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The Pickett Family Summer, Part 03 (4th of July)
Stephanie wrapped herself in a sheer red sarong, tying it behind her neck and high on her hip. Its color perfectly complimented the red bikini hidden beneath it and the flip flops she slipped on her feet. The wide-brimmed white hat she wore atop her braided hair completed the outfit with a sense of fun and sophistication that Stephanie felt defined her. She smiled at her appearance in the mirror. Dylan would drool.
Amanda slipped into the bedroom and whistled appreciatively. "Good thing Dad's driving us down cause I don't think Dylan will be able to take his eyes off you."
Stephanie spun around to examine her sister. Amanda wore a similar outfit in her favorite dark blue minus the hat. The sandals were different too. Instead of the comfort of a flat rubber soled thong, she had elected to don wedge sandals with tight leather straps binding her feet. "Well if I'm not distracting him, I'm sure you will be."
Amanda smiled and shook her head laughing. "I'm just trying to keep Chandler's eyes on me instead of Heather."
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Nicole said Heather has got herself a boyfriend for the barbecue."
Amanda nodded. "Yeah and she'll probably have a different one by the end of the day, but I don't care as long as it's not Chandler."
"You could be right," Stephanie said.
Amanda laughed. "Either way," she shrugged, "there will be fireworks tonight."
Stephanie shook her head, heading toward the door. "It's the fourth of July, there are always fireworks in the evening."
Mr. Pickett drove them to the lake in his new truck, a Chevy Colorado. Stephanie still couldn't believe he'd bought an orange painted vehicle, but she had to admit the color did seem to come with fun built in. Her father drove with a proud smile and he even appeared to sit a little taller behind the wheel. Of course that could have just been the effect of the big tires and the way the cab seemed to tower over every other car on the road.
Dylan and Chandler were already set up on the beach at the lake. They had laid out towels on the sand, umbrellas to provide a little shade from the sun and a blue cooler with a white top that looked big enough to house a shark. Fortunately, the lake hadn't seen the likes of sharks in at least a millennium if not longer. The boys waved at Stephanie and Amanda as they climbed out of their father's truck.
Mrs. Pickett clicked her tongue looking over the boys in their bare, tanned chests and long swim trunks. "Go on girls," she said. "Just remember to behave yourselves and keep sunscreen on."
Stephanie and Amanda smiled at each other and spoke in harmony. "Yes, Mom." They ran off toward Dylan and Chandler.
Dylan threw Stephanie down onto a towel and laid himself atop her. His tongue penetrated her lips and she moaned, wrapping her arms and legs around him. Chandler and Amanda landed on a nearby towel, lip-locked and hands roving over each others flesh. A shadow fell over them. A female throat cleared.
"Get a room," Nicole said.
Dylan craned his head back. "Why?" he asked.
Stephanie smiled beneath him. "There seems to be plenty of room right here."
Nicole shook her head. "You're embarrassing yourself."
Dylan rolled onto his side allowing Stephanie freedom to move or stay as she wanted.
Stephanie looked up at her sister, tossed off her hat onto the towel and marvelled at the way Nicole appeared to be upside down. "If this is embarrassing myself," she said, "then what do you call that time when you were butt-naked at the block party?"
Amanda pulled her mouth away from Chandler long enough to laugh. "I called it funny."
Nicole frowned at Amanda. "It's not polite to laugh at other people's misery."
Dylan nodded at Nicole. "I guess you did learn your lesson at Adventureland."
Nicole's hands moved from her hips to her buttocks and she glanced over her shoulder at Todd walking in their direction. "I think it's best if we put that behind us," she said. "Todd's still pretty upset with you."
Dylan smiled and barely held in a chuckle. "I'm sure it's Todd who is upset with me."
Stephanie propped herself up on an elbow and leaned close to Dylan's ear. "Be nice," she whispered and kissed him.
He blinked at her as she pulled away. "I'm always nice."
Todd came to stand beside Nicole. Like Dylan and Chandler, he'd foregone a shirt and wore long, loose swimming trunks, but they flapped against his skinny white knees and his chest lacked the rippling muscles and tan skin of his counterparts. His trunks were an eye catcher. Something like a Hawaiian massacre, featuring pineapples, surfboards, sailboats, and woody station wagons of a bygone era. The background color floated between sky blue and asphalt black in an unpredictable pattern. Stephanie would never have let him out of the house wearing the things, but Nicole seemed as oblivious to the fashion disaster as Todd.
Underneath his left arm he held a brand new— you could tell by the nauseating new rubber scent as well as the bright white and bold black coloring— volleyball. His left hand held a perfectly folded net with overly creased folds in the white lining running along the top and bottom of the black nylon crisscross. A smug grin decorated his face while his dark eyes fixed on Dylan. He captained a volleyball team in his college days. Stephanie imagined that was the last time he'd played any sport.
Todd's voice had a taunting edge to it when he spoke directly at Dylan. He tapped the ball with his right hand. "How do you feel about a friendly match?"
Dylan's gaze moved from Todd's eyes to the new ball. "Do you know how to play?"
Todd's smirk grew wider. "I think I can remember."
Dylan sat up on the towel and rested a hand on Stephanie's tan leg. "I already promised my day to Stephanie. I don't want to leave her sitting on the sidelines."
Todd kept grinning. "The girls can play too."
Dylan shrugged and looked down at Stephanie. "Do you want to?"
Stephanie shrugged. She knew Todd well enough to know he was plotting something and there was a part of her that preferred to leave well enough alone. It was the smirk on his face that goaded her though. She wanted to wipe it off his face and just looking at Dylan, it was clear she had a better chance with his help than without him. "It could be fun."
Dylan rose to his feet and offered his hand to Stephanie, pulling her up from the towel. He looked at Todd. "I guess we're in."
Heather approached from the same direction, Todd had arrived. A man trailed behind her carrying a set of red poles with black foam surrounding their bottom halves in one hand and dragging a red and white cooler on wheels with the other. Heather's bikini was disturbingly patriotic featuring red, white and blue along with an explosion of white stars. Her male companion wore dark red swim trunks, a tad shorter than the other guys. His black hair was neatly parted to the left. The tan color of his skin and subtly developed muscles insinuated he was both physically fit and an outdoors man. Stephanie recognized him as one of Todd's college buddies from Todd and Nicole's wedding— Mark Weber.
Mark parked the cooler next to Dylan and Chandler's. He looked at Todd. "So are they in?"
Todd turned his gaze from Dylan to Chandler. Chandler still had his arms around Amanda, but was paying attention to the scene around him. Todd curtly nodded in Chandler's direction. "How about it? Are you two up for some action."
Chandler glanced at Dylan and then looked deep into Amanda's eyes. "Up to you Babe."
Amanda sighed, looking over at Stephanie. "Sweating over a single ball isn't exactly what I had in mind for the day."
Stephanie shook her head, not bothering to hide the smile forming on her lips at her little sister's insinuation. "Come on, a little exercise will do you good."
Nicole's eyes twinkled as she looked down on Amanda. "Unless of course you're afraid of losing."
Amanda sat up and extricated herself from Chandler's arms. She glared up at Nicole. "You want to bet on that?"
Todd's smirk grew and a cough of laughter emerged from his throat. "That's an excellent idea," he said and rubbed the white ball with his free hand. "How about after each set the losing team's girls get spanked by the winning team's guys?"
Mark grinned and stepped forward. "And they lose an article of clothing."
Chandler shook his head at Todd. "Hardly seems fair if us guys don't have anything at stake."
Todd kept grinning, but stared at Chandler with a glint of annoyance sparkling in his eyes. "If you care about your girl, you've got plenty at stake."
Mark nodded. "Of course if you don't think you can win, maybe you shouldn't play."
Heather giggled with her blonde hair bouncing off her bare shoulders and her tight breasts jiggling Old Glory up and down. "It's not like Amanda or Stephanie have got anything to hide from the people here. Hell, they've been spanked in front of most 'em more than once."
Amanda's face reddened. Her eyes showed more anger than embarrassment. She looked Heather up and down. Her lips quivered with heated words.
Nicole said, "Besides, it's all in fun. Why don't we limit it to hands or a flip flop for the implement and say no more than twenty-five." She glanced at Todd, smiling. "That's all the points in a set right?"
Todd nodded. "Except for the fifth. It's fifteen for a tiebreaker."
Nicole smiled. "Yes, of course." She looked at her two sisters. "It's only fair if you leave your sarongs behind, otherwise we aren't all risking the same thing."
Amanda shrugged and untied her sarong, dropping it to the towel. She smiled, showing off her slender form and flag blue bikini. Stephanie untied her own and dropped it to the towel as well. She said, "But, we get our clothes back after the game is over, win, lose or draw."
Dylan chuckled. He rested a hand on Stephanie's shoulder. "That's poker, honey."
Stephanie looked at Dylan. "Whatever."
He cocked his head at her and wagged a finger at the tip of her nose. "Attitude," he said in a scolding tone.
Stephanie blushed and lowered her gaze to the sand beneath their feet. "Sorry."
Todd tapped the ball gaining everyone's attention. "So we have a deal?"
Amanda nodded. "Except I think when the game is over, the losing team's guys should have to drop their shorts for twenty-five with Mom's ping-pong paddle from all of us girls."
Mark threw his head back and laughed. "I bet you do."
Todd was less amused. "That's not going to happen."
Dylan said, "What's the matter? Afraid you're going to lose?"
Todd smiled at Dylan like a wolf staring at a meal. "Not in the slightest. I just don't think anyone around here wants to see a pair of guys in the buff."
Stephanie looked Todd and Mark up and down. "Especially if they're a pair of losers."
Dylan slapped Stephanie's red bikini bottoms making her jump and squeak. "Be nice," he said.
Stephanie hooked an arm around his middle and looked up into his eyes. "I'm always nice."
The guys set up the playing area in about fifteen minutes. Dylan and Chandler put up the net while Todd and Mark paced out the boundaries and drew lines in the yellow sand with the heels of their sandals. They picked a spot close enough to the water they could enjoy the cool breeze blowing off of it and yet far enough away that the sand was mostly level and free of rocks. A few curious neighbors set up lawn chairs along the sideline opposite the lake, no doubt expecting to be entertained. Maybe they overheard the bet.
Nicole and Heather wheeled the red cooler over beside the lakeside net pole. Todd wiped sweat from his brow and smiled over at Nicole. She popped the cooler lid open and reached into the ice inside, pulling out a beer can. He held his hands up like a catcher's mitt. She threw the beer can in the air. He caught it. Heather did likewise for Mark. Nicole looked over at Dylan and Chandler, standing on the opposite side of the net from Todd and Mark. She asked, "Beer?"
