“I certainly don’t think it was fair of you to recommend Dal Mayberry to replace you, Jim!” Constance McCord stood up and stated loudly after Principal Thurston announced his replacement at the December teachers’ meeting.  “There were two others of us who applied for your job, and I feel you should have remained neutral out of loyalty to the staff!  I’ve been here two years longer than Dal, and I don’t feel it is fair he was offered the job before me.”  The forty year old woman was thoroughly outraged and making no attempt to hide the fact.

“You have been here longer, Connie, but the students don’t respect you like they do, Dal,” Jim Thurston said bluntly.  “He is the best candidate to take over when I retire at the end of the month, and when the school board asked me for my opinion, that is what I told them.  I feel that Steve Murdock is doing a great job at the Junior High and he should remain there to ensure stability in that building.  The school board agreed, and that is why Dal was offered the position.”

“I still say it is not fair!  I’ve been teaching longer than Dal has.  He is getting preferential treatment because of his past!”  It was known among the staff that Dal’s ‘past’ was as a country singer who was well known.  He gave up his lucrative career in the music industry to teach school.  His wife was also a concert pianist who gave up performing when her family was killed in an automobile accident.  The paparazzi was relentless when she wanted privacy, and she returned to teaching school, just like her husband.  They were very happy and had no intention of returning to public life.  “If he wasn’t so famous they wouldn’t have given him the position!” Constance angrily declared, glaring at Dal.

When Jenny started to get to her feet, Dal reached for her hand and shook his head ‘no’.  She tried to pull free and he whispered, “One.”  Unlike the very first time he counted to her, when she had no clue what he meant, she knew that he was warning her to behave or she would get a spanking.  Jenny gave him a look of her own.  She was a teacher, and she had every right to stand up and be heard.  “Jim, if I may?” she requested.  Dal whispered ‘two’, but released her hand when Jim nodded to give Jenny the floor.

“Constance, as a teacher, I would like to point out that Dal has worked as Jim’s assistant for over one year now.  He has the experience to continue this year without an upheaval for the staff or for the students, and I think that is the primary consideration.  We all want to have a smooth transition.  You have a full class schedule; another teacher would have to be hired to take over most of those classes.  Since Dal has been Assistant Principal, his class schedule is such that he can handle his classes and his duties as Principal.  I think that instead of arguing with Jim over his recommendation that it would be more appropriate for us to thank him for his many years of service and dedication to this school.  He’s always done the best he could to keep all of us happy and on the same page… doing what he felt would be in the best interests of the students we teach.  Jim, as a teacher, I have nothing but respect for you, and I’m going to miss seeing you every day,” Jenny said with an emotional smile.

There was applause and murmured agreement with Jenny’s statement, and several other teachers spoke up and congratulated and praised Jim.  Constance was very angry and she glared at Dal and Jenny throughout the rest of the teachers’ meeting.

“The last several years before we broke for the holidays, we have held a student talent show in the morning, and then in the afternoon, the staff performed for the students, the last couple of years ending with a sing-along led by Dal and Jenny.  May I count on all of you to cooperate and perform again this year?” he asked formally, but everyone in the room knew it was more of a command performance.

“I don’t see why the rest of us should bother.  Dal and Jenny monopolize the entire show so why not just let them perform and give the rest of us a break?” Constance criticized, her dislike of the couple evident in her sharp words and caustic tone of voice. 

“Why, that is rude and uncalled for, Connie!” Margaret Carlson gasped.  “You know how Jim looks forward to this show every year!  The students enjoy it very much.”

“No, they don’t, Margaret.  They tolerate the rest of us, waiting for those two,” she pointed at Dal and Jenny.  “They’ve taken over this school and it isn’t fair to the rest of us!” she accused.  “And now that Dal is taking over as Principal, Jenny will get her way all of the time, no matter what any of the rest of us think is best!”

“Constance, it’s easy to see why the school board didn’t hire you… and in fact, I can’t see why they retain you as a teacher, either.  All you do is complain about each and every little thing when it doesn’t go your way, or isn’t your idea to begin with.  Frankly, I wish you would abstain from performing for the students.  It does put a pall on the afternoon, for a fact, since your heart isn’t in it, and the students know that.  You have no talent and you are spiteful and jealous of the others who do.”  Jenny heard the ‘three’ but ignored Dal.  “If you are so unhappy with the way things are done here, then why don’t you turn in your resignation and move on somewhere else so that the rest of us might get on with what we do here… teaching school to the best of our ability. Frankly, your attitude is wearing and I’m sick to death of hearing you find fault with every little thing that Dal or I attempt to do.”  Several of the other teachers applauded Jenny’s outburst, including Margaret Carlson.  “As for me getting my way all the time, you obviously have not been paying attention at these meetings for the last two and a half years or you would realize how absolutely ridiculous that is.  Dal and I are well known for our differences of opinion when it comes to certain issues, but the one thing I know with all my heart is that he will make his decisions based on what he feels is best for this school as a whole, and not because he wants to please me.”  She sat down, only to hear Dal whisper ‘four’ as the other teachers applauded again.  Jenny looked at Dal in alarm, but his expression wasn’t angry, just resigned.

