My Fanfiction Story for "Don't Quote Me" posted here

[JRDM]

Here is my story about the "lost" scene from the episode "Don't Quote Me". This is my first attempt at fanfiction so don't be too hard on me. I'm sure there are typographical errors too. I hope you enjoy this. This is how I see the scene happening. Please let me know what you think. Here it goes:


The year was 1979. It was deep into the fall, and America was about to embark on a new decade. Katie Gatling was 8 years old and in the third grade. Katie was the quintessential all-American child: fair-haired, blue-eyed, and wholesome. Plus, Katie was quite an intelligent child, and her father expected that she would grow up to be some kind of professional, along the lines of doctor or lawyer. She was truly her father’s pride and joy. Katie’s father was the state governor, Gene Gatling. Gene Gatling was a man of the utmost integrity. Integrity meant everything to him, and he tried to raise young Katie to hold that same belief.

The governor had been a single parent ever since Katie’s mother died when Katie was only 2 years old. With the help of close friends, The governor had been able to pursue an ambitious career and be a good father to Katie. His career success included owning and operating his own business and, most recently, being elected governor. Part of the reason for The governor’s election was his honesty. He was elected at a time when Watergate was still on the minds of voters, and they wanted a man they could trust despite the fact that he was not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. They knew he would always tell them the truth even when it was tough to do so.

With his busy career, The governor was not able to spend as much time with Katie as he would have liked or even as much as other fathers. Sure, there were sacrifices and hurt feelings sometimes, but the time the governor did spend with his daughter was pure quality. The governor and Katie had an extraordinary father/daughter relationship. He always kept things in perspective and knew his job as a father trumped all others, even when he had to do his job versus doing things with Katie. He had to make those decisions sometimes. Most recently, the governor had been forced to miss Katie’s play because the president had called him to Washington, D.C.

Katie was an easy child to raise. She had always been very well-behaved and respectful. She rarely got in trouble. The governor was an easy-going, gentle father with her. However, he was also old school, and he believed in giving an occasional spanking. His usual problem was knowing when to spank, not if to spank. If he believed Katie really needed a spanking, he saw it as his fatherly duty to give it to her. The governor never spanked for misunderstandings, accidents, or petty matters. He only spanked for serious transgressions that needed swift correction. So far he had done an excellent job raising his daughter. Katie was NOT a brat and was NOT spoiled. She had good manners and solid values.

Young Katie had a problem. Her love for her father had caused her to make a horrible mistake. She had told some friends at school about a very unflattering remark that her father had made about Senator Englehart, and this might cause the insurance bill to not be passed. To make matters worse, Katie had kept it a secret and had caused a lot of trouble for a lot of people. Katie had resolved not to tell her father about being the leak, but Benson had caught her and convinced her to tell the truth. Benson had convinced her that she would feel better by telling her father and taking whatever punishment he felt was right than she would by having to live with all her guilt.

Katie left Benson in the kitchen and walked through the living room and hallway looking for her father. She peaked in the door to his office and saw him sitting in there with Taylor and Marcy. Katie quickly moved out of sight and stood there shaking. She knew her father would be very mad. Eventually, she got her courage up and walked into her father’s office.

“Katie, honey, what are you doing out of bed?”, the governor asked. Seeing her nervous fidgeting he asked, “You’re not sick are you?”. Katie answered, “No, I need to talk to you Daddy. It’s important”.

Seeing his daughter’s sense of urgency, the governor asked Marcy and Taylor if he and Katie could have a minute. Taylor, a bit annoyed, said, “Okay governor, but you know we need to come up with something to do about the remark you made about Senator Englehart”. The governor answered, “I know Taylor, I know. At least we know who the leak is now, and they have been let go”. Katie put her head down and stared at the floor when she heard that. With Taylor and Marcy gone, the governor said, “Okay Katie, what’d you need to talk to me about?”

Katie walked over and stood in front of her father, who was sitting in his desk chair. She struggled to look her father in the eye and primarily looked down at the floor rug. The governor put his hands on Katie’s shoulders and said,
“What’s wrong honey?”