They shook their heads. Stephanie and Amanda joined them with ice cold water bottles fresh from the blue cooler. The guys drained their beverages. Todd and Mark crushed their cans and tossed them in the sand, out of bounds from their sandy court. Dylan and Chandler took the extra few steps to drop their empty bottles in the plastic recycling bin a few feet away.
The eight gathered by the net in the middle with Todd, Mark, Nicole and Heather on one side and Dylan, Chandler, Amanda and Stephanie on the other. Todd pulled a Franklin half dollar from the front pocket in his trunks. He looked at Dylan through the net. "Call it in the air," Todd said and flicked the coin high into the air so that it sailed up and over the net.
"Tails," said Dylan.
The silver coin landed on the sand, sparkling in the sunlight. Stephanie and Nicole knelt down for a better look at the result. Nicole looked up and said, "It's Benji."
Stephanie nodded. Dylan shrugged. Nicole picked up the coin and returned it to Todd who slipped it back inside his pocket. Stephanie stood. Dylan slapped her butt with his open palm. She jumped and shook her head at him, smiling. He laughed and said, "I still prefer tails."
Todd and Mark took positions near the back line on their side of the net with Nicole and Heather lining up closer to the net. Amanda and Chandler took up position at the net with Stephanie behind Chandler on the right and Dylan behind Amanda on the left. Todd picked up the ball, tossed it high in the air and swung his right arm over hand as he gave a slight jump. The ball thrust forward on impact, clipping the top of the net as it sailed onto the other side.
Dylan intercepted the ball, bumping it high into the air with his doubled fists. The ball's momentum redirected, Amanda easily bounced it off her fingertips, giving Chandler a perfect opportunity to spike the ball over the net. He didn't let her down. The ball dented the sand between Nicole and Heather. Todd looked like he was chewing a mouthful of sand.
Chandler winked at Todd. "One zip." He rotated into the server position, catching the ball tossed to him by Heather. The rest of his team rotated clockwise with Dylan then in the front beside Amanda. Chandler served in an almost lazy fashion that sent the ball over the net with far less velocity than Todd's service and without brushing the top of the net. Nicole returned it with a simple bounce off her fingertips. She looked very pleased with herself.
Amanda set Dylan up and he dented the sand in nearly the same spot as Chandler. "Two zip," said Chandler.
"Come on girls," said Todd, "you don't want to get spanked do you?"
Heather scowled at Todd. She rubbed her hands together and turned her attention forward. Chandler served. Heather got under the ball and tossed it off her fingertips for Mark to give it a good hit from the back. He rammed his fist into the ball and sent it like a bullet into the sand between Chandler and Stephanie. They bumped heads diving for the ball while it rolled away in the sand.
"Two, one," said Todd.
Chandler helped Stephanie up and Dylan tossed the ball to Nicole, who had moved into the server position. The set went against Nicole and Heather from there on out. It lasted a good half hour with cheers from the lawn chair audience at nearly every point. In the end, they were all sweating, but the score was 25-01. Everyone enjoyed cold drinks out of the coolers before collecting— paying up— on the bet. Stephanie and her teammates celebrated with bottled waters for the guys and carbonated soda for the girls. Todd and Mark downed a pair of beers while Nicole and Heather enjoyed fruit coolers.
Stephanie sipped her cola. She wiped sweat off her forehead and leaned against Dylan while he chugged a big gulp of icy water. "I thought we were in trouble when they scored that one point," she said.
Dylan squeezed her to him and kissed her forehead. "That was probably their best round."
Chandler nodded after finishing a swig of his water. "They keep drinking alcohol like that and they'll be lucky to stay on their side of the net."
Amanda laughed, spilling a few drops of soda onto the sand. "I bet Nicole and Heather are wanting to switch sides as it is."
Stephanie looked across the sand at her older sister. Nicole looked anxious and annoyed, sipping from the glass bottle of her fruit cooler. Heather stood next to her smiling, carefree and totally relaxed. Todd sat on top of the cooler. His pale flesh had turned red all over. He must have neglected putting on sunscreen. Mark stood nearby, laughing with Heather.
Nicole's voice carried on the light breeze blowing in from the lake. Her eyes were on Todd. "You said we couldn't lose."
Todd looked up at her. He drank from his beer can. The smirk no longer resided on his face. Stephanie felt victorious.
Nicole rested her left hand on her hip, just above the blue tie of her bikini bottoms. She drank again from her bottle. Her head shook from side to side like a scolding, disappointed mother. "You're pathetic. Don't you have anything to say to me?"
Todd looked up into her face, his eyes squinting in the sunlight. He brought the beer can back to his lips, tilted his head further back and then looked down at the sand. His shoulders shrugged.
Nicole kicked sand at him.
Mark turned toward Nicole with a look of consternation on his face. "What the hell? It was only the first set and Todd and I haven't played in five years."
Nicole kept her eyes focused on Todd. "Maybe you should have thought about that before you started betting my ass."
Mark looked down at Todd. "Are you seriously going to let a woman talk to you like that?"
Todd took another swig. "I guess she feels better about getting spanked when she's actually earned it."
Nicole kicked more sand. "Bastard."
Mark stepped forward, grabbed Nicole's arm and forcefully bent her forward. His free hand slapped against her blue bikini bottoms in a flurry of a half dozen swats. She squirmed and yelped to no avail, unable to avoid the onslaught or escape his grasp. Mark said, "Keep struggling if you want some more."
Nicole scowled at him, but stopped physically resisting. "Let me go," she demanded.
Todd looked lazily up at Mark. "Let her go."
Mark released her, shaking his head. "You ought to put her over your knee and paddle her bare ass."
Nicole rubbed at her butt. Heather laughed.
Todd looked at Mark and then over at Dylan and Chandler. "I never figured they'd have a chance against us."
Nicole kicked more sand in Todd direction. "Idiot."
Mark glowered at Nicole. "Kick that sand one more time and you'll find out why I keep a spare belt in my glove box."
Nicole's knee quivered. Her foot moved in the sand, almost imperceptibly if not for the slight movement of the grains around the toe of her flip flop. Her gaze locked with Mark's. The moment passed and Nicole backed down.
Mark turned his attention back toward Todd. "Those guys are almost a decade our juniors and in better physical shape than you and I ever were, even at that age. Of course they stand a chance, but so do we." Mark glanced toward Nicole. "The girls just need a little motivation to get them trying harder out there."
Nicole's tongue slipped through her lips, pointing at Mark.
Mark smiled at her. "Go on, kick a little sand at me. You know you want to."
Heather laughed. She laid a hand on Nicole's shoulder. "Come on Nicole, show him that old Pickett spirit in you."
Nicole shook her head and looked back at Stephanie and Amanda. She looked back at Todd with disgust in her eyes. Her gaze settled back on Heather. "Come on," said Nicole. "Let's get this over with."
Nicole and Heather approached Stephanie, Amanda, Dylan and Chandler. Todd and Mark remained behind, drinking their beers. Stephanie took the empty bottles from Heather and Nicole and the empty plastics from Dylan and Chandler. She threw them into the nearby recycling can.
"How do you want to do this?" asked Heather.
Amanda smiled, obviously relieved not to be in Heather or Nicole's place. There was a smugness of superiority twinkling in her eyes as well. "Well first you got to lose an article of clothing."
Nicole stepped out of her flip flops. "I expect those back when we're done."
Dylan chuckled. "You mean when the game is over."
Nicole rolled her eyes. "Uh huh."
Heather's sandals required a bit more unfastening with buckles, but she likewise slipped out of them and stood barefoot on the warm sand. "You gonna use your hand or a flip flop?"
Dylan knelt down and picked up one of Nicole's flip flops. He smacked the underside rubber against his open palm. "I think this will do nicely."
Chandler snatched up the other. "No point in wearing out my hand."
Heather smiled at Chandler. "Just don't wear out my ass either. I've a feeling we'll be doing this a couple more times."
Chandler laughed. "Sounds good to me."
Nicole shook her head. "Not to me."
Dylan wagged the toe of the flip flop at Nicole. "We could just skip to the part where you're naked. Maybe you'd like to do your ballerina performance again."
Stephanie giggled behind Dylan, enjoying the embarrassment flushing over Nicole's face. Dylan turned and wagged the flip flop at Stephanie. He said, "It's not polite to laugh at your sister's misfortune."
Nicole said, "Shouldn't she be doing the ballerina performance?"
Dylan looked back at Nicole. "You got a warning before, so she gets one now." He looked back at Stephanie, "If you do it again, you will find out how much fun your sister had at Adventureland."
Chandler looked over at Dylan. "What do you think?" he asked. "Should we just have them touch their toes or should we find a place where we can put them over our laps?"
Dylan surveyed the nearby beach. There weren't any unoccupied benches to make use of and he didn't much like the idea of putting a girl over his lap while sitting on a rock. "I think it'll be easiest to just have them touch their toes in the volleyball court."
Chandler nodded. "Sounds good to me. What about you girls?"
Heather shook her head. "I'd rather rest over a lap, but it's your show."
Nicole shrugged. "Whatever gets this over with the fastest is fine with me."
Dylan escorted Nicole to the sandy volleyball court followed by Chandler escorting Heather. Stephanie and Amanda made their way to the sideline, but kept enough distance so as to be out of the way. The lawnchair audience began to stir, taking notice of the activity. Nicole bent down and touched her toes with her butt pointed at the majority of the audience. Heather followed suit. Dylan and Chandler took up positions behind and to the side of their respective targets, resting the flip flops on the bikini clad butts which were pushed up into the air.
"You got twenty-five coming," said Chandler.
Dylan said, "Count them aloud, please."
They swung in near perfect synchronization. The rubber soles clapped against the upturned buttocks and echoed in the canyon. Heather counted first and then Nicole. Dylan swung. Chandler swung. The girls counted. A man on a lawnchair said, "I bet they try harder next set."
Chandler grinned at the man. "I hope not."
The collective group laughed. Nicole, looking up at Dylan through her slightly parted legs, said, "Maybe they should all be doing your ballerina. Surely they were close enough to hear your warning to Stephanie."
Dylan whacked the flip flop down on Nicole's butt with a little more force.
"Ow!" cried Nicole.
"I'm not hearing a count," said Dylan. "Maybe we should start over at one."
Nicole gasped for breath, blinking through the sudden sting buzzing around her protruding butt. "Three!" she shouted breathlessly.
Heather followed with a more calm count a moment after the snap of Chandler's flip flop smack echoed off her butt. A giggle escaped Heather's lips. She was enjoying herself, upside down, blonde hair dusting the warm sand, butt wiggling in the air and lightly stinging under the attention of Chandler's spanking efforts. Chandler, for his part, could not have looked happier. A sloppy grin on his face said it all and the loose hold he held on Nicole's flip flop as he swished it through the summer air revealed his utterly relaxed attitude. Amanda would have been jealous, except touching her toes was a position she always preferred to avoid and doubly so when in public.
