The Wanderings of Amy
Copyright 2002, 2004 by EC
http://www.ecgraphicarts.com
(Warnings: Adult sex, erotic discipline, public nudity)

Chapter 14 - Wendy's Ghosts

People are full of surprises, as Amy was about to learn. The person you think you 
know the best, your closest friend, your family member, your lover, can conceal 
any number of dark secrets from you. It is human nature that all of us have our 
failings. It is human nature that each of us tries to conceal those failings from 
those closest to us, from those who we love the most. It is the fear of judgment, of 
rejection, over those failings drives people to do strange things in their lives. 
Often the person you think most perfect is the one who is the one most deeply in 
trouble.

----------

The week of Spring Break Amy felt more at peace in her life than she had ever 
felt before. A new relationship, good grades in her classes, financial security, 
excellent health, the beauty of springtime, the promise of summer, the love of her 
friends; the world seemed to open up to her in a way it never had previously. The 
happiness of her life showed in Amy's face. Long gone was the sad expression in 
her eyes that had so captivated Suzanne's camera a year ago.

On the warm, sunny afternoon on the last day of Spring Break Suzanne followed 
Amy around the university and took a series of portraits. The Spring sunlight 
reflected in Amy's eyes and smile. Amy was the perfect picture of beauty and 
contentment. The focus of Suzanne's photos of Amy changed from an emphasis of 
the underlying pain to a feeling of joy with life. It was the first series of portraits 
taken by Suzanne that did not have a sense of sadness in the images. Suzanne 
reflected that it had been exactly a year since she had held Amy in her arms to 
help her get past her flashback of Courtney's death. What a change in her friend!

The illusion of perfection in Amy's life could not last. Amy was about to be 
shocked out of her complacency and face yet another crisis from the person she 
least expected, from her friend Wendy.

The night after Suzanne took the university portraits, Amy decided to go over her 
term paper for Burnside's Theory of Economic Development class one last time. 
The paper was due the next day, the first Monday of classes after the break. She 
had read and re-read the paper, trying to put herself in Burnside's head, looking 
for defects. Most certainly the defects were there, but with every revision they 
were fewer. Finally Amy set the draft aside. Whatever its deficiencies, she had to 
print up the final copy and go to bed. Burnside would rip it apart with red ink, and 
Amy had to accept that fact. She had done her best. She hit the print button on 
Suzanne's computer.

Just then phone rang. Amy looked at the message machine. It read "Atlantic City, 
NJ - Fast-Mart Gas # 364". At first Amy decided not to pick up. Who would call 
from Atlantic City? Five minutes later the phone rang again. Again Amy read 
"Atlantic City, NJ - Fast-Mart Gas # 364" This time Amy picked up. There was 
nothing on the other end for a few seconds except the sounds of traffic. Suddenly 
she heard a sob from Wendy's voice.

"Wendy?" Amy listened to another sob. "Wendy, is that you? What are you doing 
in Atlantic City?" There was silence on the other end. Amy realized that 
something bad had happened to Wendy, something really bad.

"Wendy, talk to me! Are you OK?"

"No!" Wendy sobbed again.

"Are you hurt?"

"No!"

Amy paused. "Wendy, can you get back to Chicago?"

"No!"

"Wendy, I need something else out of you besides 'no'. Why can't you come 
back?"

"I'm broke!" Suddenly Wendy broke into a series of sobs.

Amy paused, wondering what to do next. Finally she realized that she needed to 
find out where Wendy was staying. "Wendy, do you have a place to stay?"

"No!"

"Can you see a motel from where you are?"

"...There's a Jackpot Inn..."

"Go there. Call me from the front desk. I'll put a room for you on my credit card."

Wendy cried again.

"Wendy, did you hear me? Go to the Jackpot Inn. Call me from the front desk."

Amy hung up, waiting for the second call from Wendy. Suzanne came into the 
living room and reached for the phone to make a call.

"Suzanne, you got to wait. Wendy's in Atlantic City. She'll call in a minute."

"What's she doing there?!"

