
"Probably?" Pamela asked in disbelief.
"Um, probably." Elaine said weakly.
"I see." Pamela said firmly. "Now did you come here to waste my time or did you have an idea of how I motivate some of my students?"
"Um, well... That is..."
"I see." Pamela said sternly.
"Um, well, um, I thought, well, may I could sign or um, well..." Elaine dropped her voice again.
"I see." Pamela said speculatively.
"Um, you do?" Elaine squeaked.
"I could modify the standard agreement." Pamela mused.
"Not that I would probably need it for motivation or, um, well..."
Pamela nodded.
"Perhaps if we went over the standard enrolment process?" Pamela said, wondering if this was some sort of trick on the younger woman's part.
"Um, I guess." Elaine agreed.
Pamela opened the folder on her desk. It wasn't anything special, just the standard 'new student' folder, but Pamela thought that there would be little standard about this student.
The first few pages did deal with the usual issues. The cost for lessons, when they would be scheduled, how much notice was needed for cancellation, and other purely business matters.
"Now which level did you reach in your studies?" Pamela asked.
"Um, level two, but that was years ago." Elaine said. "I doubt that I'll remember much."
"I see." Pamela said, deciding to skip over the usual 'you are responsible for your child' sections. There was no one to agree to drop Elaine off, pick her up, or to supervise her practice. Flipping halfway through the folder, Pamela reached the meat of the matter. "Then we should get to the consent form. Now what sort of things happen, I mean happened, in the home?"
"Um, just the usual."
"And what would that be?" Pamela pressed. "In some homes that's scoldings or timeouts. In others it's swats now and than. Then there's everything from symbolic one to three whack spankings to hard over the knee events that leave marks that last for days."
"Um, just swats when I was younger." Elaine said, then, after a pause, she added: "At home."
"At home?" Pamela pressed. "Just swats?"
"Um, there were a few over lap, um, 'events'." Elaine said, borrowing Mrs. Bonnet antiseptic term. "But only by, um, hand."
"I see." Pamela said, then borrowed something from Elaine's toolbox. "And under instrument..."
"Um, well, um, my aunt, um, I have an aunt who, um, well, a hairbrush." Elaine babbled.
"I see. So the swats 'at home' means hand at home and the other outside the home? I see." Pamela said, not quite seeing the entire picture.
Elaine nodded, not trusting herself to say anything more.
"And as for covering. I'll assume that the swats were over whatever you were wearing, but the spankings, were they over your clothes, on your underwear, or without underwear?"
"Um, in her house, um, my aunt spanked me bare." Elaine admitted in a small voice. "Other times, um, panties or, um, what I was wearing."
"I see. Well, normally the next part waits until a lesson, but in this case since you're the one signing the paperwork I think that you should know what you're getting yourself in for." Pamela said.
"Um, you mean..."
Pamela thrust a form towards Elaine.
"Sign there and be sure to initial everywhere I've pencilled in a change." Pamela told her.
"Um, so if I sign there..."
"Then your dress will going north as I show you what will happen if you fail to practice." Pamela revealed.
"But... But you said...um, over clothes?" Elaine squeaked.
"For normal students, yes, but you should know what we are dealing with." Pamela said. "Beyond that, you are more mature than my normal students. You should be able to apply yourself without my brand of motivation. That means we will be skipping the standard beginning step."
"Oh. I see. Um, I guess. Um, how? Where?"
Pamela moved a chair into the middle of the room.
"Here, with your dress up."
"Um, if..."
"Did you want to enrol?" Pamela challenged.
Elaine signed the paper, sighed, then stood. As she lifted her dress Elaine was glad that her pantyhose were new, snag free, ones. She hadn't planned on this happening, at least not today.
Unlike some of Pamela's students, Elaine didn't put up any resistance as Pamela positioned Elaine over her lap. Elaine's head ended dangerously close to the floor while her feet were actually touching it.
"This is awkward." Pamela noted. "In the future it would be better if we used the bench for this."
"In the future?" Elaine squeaked.
"Normally I have a reason for this, but your need for a demonstration will be reason enough."
Then Pamela brought her palm down hard and Elaine squeaked again.
Elaine could barely believe that this was really happening. Pamela's palm kept thundering down, not quite mercilessly but firmly. Squirming there, Elaine could barely believe that she was being spanked. Only the burning sensations in her backside proved that it was actually happening to her.
Pamela might think that she was spanking Elaine for no reason, but Elaine knew better. Elaine knew that she was being spanked for lying. Lying about how she had been raised.
Elaine could barely remember ever getting a swat on her backside. As for the hairbrush, she had only seen it. Elaine would, no, could never forget the time almost a decade ago when her cool Cousin Bethany had been caught drinking and driving and Aunt Cathy had put that hairbrush to good use. Hearing Bethany crying like a baby, seeing that glimpse of colour on Bethany's bare backside when Aunt Cathy had opened the door and left her grown daughter crying in the corner, knowing that Aunt Cathy used that brushed on others - the entire night was practically unbelievable. Elaine was sure that if she hadn't been at her aunt's when it happened that she would never have believed that something like that could have happened to her idolised cousin.