In contrast, Dylan held a tighter grip on the flip flop in his hand. His lips were flat like those of a parent resigned to the need for spanking, but unhappy about it. The glint in his eyes revealed more, an appreciation, perhaps, of the challenge Nicole presented. She needed disciplining. While Heather giggled, tears stung at the corners of Nicole's eyes. Nicole loathed the childish position, hated the sting being imparted by her very own sandal, taken off her own foot no less. And yet there were no ropes or chains binding her in place. It was merely the stern tone of Dylan's voice, his commanding presence of authority, which kept her fingertips brushing the tops of her pink painted toenails, her long blonde hair tickling her ankles, feet and the yellow sand.
Heather counted her full twenty-five spanks with giggles and smiles. Nicole counted hers with yelps, squeals, and sniffles. Chandler enjoyed applying every swat to the red, white and blue stripes stretched across Heather's well-toned buttocks. Dylan remained stiff and firm in his application, but his eyes hinted at a pride in the light red skin peeking out from the blue confines of Nicole's bikini bottoms and the way the red contrasted with the white flesh of her thighs. The girls stood and massaged their stinging cheeks when it was over. On the lawn chairs, their audience applauded and laughed, watching the girls jiggle their own bits.
Once Nicole and Heather settled themselves from the immediate aftereffects of twenty-five swats, the two groups resumed their places on opposite sides of the net for the next set in their match. Service began with Dylan. Nicole and Heather seemed more energetic playing in their bare feet and the game quickly went from a one-sided event to a closely contested set. Each team scored regularly, keeping the numbers close. They tied at twenty-three.
Stephanie served. Her arms tired from the long play and the ball brushed the top of the net. On the opposite side, Heather slapped it back. The ball brushed over the fingertips of Chandler, uncontrolled. Stephanie ran forward, but a stride too late. It bounced into the sand. Stephanie rested her hands on her hips and caught her breath before bending down to retrieve the ball and sending it over for Nicole's turn to serve. Nicole, tired as her sister, failed to get the ball over the net. The score tied at twenty-four.
Todd tossed the ball under the net to Chandler. "Got to be up by two to win now," said Todd.
Chandler nodded and wiped sweat from his forehead with his forearm while palming the ball in his hand. "I know the rules."
Unlike Stephanie and Nicole, Chandler retained the strength to send the ball over the net with velocity and purpose. Heather set up a perfect spike opportunity for Todd, but Dylan blocked it when Todd's footing slipped in the sand. Chandler served again. Todd returned it with a fast downward thrust. Amanda dove under it and the ball bounced off her doubled fists high into the air. Dylan jumped high and spiked the ball straight into the sand on the other side of the net. Todd and Mark slid on the dirt in failed attempts to get under it in time. Dylan pulled Amanda back to her feet.
Looking through the net at Todd, Dylan nodded and said, "That one could have gone either way. If you want to back out of the bet I won't object."
Chandler rested with his hands on his knees and shook his head. "Me either."
Heather laughed and shook her head, flinging her sweat dampened hair from shoulder to shoulder. "Don't tell me you're too tired to give a spanking?"
Dylan and Chandler laughed. "Just trying to be nice," said Dylan.
Nicole stepped up to the net scowling at Dylan. She looked mad about losing again, but even madder at the suggestion of calling off the bet. "If you have to try, don't bother."
Todd shrugged. "A bet's a bet and this game isn't over yet."
Dylan looked behind him at Stephanie standing next to Chandler and Amanda. "You want to get us some water while we uh, take care of business?"
Stephanie smiled and removed a hand from her hip to mock salute Dylan. "Yes, sir," she said smartly. Stephanie grabbed Amanda by the arm and pulled her along for the short walk back to their umbrellas, towels and the big blue and white cooler.
When they returned, Heather and Nicole were topless, their bikini tops lying in the sand near their feet. Dylan stood behind and to the left of Heather holding the same flip flop he had used previously on Nicole. Chandler was similarly positioned near Nicole, about four feet away from Dylan and Heather. Nicole's face, easily seen through the part of her legs, shined red like a lobster. Heather showed less color and less embarrassment.
"Five," said Heather followed by a fit of giggles.
Chandler slapped the flip flop against Nicole's buttocks. She yelped and swayed her butt from left to right while bending and straightening her knees just enough to give the impression she was moving her butt in a circle. Nicole said, "Five."
Stephanie and Amanda walked closer to the scene and proffered ice cold water bottles toward their respective boyfriends. Amanda asked, "Water?"
Chandler took the bottle and unscrewed the cap with a snap, breaking the plastic seal. He drained a long gulp that emptied a quarter of the bottle. Dylan waved off Stephanie's offer. He said, "Wait until I'm done."
Stephanie nodded and took a couple of steps back to stay out of the way. Heather's breasts were big enough to ensure no one would ever mistake her for a man, but small enough that they were an excellent compliment to her naturally athletic frame. What caught Stephanie's attention was not their size, nor their pertness, nor even the fact her nipples remained soft and relaxed in their open air exposure, but rather the lack of tan lines. Heather spent time in the sun— topless. Given Heather's flirty personality and carefree attitude it should not have surprised Stephanie in the slightest. And yet it did.
Nicole wasn't the type. She liked her elegant evening gowns, her diamonds, and pearls— especially the black pearls— and nowhere in that was there any room for walking around topless or naked. Of course the day at Adventureland had given Nicole's otherwise pale white breasts some tan coloring and Stephanie's too. The underside of Nicole's breasts, easily visible with them hanging upside down while she stretched out to touch her manicured toenails, remained lily white. This was not true of Heather.
Chandler took another sip of water. Dylan slapped Heather's butt with the flip flop. Heather giggled and swayed her butt side to side in a provocative manner. "Six," she called out.
Grinning from ear to ear,Chandler shook his head.
Nicole huffed, moving her heels left to right in the sand. She said, "Can you hurry up? This isn't exactly a comfortable position."
Chandler looked back down at the tight bikini brief stretched across Nicole's well reddened butt. "Sure," Chandler said. He tilted the opening of his water bottle forward, pouring a stream of water over the blue material and soaking it all across her bottom with ice cold water in less than two seconds.
Nicole leapt into the air and grabbed her wet bottom. She jumped around, breasts bouncing up and down as she went, and faced Chandler. Hands still glued to her bottom, shock and outrage beaming out of her eyes, she demandingly said, "What the Hell do you think you're doing?"
Chandler laughed until Nicole stopped holding her butt and instead wrapped her arms in front of her breasts. The smile faded from his lips for the first time the entire day. "I'm giving you a spanking and since you've got so much attitude to throw around I thought I'd make it a wet bottom one at that."
She bristled at the scolding tone in his voice. Her arms hugged tighter across her breast. "You have no right."
He laughed again, but it lacked any trace of humor. "You lost. I have every right, unless of course you want to back out."
Nicole glared at him. She huffed hot air, turned on her heel. "Fine," she said. Her torso bent forward and she leaned down stretching her fingers toward her toes. "Just finish it already."
Chandler passed the water bottle back to Amanda. He took a more serious stance behind Nicole and grasped the flip flop solidly in his hand. It blurred through the air and slapped her wet bikini bottom with a loud crack that sounded somewhere between thunder and a gunshot. She barely got the count out before he whacked the flip flop down again. He kept the fast pace to the end, swinging just as soon as she managed to vocalize the number. Her yelps, whimpers and sniffles were louder than her counting voice and provided ample entertainment for the lawn chair audience watching from the sidelines. It was nearly a full minute after Chandler had finished with Nicole that Dylan finished with Heather.
Heather pecked a kiss on Dylan's cheek when she stood up. The audience applauded. Heather, laughing and enjoying the attention, gave the onlookers an exaggerated curtsy. Nicole rolled her eyes at her friend and stalked away toward Todd and the red cooler with her arms folded across her chest. Heather skipped across the sandy court, following Nicole. Mark offered them each a fruit cooler. Nicole refused. Heather took both.
Dylan picked up the discarded bikini tops from the sand and carried them over to the setup he and Chandler had made earlier in the day. Stephanie followed as did Chandler and Amanda. They sat on the towels underneath the umbrellas and quenched their thirst, Dylan and Chandler with water, Stephanie and Amanda with cola. Late morning was upon them and the sun was starting to beat down hard. The sand seemed to be growing hotter by the minute and the sunlight reflecting off the surface of the lake was near blinding. Even the cool breeze that had been coming off the water turned warm and unrefreshing.
Stephanie dabbed sweat off her face with a spare towel. "This was fun for the morning," she said, squinting at the lake beyond the volleyball net, "but now all I want to do is go for a swim."
Amanda nodded agreement. "It's too damn hot for exercising, even if it does get Nicole's butt warmed."
Stephanie gazed across the sand at her older sister, sitting on the cooler next to Todd, a scowl on her face, with her arms covering her naked breasts. "She sure has gone soft."
Dylan's eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief as he wrapped an arm around Stephanie's shoulders. "She's not the one hiding from the sun and complaining it's too hot."
Stephanie twisted into his arm so she could look up into his face. "I'm not complaining. I was just saying, it'd be nice to take an extended break and go for a swim."
Dylan touched the upturned corner of her lips closest to him with the tip of his index finger. He chuckled and smiled down at her. "Oh," he said, "is that what you were saying?"
She laughed and shook her head, resting it against the muscles in his arm. "Todd was captain of his volleyball team in college."
Dylan raised an eyebrow. "So?"
She continued laughing. "So," she said, "he thought this little game we're playing would be a neat way for him to get even with us. I'm guessing he's learned his lesson."
Chandler looked over at Stephanie. He held Amanda in his arms, the back of her head resting against his sweaty chest while his hands clasped together just beneath her breasts. "We offered him an out already."
Dylan nodded at Chandler and looked back to Stephanie. "He didn't take it."
Chandler said, "There are three sets left and this last one was close. They probably think they can still win."
Amanda nodded. "If we quit now, they do."
Stephanie sat up, free of Dylan's arm. "Then I guess we better go put the final nail in their coffin."
It was Heather's turn to serve. The break had given everyone a chance to recover their energy and the initial rallies were fast paced. Amanda scored the first point with a tap that barely got the ball over the net and left Todd and Mark scrambling because they'd expected a more powerful strike from Dylan. The score quickly rose— 10-0— with Amanda serving and Dylan and Stephanie working perfectly together on the front line. Then Todd made a lucky save and Mark made it count. Dylan and Stephanie had let their guards down. Mark took over service and Nicole joined Todd on the front line. Ten points later, the score was tied and Stephanie and Dylan were starting to look like they were made out of sand from all the times they'd dived and missed the ball. The sideline audience continued to cheer and applaud their efforts.
Mark served the ball. It struck the top of the net and hesitated as if uncertain which side it wanted to fall on before tipping forward. Stephanie, closer than Dylan, rushed the net, arms extended above her head and reading an opportunity to stop the other team's scoring spree. Her fingertips connected with the ball. She landed flat on her back. The ball bounced in the sand beside her.