"I don't know. All I know is that she's broke. I got to get her a motel room."

Suzanne looked at Amy, processing the information. Suzanne's expression 
suddenly became very serious. "Oh my God!"

The phone rang again before Amy had a chance to say anything further to 
Suzanne. Wendy seemed incoherent. Finally Amy asked her to pass the phone to 
the desk clerk.

Amy gave the clerk her credit card number to book Wendy for two nights. Wendy 
got back on to ask if Amy could wire her some money. Amy started to make 
arrangements when Suzanne suddenly grabbed the phone out of her hand. She 
shocked Amy by sharply admonishing Wendy.

"Look, Wendy, you're not getting any money! Amy will be out there to pick you 
up as soon as she can book a flight! But no money! Put the clerk back on!"

There was a pause. Amy thought she could hear Wendy crying again. "I said no! 
No more money!"

Suzanne talked to the clerk. "Look! I want to make something clear. We booked 
Wen-Chuan Li for two nights. That's it. Do not put anything else on that credit 
card!"

Suzanne took down the motel's contact information and Wendy's room number. 
She asked the clerk to put Wendy back on. "Wendy, you get in that room and you 
stay there! I'll get Amy to the airport as soon as she can get a flight. I'll call you. 
Don't leave that room!"

Suzanne hung up. She grabbed the credit card from Amy and dialed the phone 
number on the back. She passed the phone to Amy.

"Cancel this card!" Amy looked at Suzanne dumbfounded. "Cancel the card, 
Amy, now!" 

Amy canceled the card, telling the operator to keep all charges up to the last one 
to the Jackpot Inn, but to not accept anything else.  She hung up, now very 
irritated. 

"Suzanne, what's going on? That was my only credit card!"

"Put two-and-two together. Wendy is stranded in Atlantic City. She's broke. What 
does that tell you?" 

Amy gave Suzanne a blank stare. Suzanne let out an exasperated sigh.

"What do people do in Atlantic City, Amy? What's the name of the place where 
Wendy is staying?"

Finally Amy realized why Suzanne was so panicky about the credit card. Wendy 
had gone to Atlantic City over Spring Break to gamble. Obviously she had lost 
everything.

----------

Suzanne drove Amy to O'Hare immediately. Amy went on stand-by for a flight to 
Atlantic City. In the meantime Suzanne made car rental arrangements for Amy in 
Atlantic City and obtained directions for getting to the Jackpot Inn. Amy gave 
Suzanne instructions for turning in her term paper to Burnside. Suzanne would 
deliver the paper in person and explain that her roommate left due to an 
emergency but would be back by Wednesday. Suzanne would pick up any 
assignments to pass along to Amy. Suzanne also would talk to Robert to make the 
return trip arrangements as soon as Amy called from Atlantic City.

Amy took the first fight out at 5:00 am. She was in Atlantic City a couple of hours 
later, driving a strange car in a strange city. She had not had any sleep for 36 
hours. She was sick from the flight. She was not in a good mood. Finally she 
found the Jackpot Inn. The clerk gave her a key card, since Amy had been the one 
to reserve the room.

Amy pushed the door open. Wendy was completely dressed, curled on the bed in 
a fetal position with her back to the door. She had not even taken her shoes off. 
There was no luggage in the room. Amy walked up to her and touched her 
shoulder. She heard Wendy snivel.

"Come on. I came to take you home."

Wendy did not budge. Amy shook her.

"Leave me alone."

"Wendy, let's go. I've got to get back. You do too. Classes start up again today."

"Leave me alone. I can't go back."

"Don't be ridiculous. You've got to go back with me. Suzanne booked us tickets 
for this afternoon."

"I disgraced my family. I can't face my parents. You go back alone."

"Wendy, you lost some money. Your parents will forgive you. You did something 
stupid, but you have to move on. There'll be another check from the book this 
month. I'll lend you what you need until then."

"It's not the money. I disgraced my great-grandmother. I pawned her jade pendent. 
I pawned it to gamble." Wendy sobbed.

Amy pondered what to do. Finally she answered "We'll go get it. I'll pay it off. 
Then we'll go home."