Katie nearly started crying, and her father sat her up on his knee and put one arm around her in a comforting manner. “Come on Katie. Tell Daddy what it is. It’s okay.”, said the governor. Katie swallowed hard and then admitted, “I’m the leak, Daddy. It was me who told what you said about Senator Englehart.” The governor had a look of disbelief. “What?”, he said. “I’m the leak Daddy. It was me”. He picked Katie up off his lap and stood her in front of him. He looked her right in the eye, and she looked him right in the eye. “Katie, are you sure you’re telling me the truth?”, he said rather sternly. “Yes Daddy, I’m sure”, she said. Showing her father the note she wrote saying Ms. Kraus was innocent, she said “I wrote this note after everyone thought Ms. Kraus did it. I didn’t want her to have to leave”. The governor looked at the note and then stared back at Katie.

“Katie, tell me what happened”, he demanded. Katie said, “Well, I told some kids at school, and the word spread, and it ended up in the newspaper”. The governor said, “I see. Why would you tell the kids at school?” Katie looked down at the rug and said, “I don’t know”. The governor picked her chin up and said, “That’s not true. Now you tell me why you told those kids”. Katie admitted, “Because I wanted them to like you so I told them some of the funny things you said. It’s hard when they say bad things about you Daddy”.

Katie looked at him with her innocent little eyes. Finally, the governor sighed and said, “Oh Katie honey. I know it must be hard being the governor’s daughter. I know you thought you were helping me by telling those kids what I said. I can understand that”. He then picked Katie up, hugged her, and told her how much he loved her. Then he quickly put her back down on her feet in front of him. “Are you mad at me Daddy?”, Katie asked. “I’m not mad that you told the kids at school. You shouldn’t have done that, and I don’t want you doing it again. What we say in this house needs to stay in this house and not get out in public. Do you understand that?”, he asked. “Yes Daddy”, Katie said. “But I know why you told them, and I’m not mad about that”, he said.

“Katie, here’s what I am mad about”, he said sternly. Katie swallowed hard and looked into her father’s eyes. “You kept quiet about being the leak, you attempted to cover it up, and you caused a lot of people a lot of trouble by not speaking up. Ms. Kraus got blamed and nearly got fired. She’s packing her things right now. Katie, not speaking up about something is the same as lying, and it only causes trouble,” he lectured. The whole time Katie stared into her father’s eyes, and he looked sternly at her. “Why did you finally decide to tell me?”, he asked. Katie said, voice shaking, “Benson found out it was me and told me I needed to tell you”. The governor said, “Well, Benson was right, but you should have told me when this first happened. Do you understand that?”. Katie said, “Yes Daddy”. “Would you have told me if Benson hadn’t of caught you”, the governor asked. Katie looked down at the rug again. The governor lifted her chin and said, “Answer me Katie”. Katie said, “I don’t know Daddy. Maybe sooner or later. I didn’t know what to do”.

The governor said, “Well, it wasn’t okay to let Ms. Kraus take the blame, was it?”. “No Daddy”, Katie answered. “Katie, you let this go on for days. One thing you need to understand: When you don’t tell the truth, you hurt a lot of people, and you cause a lot of unnecessary trouble. Now haven’t I always taught you to tell the truth, and that lying was wrong?”, he asked. “Yes Daddy”, answered Katie, her bottom lip sticking out choking back tears.

The governor said, “Now Katie, I want to tell you how proud I am that you came to me and told me the truth finally. That took a lot of courage”. He took a deep breath and continued, “But, not speaking up sooner, hiding it, keeping quiet, allowing other people to get in trouble. Honey, that is the same as lying, and I cannot let you get away with that”. Katie looked at him with her innocent, puppy-dog eyes and, knowing she was in serious trouble, said, “I know Daddy”. The governor had been debating in his mind the whole time about whether to spank Katie. On the one hand, he didn’t want to punish her for telling the truth, but he knew she was wrong not to speak up sooner. Finally, the governor said, “Katie, I don’t want to, but I’m gonna have to spank you for this. I hate spanking you more than anything honey, but you’ve got to learn your lesson. Do you understand that Katie?”. Katie said bravely, “Yes Daddy”.