Dylan rushed to her side and knelt down. "Are you alright?"
She sat up after a minute and nodded. "What happened?"
Dylan flashed a scowl under the net in Todd's direction. "Illegal interference, that's what."
Todd adopted an innocent expression and pretended to be stunned at the accusation. "Her legs crossed under the net, not mine."
Dylan said, "You deliberately tripped her. That's not friendly or sportsmanlike."
"Whoah," said Todd. He slapped his chest with his open palms. "You come across as a pretty sore loser with accusations like that."
Dylan stood up and helped Stephanie to her feet. He glanced back at Todd. "If you can't win without cheating you should have taken the easy out I offered you after the last set." Dylan walked with Stephanie toward the sideline.
Todd called after them. "It's looks to me like you're the one who wants an easy out. You win a couple of times and enjoy collecting on the bet, but as soon as it looks like you could lose you grab the first excuse to run away like a little baby."
Stephanie stopped walking. Dylan stopped. He looked at her and said, "We don't have to do this."
She shook her head. "Yeah, we do. We just have to win."
Dylan turned around and looked at Todd. "We play that point over and if you ever do something like that again, you'll be picking sand out of your teeth for the rest of the summer."
Todd shrugged with a satisfied grin on his face. "Whatever, dude. Let's play."
Mark served again. The ball flew past the net without trouble. Nothing went right for Dylan, Stephanie, Chandler and Amanda. The final score came down— 10-25. Todd got his win.
Dylan shook his head in disgust at the sand. Stephanie shrugged. Chandler hugged Amanda. It was only a set. They still needed just one more set to win and there were two left to be played. Stephanie glanced at Amanda's high heeled sandals, she'd probably play better without them anyway. Twenty-five swats with a flip flop wasn't that bad.
"Over here girls," said Todd with a wave of his hand.
Stephanie had no trouble imagining the yellow feathers of a canary sticking out of the corners of his grinning mouth. Mark looked no less pleased, but his face lacked the smugness smeared across Todd's. Stephanie and Amanda ducked underneath the net and joined the waiting guys. Dylan and Chandler stayed nearby while Heather and Nicole went immediately for the red cooler and the fruit coolers inside it.
Todd looked at Stephanie and Amanda. "You can take your sandals off girls."
They did. A pair of onlookers from the sideline whistled appreciatively.
Todd picked up Stephanie's flip flops and handed one to Mark. Looking at Stephanie, flopping the sandal in his hand, he said, "You don't mind if we make use of these do you?"
Stephanie said, "Just try not to break them."
Todd chuckled. "I'm going to enjoy this," he said. His eyes narrowed on Stephanie. "You're mine. Touch your toes and don't even think of moving from that position until I tell you or we'll start the whole thing over with your bikini off."
Stephanie's cheeks colored red. "That wasn't the deal."
Todd stared her down. "Touch. Your. Toes."
Stephanie bit her lip and touched her toes. Todd walked around behind her and rested the rubber sole of her flip flop against her bikini clad bottom. He placed his free hand on the bare skin of her lower back. "I expect you to count these," said Todd, "and loud enough for all the people on the sidelines to hear you." He slapped the flip flop against her butt. "Understood?"
"One," Stephanie said in a loud, bold voice. Another member of the audience whistled while someone else shouted approval. Stephanie smiled and blushed a bit hotter.
Todd chuckled. "Very nice, but we haven't started yet."
Nearby, Mark had Amanda touching her toes as well. The smile on his face made it clear he was enjoying himself. He liked Amanda, she knew how to have fun and that appealed to him because he was a fun lover himself. His grip on the flip flop was loose and he slapped it against her butt with barely more than a flick of his wrist. Amanda giggled. "That tickles," she said.
Mark smiled wider. "You better count or I'll have to start over." His voice lacked any scolding or authority.
Amanda giggled more. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven."
Mark laughed. "I'm not swinging."
Amanda's giggles turned to laughter. "That's good," she said, "I'm pretty certain Todd and Nicole aren't into that sort of thing."
Mark nearly dropped the flip flop as laughter consumed him for several seconds. "Why?" he asked between chuckles, "Did they turn you and blondy down?"
Amanda twisted her head a little for a better view up at Mark. "Ewwww!"
Mark laughed harder. He lightly slapped the flip flop against Amanda's bikini bottoms seven times. "There," he said, "I think I've caught up."
Amanda giggled. "I think that was one extra."
Todd whacked Stephanie's butt with the flip flop as hard as he could muster for the eighth time while completely ignoring the scene playing out next to him with Mark and Amanda. Stephanie grunted and counted the spank in a loud, clear voice. Her eyes wandered toward her younger sister that she could just barely see off to her right. Stephanie listened to her sister's giggles and found them contagious. A flip flop's sting had nothing on Dad's strap.
"You think this is funny!" Todd's voice squeaked with consternation. His face turned redder than Stephanie's cheeks peeking out from her red bikini bottoms.
Stephanie's giggles turned to outright laughter. "Well, yeah."
Amanda's laughing voice counted out, "Ten."
Todd swung his arm like a maniac. Stephanie could barely keep count with the smacks and as a result, her laughter died out. Sting grew stronger and stronger and she wiggled her butt trying to lighten it. "Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five," she called out. Her fingers relaxed and she prepared herself to rise thinking about her hands massaging the sting out her bottom. The flip flop smacked down twice more. She jumped up, grabbed her butt and whirled on Todd. "Hey! Twenty-five was the max."
Todd shrugged. A smug smile had returned to his lips. "I guess I got caught up in the moment."
Amanda rose up, finishing her own count and gave Mark a light hug. He pecked a kiss on her forehead and, with a chuckle in his voice, said, "You took that well."
Still laughing, Amanda said, "Thanks."
Stephanie and Amanda rejoined Dylan and Chandler with the trailing sound of applause from the lawn chair audience ringing out behind them. The people were truly getting into the spirit of things though they likely were oblivious to the tensions playing out around Todd, Nicole, Stephanie and Dylan. Stephanie and Amanda walked together to their spot under the umbrellas and sat down with cold beverages. Dylan wrapped Stephanie in his arms, with his head resting atop hers while he stared out over the sand at Todd. Chandler sat similarly with Amanda, but his eyes were on Amanda. She drank from her soda can and said, "Well that wasn't so bad."
Chandler smiled. "That Mark guy is alright."
Amanda nodded her agreement.
"Todd," said Dylan, "is a dick."
Stephanie sighed, looking out over the sand at the lake. "He's my sister's husband."
Dylan hugged her tighter. "I'm starting to feel sorry for her."
Amanda looked over at Dylan. "Don't, she's a big girl and she chose to marry him."
Chandler said, "Yeah and by the looks of things, she's got him so wrapped around her little finger he doesn't even know it."
Stephanie laughed. "You can't deny he loves her."
Chandler laughed. "Further proof that love is blind."
Amanda slapped his leg. "That's my sister you're talking about."
Chandler kissed her cheek. "Sorry babe. She's cute and all, but she's got enough attitude to cover every woman in town."
Dylan and Chandler both laughed. Stephanie and Amanda smiled, but held their amusement inside. They finished off their drinks and made their way back over to the volleyball set up. Everyone resumed their positions. Nicole had finally given up on covering her breasts and let her hands hang loosely by her sides, taking a wide stance. Beside her, Heather hunched down, similarly prepared. It was Stephanie's turn to serve the opening rally. She tossed the ball up in the air and, with a little jump, sent it sailing over the net. The ball bounced in the sand between Nicole and Heather near the back line.
Stephanie allowed herself a smile of satisfaction. Heather tossed the ball back to her and she caught it. "One, zero," she said and tossed the ball in the air. A little jump and her fist impacted the ball again in an overhand swing. It sailed on the same path as the first.
Heather intercepted the ball before it hit the sand and Mark easily set the ball for Todd to return it. The ball sped straight at Stephanie and she only got her hands up in time to deflect the ball away from her head. Chandler moved in and sent the ball back over the net only to have it pounded straight into the sand where he should have been standing if he weren't so far back assisting Stephanie.
"One, One," said Todd, taking the ball to serve.
The set went on with each side trading points until the score reached 11-11. Todd and Mark got a pair of back to back lucky bounces and points to match. Their team stayed up by one or two for the remainder of the set. The final point came with Amanda doing an amazing save, sliding on her back in the sand only to have Dylan send the ball into the top of the net and never make it over. 23-25. End of set with each team having won two sets each. Momentum favored Todd, Mark, Heather and Nicole.
Stephanie and Amanda crossed under the net, disappointed to have lost again, but in good spirits with the bet. It was, after all, only a game. They each removed their bikini tops. There were shouts and appreciative whistles from the sidelines. The girls blushed brighter, but chose not to try and cover up because they knew such an action might have nasty consequences. Todd took the bikini tops from their hands, throwing them into the sand near the red cooler. Nicole and Heather sat on the cooler, fruit coolers in hand and clearly enjoyed the shoe— or rather top loss— being on the other foot.
Mark gently took Stephanie by the arm and guided her to a spot away from Todd and Amanda. He wore a happy grin while his gaze locked onto her bare breasts. "You've uh, grown a bit since I last saw you."
Stephanie laughed. "Were you trying to check out my boobs during Todd and Nicole's wedding?"
"Nah," Mark said, "you were jailbait back then."
Stephanie shook her head, blushing and laughing. "Only if you tried to do more than look."
Mark chuckled. "True, true," he said. He glanced at Dylan through the net and then looked back at Stephanie, not her breasts. "So, does the muscle man treat you good?"
Stephanie nodded. "Mostly, except when he thinks I've been bad."
Mark kept chuckling, "So he makes you behave yourself or suffer the consequences?"
Stephanie nodded, still blushing and laughing a little.
Mark said, "Then I'd say he treats you real good."
Stephanie rolled her eyes and laughed. "If you say so."
"Alright," Mark said, waving the flip flop in his hand at her, "I guess you have to touch your toes, though I can't say I mind you just standing there."
"Behave yourself," Stephanie said, smiling. She leaned forward and graced her toes with the tips of her fingers. Mark slapped her butt with the rubber sole in such a light manner it barely even made a sound. "One," she said.
Todd had been gruffer with Amanda. Her arm still showed the white marks of where he'd grabbed it though, she too was bent over, touching her toes. His left hand pressed down on her lower back as he swung the flip flop with unneeded force. Each contact with Amanda's buttocks rang out like a loud stomp in a narrow, high ceilinged hallway. Amanda counted the smacks as loud as her voice could go. She wasn't laughing, giggling or even smiling. Todd appeared smugly pleased at Amanda's sudden lack of frivolity.
