"I thought I told you t'keep yer fuckin' mouth shut about me, huh?" Lefty Ruggerio sternly reminded his charge. Special FBI Agent Joe Pistone was still getting used to playing the part of Donnie Brasco, the young jeweller who had been taken under Lefty's wing. Although he'd been monitoring the scene for months, he had never made contact until yesterday, and was quite out of the loop. Lefty had been the one to vouch for him, and thus was responsible for most everything Donnie did; including teaching the kid when to open his mouth and when to keep it shut. Although Joe didn't think his faux pas had been all that major, Lefty apparently had other ideas.

"Ah, fugedaboudit," Donnie shrugged. "I know I fucked up, an' I'm sorry, alright?"

"Ain't the question! Did you even hear a fuckin' thing I said?"

"Yeah, yeah, Lefty, I heard ya."

"I think you'd better replace that hearin' aid, my friend, because you obviously din't hear what I said."

They had just returned to Lefty's apartment from Donnie's first meeting with the wise guys. Truth be told, it had gone alright. Lefty was rather proud of the kid; Donnie had been confident enough to not seem weak, but hadn't been arrogant either. And while he did speak out of the blue to The Boss, he was quick to realize he'd messed up, and apologized. Compared with some of the connected guys, Donnie's little mishap was nothing. Speaking out of turn is one thing, but the shit some connected guys pull is completely different.

Unfortunately for Donnie, and Lefty too, it was Lefty's responsibility to make sure the kid really knew the rules. And, while the faux pas itself wasn't all that problematic, the fact remained that Donnie had yet to learn the right times to open his mouth. It was up to Lefty to make sure he did, and Lefty only knew one method that worked with kids like Donnie.

The older Mafioso walked behind Donnie, directing him through the apartment to a room that looked like an office. There was a desk in the middle of the room that was made out of sturdy varnished wood, and a couple chairs in front of it. Behind it was a large chair on casters. Although the rest of the room was trashed with books and papers piled up all over the place, the desktop itself held only a pair of pens in a holder, and a telephone. Donnie couldn't see behind the desk from where he was, but he assumed that there were drawers on the other side.

"Have a seat." It wasn't a request, it was an order, and Donnie gave Lefty a concerned look. "Hold on a second."

Lefty exited the room, and found Annette in the kitchen. "Me and Donnie are gonna be havin' a talk in my office, so don't bother us, capiche?" At her nod, he smiled at her, and went back into the office, closing the door behind him. He was pleased to see Donnie had indeed taken a seat, although he didn't let any body language show it.

"Alright. You'n me are gonna have a little chat on manners, got it? Take off your coat." Again, Donnie gave him an odd look, but complied. Lefty nodded. "Good, now get up, pull them pants down, and get yer ass over my desk."

Taken by surprise, Donnie didn't move. Lefty wanted him to.? "What the hell? You gonna fuck me or some shit?! No fuckin' way, Lefty!"

"Did I say that? Did I say I was gonna fuck you?! You gotta real bad hearin' problem, my friend. I'm gonna take care of it right now, as soon as you get yer ass over my desk. Don't make me come over there an' do it myself."

Still unbelieving, Donnie didn't move. As he watched Lefty get even more pissed off, and finally start coming near him, he got his wits together and quickly pulled down his jeans. Then, he awkwardly bent over Lefty's desk, and tried to suppress a blush when he was told to get his shorts down too. A few seconds later, he found himself bare assed over the desk with his hands locked onto the other side, while his mentor was lecturing him.

"Now Donnie, I'm sorry I gotta do this, but it's the only way you gonna learn. What you did today, while not all that bad in itself, had a deeper meaning than what you think. Yer talkin' to The Boss was excusable; hell it's yer first day. But if you wanna become a made man like me, you gotta learn to recognize the right times and the wrong times to speak. Like right now, for instance. This ain't a good time to open yer mouth. In fact, if you were t'open yer mouth right now I'd probably give you a worse tannin' than what yer gonna get." Lefty noticed Donnie stiffen and turn his head a little to see if he was serious or not. The older man suppressed a snort, remembering his first time over the desk and how he had reacted the same way.