Still, Wendy did not move. Amy, exhausted, irritable, and disgusted with her 
friend's stupidity, had enough. She went to the bathroom, filled the ice bucket 
with water, and poured it on Wendy's head.

"Get up, now!" Wendy coughed and wiped her face. Amy pushed her off the bed. 
Wendy struggled to her feet and gave Amy an angry look.

"Let's get your pendant, and let's go!" With that they left the motel. If they had a 
problem with the wet mattress, well, Amy had paid for an extra night.

When they got to the pawn shop, Amy used her ATM card to get the money for 
the pendant. Wendy had pawned it for $ 2,000. That almost cleaned out Amy's 
checking account. Amy felt disgust at handing $ 2,000 cash to the creep in the 
pawn shop.

Amy took the pendant. It was deep green, elaborately carved, truly a piece of art. 
It hung on an antique gold chain. Wendy obviously was expecting that Amy 
would hand it to her. Amy gave Wendy a hostile look, wrapped the pendent in a 
paper towel, and put it in her purse. Wendy looked at Amy with distress.

"Amy..."

"Forget it. You said it yourself. You disgraced the memory of your great-
grandmother by pawning this pendant. I’ll decide when you deserve to have it 
back. It's my $ 2,000 that got it out of that pawn shop. It's staying with me."

"Amy, it's been in my family for 150 years."

"Well, guess what? It looks like I'll be taking better care of your family history 
than you did. I think I'm capable of keeping it out of a pawn shop." Wendy looked 
away. Tears ran down her face.

Amy had never been so mad at someone in her entire life. She was mad because 
she cared deeply for Wendy. It never dawned on her that Wendy had a gambling 
addiction. It never dawned on anyone in Wendy's life that she had a gambling 
addiction. Amy was still getting over the shock.

Amy did not know much about Chinese culture, but she knew that family history 
is more important in the East than it is in the West. She suspected that Wendy had 
insulted her family and the memory of her great-grandmother by pawning the 
pendent in a way unimaginable to a Westerner. Wendy truly had hit bottom.

For a second Amy thought about having a quick look at Atlantic City, but 
decided, no, there is nothing here to see. She had to get Wendy to the airport and 
on a plane as fast as possible. There was a real chance of losing her. Her 
depression was so great that she seemed half dead already.

Amy wanted to call Robert to see if he could book her an earlier flight back to 
Chicago. She asked Wendy for her cell phone. Without looking up Wendy 
admitted to having pawned it as well.

"You pawned your cell phone? Wendy, how do you pawn a cell phone?"

A trip back to the pawn shop and another, much smaller ATM withdrawal from 
Amy's bank account assured the retrieval of the cell phone. The clerk smirked at 
Amy and Wendy from behind the counter. He had seen this many times before. 
Amy ignored him.

"Now, what else do you have in this shop that we need to get, so we don't have to 
come back?"

"Some clothes."

"Well, we're not worried about clothes right now. What else?"

"My gymnastics championship ring from high school."

"That I'll get for you. But I'm keeping it with the pendent. What else?"

"The earrings my father gave me for graduation."

"My God, Wendy."

----------

Amy drove to the airport. She turned in the car and led Wendy to the ticket 
counter. Wendy had her driver's license in her pocket; her purse was among the 
items staying behind at the pawn shop. They boarded the plane for a grim, silent 
flight back to Chicago. They were in Suzanne's car before sunset. Suzanne said 
nothing. Wendy was Amy's friend and it was Amy who had to handle her. She 
dropped off Amy and Wendy and headed over to Robert's apartment.

Knowing that Wendy would not be able to face her parents, Amy decided to have 
her friend stay a few days with her and Suzanne. She ran a bath and ordered 
Wendy to put her remaining clothes in the washing machine. Then she called 
Wendy's mother and told her that Wendy was not feeling well and would spend 
the night with her. Wendy's mother nervously asked what was going on; she had 
not talked to Wendy in a week.

"Please, Mrs. Li. As soon as she feels a bit better I'll have her call you. She's OK, 
but she needs some sleep." 

