I immediately hung up the phone and she announced as she had many times before that she needed to ‘see me after dinner in the bathroom’.
My heart stopped when I heard those words but I knew that any protest would be meaningless.
I sat quietly through dinner and hardly touched my food.
At the conclusion of the meal, Mother again reminded me to meet her in the bathroom when the dishes were cleaned up.
My face turned bright red as now my brother and sister knew what was about to happen.
I gathered my nerve and walked up to my mother’s bathroom.
There, I found the punishment materials already laid out on the counter.
A neatly folded white washcloth sat next to the sink. On it was placed a small bar of soap, like the ones found in hotels and motels
. I put the lid down on the toilet and sat down.