"But yer a smart kid, Donnie. That's one of the things I like about you. You ain't just some fuckin' Joe off the street, you got promise. I know, one day, you'll be a wise guy, Donnie, I know it. Hell you'll probably become a Boss one'a these days. But until then you got some learnin' t'do, an' I'm the one who's gonna learn ya. Like I said, I only know one way t'learn, and it's through yer ass. It's how I learned it, an' how th' guy before me learned it, and how th' guy before him learned it." Lefty pulled his belt off and bent it in half. Then, he lined it up with the crown of Donnie's asscheeks, and pulled back. He paused to add one last thing before letting loose the first of many licks.

"Oh, an' Donnie, it's ok t'yell. I know this is gonna hurt like a motherfucker, an' I won't think any less of ya, alright?"

With that last statement in his mind, Donnie braced himself for the first one. He hadn't been belted since he was in his early teens, and found it near impossible that it was happening now at the age of 31.

The first lick honestly didn't hurt nearly as much as he remembered, but then again, he wasn't a scrawny little kid anymore, either. Lefty didn't leave much time between the first and the second, and soon the man had a pattern going that was starting to make Donnie have difficulty with controlling his emotions.

At about the 16th or 17th lick, Donnie couldn't help himself and started to sniffle and squirm. He hadn't yet shouted, but the pain was getting worse with every new stroke, and he had a good idea that Lefty wouldn't stop until he was really crying. He felt Lefty's hand on the small of his back, trying to keep him from moving too much. His butt was going from a light red to a striped crimson, and the tears were starting to fall, albeit silently. Around the 25th lick, they were interrupted by the door opening.

A young man looking maybe 2 years younger than Donnie entered the room, and stopped in shock. Donnie blushed bright red, and buried his head in his arms, while Lefty turned around and smacked his son.

"Din't you learn t'knock, Tommy? Or d'you wanna have a talk with me here after I'm done with Donnie?" That got Tommy leaving quickly, and Lefty turned back to see his young charge crying silently into his arms. His heart wrenched, but he knew the lesson wasn't learned well enough yet, so he took aim again.

The vicious belt came down upon Donnie's crimson ass ten more times, as hard as Lefty could make them. The man knew he probably bruised the kid, but he reasoned that Donnie could handle it, and it would make the lesson last longer. Plus, it had the effect he was looking for; Donnie was sobbing out loud, making no move to conceal the emotions.

Lefty put down the belt, and took a seat on the edge of the desk. He rubbed Donnie's back while the younger man cried, and smiled at him. Donnie was glad for the physical comfort, and made an effort to calm down. Forcing himself to stand, he wiped his eyes on his sleeves, and gently pulled up his shorts and pants. He gave a quick glance to Lefty, not knowing where to go from there, and Lefty got up and pulled him into a hug. Donnie gladly returned the embrace, and smiled while Lefty spoke.

"You took that real well, kid, I'm proud of ya. You learn yer lesson?"

Donnie nodded and blushed a little. "Yeah, I did. and I think I'm gonna remember it for a long time."

"Heh, yeah, I hope so."

They stood there for a moment before letting go. Lefty turned to open the door, but Donnie stopped him with a question.

"Uhm, Lefty? What about Tommy.?"

"Fugeddaboudit, Donnie. Ain't like Tommy never seen or got tanned before. He give you shit, you come to me, alright?"

"Got it, Left."

"Fugeddaboudit. Yer a good kid, Donnie. I meant what I said back there. You got somethin' special. An' I'll be damned if I let you fuck it up by forgetting one of the rules or some shit like that. Hey, but don't think this'll be the last time. I mean, I'd like it to be, but fuck. You gonna fuck up sumthin' sooner or later, Donnie, we all do. And when you do, I'll take it outta yer hide, just like everyone else has had done to them at some point or another and we'll all fugeddaboudit. Capiche?"

"Yeah, Lefty. Thanks."