Mark delivered the twenty-five swats to Stephanie's backside in a quick yet lazy fashion. She kept smiling throughout the whole experience, though she found it difficult to laugh or giggle without Amanda leading the way. Part of her wanted to take the flip flop from Mark and shove it down Todd's throat. Dylan was absolutely right; Todd was a dick.
Stephanie stood and received a hug and light peck on the forehead from Mark when it was over. Amanda stood up and immediately ran over to Chandler with tears in her eyes. Chandler hugged and kissed her, while glaring at Todd. Todd smiled back, smug and cocky. He was definitely a dick. The lawn chair audience didn't seem to notice. They continued with applause, shouts, and whistles which made clear their enjoyment of the game and bet being played out before their eyes.
After drinks and a bit of cooling off, both teams resumed their places on the sandy volleyball court. Todd, standing at the net with Mark beside him, had the glazed look in his eyes from drinking too much alcohol and eating too little food. He smiled hazily at Dylan , directly across from him on the other side of the net. Todd said, "We're all tied up, how about we make it interesting?"
Dylan raised an eyebrow and took a step back to avoid the draft of beer fumes exiting Todd's mouth. "I think this day's been interesting enough."
"Oh, come on," said Todd. His voice carried on a drunken shrill. "How can a big man like you be afraid of losing to a little guy like me?"
Mark stepped in and patted Todd on the shoulder. He looked over at Dylan. "We're just thinking to make things a little more fun. What do ya say?"
Dylan frowned, but Todd's comment had irritated him enough that his better judgement was taking a backseat. "What are you suggesting?"
Todd smiled, showing his overly white teeth. "Thought you'd never ask."
Mark laughed. "We were thinking to give the ladies a little extra motivation to help their guys win."
Todd clapped his hand on Mark's back. "Yep, we was thinking the loser's girl will lose their swimsuits and sandals for good and have to volunteer to serve for the barbeque and during the fireworks tonight until the party ends."
Nicole stepped forward from behind Todd. "I don't think that's a good idea."
Mark turned and looked at Nicole. "It's a great idea," he said and spun back to face Dylan. "And we can use the belt in my glove box for each of the girl's final twenty-five licks."
Dylan glanced at Nicole. Her face expressed nothing but horror and a total lack of confidence that her team was actually going to gain the 15 points necessary to win the tie-breaking set. Dylan said, "Alright, but since it's a tie-breaker why don't we make the final spankings fifty swats for each girl."
Amanda's eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she stared at the three guys. Stephanie moved forward and whispered into Dylan's ear. "What do you think you're doing? We've been doing nothing but losing the last two sets."
Dylan glanced back at and swatted her butt with his hand. "Then I guess you'll be well motivated to play your best this final set."
Heather stepped forward on the other side of the net. "This is starting to sound more like punishment than fun."
Todd nodded. "That's cause it is. I'd say you and Nicole didn't try very hard the first couple of matches and Stephanie and Amanda have been sloughing off the last couple."
Mark smiled at Heather and looked around at the four girls. "If either pair of you had put in the effort from start to finish, this would already be over, but since you didn't you only have yourselves to blame."
Dylan nodded. "And good sore bottoms for the rest of the day will make it a lesson well learned."
Amanda stared back at Chandler, expecting him to come to her defense. Chandler looked at Dylan and shrugged. "I think we've got ourselves a deal."
Nicole scowled at the guys. "This is bullshit!"
Heather giggled at her friend's reaction.
Dylan nodded at Todd. "I think your wife could use her mouth washed out."
Todd looked at Nicole. "Shut your trap and get your head in the game." Nicole's mouth dropped open and she blinked astonishment at her husband. Todd looked back at Dylan. "If I need advice on handling my wife, you're the last person I'll ask."
Dylan shrugged. "Whatever."
The final set began much the same as the fourth had, with each side scoring and neither pulling ahead by more than a point at time. With the score 11-11, it was Nicole's turn to serve. She sent the ball over the net with easy clearance and moderate velocity. Dylan intercepted, Amanda set the ball and Dylan returned it over the net with a downward spike that looked to be an easy point. Todd reacted just fast enough. He dove into the sand and got under the ball with his doubled fists, sending it straight up in the air right next to the net. Mark had also ran to get under the ball, but on seeing Todd sliding in the sand, altered his trajectory and jumped in the air doing a complete 360 spin and spiking the ball down on the other side.
Dylan barely got under the ball in time, sending it straight up in the air in an almost identical play to Todd's. Amanda jumped high into the air, her dark hair flowing behind her like a cape. She hit the ball with a single closed fist and sent into the sand on the other side between Todd and Mark as they scrambled to get back into position. Amanda landed in the sand on the other side of Dylan as he rolled to his feet. He shook his head at her, surprise sparkling in his eyes. "Not bad," he said.
Amanda grinned from ear to ear sitting in the sand with her legs in a V. "Not bad?" She slapped her legs with her open palms. "That was awesome!"
Chandler ran over and helped Amanda to her feet. He kissed her on the lips. "You are definitely awesome, babe."
Amanda caught the ball thrown at her by Mark. She walked toward the serving position with Chandler. "Now we just have to get a two point lead and keep it."
Chandler nodded and slapped her butt. "Yeah, but that shouldn't be a problem. It's your serve and in case you haven't noticed, we tend to win when you're serving."
Amanda smiled thinking about it. "You know," she said, "I think you're right."
Chandler took up his new place in the sand to the left of Amanda. Dylan stood poised for action in front of her and Stephanie rubbed her hands together and bounced on her knees in front of Chandler. There was an energy of excitement flowing between the four of them. Amanda tossed the ball in the air and sent it like a rocket to the other side of the net. Heather got under it, but her attempt to pass the ball forward ended in disaster. The ball struck the center of the net and fell into the sand.
"Thirteen, eleven." Amanda smiled and served again.
Todd and Mark returned the ball, but so did Dylan and Stephanie. Dylan sent the ball deep toward Heather. Nicole and Heather collided in their attempt to get to the ball and the ball landed in the sand. Mark shook his head at the two girls and laughed. He said, "You're supposed to hit the ball, not each other."
Nicole glared at Mark. "Shut up!"
Heather tossed the ball back to Amanda. She looked over at Nicole. "It's just a game."
Nicole scowled at Heather. "You won't be saying that when Dylan's blistering our asses with a belt."
Heather shrugged. "It's not my first spanking."
Nicole rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Mine either, but I really don't fancy spending the rest of the holiday serving other people food and drink in my birthday suit. I've done that before too and it's not fun or a game."
Heather nodded and smiled at Nicole. "Well then I guess we better not let them score any more points."
Todd looked back at Heather and Nicole. "That sounds like an excellent idea."
Amanda served the ball. Todd set it up for an easy return from Mark. Stephanie set it up for Dylan and he sent it back over. Nicole got under it and bumped it forward to Mark. Mark set for Todd and Todd gave the ball a good spike toward the center of the playing area on the other side. Amanda moved in and bumped it forward to Dylan, sliding in the sand on her knees. Dylan set for Stephanie and she sent it back straight at Nicole. Nicole managed to hit the ball, sending it sideways to Heather. Heather bumped it forward to Mark and he sprung it off his fingertips to go over the net behind his back. Dylan was waiting and spiked the ball down to Mark's feet even as Mark spun back toward the net.
"Fourteen, eleven," Amanda called, holding the ball in her hands. She tossed it in the air. "Game point." She slammed her fist into the ball and it shot across the net deep into the playing area. Nicole swung her doublehanded fists into the ball and it went flying up over her head and bouncing in the dirt, way out of bounds and on the wrong side of the net.
Stephanie jumped up with her hands in the air. "Woo hoo!"
There were cheers and applause from the sidelines.
Dylan laughed at Stephanie. Amanda skipped over to Chandler and jumped into his arms. He kissed her and spun her around in circle. "I told you," said Chandler, "you serve, we win." He put her back down on the sand.
Amanda giggled. "I'm awesome."
Chandler laughed. "You'll get no argument from me."
Dylan wrapped his arms around Stephanie and kissed her forehead. "You're pretty awesome too."
Stephanie laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head down to kiss him. Their lips parted. "You're not so bad yourself."
He patted her bottom. "Even though I spank you when you act like a brat?"
She blushed and giggled. "Maybe more so then."
Dylan smiled down at her and nodded.
Mark crossed under the net and extended his hand to Dylan. "Well played."
Dylan shook his hand. The grip was firm and brief. There wasn't any animosity between them. "Could have gone either way today, but I guess we were just a little luckier."
Mark nodded. He looked over at Chandler and Amanda. "Good game."
Chandler nodded. "Good game."
Mark glanced behind him where Nicole and Heather were standing together looking sheepish and very unexcited about what they knew would be coming their way. He twisted back toward Dylan. "Give me five and I'll be back with that belt from my truck."
Dylan looked over at Heather and Nicole. They weren't going to enjoy the fifty licks they had coming. "Thanks," he said to Mark.
Todd sat down on the cooler with a beer in one hand and the volleyball in the other. He took a long sip. His gaze drifted toward his wife and her friend. He waved his beer arm at them, signalling them to move from the far end of the volleyball court to where Dylan and Chandler were waiting on the other side of the net. "Games over," said Todd. "Time to pay the piper."
Nicole shot a nasty gaze at Todd. Her hand moved as if to give him another nasty gesture as well, but Heather grabbed her wrist before it went anywhere. Together, they walked across the sand, under the net and joined Dylan and Chandler. Stephanie and Amanda stood nearby, hiding any pleasure they were feeling behind masks of friendly, supportive smiles.
Chandler looked Nicole and Heather over. He pointed at their bikini bottoms. "I think you've lost the right to wear those."
Nicole scowled at him. Her lips parted and closed, swallowing whatever comeback had flashed through her thoughts. She slipped her thumbs into the waistband and stripped herself naked in a single smooth motion. Her hand swiped up the flimsy garment and held it out toward Chandler. On the sidelines there was laughter and applause. Heather simply blushed and pulled her bottoms down and off. She too held them out for Chandler. He took both and turned, holding them out toward Stephanie and Amanda. Amanda stepped forward, collected the bottoms and then left with Stephanie, making their way back to the umbrellas and towels further up the beach.
Dylan and Chandler looked the naked girls over. Nicole held her arms in front of her, arms running down and hiding her nipples from view while her hands clasped together in a mostly successful attempt to hide her vagina from view. Heather stood more casually, accepting her state of undress and the reality that her nudity would be seen by anyone in the vicinity. Her arms dangled by her sides. Dylan said, "Hands on your heads girls, this time it's punishment."
Heather blushed a little pinker and quickly moved her hands in compliance. Her elbows pointed straight out to her sides and her fingers intertwined on the back peak of her sweaty blonde hair. She straightened her back, standing tall with her breasts pushed up and out. Chandler nodded smiling approval at her and her eyes twinkled with mischievous satisfaction.