Amy felt guilty about lying to Wendy's mother. Wendy was not OK.

The clothes were still spinning when Wendy got out of the tub, leaving her 
without anything to wear. Wendy was somewhat more modest than were Suzanne 
and Amy, and clearly wanted something to put on before lying down on the sofa 
to sleep.

"Forget about that," snapped Amy. "Suzanne and I don't wear anything to bed. 
You don't need to either. It's plenty warm in this apartment."

Wendy gave Amy a hurt look and slid under the blanket. Amy sat down on the 
sofa at Wendy's feet. Wendy lay on her side, her head in her hand, sadly staring at 
the floor.

"OK, so what happened?"

Wendy said nothing.

"Let's get something straight. You owe me for this. You owe me big-time. You 
can start with telling me the facts. What happened to you in Atlantic City?"

Sadly Wendy got up and sat down at the computer. She seemed to have forgotten 
her earlier modesty as she logged onto the Internet, then into her checking 
account. "It's all here." She stepped away from the table and motioned Amy to sit 
down.

Amy scrolled through the withdrawals. Wendy's account peaked at $ 54,000 at the 
end of January. Then came three airline tickets for weekend trips to Atlantic City. 
She still had $ 30,000 deposited just two weeks ago. Then came the final trip and 
a series of ATM withdrawals. She had over-drawn the account by Friday night. It 
must have been Saturday when she pawned her things.

Wendy returned to the sofa and slid back under her blanket. Amy was pondering 
what to do when the phone rang.

The phone call was from the security department of Amy's credit card company. 
A clerk informed Amy that several attempts had been made to obtain cash 
advances in Atlantic City with the card number after she had canceled the 
account. The clerk asked if those requests were from Amy.

Amy was stunned. She asked the clerk to repeat the information and passed the 
phone to Wendy. Wendy's face looked stricken as she listened to the clerk. Amy 
briefly talked to the clerk again and hung up the phone. Wendy stared at the floor.

"I have something else to tell you" Wendy's voice was little more than a whisper. 
"When I found out your credit card number I tried to use it. I kept getting 
messages that it had been canceled."

Amy sat silently on the sofa, staring at her friend in astonishment. Finally she 
managed to speak.

"Suzanne made me cancel that card right after I made the motel reservations. I 
was pissed at her because that was my only credit card. So she was right. You 
tried to use my card to gamble." Wendy, still staring at the floor, bit her lip and 
nodded.

"So I can't trust you, can I?"

Wendy shook her head.

"Get up. Sit in that chair. I need to call Suzanne."

Wendy got up and wrapped the blanket around her. Amy grabbed the blanket and 
tugged on it.

"Look, I didn't say anything about taking this blanket with you. Leave it and get 
your butt in that chair!" 

Wendy hesitated, looking at Amy with a forlorn expression. With that, Amy's 
temper snapped.

"I said, PUT THE FUCKING BLANKET DOWN AND GET YOUR ASS IN 
THAT CHAIR!"

Reluctantly Wendy let the blanket fall to the floor and moved to the hardback 
chair near the wall. She sat down and covered herself as best she could with her 
hands. Amy admired Wendy's thin, attractive figure as she dialed Robert's 
number. Of course he did not pick up. Amy left a message for Suzanne.

"Suzanne, this is Amy. I know you are there. I don't have a problem with it, but I 
need you to call me back. I have to talk to you right away."

A few seconds later Suzanne called back.

"You were right about the credit card." Amy began. "We have a real problem on 
our hands with Wendy. I need you to come back and pick up all your financial 
stuff and lock it up somewhere."

"It's that bad?"

"I'm afraid so. Bring Robert's strap and any other discipline stuff he might have. I 
wish I could talk to Burnside. She would have what I need for Wendy."

Wendy looked up with that last comment. Her sad eyes met Amy's. Amy hung up 
the phone.

"What did you think was going to happen? You not only disgraced yourself, you 
tried to steal from me. If I gave you half a chance you would steal from both me 
and Suzanne in this apartment. You admitted that yourself. God knows what you 
would do to your parents. Look the other way. Right now I don't even want to see 
your face."

