bigear5

The Head Boy

When I was 12 I was sent to boarding school. A family bereavement meant I started a week later than the other boys. By then, friendships had been forged. I felt very much like an outsider.

Perkins was Head Boy. 18 years old, built like an ox, and captain of the rugby XV. His study was beside the junior dorm. The housemaster left the day to day routine to Perkins. On my third morning he declared my bed had not been made properly. He took me into his study and bent me over clutching a radiator pipe. He then administered one stroke of the cane to my pyjama covered rump. It stung like hell for a minute but then subsided into a warm, glowing sensation. Perkins used a light malacca cane. It left a pink welt on tender flesh.

Small for my age, I was bullied. I also had to cope with homesickness, the death of a much loved grandpop and the onset of puberty.

During my second week in that awful place Perkins sent for me. I bent over and clutched the pipe. The Head Boy laughed. He gently pulled me upright and steered me into a chair. He wanted to talk with me 'man to man'. He knew I was being bullied and asked for the names. I declined, schoolboy honour was very important. To 'sneak' was unforgiveable. Perkins observed that I had taken a beating well unlike a bully would. That was the first word of praise I had received. When he suggested a plan of action, I agreed.

The next morning I was in the midst of a scrum of small boys on our way back from the bathrooms. Perkins was standing in the dorm. The look on his face bode trouble. We stopped talking and stood looking up at him. "I have just checked the lockers and LOOK what I found in one loathsome boy's posessions". With a flourish he produced a half empty packet of Capstan cigarettes and a box of matches. "Will the boy responsible for this step forward or do I have to send him to the housemaster?" There was a general shuffling of feet until I took a step in front of the others. "Draper", the Head Boy said grimly, "Come with me!"

He took me into his study and left the door slightly open so proceedings would be audible to the eavesdroppers. "Take your pants down boy. I want you to feel this!" I did as he commanded, bent over and clutched the pipe. Perkins stuffed a none too clean handkerchief in my mouth and whispered to bite down on it.

The butterflies in my tummy were in full flight. Perkins administered six hard strokes of the cane to my small pink bottom. Rapid Fire. Normally the caner waits for 15 - 20 seconds between strokes. The pain is just starting to diminish when the next one lands. Rapid Fire meant that the pain did not hit until after the last stroke. A searing hurt engulfed my backside leaving it in flames. My body buckled but Perkins grabbed me. Very gently he pulled my pants up over my rapidly swelling behind. "Go to the bathroom and clean yourself up" he bellowed for the benefit of the unseen audience.

I made my way there, followed by a procession of boys. Inside the bathroom I dropped my pants and there was a gasp of awe from the boys when they saw my stripes. "He made you bleed!' - this, from one of my tormentors. "What did it feel like?" asked another. "Perkins just tickled my bum", I replied.

The beating transformed me from outcast to hero. Every boy wanted to be my friend. News of the flogging spread like wildfire through the school. It was a Saturday so plenty of opportunities to show off my stripes. One senior boy even took me aside for a private viewing. He cupped my bum-cheeks in his big hands. Then he gently fingered the welts. The opportunity for sexual connection was there but fortunately he did not take advantage of my innocence.

It was a case of the end justifying the means. What I did not know beforehand was the Head Boy intended using a thick cane more suitable for a 16 year old - to make the stripes really impressive. He caned bare so he could place the stripes. If one had landed on others the pain would have been much worse. The Capstans and matches were his.

After that, whenever Perkins beat me, I dropped my pants for him. I think he liked that.