Nicole moved slower. Her face blushed scarlet, undoubtedly recalling the recent embarrassing trip to Adventureland. She interlaced her fingers on the top of her head. Her elbows dragged down a touch and she remained standing lazily, tired. Her breasts, larger than Heather's, drooped more than they perked. She squeezed her legs together, though it did nothing to hide her neatly trimmed bush. Dylan shook his head at her. "Stand up straight," he said. Her back straightened. "Elbows up." She raised her elbows to point straight out from the sides of her head. "Feet, shoulder distance apart." She bit her lower lip and separated her legs.
Mark returned with the belt coiled up in his hand. It was brown leather, dark, smooth, warn. The buckle had been removed and all that remained were a pair of brass snaps that held the leather bend closed. It looked to be two inches wide and the narrow end, rolled into the center of the coil, had a point to it that probably shaved a half inch from the width at the tip. Dylan took it from Mark and let it uncoil toward the sand. The punch holes looked like they'd never been used.
Dylan thanked Mark and turned to Chandler. "Do you want to do the honors or shall I?"
Chandler smiled and shook his head. "They're all yours, Dyl. I'm just gonna stand back here and watch." He took a half dozen steps backward, giving Dylan ample room to work. Amanda and Stephanie joined him with ice cold beverages fresh from their cooler. Chandler took one of the water bottles.
Amanda looked toward the red cooler with Todd sitting on top. In the sand next to the cooler, her and Stephanie's bikini tops were visible as well as their sandals. She looked from Dylan to Chandler. "When do we get our tops and sandals back?"
Dylan tore his eyes away from Nicole and Heather, glanced at Amanda and turned his attention on Mark. His head jerked toward Stephanie and Amanda behind him. "Do you have any objection to giving them their things back?"
Mark chuckled. "Only that it will impair my view."
Stephanie and Amanda blushed a little redder in the face. They each stood with their arms at their sides, holding open cola cans in their right hands and Stephanie held an unopened water bottle in her left. Neither had been making any attempt to hide their bare breasts from view though they weren't exactly standing in ways to make themselves overly visible to the nearby lawn chair audience either. They both shuffled their feet in the sand and dropped their gazes low upon noticing Dylan, Chandler, and Mark openly staring at them.
Dylan said, "Well they did lose two sets."
Mark nodded. "And part of the deal was they lose an article of clothing for each one."
Stephanie stared up at Dylan. "Part of the deal was also that we got everything back when the match was over."
Chandler shrugged beside Amanda. "Yeah, but we changed that part of the agreement before the fifth set."
Amanda looked at Chandler. Her face displayed a complete lack of amusement. "That was for the losers. We won."
Mark's head bobbed left and right as he chuckled. "The last set sure, but the two before it you lost."
Stephanie folded her arms in front of her. "That's not fair."
Dylan, Mark, and Chandler spoke in unison. "Life isn't fair."
Amanda grabbed Stephanie's arm with her free hand. "Come on, we still have our sarongs and we don't really need sandals on the beach anyway."
Mark laughed.
Dylan shook his head. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said. "One more step and you'll both be as naked as Heather and Nicole."
Stephanie and Amanda stopped in their tracks. Their heads spun toward Dylan. Stephanie said, "We didn't lose our sarongs."
"You can't just keep changing the rules," said Amanda.
Dylan laughed. Chandler looked over at Mark. "Get 'em there things before they decide to throw a tantrum."
Mark nodded, laughing. "Sure thing." He jogged across the sand and swiped the bikini tops and sandals up from the sand beside the cooler. Todd barely acknowledged his presence. Mark returned to the others and handed Amanda and Stephanie's things over to Chandler.
Chandler directed his attention at Nicole and Heather for a moment before returning his gaze to Stephanie and Amanda. "When they've had their spankings you can have your things back. Fair enough?"
Stephanie and Amanda returned to their previous positions beside Chandler. They both nodded acceptance. Amanda said, "I can live with that."
Dylan winked at Stephanie before turning his focus back on the two naked girls— Nicole and Heather— standing in the sand with their hands stiffly resting atop their blonde heads of hair. Impatience shined in both of their eyes just as the embarrassment of their situation shined on their red cheeks. Dylan rolled the belt around his right hand until only about fifteen inches remained dangling free, tipped by the narrowed end of the belt. He said, "You're each going to get fifty. I expect they'll sting a bit more than the flip flop did earlier, but if you stay in position, touching your toes, and don't make too much of a fuss, that'll be it."
Heather's eyes glued themselves to the strip of belt dangling from Dylan's hand. The flip flops hadn't phased her in the slightest. Her breaths turned shallow as she stared. A slight quiver arose on her lower lip. In Stephanie's eyes the most notable change though, was the new stiffness of Heather's nipples. Perhaps the situation excited her, but the largeness of her eyes suggested a more likely emotion— Fear.
Nicole's stare favored the sand at Dylan's feet. Her entire body featured a pink flush. Utter, overwhelming embarrassment, Stephanie thought although she also knew it could have just been the effect of the bright sun on her sister's fair skin and the sunscreen wearing off. Nicole's elbows were starting to droop again, likely a result of being tired from the long morning and early afternoon of physical activity. She had never been much for physical activity or sports, even in school. Stephanie recalled hearing about Nicole's spankings from her physical education teacher for attempts at opting out of exercise or even on at least one occasion of trying to cheat her way through a routine.
"However," said Dylan after a short pause allowing his initial words to sink into Nicole and Heather's thoughts, "if you do make a fuss, get out of position or otherwise disrupt your spanking I will have you run 25 laps around the perimeter of this volleyball court and start your spanking over at the beginning. Is that clear?"
Heather nodded.
Nicole's gaze lifted to Dylan's face. Her mouth dropped open. Objections lingered silently on her tongue. She closed her lips and nodded, lowering her gaze back to the sand.
"I can't hear you," said Dylan.
"Yes, sir," they responded in soft voices, barely audible over the ambient noise surrounding them on the beach.
Dylan nodded and directed his focus on Heather. "Go to the center of the net, stand an arm's length away and face the lake."
"Yes, sir," said Heather. She turned sharply and walked at a deliberate pace toward the center of the net. Once there, she turned perpendicular from the net and looked out over the lake. All the while, she kept her hands on her head, her back straight and her elbows sharply pointed out.
At Nicole, Dylan said, "You're going to go over to the pole," he pointed at the red pole holding up the net, opposite where Todd sat on the cooler, "and face the lake with your nose planted on the pole."
Nicole's head twisted to follow Dylan's finger. The pole was near the majority of lawn chair spectators, most of whom were guys she knew from around town, some with their wives, some single, all familiar enough for her to know this would not be the last time she would see them. Her voice shook as she spoke. "Yes, sir."
As she began walking toward the pole, Dylan said, "And keep your back and elbows straight."
She straightened taller mid-stride and her elbows rose to sharper points. Dylan walked over to Heather once he was satisfied with Nicole in position at the pole. He stood behind Heather and off to her left. The belt swayed in the warm afternoon breeze, bouncing against his tan leg. Dylan's voice boomed with authority. "Legs wide apart."
Heather adjusted her stance, spreading her legs apart until her feet were between two and a half and three feet apart. Dylan nodded approval, though Heather could not see it. She asked, "Is this good, sir?"
"Acceptable," Dylan said. "Bend forward, keeping your knees straight, and touch your toes."
"Yes, sir," said Heather. Her hands extricated themselves from each other and abandoned the top of her head. She leaned forward, stretching her arms and fingers toward her toes. Her head hung in the middle of the upside down V formed by her open legs. Blood rushed to her face and she blinked, staring at the audience behind her. She could even seen Nicole, nose planted on the red net pole, a foot on either side of it and the nipples of her breasts separated by it. The situation didn't have her laughing, likely because she realized her privates, her breasts, her face, and her butt were all plainly visible to everyone on the beach behind her. Heart pounding embarrassment was unavoidable.
Dylan laid the belt on Heather's buttocks. The flesh was already pink from the flip flop spankings given earlier and likely made pinker by the hot sun overhead. He dragged the leather over her exposed skin. She held steady and still. Dylan appeared pleased. "Count each one loud and clear or it won't count."
"Yes, sir," said Heather.
The belt sped through the warm air in a brown blur. It snapped on impact with Heather's butt, leaving behind a bright pink stripe that made the previous pink coloring appear almost white. She gasped and her eyelids fluttered opened and closed a half dozen times in an instant. The glossiness of tears filled her eyes. Stephanie imagined the fierce sting had taken Heather by surprise. "One," Heather counted as Dylan stood poised to deliver a second spank.
He swished the belt through the air again. Its aftermath left a second pink stripe lower yet parallel to the first with only a narrow strip of white separating the two. Heather gasped again. Her eyes blinked. A pair of tears, one from each eye, spilled out from the corners and slid off her face into her hair. She sucked in air and moaned. Her normally confident voice took on a whininess. "Two," she said. "That really hurts."
Dylan held the belt at ready. "It's meant to." The snap of the belt's contact echoed in the open air.
Heather cried out even as the third pink stripe rose to decorate her bare butt. She sniffled. More tears slipped from her eyes. Her face expressed the sting growing in her posterior without uncertainty for all those watching. A tremor ran through her body as she fought off the reflexes that undoubtedly demand she soothe, comfort, and protect herself. "Three," she said.
Dylan continued at a measured pace, giving Heather ample time to count and maintain control. The stripes across her butt covered from center of her buttocks down to the tops of her thighs and were retraced over until no strips of white skin remained only red, bordered with brighter red. At twelve, tears began streaming steadily from her eyes and each passing spank brought her voice to a higher pitch. At twenty-five Dylan stopped, holding the belt loosely at his side and running his left hand lightly over the hot red flesh he had painted on Heather's bottom.
"When I tell you," said Dylan, "you will stand up straight, return your hands to the top of your head and turn yourself 180 degrees so you back is to the water. You will not rub your bottom, nor will you close your eyes or attempt to hide or comfort yourself in anyway. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir," said Heather in a squeaky voice.
Dylan nodded. "Good. You can do that now."
Heather rose, her hands hesitated for a mere second on their way to land atop her head. She turned smartly and stared straight ahead. The onlookers were grinning enthusiastically, enjoying the whole show. Heather's face was almost as red as her bottom. Tears streaked down her cheeks, splattering against her breasts. Her breath was labored and heavy.
Dylan raised his voice. "Nicole, you will come here and take Heather's place. Heather, you will take Nicole's place." He snapped the fingers on his left hand. "Now, girls!"
Nicole and Heather rushed to trade places. Satisfied, Dylan instructed Nicole to face the lake, spread her legs, and touch her toes. Just as Heather, Nicole's expression revealed exactly how much she despised the view between her spread legs. Her audience couldn't have disagreed more. Dylan, gently laid the belt on Nicole's buttocks, they were more red than the pink of Heather's in the beginning. He dragged the leather over her skin until it fell free.