Amy's last comment cut to the core of Wendy's soul. Amy had been the one friend 
in her life who Wendy felt she could truly trust. Wendy had been popular enough 
in high school, being a member of the gymnastics team. However, she ran with a 
group of girls who, although popular, would turn on each other in a heartbeat if 
doing in a friend could somehow increase their standing among their peers. She 
had done her share of betraying friends and had been hurt several times herself. 
Amy was so different from that. Wendy knew that Amy accepted her as she was. 
Amy had been the first person who had gone out of her way to help Wendy 
through a hard situation at the Halloween Party, doing her best to protect her from 
Burnside. There was the link between their grandfathers. There were the endless 
hours they had studied together. And now there was this betrayal.

Wendy knew that Amy would not break off their friendship over this. Wendy 
knew that she had a problem with her gambling addiction, and she realized that 
Amy would help her get through it. She knew that Amy was right about the 
pendant.

Wendy dreaded the punishment that lay ahead, but she wanted it to happen at the 
same time. Maybe the shock of a severe punishment would force out this...this 
thing...that had entered her soul and so far made her waste over $ 60,000. Wendy 
herself could not understand what had happened to her, why the urge to gamble 
had taken control of her.

Suzanne arrived with Robert's strap and leather cuffs. Amy had hoped that he 
might have some other restraints, but the cuffs were all he had.

"Wendy, get up!" Amy took Wendy's arm and forced her to turn around and face 
Suzanne. Wendy, in spite of having been naked so many times in front of Suzanne 
the photographer, cringed with humiliation at being naked in front of Suzanne her 
friend. Wendy looked away in shame and once again tried to cover herself. Amy 
led her to the coffee table and forced her to kneel on the floor facing it. Then Amy 
took out the jade pendent, the earrings, and the gymnastics ring and laid them on 
the table in front of Wendy.

"Please tell Suzanne the story of these three items."

Wendy, in a stricken, barely audible voice, told Suzanne the story of her last trip 
to Atlantic City, the pawning her things, and the significance of the pendent.

Amy looked harshly at Wendy. "You're not even a decent gambler. Did you win 
at all?" Wendy sadly shook her head.

"Now for the really lovely part. Wendy, what happened right after I booked your 
room? What did you do?"

Tears dripped off Wendy's cheeks onto her bare arms and thighs.

"Come-on, Suzanne needs to hear this."

"I...I...asked the clerk for a copy of the receipt...I...took your credit card number to 
a couple of...gambling places and...tried to get some...cash advances. I couldn't. 
The credit card was canceled. So I went back to my room."

"Wendy, I want to get this absolutely straight. You lost $ 30,000 in six days. You 
called me because you had nowhere to stay. I spent my money getting you a 
room. I spent my money flying out to Atlantic City to get you. I spent my money 
getting your pendant back. I missed three classes, two of them Burnside's classes, 
to do this for you. And the first thing on you mind, as soon as you hang up the 
phone, is to take my credit card number and try to gamble with it. That was the 
very first thing on your mind!" Wendy nodded. Suzanne looked sadly at Wendy 
and shook her head. Amy's lips tensed with anger.

"Wendy, I want you to look up."

As soon as Wendy looked up Amy slapped her hard across the face. Wendy did 
not move. Amy slapped her again. Amy was speechless with anger and needed to 
get control of herself. Wendy said nothing. She knelt quietly as the tears dripped 
down her cheeks.

Amy and Suzanne spent the next few minutes rounding up every scrap of paper in 
the apartment with any financial information on it. Amy deposited her jewelry 
and watches into Suzanne's jewelry box. They packed up every small item of any 
value to put in an overnight bag. Suzanne packed her camera bag. Once the 
apartment was stripped of anything that Wendy could convert to cash to feed her 
addiction, Suzanne prepared to leave. Amy handed Suzanne the pendant, earrings, 
and ring to lock up in Robert's safe. Legally, they now belonged to Amy.

