Discipline

"Albert, go out to the barn. I need to have a talk with you."

Albert took a quick step back at the demand. Pa sounded angry and very frustrated. "Yes, sir."

"I'll be out there in a minute." Charles turned back to Caroline, but waited for his son to leave their presence before speaking.

As Albert left the little house for the barn, he tried to think of anything he might have done wrong over the past few days that would get him into trouble. Pa never looked that stern before, so there had to be a serious reason for it. Normally, Charles would walk with Albert outside after dinner to discuss any misdoings he may have committed. Getting called out by his father as soon as he stepped into the home after finishing his afternoon chores was very unusual.

Albert walked into the barn and waited by the horse stalls. He could not think of anything he had done wrong to get him into serious trouble. Albert's anxiety began to rise as the minutes went by without pa coming out to the barn. What did he do?

Suddenly, the front door to the home opened and Charles stomped his way over to the barn. Albert tried to examine the way he walked and his facial expression, wanting to get a better grasp on his pa's attitude before being bombarded with words. Charles closed the doors to the barn and turned to his son, holding his chest out to secure his dominance. "I was told by Mr. Davis that Thomas Scott beat up his son Henry yesterday. Gave the boy a black eye, a couple bruised ribs and a small gash in his head. That's why Henry wasn't in school today."

Albert then remembered how much nicer school had been earlier that day because the Davis boy was not there. Normally, Henry talked too much in class, got in the way of things at recess and was just down right annoying most of the time. Even more so than Willie Oleson. "Is he going to be okay?"

"His father told me that he won't be back in school until next week, but he should be fine in a day or two." Charles took a few more steps closer to Albert. "Henry's father also told me that you were the reason why Thomas beat him up."

"What?" Albert was left confused by the statement.

"Apparently you have been saying that someone should knock some sense into Henry, that someone needed to push him around until he learned his place and that Henry should have the lights kicked out of him so he would stop annoying you and the other kids at school." Charles recalled his conversation from earlier that day.

"Pa." Albert did not know what to say. It was true he did not like Henry Davis, but he would never want to seriously hurt him, or have someone else do it for that matter. "I didn't say anything like that. I would never-"

"Don't lie to me, Albert!" Charles yelled enough to startle the boy. "You have been saying those thing. You may have thought they sounded like jokes, but apparently to Thomas Scott they sounded like valid ideas."

"You're getting mad at me! Thomas Scott is the one who beat up the kid. It's not my fault he took something I said out of context."

"If it wasn't for your smart-ass comments, Thomas would have never thought to lay a hand on Henry."

Albert's stomach dropped after hearing his father use profane language at him. It took him a moment to collect himself and attempt to stand his ground, with slight frustration in his own voice. "It's not my fault! I didn't tell Thomas to beat Henry up. He took what I said about Henry the wrong way and twisted it."

"The fact that you even said those hurtful things as a joke is reason enough for me to be furious with you. I've let you get away with a lot of things before Albert, but not anymore. You need to start acting more mature and think with more common sense. You're not some twelve year old little kid anymore. You're almost a man. A man who should really think before he acts and speaks, and considers others just as much if not more than himself. This isn't some game anymore, Albert. You're entering the real world with real consequences. Out of all of my children I thought you would be the one to realize that."

It was obvious that Charles was not going to take Albert's side or even attempt to understand him in this situation, no matter how much his son tried to convince him otherwise.

"Pa, I-" Albert let his demeanor change to one of guilt and remorse. "I'm sorry that I said those hurtful things about Henry. It wasn't right and I do know that."

"I'm not the one you should be saying you're sorry to. Tomorrow after school, you are going to the Davis' place and apologizing to Henry for saying such awful things about him and for Thomas beating him up." Charles said, still in that same demanding tone.

Albert dropped his head to the ground. "Yes, sir."

"And if I hear anymore of you insulting, badgering or joking on anyone, there will be serious consequences. Understand me?"

"Yes, sir."

"And as for your punishment-"

Albert quickly picked his head up. "Punishment?"

"Yes, your punishment!" Charles yelled once again. "Apologizing to Henry isn't a punishment, it's doing what's right. You are not allowed to go anywhere after school or leave the house during the weekends for the rest of the month. You are to stay home and do all of the extra chores I am going to assign you."

"Pa! That isn't fair!" Albert regained some anger and frustration in his voice.

"Fair? Maybe you're right. You know what would be fair: if somebody talked bad about you behind your back and then punched you in the face for just being yourself." Charles immediately wished he had not said those hurtful things to his own son, but Albert needed a stern talking to so the message could get across for once. "I won't have anymore of your backtalk, Albert. You better start being a lot more careful about what you say or so help me, I'll...I'll..."

Charles did not know how to end the conversation, especially since there was no way it could end on a decent note. So, Charles shut his mouth and quickly walked out of the barn, leaving Albert still in shock about what had just happened to him. Pa had never been so furious with Albert before. Maybe if we would have just kept his own mouth shut from the beginning, all of this could have been avoided. He used to be so good with his words and survived on them.

Albert did not want to go back into the house. He could not face his ma, pa or sisters after what had happened, after what he had done. He wanted to leave the farm now more than ever. But he could not, because Albert was finally learning the hand of discipline.