The governor wanted to take Katie to her room for her punishment because he didn’t want Marcy listening in or Taylor coming in. “Alright, let’s go up to your room”, he ordered. He took Katie by the hand and led her out of the office. Outside were Taylor and Marcy. Taylor said, “Well, it’s about time. Governor, I need to speak with you about……….The governor cut him off, “Not now Taylor!! Katie and I are going upstairs”, he said. Taylor said, “Whatever for?”. The governor told Marcy, “Marcy, go tell Ms. Kraus we know she’s not the leak.” Marcy looked surprised. He continued, “Katie has just confessed that she told some kids at school, and the word got out. So, tell Ms. Kraus, will you Marcy?”. Marcy replied, “Yes Governor, I’ll tell her”. Impatient Taylor said, “Well Governor this changes everything. We need to…………Again, the governor cut him off, and said “Taylor, we’ll discuss it later. Right now Katie and I are going upstairs!! Come on, Katie”. He pulled Katie along.

When the governor and Katie were gone Taylor said to Marcy, “Can you believe Katie?”. Marcy replied, “Well, I’m just proud she finally came forward”. Taylor said, “Well I hope the governor makes it clear to her that this kind of behavior is unacceptable”. “Oh Taylor, she’s just a child. I’m sure the governor is going to make sure she doesn’t do this again”, Marcy said.

Marcy went into Ms. Kraus’ room. “Ms. Kraus, the governor wanted me to tell you we know you are not the leak”, said Marcy. Ms. Kraus said, “Oh, who is the leak?”. “Katie", said Marcy. “How could Katie be the leak?”, Ms. Kraus asked. “She told some school friends, and somehow the word got out and into the paper. She admitted it to the governor just now”, said Marcy. Ms. Kraus asked, “So why did she keep it a secret? Why did she wait until now to say anything?”. “I don’t know any of the details Ms. Kraus. All I know is she told the governor, and he told me to tell you. We may find out more later. Right now the governor and Katie are in her room”, said Marcy. Ms. Kraus asked, “Is he going to punish her?”. Marcy replied, “From the way he looked I would bet on it”.

Ms. Kraus sighed and shook her head and said, “Oh, poor little liebshen. Why does he have to punish her?”. Marcy answered, “Ms. Kraus you know he’s not going to be too hard on her”. “Well he better not be, or I will put mud in his coffee in the morning!!”, Ms. Kraus said.

The governor and Katie got to her room. The governor locked Katie’s bedroom door where nobody could come in as this needed to be a private father/daughter moment. Katie walked over and stood next to her bed. She looked up at her father, who stood still at the door. Then the governor went over and sat down on Katie’s bed. Katie took a deep breath and bravely decided to take her medicine. Without saying a word, Katie willingly bent over her father’s knee without any complaint or coaching from her father. She gritted her teeth, but nothing happened. The governor did not start the punishment because he just didn’t want to do it. After about two minutes of nothing, Katie wondered in her mind, “Am I gonna hang over this man’s knee all night?”. Katie then raised up halfway and turned her head around at her father, “Daddy, aren’t you gonna do it?”, she said softly.

The governor, knowing that he MUST punish her for lying, whispered softly, “Bend over honey”, as he pushed her gently back down. Katie went back down and turned her head back around and stared at the floor. Immediately, the governor administered the punishment. It went very quick and was over in less than a minute. Katie did not cry, but her face did grimace due to the sting. A couple of tears flowed from her eyes, but she wiped them quickly with her robe sleeve. The spanking DID hurt. The governor wanted to do it good enough to where he wouldn’t have to do it again. It was indeed a punishment, not a mere dusting off.

The governor did not take the spanking as well as his daughter did. He cried throughout. He didn’t think Katie saw his tears bent over his knee, but she could tell he’d been crying when she got up after her punishment. He set out to give her 8 swats because she was 8 years old. He had that in his mind before he started. However, he stopped after 5 swats because he felt that was more than enough, and he did not want to go overboard.

The governor gently stood Katie back on her feet in front of him. Katie stared at her father and saw how broken he looked. He had a look of death on his face. He held Katie on the shoulders and looked into her eyes for several seconds. “Now Katie, I hope you understand why I had to do that? I had to teach you a lesson. Katie answered, “Yes, Daddy. I understand”. The governor asked, “Are you going to tell the truth from now on?”. Katie answered, “Yes Daddy, I’ll never try and cover up the truth again”. The governor began to smile, “I’m proud to hear that”, he said.