"You'll want to count these loud and clear or they will be repeated until you do," said Dylan. "Is that clear?"
Nicole nodded, upside down. Her large breasts bounced with the motion and she blushed even brighter.
"I expect an answer," said Dylan and he lashed the belt down on the lower curvature of her butt.
Nicole yelped. "Yes, sir."
Dylan said, "Better."
He brought the belt down on the center of her buttocks. It left a stripe of redder flesh. She yelped again and after a moment catching her breath counted the spank. Dylan delivered the spanking with the same measured pace he had used on Heather. Nicole emitted more verbal distress than Heather, but the tears didn't start flowing from her eyes until the count reach eighteen. From there to twenty-five, sniffles accompanied her verbal outbursts of pain. Her buttocks glowed with a sheen of bright red stripes lining their way from the center of her cheeks to the upper thighs. Dylan ceased the spanking after delivering the twenty-fifth spank.
The girls switched places. Heather spread her legs and touched her toes on command from Dylan. The stripes on her butt had not diminished during the short respite. Her tears had though. Dylan felt her buttocks with his left hand, the flesh wobbled freely without tension. Heather's face remained flushed red with embarrassment.
Dylan said, "These are going to be faster and harder."
"Please," said Heather in a panicked voice.
"This is punishment," he said. "If you'd given all your effort from the first set we wouldn't be here, but you didn't. I imagine this spanking will stay with you and the next time you're faced with a challenge you'll put your best foot forward from beginning to end. Am I right?"
Heather sniffled. "Yes, sir."
Dylan turned toward the audience. He raised his voice. "Could I ask you folks for some help?"
A pair of guys near the center of the group responded first. "Sure." The rest of the lawn chair onlookers joined in with nods or other signals of approval.
"Thanks," Dylan said with a smile. "I was hoping you folks wouldn't mind counting these next spanks for us."
Heather, in a choked voice, said, "I can count."
Dylan glanced back at her, bending down enough so he could see her face between her legs. "I think these might be a little too intense for you to keep up and I don't really want to give you any extras."
"Oh," Heather said. Her eyes revealed how much she hated the idea of the audience counting, but they also showed her realistic understanding of the situation and the practicality of Dylan's words. "Okay."
The audience agreed to Dylan's request by unanimous consent. He turned his attention back on Heather and her well presented buttocks. He raised the belt into the air. Heather sucked in a deep breath, her eyes locked on the belt hovering above her naked butt. Dylan whisked the belt down. It blurred through the air and struck her red butt center cheeks with a loud snap. The onlookers counted in a chorus. The belt struck again. Heather cried out. The chorus counted. Dylan kept swinging, the belt a blur of brown in the hot summer air. Tears spilled from Heather's eyes and she yelped and wailed at the sting and heat being imparted onto her bottom. The chorus kept perfect count. Her legs trembled, her fingers threatened to dart away from her toes with a tremendous shaking pulsing through her body. There was pain, embarrassment, shame wracking its way through her with every spank of the leather. A commitment for the future shimmered in her wet eyes— She would never again fail to try her best.
"Twenty-five," the chorus chanted.
Heather could see the belt dangling at Dylan's leg. The spanking was over. Her butt screamed with fire and sting, but the spanking was over. The tears glistening in her eyes said it with relief and contriteness.
Dylan said, "It's over." He helped her raise up. She buried her head into his chest and gripped his arms for support. He hugged her gently. "You're alright," he said.
Heather collected herself after a moment of crying into his chest. She pulled back, her hands not quite confident enough to rub at her shiny red bottom. "Thank you," she said.
Dylan smiled at her, lowering himself to look into her teary eyes. "I think you've learned your lesson."
Heather nodded, a weak smile turning up her lips. "Yes, sir, that I have."
With a nod, he said, "Good. Hands back on your head." She raised her hands into position, her face showed the command had been expected. "The rest of the afternoon and this evening should reinforce the lesson. Now, if you would be so good as to take Nicole's position at the pole and send her back over here, I'd be appreciative."
"Yes, sir," said Heather, her normal voice returning somewhat. She turned sharply and marched her way to the pole, Nicole left the pole for the center area in front of the net near Dylan. Heather parked her nose on the pole and proudly displayed her spanked butt to the audience.
Nicole stood facing the lake just a step in front of Dylan, her legs already spread the distance apart. "Shall I touch my toes?" she asked with venom in her tone.
Dylan looked over at Todd, still sitting on the red and white cooler watching the scene with a glazed, beer-enhanced detachment. He asked in a loud voice, "Would you mind if I give your wife a few extra for her smart attitude?"
Todd looked blankly at Dylan. He almost seemed confused, seeing Nicole standing naked, hands on head, next to Dylan. He waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Do what you want," he said with a slur. "You won, punish the bitch all night long if you want." Todd stood up and swayed a little side to side. Nicole gasped at him, her eyes blinking furiously in disbelief. Todd stumbled away up the beach. Mark trailed after him.
Dylan looked back at Nicole. "Unless you want an extra set of twenty-five, I suggest you take a cue from your friend and adopt a more contrite attitude."
Nicole kept quiet. Her eyes burned with the attitude and biting words she wanted to say. Somehow she kept it all inside. Stephanie felt there were more than a few people present who wished she'd opted for the extra spanks. Amanda was definitely one of them.
Dylan instructed Nicole to touch her toes and she complied without hesitation. He turned to the crowd and requested their assistance once more. They were more than happy to be a part of the proceedings. Men and women alike shared in the excitement. Nicole had been a favorite Prom Queen once upon a time, but in the present she was thought of a bit less favorably. At one point or another Nicole had likely insulted, annoyed or just been plain rude to each of them on some encounter in town.
The belt hung in the air, held in Dylan's firm grasp. "Are you ready?" he asked Nicole.
Looking at the crowd looking back at her was intimidating. She replied in a quiet, subdued voice. "Yes, sir."
Dylan swung. The belt whizzed through the open air. Leather cracked against Nicole's already red butt. She yelped. Her butt wiggled from side to side. The chorus of onlookers counted. The belt cracked down again, low on her butt, high on her thighs. She howled at the sand. The chorus counted. Dylan kept pace, bringing the belt crashing back down again and again. Nicole swayed her butt from side to side. She yelped, cried and eventually pleaded for mercy with little girl promises of perfect behavior. Stephanie and Amanda wore big smiles at the sound of those pleas, but carefully avoided laughing. Dylan continued the spanking without pause or consideration of her pleas and promises. The crowd counted. Nicole's butt glistened a brilliant red under the hot summer sun. She sobbed and sniffled and cried out at every crack of the belt against her burning, stinging, bouncing bottom.
The chorus counted. "Twenty-five."
Dylan assisted Nicole to her feet. He offered her a comforting hug, but she refused. Her hands raised to her head without the order leaving his lips. Dylan nodded. He pointed toward the pole with the red cooler next to it. "You can stand there with your nose on that pole and hands on your head until the barbeque is ready for your assistance."
Nicole nodded. "Yes, sir." she said with the strain of tears still on her voice. She marched her way to the pole, placed her nose against it and stared along the length of the net at her friend, staring back at her. They stayed there for a half an hour before the afternoon barbeque got going. Then, they were put to work, first distributing cold drinks around an area of picnic tables set up for the fourth of July occasion. Later, they served the food, the potato chips, the potato salad, and even more drinks. More than a few hands took the opportunity of them walking past, to slap their bare red fannies and impart a little extra sting and embarrassment to their situation. Heather and Nicole kept blushing the entire mid and late afternoon right into the evening.
When night fell, Stephanie and Dylan parked themselves on a towel near the lake, beneath the open sky. The stars shined bright and clear against the black. Moonlight reflected off the water and gave the beach a shimmering glow. Dylan's arm wrapped around Stephanie from behind. He kissed her cheek. Fireworks began to explode overhead, crackling, whistling and whirring along their way before turning into brilliant colors of mostly red, white and blue.
"Happy fourth of July," said Dylan.
Stephanie turned her head to the side. Under the illumination of the fireworks, she spotted Nicole serving bottled drinks to a nearby group also watching the firework display. She remained stark naked, her butt, still red and beneath the blinking lights of the fireworks, appeared to be glowing. Stephanie smiled and turned her head just enough more to see Dylan from the corner of her eye. "Happy fourth of July."
He leaned forward, cradling her back into his arms and kissed her on the lips.
Posted by Ashley J 8 comments:
The Picket Family Summer, Part 02
The Pickett Family Summer, Part 01


text:
Billy Joel – Streetlife Serenade (1974): Everybody does their share of losing
Dan S. / September 7, 2011
Rating: ★★★ (out of five)
Piano Man is such a satisfying album in part because it's so obviously a full-hearted, emotionally-draining effort. That makes it less surprising — though no less disappointing — that Streetlife Serenade sounds exhausted and depleted.
Streetlife Serenade crystallizes the faint western hints on Piano Man and ends up with a loose concept album about life on the west coast. But where Elton John's western album told tales of cowboys and guns and saloons, Joel chronicles the modern frontier: 9-to-5 work life and Los Angeles indulgence and suburban routine. It's as unromantic as it sounds.
Joel headlines the album with two ill-conceived attempts at profound social observation. The title track (rather, the almost-title track Streetlife Serenader) outlines the theme of everyday encounters that the rest of the album would largely follow. It strives too hard to be profound and fails to redeem itself with a memorable tune.
The second of these is Los Angelenos at least provides a strong melodic background. But it stumbles just as hard as Streetlife Serenader in its attempts at incisive observation. Perhaps a more precise, explicit chronicle of aimless indulgence could have worked along the lines of Captain Jack.
The next track, Great Suburban Showdown, captures a hazy warmth and succeeds slightly more than the opening tracks at chronicling a way of life. It also seems to be a thinly veiled dismissal of his roots on the east coast – "I'm gone with the wind and I won't be seen again." It's a bit ironic then that his homecoming would provide a creative spark two years later.
In all, the opening three tracks feel like a misfire. They foreshadow Joel's continual failure to be a social critic. Joel's poetry works best when it's about himself and/or Long Island. Any broader than that and he runs into trouble.
Fortunately, the later tracks redeem the package from being a complete disaster. After a brief instrumental detour (more on instrumentals later), Joel unleashes five straight compelling tracks. The best of these is The Entertainer, a song that succeeds on a few levels.
First, it serves a nice complement to Everybody Loves You Now, with Joel now the one "at the center of the stage." And how does he find it? Just as ungratifying and lonely as he projected. The Entertainer is a brilliant trashing of the music industry: himself, the labels, even the fans.
Particularly memorable is the verse where he reflects on Piano Man's title track: "It was a beautiful song / But it ran too long / If you're gonna have a hit / You gotta make it quick / So they cut it down to 3:05." It recalls the frustrating release of the Piano Man single, summarized here.