That night had left a lasting impression on Elaine, as had the hairbrush. Not her aunt had ever used brush on Elaine. Oh, Aunt Cathy had given Elaine the bulk of spankings she had gotten - two of them and both so long ago that Elaine barely remembered them. Her third (and last) real spanking had come later when Elaine had gotten it from a friend's mom. But none of the spankings had involved anything accept the spanker's hand and only once had any clothing been moved. That one, bare bottom, spanking that her aunt had given her was barely a pale echo of what had happened to Bethany, but it too had left a lasting impression on Elaine.
Today's spanking wasn't long, but it was brisk and firm. It built a heat that was completely confined by her tight fitting pantyhose. Maybe it was the surprise (Elaine hadn't planned on this happening tonight), maybe it Elaine's emotional state, or maybe it was nothing more than the pain from Mrs. Bonnet's hand expertly crashing down on her backside; whatever the cause, Elaine burst into tears before the spanking was halfway over.
Not that her tears slowed Pamela's rain of smacks. The woman delivered her standard "you haven't practised for a good long while - didn't we already discuss this?" spanking. One that brought tears to most of Pamela's young pupils.
Once it was over, Pamela positioned the girl into a corner. With Elaine standing there sobbing, Pamela left the room.
Elaine barely had control of her tears when Pamela returned with a large cardboard box. Removing its contents to her desk, she turned to where Elaine was standing.
"You can leave the corner now." Pamela instructed. "If you're curious, it's been six and a half minutes."
"Huh?" Elaine asked, rubbing her seat as she turned.
"Six and a half minutes ago I led you to the chair and started to correct your behaviour." Pamela said, indicating her watch. "This might look like a normal watch, but it has several settings that I use while teaching. Now tell me if you recognise any of these."
Elaine stared at the selection of hairbrushes. Some where plastic, one or two were metallic, but the majority were wooden. As Elaine scanned the selection, her eyes stopped on one of them. Stopped and went wide.
"That one?" Pamela said. "Yes, that one was more popular brushes a few years ago. I'm not sure how commonly used it was on hair but I know several mothers who swore by it."
"That's the one." Elaine acknowledged.
"It might look like it, but we should be sure."
"Um, what do you mean? I mean, um, what do you mean?" Elaine babbled.
"I mean we should try out the piano bench." Pamela said, taking Elaine by the wrist. "I've never used it for something like this. We'll be testing the position as much as testing the brush."
"Um, but... Now?" Elaine asked.
Pamela didn't answer in words. She merely raised Elaine's dress and positioned the college girl over her lap. This time the piano bench supported most of Elaine's weight.
Pamela only brought the hairbrush down three times. Once on Elaine's right cheek, once on her left cheek, and once midway across her bottom. Only those three firm smacks.
But they landed on her already sore bottom. Elaine told herself that it was the force of the smacks and not her emotions, but either way Elaine burst back into tears.
Tears that Pamela ignored as she helped Elaine to her feet.
"Now you know, truly know, are you still fine with how I will be motivating you to practice?" Pamela asked.
"Sniff. Um. Sniff. Um, yes?"
"In that case, I'll pencil you in for Thursday as we discussed." Pamela said. "And when you arrive, I expect you to be wearing either shorts, slacks, or jeans. If you wear something with a skirt you should wear socks, not hose."
"Uh?" Elaine asked. "You're telling me how to dress?"
"I'm explaining that I may be required to bare your bum and I can't do that easily if you're wearing pantyhose. As for stockings, I'd had to leave a run in them. I thought it might be different with you, but your legs were just as active as any of my other students and their tights are usually a mess afterwards."
"Sniff. But you said you ... Mrs. Bonnet, you said... After several missed practises?" Elaine said, stumbling over her words.
"That's how it usually goes." Pamela agreed. "But the option is always there. While a steady escalation works with some students, others try to game the system. Pants down is always an option, even for the first offence, and in this case we've both agreed that since you should be more mature than my average student I will be handling things differently with you."
"Oh." Elaine whispered.
"In fact, if I wasn't worried about runs in your hose, you still wouldn't know what that brush feels like when it lands on underwear." Pamela revealed. "Which is why I'm telling you what to wear. Of course if you really want to wear hose you can, but you'll be taking them off when you walk through that door regardless of whether or not there will be an event. You might think that is an option, but with the way I schedule lessons you'll still be putting them back on when my next student arrives. If they see you adjusting your pantyhose then they will assume that I had a reason to take them down and then they'll start smirking or giggling. Now that would be embarrassing."
"It would." Elaine agreed. "Um, I hate to ask, but, um, I guess I'm the oldest one who you've, um..."
