The Outsiders spanking

Don't Mess With Darry

The differences in Darry Curtis and Tim Shepard's discipline styles boiled down to one thing--Where Tim used his fist to keep his boys in line, Darry used his palm. Well, sometimes his belt.

Darry had been looking after Sodapop and Ponyboy since he was a kid himself, and had been raising them by himself ever since their parents died. And the rest of his gang he had all but adopted as his little brothers. And as the oldest brother tasked with minding six wayward younger brothers, he was used to laying down the law.

Although they were never said explicitly, Darry had a specific set of rules and consequences. His go-to by far was a swat or two followed by a firm telling off. If the culprit was within grabbing distance, Darry would just turn him around and pop him with his hand or whatever was in reach. If not, Darry would bark the miscreants name, snap, and point to the floor directly in front of him, making him walk over to Darry's reach. The boys never wanted to be called to task in the kitchen; that almost certainly meant being popped with the wooden spoon. Getting smacked was usually for day to day misdeeds: backtalk, minor disobedience, generally being a pain in Darry's ass. If you didn't listen when you were told to do something, or you were refusing to go to Darry to get swatted, then Darry would start to count to three. The boys almost always did what they were told by three. Two-Bit was the only one who had ever made it to three, and he swore that his ass was never the same again.

Backtalk after you were warned to stop, or bad language by Darry's standards usually lead to eating soap. He'd learned that trick from his mother after she heard him say "shit" when he was ten. Darry tolerated a lot more language than his parents did, maybe giving a glare and a smack upside the head if someone said something too vulgar, especially in public. But there were some words and phrases that Darry just didn't tolerate. Derogatory language, especially toward women, was not allowed. They weren't hoods after all.

If pushed, Darry could deliver one spectacular beat down. He would never punch his boys like other gang leaders. They weren't just a gang; they were a family. It was not uncommon to walk into the Curtis house and see Darry with his foot propped up on a chair, one of his brothers hanging over his leg and gripping his ankle. The term Darry often used for it was a 'conversation.' As in, "do that again and you and me are gonna have a conversation." All of them had been on the receiving end of a conversation more than once. He tried to be fair, give warnings and swats before the real thing, but each and every one of them had a knack of going a little too far. Putting themselves in acute danger, disobeying a direct order, or getting arrested without a damn good reason (No, Steve, 'the cop was being a dickhead so I keyed his car' is NOT a good reason) could guarantee a whupping.

Ponyboy by far got in trouble the most often. Soda once said that Pony spent more time ass up over Darry's knee than he did right side up. The kid had a good head, but he never wanted to use it. Darry would lecture and holler at him over and over about the same things, but it seemed like the only way to get the message through to Pony's head was to beat it into his backside. Plus, his smart mouth was always getting him into trouble, so he ended up eating soap more than anyone else. Pony had complained before that Darry's standards were higher for him than anyone else, and that was probably true. They all knew that Pony was smart and he was expected to do his best in school. And, as the youngest, Darry hovered and fussed at him about safety, knowing he was an easy target for the Socs.

Johnny, on the other hand, found himself less in need of a conversation than anyone else in the gang. His desire for approval usually made him toe the line. A strong word or look from any of the older boys was usually enough. Usually. It broke Darry's heart the times he had to spank him, knowing what he went through at home, but someone had to put a stop to his more self destructive tendencies. He always talked to Johnny about it a good long time first, assuring the kid that he wasn't angry, before taking him into his bedroom, putting him over his knee and spanking the kid with only his hand, or on rare occasions, a wooden spoon. Darry wanted to make sure that if he had to discipline Johnny, it would be as different from Johnny's dad's senseless beatings as possible.