As soon as Suzanne left, Amy grabbed the cuffs and ordered Wendy to put her 
hands out in front. Amy put the cuffs on Wendy's wrists and hooked them 
together. Wendy would now be unable to protect herself during her punishment. 
Wendy was so ashamed that she could not bear to look at Amy. Amy stood in 
front of Wendy and forced her chin up with her fingertips.

"Wendy, I'm going to punish you as soon as I get things set up. Do you have 
anything to say for yourself?"

Sadly, Wendy shook her head. Amy continued.

"I'm your friend and I will stick by you. I'll do what I can to help you. I'll go with 
you to counseling. I'll help you face your parents. I'll keep your heirloom safe 
until you are ready to have it back. Tomorrow you will start your recovery from 
this addiction. But you also have to pay for what you tried to do to me. You have 
no idea how mad I am at you."

Amy grabbed a bar stool from in front of the counter that separated the kitchen 
from the dining room. As soon as Amy set it in the middle of the living room, 
Wendy draped herself over it. Amy was relieved. At least Wendy was going to 
co-operate.

Once again Amy felt the thrill of seeing the soft brown skin on Wendy flawless 
bottom stretched tight, this time for Amy to punish. Wendy's skin continued to 
fascinate Amy. Her anger suddenly mixed with sexual desire. The sight of 
Wendy's beautiful thin body, bent over and awaiting punishment from Robert's 
strap, proved too much for Amy to resist. She passed her hand over Wendy's 
bottom, feeling the smooth cool skin. She feasted her eyes and touch on every 
detail of Wendy's backside. Amy felt a strange sexual attraction towards her 
friend; the only time in her life she had ever felt lust for another female. 

Wendy's face was streaked with tears from the humiliation of having to submit to 
Amy in this way. She was quietly crying. Suddenly Amy felt a bit guilty and 
pulled her hand back. Wendy would not be spared her punishment, but she would 
be spared any further indignity from Amy's touches.

Amy picked up the strap. She had only been on the receiving end of this strap, but 
she had held it enough in the days preceding her first punishment that she knew 
how it felt in her hand. Amy remembered Robert's technique and would use it on 
Wendy. She decided to give Wendy a couple of test swats against the backs of her 
thighs before starting the main punishment on her bottom. Wendy's hands were 
cuffed in front of her, so there was no issue of her trying to cover her bottom with 
her hands.

CRACK! Amy delivered the first test swat against the upper part of Wendy's left 
thigh. It made good contact and Wendy jerked her leg a little. Amy studied the 
reddish rectangle as it darkened. She changed sides and delivered a backhanded 
blow against Wendy's right thigh. There was just a dull thud. Amy re-positioned 
herself and tried again. CRACK! That was better. Wendy squealed slightly from 
the pain.

Amy moved to Wendy's left side for the swat across both thighs. Amy swung, but 
knew even before it landed this would not be a good hit. Amy tried again. This 
time a nice sharp CRACK! satisfied Amy. CRACK!...CRACK! Amy hit Wendy's 
thighs again, to make sure she had it right. Wendy sobbed faintly with each of the 
swats. Amy was now ready.

"Wendy, those swats were not part of your punishment. I just wanted to make 
sure I can use this strap properly. Now, I want you to stay in position. I don't want 
you bouncing around or trying to stand up. Every time you move, I will give you 
a swat across the front of your thighs after we're done on your bottom. Do you 
understand me?

Wendy's dispirited voice was almost inaudible. "Yes, Amy. I'll try."

In spite of her petite size, Amy was in excellent shape from having worked out 
over the past year. She had great flexibility in her muscles. She was deceptively 
strong. Wendy was in for a severe punishment.

Amy stepped back, measured her distance, and tapped her target, Wendy's left 
bottom cheek. She drew her arm back and delivered a tremendous swat to Wendy. 
A loud CRACK! reverberated throughout the living room. Wendy sobbed loudly. 
She looked back at Amy with teary eyes. Amy's glance met Wendy's.

"Wendy, please face forward. I know it hurts. It's supposed to."

