The Unknown

Day 2

The following night

It's 6:59pm, Stacey and Lisa are standing outside Neil's office. His secretary Liz, ushers them in.

"Where's your cousin?" Neil asks, looking directly at Stacey.

She hesitates and stammers, "Um."

Shane walks in.

"She's been punished enough, Neil, so I'm here in her place." His tone and posture dare Neil to challenge him.

"Well, that's not really your call now, Admiral. Is it?" Neil glares at Shane.

The two rams have locked horns.

"Girls, ask Mrs. Curtis to take you to the cafeteria where you can sit and have a soda. I need to have a few moments alone with your guardian."

Although they're curious to see how things play out, Lisa and Stacey are more than happy to leave, knowing it means delaying their punishment.

"Have a seat, Admiral Donovan, and plead your case." Neil unbuttons his suit coat and takes a seat behind his desk while motioning for Shane to sit across from him.

After taking a seat, Shane replies, "Paddling her on top of the belting..."

Neil interrupts, "Beating."

Shane bites his tongue and breathes in deeply through his nostrils to keep from losing his temper and telling Neil off. He continues as if Neil never interrupted him, "...I gave her, would serve no purpose other than to be cruel."

"Interesting, that now you find cruelty to be objectionable." Neil's passive aggressive criticism of the way Shane punished Julie that night at the park is starting to get under the Admiral's skin.

"I did what I had to do, Neil." Shane loosens the tightly clenched fist of his right hand, realizing he's dangerously close to allowing Neil to goad him into an uncontrolled outburst.

"We're never going to see eye to eye on that matter, Admiral, so let's just drop it and agree to disagree. Shall we?" Neil knows he can only push Shane so far before it becomes counterproductive.

"Agreed." Shane knows he needs to pick his battles.

Neil continues, "I hold Julie more responsible than Stacey and Lisa for the events that transpired that night because she made the decision to get behind the wheel while intoxicated. Surely you must agree, Admiral, as your course of discipline that evening was predetermined to penalize Julie much more severely than either Stacey or Lisa. Am I correct in that assumption?"

"Yes sir. You are correct in assuming I also hold Julie to be more responsible as the driver of the

vehicle." Shane doesn't disagree with Neil on this point. "Neil, you yourself said you would be holding Mike and I responsible for the girls' behavior, so why not punish me instead?"

"Judging by what I know about your background, you've spent the better part of the last two decades punishing yourself and take it from me, Admiral, self flagellation is ultimately an unsatisfactory and ineffective form of penance."

Shane sighs and leans back in his chair. He's honestly a little unnerved by how well Neil has psychoanalyzed him.

Appreciating Shane's desire to protect Julie from further punishment, albeit for somewhat selfish reasons, Neil is willing to compromise to reach an agreeable solution. He gets to his feet, buttons his suit coat, stands shoulders squared with his hands clasped together at his waist.

"I'm willing to forego punishing Julie on one condition."

Shane sits up straight, eager to hear Neil's terms.