"Not really." Pamela said blithely. "Over the years several mothers have wanted to know, really know, what will happen if their little darlings fail to practice. Especially those who don't believe in spanking. Sometimes that's the last I see of those people but, in rare cases, that one experience changes how things work at home."
"Um, oh."
"And in two cases, the mothers took things a step further." Pamela continued. "They made arrangements to, well, when their little darlings fail to practice their mothers share the experience."
"What?"
"One of them shares this information with the student, accompanying her to each lesson in case it happens while the other drops by that evening to handle things then." Pamela revealed. "And if you think that a normal event is embarrassing for the student, imagine how red her face goes when she sees her mother over my lap."
"Um, but, um, if you aren't used to, um, I mean with the chair, I mean, um, not used to..."
"I don't handle the mothers in here." Pamela answered with a smile. "It takes up a bit of lesson time but since doing it is already consuming time I consider it time well spent. I take them to the next room and spank them while sitting on a sofa."
"Oh. Um, do you think... I mean it's not going to happening, but if I need motivating, um..."
"I'll treat you like any other student." Pamela said firmly. "Taking as little time from your lesson as possible."
"Um, oh. Um, okay?"
"Now on Thursday I'll asset your current level and we'll take things from there." Pamela said. "You'll be leaving here then with your first practice assignment. Is that acceptable to you?"
"Um, yes. Sure." Elaine nodded.
"Then if you'll just sign this agreement we can call it a day. Oh, and while you were in the corner I ran off an updated version of our agreement. Both of our agreements."
Elaine barely glanced at the student teacher agreement before turning to one that authorised corporal punishment. Her eyes went wide at one of the changes.
"It's locked in?" Elaine asked.
"Of course." Pamela nodded. "It's because of the uniqueness of this situation. Normally the only say the students have in these matters is whether or not they actually practice and that's all you will have, in three month blocks. How could I properly motivate you if you could call me the day before your lesson to call off the probable consequences of your failure to practice? No, that wouldn't properly motivate you would it?"
"Um, I guess not." Elaine admitted.
"I'm glad you understand." Pamela smiled. "Until next Thursday."
"Um, until then." Elaine agreed.
Elaine ran things through things in her mind as she walked back to her car.
Her entire story hadn't been a lie; she did have regrets over missed opportunities in her childhood. It was just piano playing wasn't the main thing she had missed out on. Back in her childhood she had some near misses when it came to spanking, far more misses than spankings. At the time she had done anything she could to avoid them but in hindsight she wished that she hadn't been so successful at ducking them. Especially her Aunt Cathy's hairbrush. Elaine knew now that her aunt hadn't used it because Elaine's parents weren't really spankers, but now she thought that if she had said something... If she had said "Aunt Cathy, I hate the way you treat me like a child. You paddle the others with that brush and they tease me because you don't spank me that way." then her aunt would have showed her how the hairbrush felt. But back then Elaine had been too chicken to do that. Back then she had thought spankings were something to be avoided. Back then she didn't really understand why she was so fascinate with spanking and hadn't had the guts to say anything like that.
'I'll have to time things just right.' Elaine thought.
Elaine hadn't expected the woman drop unmotivable students. She would have to actually learn to play the piano, practising most of the time and only needing 'motivating' some of the time. There was one thing she knew for sure; she would make sure that she met the students who had the time after her. Once she did she would pick which day to 'forget' and wear hose. And she would 'forget' to practice that week, so the girl (Elaine knew she couldn't do it in front of a boy) would see Elaine struggling into pantyhose with a red backside.
Watching the girl walk back to her car, Pamela wondered if the girl was really interested in taking up the piano or if Elaine would be like Chloe Unger. Chloe Unger, who sometimes made it impossible for her son to practice. Pamela took pity on the boy, usually giving him nothing more than love pats when he failed to practise, then taking it out on Chloe when the woman came by that evening.
Not that Pamela liked being part of something like that, but you didn't get rich teaching piano. Young Frank Unger was almost tone deaf and would never be one of her more promising students while Chloe Unger double paid on days that she made Frank miss his practises. Elaine would only be paying standard rate, but occasionally a mature student was able to shine. And if Elaine was wasting her time, well, it would only be a matter of time before that hairbrush was crashing down on the girl's bare bottom.
'The second time.' Pamela mused. 'The first time will be what she expects, but the second time will be bare with the brush. Then the third time will be over her clothing.'
Pamela smiled at that thought. Switching things up would confuse the girl and leave the decisions in Pamela's hands. Elaine would never know for sure what neglecting practice would bring.
Then another thought occurred to Pamela. Teaching piano to a bunch of ungrateful, unmotivated, sometimes untalented children wasn't the easiest thing in the world. The constant whining, the ones who tried to manipulate her, and worse of all - the ones with real talent who didn't bother developing it. Whatever Elaine's game was, the college girl's bottom represented a guilt free way for Pamela to release a bit of life's frustrations.
A smile on her face, Pamela closed the door behind her newest pupil.
Goodgulf