Amy switched sides. CRACK! She delivered a backhanded blow to Wendy, as 
hard as any the Robert could have given. CRACK! A second backhanded blow 
over the first got a scream out of Amy's friend.

Amy moved back over to Wendy's other side. CRACK!...CRACK! She laid two 
sharp smacks across both bottom cheeks.

Wendy screamed and shot up. She struggled against her leather cuffs.

"Wendy, what are you doing? Get back down!" Wendy's face was pure anguish. 
"Get back over the stool! NOW!"

Crying, Wendy forced herself back over the stool. Amy patted her bottom with 
her left hand, and stepped back.

CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK! Amy delivered three hard swats across both 
bottom cheeks. She positioned herself and delivered a two more full-force blows 
to Wendy's left bottom cheek. CRACK!...CRACK!

Wendy rolled off the stool. She stumbled backward and dropped in a sitting 
position. Instinctively she brought her cuffed hands to her face. She was afraid of 
Amy.

Amy reached down and grabbed Wendy's wrist and jerked her to her feet. Wendy 
screamed and shook her head. Amy shook Wendy hard by the wrist.

"You can't hit me that hard! You'll kill me!

"Bullshit! Bullshit! I will hit you this hard and you will take it! Every time you 
see a slot machine, or a roulette table, or a card game, you'll remember this! If you 
so much as buy a fucking lottery ticket you'll remember this!

With her free hand Amy landed a vicious slap across Wendy's face.

"Since you're such a wimp, get on your knees!"

Wendy knelt, sobbing as Amy went to Suzanne's studio room. Amy rummaged 
though Suzanne's outdoor photography supplies and found what she was looking 
for, some rope. She returned to the living room where Wendy was still on her 
knees next to the bar stool. Her face filled with fear when she saw the rope.

"Back over the stool, Wendy! NOW!" Amy was so angry that she shook. Wendy 
struggled to get to her feet. She positioned herself over the stool once again.

Amy quickly made a preliminary knot with the rope around one of the barstool 
legs. She looped the rope several times around Wendy's ankles and around her 
cuffed wrists, joining each ankle to a barstool leg and her wrists to a supporting 
shaft. She knotted off the rope. Amy suddenly stripped off her shirt. She had been 
getting hot and wanted full freedom of movement for her arms. Now naked from 
the waist up, she picked up the strap. She banged it hard on the coffee table.

Wendy was crying, not from the pain, but from fear. She was immobilized by the 
rope. Amy was wielding that horrible strap and seemed almost insane with anger. 
Wearing just a pair of jeans and bare from the waist up, she looked like an 
executioner.

Amy took up position, measured her distance with the strap, and prepared to lay 
five full-force swats against Wendy's left bottom cheek. She would do what 
Robert did, wait a full 15 seconds between swats to allow Wendy to appreciate 
each one.

CRACK! Full force, Amy laid on the first swat. Wendy squealed. The squeal died 
down into loud sobs. Amy struck again. CRACK! She waited for Wendy to stop 
squealing and laid on the third. CRACK! Wendy screamed. CRACK!...CRACK! 
With all her strength, Amy laid on the final two swats and changed sides.

The left side of Wendy's bottom was now solidly a dark brownish red, while her 
right side was covered with uneven reddish stripes. Amy was determined to make 
the color on both sides of Wendy's bottom match. She tested her position to 
deliver five backhanded swats to Wendy's right bottom cheek, tapped it with the 
strap and pulled her arm back. CRACK!

Wendy screamed after each of the next four swats. Amy waited for Wendy's 
screaming to die down to sobs before hitting again. Before the last swat she had to 
wait a full minute for Wendy to stop screaming. Wendy's bottom was now 
swollen, a deep brownish red on both sides. She struggled hard against the ropes.

Amy shifted sides again for ten swats across both cheeks of Wendy's bottom. 
Wendy looked back at Amy with horror. Amy glared into her eyes.

"I'm giving you ten more. Then we'll see how much more I think you can take. 
Like I told you, you'll remember this whenever you feel that urge to gamble."