“You may be excused from performing, Constance, since you dread it so much,” Jim stated firmly, refusing to give the woman a chance to respond to Jenny’s words.  He moved on to a couple of other matters, and ended up settling another argument involving Constance and the school’s librarian.  Mr. Wade finally stated that unless Constance could comply with the simple rules the other teachers adhered to, that he would ban her classes from the Library!  Jim patiently explained to the upset teacher that Mr. Wade’s rules were approved by him, and they were necessary to keep order in the Library.  Constance didn’t care.  She got to her feet and stomped out of the meeting, calling Jim a senile old fart and the school board a bunch of doddering incompetents who needed a rude awakening.  She ended with one final parting shot toward Jenny and Dal, and then left the room.

“Well, I am glad she’s gone!” Margaret Carlson said with a sniff, and a few of the other teachers nodded in agreement.  “There is no way I could continue to teach here if Constance was named principal!  This building would be in chaos within one week, if not sooner!”

“Margaret, that will do,” Jim said firmly, and when he caught her eye he raised an eyebrow.  She immediately blushed and squirmed on her seat, and he knew that she understood she would be over his knee before the day was over.  He also suspected that little Jenny was in for a spanking over Dal’s knee once they went home for the evening.  While he agreed with what Jenny had to say, she shouldn’t have said it.  Dal was going to have to teach her to be more circumspect and less outspoken, or it would affect his relationship with the staff he had to work with.  They would lose respect for him if he permitted Jenny to speak her mind so bluntly at teachers’ meetings.  “Dal, is there anything you would like to say before we adjourn?” He smiled at the younger man.

“Thanks, Jim.” Dal got to his feet.  “First of all, thank you for your vote of confidence with the school board.  I’m pleased to be selected to take over when you retire, and I’m aware I have big shoes to fill.  I will keep the same open door policy that Jim has, and if you have concerns or problems, I want you to feel free to come to me at any time.  I want to thank you in advance for all the help and support I know I’m going to need in the next few months to get settled in.  I think we have a great school here, and a great staff, and we’re lucky to have a great group of kids to teach.  I look forward to the challenge ahead, and hope you’ll forgive me my mistakes and share the triumphs as we step into the New Year.”

“Well said, Dal.” Jim smiled.  “Does anyone have anything else to address?”  He looked around the room.  “If not, we’ll adjourn until January’s meeting, at which time Dal will take over as Principal.”

Dal spent a few minutes accepting the congratulations from the other teachers before telling Jenny to get her things together and they would leave in fifteen minutes.  She nodded, and then hurried away.  He suspected she was regretting the fact that she wasn’t going to be sitting too well the rest of the week, and she was anxious to leave the building lest he take it in his mind to spank her here at school.  He’d done that once, and fortunately it was only Jim who overheard and cautioned him that it was best to leave discipline matters to the privacy of home.  Dal agreed, and was smart enough not to tell Jenny that her cries had been overheard.  He was ashamed of putting her in that position, but knew that she would behave better at school if she feared being punished at school.  It was obvious from the way she rushed from the cafeteria, where they held their monthly meetings, that she feared the correction was to take place at school.

Dal made a quick call to their sitter and was assured that Beverly didn’t mind keeping five month old little Allison for a bit longer.  Dal didn’t want to put off Jenny’s punishment until their daughter was asleep for the night; he wanted to spank her soundly while the entire incident was fresh in her mind.  She was also going to learn what ‘four’ meant in terms of a punishment, and he was pretty darn positive that she wasn’t going to be very happy with him when she discovered she was in deep doo this time.

Dal spent some time talking with Jim and agreed to sit in on a meeting with him in the morning with the Superintendent.  Once that was settled, he checked his mailbox once again, and then headed for his classroom to pack his bag and then collect Jenny and head for home.  A few minutes later he stuck his head inside her classroom.  “Are you ready, honey?” he asked.

“Yes, I am,” she answered, grabbing her coat and putting it on.  She thought it was silly of him to leave his coat in the car, but she decided not to harp on the subject again.  She knew that she’d crossed a line with Dal earlier, and she only hoped that he would understand when she explained why she said what she did.  It was high time that someone told Constance McCord what all of them were thinking.  The woman was mean-spirited and no one at all liked her.  Jenny was sick of listening to her put Dal down.