The Entertainer is also the most sonically panoramic track Joel had yet recorded. It showcases Joel's first prominent use of an electric keyboard and features a number of different instruments jamming in the background of each verse.
Its strong melody paired with compelling lyrics and sonic expansion make it the jewel of Streetlife Serenade and one of the better tracks of Joel's early career.
Another strong track on the album is Roberta, the fifth track on the album. It covers a narrative that's almost a cliche at this point — falling in love with a prostitute or a stripper — but does so with grace and one great line after another. It's one of Joel's few tracks where the lyrics are much more compelling than the song itself.
A few tracks later, Joel really nails the western vibe for the first time in a pair of songs, Last of the Big Time Spenders and Weekend Song. The former is a pretty generic love song and covers a well-trod Joel theme: I'm not rich or fancy, but I can give you my time, music, and love.
The latter, though, is a great example of why it's worthwhile to go through each of Billy Joel's albums, not just greatest hits discs. I don't want to overstate Weekend Song's greatness, but it's a track that should have been a single. The song blends a honky-tonk melody and earnest lyrics to a strong effect.
To close out the excellent five-song stretch is the shortest track Joel ever recorded, Souvenir, which clocks in at 1:59. It has a spectacular finality to it: "Every year's a souvenir that slowly fades away." In many ways it captures Joel's struggle for significance that's defined much of his career. For years, he closed every concert with this song, and I can't think of a more fitting finale.
Souvenir would have been a perfect album capper, but Joel goes ahead and ruins the close of the album with the inclusion of another instrumental. Here's my issue with the instrumentals: They're just taking up space that would have been better used by full songs.
The more defensible of the two instrumentals is Root Beer Rag which seems to echo the ragtime stereotypically played in old west saloons. It matches the western feel of the album. But The Mexican Connection, which closes the album, really makes it sound like Joel just ran out of time to write lyrics. It detracts from an impressive closing stretch on the album and leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth.
In all, it just feels like there's less music and fewer ideas on this album than Piano Man — subtract the instrumentals, and you're left with eight short tracks, one of which runs less than two minutes. And the overall quality of the songs is a grade below the songs on Piano Man in spite of a few gems.
Fortunately, the peak of his career was just on the horizon, and Streetlife Serenade ends up an inconsistent oddity, barely a blip on the radar, rather than a harbinger.
This post is part of The Month of Billy Joel series.
September 7, 2011 in Music. Tags: album review, Billy Joel, Billy Joel Month, dan
← Billy Joel – Piano Man (1973): Sharing a drink they call 'loneliness'
Billy Joel – Turnstiles (1976): Moving on is a chance you take →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
cd $(dirname ${BASH_SOURCE:-$0})/..

bundle install --path vendor/bundle
npm install

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


James MC CORMICK was born on 13 Apr 1866 in , Beaver, Pennsylvania. He died in 1951 in , Beaver, Pennsylvania. James married Annetta BRUNTON in , Beaver, Pennsylvania.
Annetta BRUNTON [Parents] was born about 1866 in , Beaver, Pennsylvania. She died after 14 Oct 1909 in , Beaver, Pennsylvania. Annetta married James MC CORMICK in , Beaver, Pennsylvania.
Francis Anderson ROBB [Parents] was born on 14 Aug 1862 in Beaver City, Beaver, Pennsylvania. He died on 7 Jan 1908 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Francis married Mary Ethel JONES on 15 Jun 1884.
Mary Ethel JONES was born on 3 Oct 1865 in Pittsburg, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. She died on 23 Jun 1930 in Mt. Lebanon, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Mary married Francis Anderson ROBB on 15 Jun 1884.
Ellen Claire ROBB was born about 1886 in , , Pennesylvania.
F ii Frankie Ethel ROBB was born about 1888. She died in 1961.
F iii Marion Dene ROBB was born on 9 Jun 1893. She died on 7 May 1927.
Jonas STROUSE. Jonas married Anna.
Anna. Anna married Jonas STROUSE.
F i Lydia A. STROUSE was born on 15 Mar 1842. She died on 23 Oct 1910.
Edward R. WHAN was born in Sep 1861 in , , Indiana. He died in Jan 1951 in Swan Twp, Noble, Indiana. Edward married Anna Eliza VEAZEY in 1889.
Anna Eliza VEAZEY [Parents] was born on 9 Jul 1860 in Swan Twp, Noble, Indiana. She died on 18 May 1908 in Wabash, Wabash, Indiana. Anna married Edward R. WHAN in 1889.
Elias A. WARNER. Elias married Minnie M. VEAZEY.
Minnie M. VEAZEY [Parents] was born about 1871 in , Noble, Indiana. Minnie married Elias A. WARNER.
Alexander WHITE was born in 1810 in , , Maryland. He died on 11 May 1897 in Pittsburg, Alegheny, Pennsylvania. Alexander married Hannah SHANE on 13 Oct 1839 in Hopewell, Beaver, Pennsylvania.
Hannah SHANE was born on 28 Feb 1820 in Hopewell, Beaver, Pennsylvania. She died on 21 Feb 1897 in Pittsburg, Alegheny, Pennsylvania. Hannah married Alexander WHITE on 13 Oct 1839 in Hopewell, Beaver, Pennsylvania.
F i Charlotte Elizabeth WHITE was born on 11 Apr 1845. She died on 7 Jul 1926.
Alexander W. VEAZEY [Parents] was born on 19 Aug 1869 in Hopewell Twp, Beaver, Pennsylvania. He died on 14 Apr 1897 in Pittsburg, Alleghney, Pennsylvania. Alexander married Floretta Bell WHITE about 1895 in , Beaver, Pennsylvania.
Floretta Bell WHITE was born on 18 Jul 1873 in Independence, Twp, Beaver, Pennsylvania. She died on 5 Jul 1912 in , Beaver, Pennsylvania. Floretta married Alexander W. VEAZEY about 1895 in , Beaver, Pennsylvania.
Flora VEAZEY was born about 1896 in , Beaver, Pennsylvania. She died about 1896 in , Beaver, Pennsylvania.
Harry M. VEAZEY [Parents] was born on 3 Jun 1874 in Pittsburg, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. He died on 7 Apr 1963 in Libertyville, Lake, Illinois. Harry married Margaret Marie TRAYNOR on 25 Nov 1895 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania.
Margaret Marie TRAYNOR [Parents] was born on 9 May 1874 in Greenfield, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She died on 21 Sep 1935 in McKeesport, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Margaret married Harry M. VEAZEY on 25 Nov 1895 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania.
Harry Wellington VEAZEY was born in May 1896 in Hazelwood, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. He died on 13 Oct 1896 in Hazelwood, Allegheny, Pennsylvania.
F ii Margaret Charlotte VEAZEY was born on 31 Aug 1897. She died on 20 Mar 1978.
F iii Venia Virginia VEAZEY was born on 8 Aug 1900. She died on 9 Jul 1993.
Harry M. VEAZEY [Parents] was born on 3 Jun 1874 in Pittsburg, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. He died on 7 Apr 1963 in Libertyville, Lake, Illinois. Harry married Pearl on 30 Jun 1908.
Pearl was born about 1880. She died after 1951 in , , Illinois. Pearl married Harry M. VEAZEY on 30 Jun 1908.
Everett Mel GOE was born about 1864. Everett married Venia W. VEAZEY on 21 Jan 1895 in Pittsburg, Allegheny, Pennsylvania.
Venia W. VEAZEY [Parents] was born on 13 Feb 1877 in Pittsburg, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. She died after Dec 1951 in Seatlle, King, Washington. Venia married Everett Mel GOE on 21 Jan 1895 in Pittsburg, Allegheny, Pennsylvania.


Unlike a financial accountant, a bookkeeper working with management has various fields of expertise. These are areas beyond and beyond those that are normally found in a financial accountant. One of the tasks and responsibilities of the financial account is the accounting records of records, order and files. Maintain a service activity in the field of cash management, payroll, receivables, accounts, stocks, or purchasing transactions. Finally, a financial accountant can participate in a small part of the entire bookkeeping responsibility of an enterprise, as compared to a bookkeeper who is working with a manager who is more widespread about the operation and greater responsibility.
. The cost of producing or providing services should be measured. Further analysis is carried out by a management accountant to determine whether products and services are produced as cost-effectively as possible.
. Instead of the accountant, a company can use its own manager accountant. For example, you can focus on tax planning, tax returns, and the management of the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies.


- The Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire held for the fourth week in the Gaza Strip despite infringements by both sides - 11 homemade rockets were fired by Palestinians, the IDF killed a Palestinian man, IDF gunboats fired at Palestinian fishing boats injuring three fishermen, IDF tanks and bulldozers entered the Beit Hanoun area, and an IDF soldier was lightly injured from an explosive device placed on the inside of the Gaza border fence.
- Israel requested the closure of Rafah Crossing (Gaza Strip) to prevent the Palestinian Prime Minister (PM) from entering Gaza with a reported US$ 35 million in cash as he returned from an overseas trip. EUBAM observers temporarily suspended operations but the PM later crossed into the Gaza Strip without the money.
- In the West Bank, seven Palestinians – including a 13 year-old girl – were killed and 14 others injured during IDF operations.
- During the week, 127 IDF flying checkpoints were reported; 115 search and arrest campaigns were conducted, and 100 Palestinians were arrested/detained by the IDF.
- Security at the Tunnels and Qalandiya checkpoints around Jerusalem is now jointly managed by an Israeli private security firm and the Border Police. Private security guards will replace the Border Police although remain under the overall supervision of the IDF.
- The Israeli High Court delivered a final ruling on a petition to dismantle a road barrier along Roads 317 and 60 in south Hebron governorate. The concrete barrier which separated farmers and herders from their land must be dismantled within six months.
- High levels of violence were reported between Hamas and Fatah supporters in the second week of increased intra-factional fighting across the oPt. Seventeen Palestinians – including two children and one woman – were killed and 147 injured in internal violence. Tensions were particularly high following a call by the PA President for early Presidential and Parliamentary elections on 16 December.
- The situation is of particular concern in the Gaza Strip where armed clashes killed fourteen Palestinians and injured 110 others. A ceasefire between the factions was agreed to on 17 December but was soon broken. A new ceasefire was called for on 19 December.
- In one incident, a bodyguard of the Palestinian PM was killed and 18 Palestinians injured when armed clashes erupted between Hamas and Fatah security forces at Rafah crossing as the PM crossed into Gaza.
- In the West Bank, three Palestinians – including two 14 year-old boys – were killed, and 37 others injured in internal violence. Hamas and Fatah supporters organised rallies in support of their causes in most cities as tensions peaked. Other demonstrations were held by Palestinians protesting against the internal Palestinian fighting.