Sweat dripped down Amy's face and chest as she laid on the next ten swats. 
Wendy screamed non-stop. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! The 
loud swats reverberated throughout the living room.

Amy studied Wendy's bottom. It had purplish welts on it and several blood 
blisters. Wendy's tender skin was badly marked. Amy passed her hand over the 
welts. Some of the blisters looked pretty serious. It was obvious that Wendy could 
not take any more on her bottom. However, Amy was not done punishing her.

Amy untied Wendy's ropes, but left her cuffs hooked together. She helped Wendy 
up and guided her to lie face down on the sofa. Amy wiped Wendy's face with a 
washrag. Wendy was silent, but the tears flowed non-stop down her face. Amy 
felt a twinge of tenderness towards Wendy, but suddenly remembered her credit 
card and the pendant. No. Wendy deserved no mercy. Suddenly Amy noticed 
Wendy's shoulders. Wendy had beautiful thin shoulders. That will be my next 
target, thought Amy.

The strap was too heavy for hitting a person on the shoulders, so Amy got a thick 
belt from her closet. She would use that.

"I want you to get up and kneel next to the coffee table. Put your elbows on the 
table. Do not move." Wendy's dark eyes had a tragic look in them when she saw 
the belt. She knelt and put her head down. Wendy was shaking with fear. She 
looked like she was praying.

Amy touched the belt to Wendy's shoulder. "Wendy, please do not lift up your 
head. Keep it down."

CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!...C
RACK!...CRACK!...CRACK!

Amy laid 20 cruel swats across Wendy's shoulders, some up and down, some 
across. Wendy was sobbing again when Amy finished. Wendy's shoulders were 
almost as red as her bottom, but she did not have any serious welts on her back.

Seeing Wendy kneeling at the table, her body shaking with sobs, Amy realized 
that it was time to end Wendy's punishment. Wendy had done her best to be brave 
and take the punishment as well as she could. Amy's anger faded. She would skip 
the swats on Wendy's thighs. She left Wendy kneeling and went to the kitchen to 
get her some water.

Through her tears, Wendy gave Amy a gratified look when she saw the water. It 
was Amy's sign that the punishment was over. Amy knelt beside Wendy and 
unhooked her cuffs. She passed the glass to Wendy. Wendy emptied it, put her 
arms around Amy and cried into her shoulder.

Finally Amy stood up. She held out her hand to Wendy and helped her up. Amy 
guided Wendy to the sofa and covered her with the blanket. She knelt beside her 
friend and stroked her hair.

"I want you to stay here for a while. Suzanne and I will help you get through this. 
Tomorrow you will get some counseling."

Wendy nodded slightly on her pillow. Amy continued.

"I want you to give me your checkbook and credit cards. I'll pay off your bills 
when you get your next check from Suzanne's photo book. I'll get your food and 
make your car payment. I will take care of you."

Amy squeezed Wendy's hand. Wendy nodded and tried to smile.

"The only thing I want back for the New Jersey trip is the pawn money, and that's 
only because I'll give you your pendant back eventually. But, as I said, you'll get 
it back when I feel you're ready for it. The rest of the New Jersey stuff is on me."

----------

Wendy called her parents the next day, to their huge relief. Later Wendy would 
have to tell them what happened, but she was not ready yet. Fortunately she did 
not have any classes and was able to sleep in. Amy, who was as tired as a person 
can be after having gone almost two full days without sleep, also slept in, not 
having to go to class until the afternoon.

Amy paid off Wendy's credit cards with the final check of her modeling money 
and then canceled them. There was enough left over to make Wendy's car 
payments for a couple of months and to pay for the summer session of classes. 
That was it. For all the success coming from Suzanne's book for Suzanne and 
Amy, Wendy would not share in that. Her money was gone. At least she was no 
longer in debt, but that was due to Amy's taking control of her finances.

Wendy stayed three weeks with Suzanne and Amy. She went to counseling and 
got a psychiatrist through the university health system. She realized that she 
would never get over the urge to gamble; all she could do was manage it. She had 
a heavy burden to carry, one that would last her entire life.