“Don’t forget to lock your door,” Dal reminded her, taking her bag from her hands so she could put her key in the lock.  The janitor was the only other person with a key to the classroom, but all of the teachers were expected to lock the doors to their rooms so that students in the building for extra-curricular activities wouldn’t be tempted to get into mischief.  It was a good policy, and the validity of it was proven when the art teacher forgot one night and came in to find her room a complete mess.  Of course the students responsible were held accountable, but Dal felt the young woman should have been held accountable, too.  Jim did give her a thorough scolding, and she’d learned a good lesson by experience.

Once in the car, Jenny looked at Dal and said, “Once we pick up Ali, I want to stop by the grocery and pick up something quick and easy for dinner.  I have a ton of papers to grade tonight.  I gave tests in all my classes,” she reminded him.

Dal just looked at her.  “We’re going straight home, Jenny, and you are going to get your bare backside tanned proper.”

“But, honey!  Someone needed to say something.  Constance is a bitch!”

“She might be, but it wasn’t your place to take her on.  You should have let Jim or I handle the situation.  Jim was doing just fine and he didn’t need your interference.”

“That’s not true.  I am a teacher and I have a right to voice my opinion.”

“You are also my wife, and you are going to have to learn to be more circumspect, Jenny.  I have to work with Constance… and that isn’t going to be easy to do now that you’ve thoroughly antagonized her.”

“What about the fact that she antagonized me?” Jenny argued.  “Don’t my feelings matter at all?”

“Of course they do, but when I said ‘one’ that was your cue to realize that I didn’t want you to speak up right then.”

“I have a right to speak up, Dal,” Jenny said firmly.

“Jenny, you always have a right to speak respectfully, but when it comes to Constance, you seem to forget that.  I gave you a warning, and it meant for you to let Jim handle the situation.  You ignored me.” 

“I wasn’t rude.  I don’t think your ‘one’ or your ‘two’ should count, Dal.”

“Nice try, but it’s not going to work.  When you insisted on standing up, you got a ‘two’.  You sat down without earning a ‘three’, but then you jumped up and laid into Constance, you’d already had your two warnings.  And even when I said ‘three’, you persisted.  You made it to a ‘four’, honey, and that’s not a good thing.”

“You have never explained a ‘four’ to me, Dal… And I do not think it fair that you pull something like that when you know damn well and good I don’t have a clue what you mean!”  She realized he turned the wrong way… “You forgot the baby, Dal!” she said. 

“I’ll go and pick her up after I deal with you, Mrs. Mayberry,” he said calmly.

“Uh uh!  I want to go and get Allison right now!  I look forward to seeing her, and I won’t be punished in this manner.  Turn around right now!” she ordered firmly.

“I already made arrangements to pick up Ali late, Jenny.  You are not going to put off this punishment,” he said firmly.

“Dal, I am serious and you’d best listen to me if you know what’s good for you.  I expect you to forget all about spanking me for what I said to that overbearing bitch today.  I have a right to speak my mind, and you have no right to tell me what I can and cannot say at a teachers’ meeting.  You can also take your ‘four’ and stuff it.  I want to pick up our daughter… NOW!” she yelled.

“You’re adding disrespect now, Jenny?” Dal said in disapproval.

“You are fast crossing a line with me, Dal Mayberry!”

He didn’t reply, but he also didn’t turn the car around and go to pick up Allison and Jenny was stomping mad by the time he pulled into the garage and parked.  She grabbed her handbag, took out her keys, and went to her own car, fully prepared to go and get Allison herself.  Dal had other ideas, and grabbed her arm and marched her inside the house, even as he hit the button to close the large garage door.  “Let me go!” she hissed furiously.

“Not on your life.  I haven’t spanked your sassy little butt since we learned you were pregnant, Mrs. Mayberry, and it’s high time you were reminded who wears the pants in this house.  It sure isn’t you and if you’ve forgotten, I don’t tolerate disrespect.  You are in for the spanking of your life.”

“If you dare to punish me right now, Dalton Mayberry, then you’d better be ready for a divorce.  I won’t have it.”  Jenny was angrier than she’d ever been.  She jerked her arm free and headed for the garage once more.  She turned to face him and said, “In fact, why don’t you pack your things and get out!  I won’t be treated unfairly, Dal.  I won’t be married to a man who thinks he has the right to tell me when I can or cannot speak.  I did not show you anything but support at that meeting today… and this is the thanks I get?  You go to hell!”  She stepped into the garage and angrily hit the button to raise the garage door.  In the next minute she was backing out of the garage, and narrowly missed getting hit by a large service truck that was driving down the street.  The driver hit his horn and she immediately flipped him off, not giving a royal damn what Dal or the driver, or anyone else who was watching thought of her actions!