Riley

Chapter twenty-one: Consequences

Riley let out a sigh of relief when she discovered that she was alone in the house. Nowhere did she see her parents' jackets or car keys, two irrefutable signs that they were at work and would be back in the late afternoon.

She had a few more hours of carefree time before she would be grounded and confined to her room for seven very long days. She imagined her punishment this way, who knows if one of them, between her mother and father, would stay home to keep an eye on her. Just as she had read in a book, where the main character had made a mess of things and her father had punished her by locking her up inside the house for two weeks.

Now that she was thinking about it, her parents had never grounded her. She had always followed their advice and obeyed without protesting or making a fuss like most kids her age. Part of her prayed that they would not take away her pull-ups and diapers - it remained a possibility, but they would not go that far; or so she hoped.

After taking off her jacket and putting down her backpack, Riley remembered that her pants and panties were still wet. For all the diapers... Mom and Dad will kill me!

Keeping it hidden was already an option to discard; she wanted to get that weight off her shoulders as quickly as possible.

She moved to the kitchen. On the table stood a saucer with a slice of pizza and a post-it note on which a sentence was written.

Call me as soon as you read this note. —Mom

What? This is a joke, right? Right?

She armed himself with patience, took a big breath of air, and dialed her mother's cell phone number. _Please, Universe. Make this quick, I beg you!_

"Hello?" the voice croaked.

"Mom it's me, Riley."

"Oh Riley!" she exclaimed in surprise. "Hang on for a moment, I'll be right with you."

From the handset, the little girl heard a long succession of noises of papers being moved and voices in the background saying unintelligible phrases. She guessed that her mother was behind her desk working and talking to her colleagues.

The sonic chaos ceased a few seconds later. That silence began to increase her heartbeat; she felt the foreboding that her mother was scolding her over the phone.

"Here I am," she told her in a set voice. "I see you read the note I left you."

"It said I had call you and I did," replied Riley .

Her mother sighed wearily. "I'll get straight to the point, do you know that what you did today is very serious? Be thankful that the principal didn't expel you."

"Mom, I ..."

She quickly interrupted her. "Riley Bishop, don't make excuses! You're taking a big risk right now."

"But..." the little girl blurted out with glazed eyes, sensing a warmth between her legs.

"Quiet!" her mother shushed her with determination. "You've already done and said enough."

She was about to end the conversation when she heard Riley, in tears, shouting into the phone.

"I was trying to help my friends! Why do I have to be punished even though I'm one of the victims! One of my classmates was beaten up and I have to be suspended?!"

Anger had taken over her body, and she could no longer restrain herself from hiding what she was feeling. In all this, she did not notice that she had completely emptied her bladder.