Dame Julie threw her up against the wall. She was in a towering rage.
"HOW DARE YOU!! YOU LITTLE INGRATE!! I SHOULD KILL YOU RIGHT HERE AND NOW!!" Dame Julie's voice echoed throughout the room. The force of her fury burned and singed the very air they breathed.
Mariette bit her lip and tried to stay out of Dame Julie's line of sight. Pain radiated from her left side. She had just come into the room when she had been caught off guard and thrown against the wall.
"BITCH! I knew you would be ungrateful! How DARE you!! LITTLE BITCH!" Dame Julie stalked over to Mariette and grabbed a fistful of her curly auburn hair. Mariette whimpered and tried to shy away, but the grip on her heard was like iron. Dame Julie's eyes bore into hers, Mariette willed herself to stare back defiantly, to not look away. Her eyes began to dry up and she blinked, breaking the stare. Dame Julie, disgusted at her, threw her to the ground, where she landed hard on her knees.
"I should make you pay you promiscuous little bitch. Your mother was no better than you either. She always flaunted herself to men on the streets, provoking them. She was always daddy's little girl. What did I get? I got nothing, I was his replacement son, the son he always wanted but never had.
Her
. SHE was his darling little girl." Dame Julie spit this out with such savagery that Mariette winced. "Come here child, I will have to teach you a lesson."
Mariette shuddered. She had only gone out for the night with a couple of friends. She had not known her Aunt would be this strict. Nor did she know that her Aunt had problems. Mariette had worn a black skirt that was short enough to bare the knees but not too short. She didn't think it was promiscuous. She thought it was cute. Her blouse was white and simple with a tank top underneath. She wore all her undergarments and had gone out in loafers.
"Come here NOW child. I will not tolerate disobedience under my own roof, do you hear me? Now come here before I make you." The threat was plain in Dame Julie's voice and Mariette scrambled to do her bidding lest she anger her further. Mariette's gaze had been riveted to the floor the whole time, so the flat leather paddle came as a shock to her when she looked up. She had only ever heard stories about the paddle being used, and had only been threatened with the use of it twice. Dame Julie had never shown it to her before, but Mariette could tell by the bright sheen on the stiff looking leather that it was highly treasured.
Dame Julie roughly grabbed her chin and tilted her head up until Mariette was looking her right in the eye. "Now Mariette, I don't want to have to use this on you. I know you've been a good girl. Now do as I say and this won't have to touch your delicate skin." Dame Julie lightly caressed Mariette's smooth cheek. "Go upstairs and draw your bath. You will scrub your sins from your skin before you sleep. And I will oversee it. Now go. I will be up there soon."
Mariette had been dismissed. She scrubbed at her cheek with her sleeve, trying to wipe away Dame Julie's unwanted touch. She didn't know what she had done wrong, though by now, she should have figured it out. Her Aunt was a zealous Catholic. Mariette sighed softly. She would have to abide by her rules or she would face another round of this. This was the first time her Aunt had physically assaulted her. Mariette rubbed her wrist where her Aunt had held her in a vise-like grip before dashing her against the wall. Her Aunt had a surprisingly strong grip for an old woman.