Katie, trying not to cry due to the emotional ordeal of it all, said to her father, “Daddy, I’m really very sorry about not speaking up sooner. I’m sorry Ms. Kraus got in trouble. I know you are disappointed in me”. The governor smiled and said, “Katie, the important thing now is that you learned from your mistake, and that you won’t make the same mistake a second time. Okay?”. “Okay Daddy”, said Katie, “But what are you going to do now about Senator Englehart being mad at what you said?”.

The governor said, “Well Katie, I’ll just have to take my chances. I must tell the truth too. I can’t make up some story or claim that I didn’t make the remark because I did. I will tell the truth and take my chances. I can’t expect you to tell the truth when I don’t”. Katie never respected her father more than at that moment. He really did practice what he preached. He taught Katie by his actions, and he was an easy father to respect.

“Okay honey, I think it’s time you got to bed”, he said. Katie looked up at her father and said, “Okay Daddy, goodnight”. Katie climbed into bed, got under the covers, and sat up in her bed, which wasn’t the easiest thing to do given that her father had just sored her sit spot.

The governor bent down and kissed his daughter on the forehead. “I love you so much Katie”, he said. “I love you too Daddy”, said Katie. The governor smiled, turned off the bedroom light, and walked out of the room. He then walked back downstairs because he wanted to talk to Benson. He wanted to be assured that he did the right thing by spanking Katie. Back in the room Katie laid in her bed and thought about what Benson had told her about how the truth hurts sometimes. She certainly found out that was true tonight. However, Katie realized that she no longer felt guilty about what she’d done because she had paid her debt. She realized that getting rid of the guilt was worth a few pops of pain. She turned over and went to sleep.

Years later when Katie was all grown up, the governor’s parenting had proven a success. Katie grew into an honest woman, and she became that professional her father always knew she would be. Most importantly, she was respected because she had the utmost integrity, like her father. While she was far more intellectually-gifted than her dear old dad and was possibly willing to cut more corners than he would have, she still had that “word is my bond” reputation.

[JRDM]

I'm sorry for multiple posts. My computer has been messing up all day. I don't know how to delete them. Again, sorry!!

[robyrob]

don't worry about it.

[blink]

Thanks, I really enjoyed you're work. The creativity and detail are great, I only wish I could write that well. I know the series was supposed to be centered around Benson the main character but I often wish they'd featured more interaction between the supporting characters particularly the Governor and Katie. After all, the talent was obviously there so they should have showcased it more often.

Anyway, in the future you should defiantly post more of you're work, I'm looking forward to it.

Once again,

[JRDM]

Thanks blink. So could you see and hear the characters as you read my piece? I tried to write it as closely as possible to what I think the characters would have said. Can you see all that happening in the interlude from the time Katie left Benson in the kitchen until the governor met Benson in the kitchen?

[blink]

Yes, I could defiantly see the scenes as they unfolded, something else I noticed was how you let the reader see into the minds of the characters. That's very important in good fiction writing, It's why people always say the book was better than the movie.
I sure wish you were part of the "Benson" writing staff back in the day, with you're help "Don't Quote Me" would have made a really good two part episode.

[JRDM]

Thanks. I tried to write it exactly how I thought the characters would have said it and what they would have said. I just wanted to fill in the gaps. I wish it had of been a two-part episode. I can definitely hear Ms. Kraus saying she would put mud in the governor's coffee if he was too hard on Katie even if she actually knew Katie needed to be punished.

Do you think I was correct that the governor probably told Taylor and Marcy before he finished with Katie? Somehow they knew all about it before the governor walked into the kitchen to see Benson. It looked to me like the governor had just left Katie's room when he entered the kitchen.

The one thing I didn't address was what was in Benson's mind. Do you think he knew the governor would spank Katie, and that's why he told her the clock story, do get her prepared? Do you think Benson agreed with the governor? I wonder because when Benson asked him what he decided, Benson looks disappointed when the governor says there were a few tears. He kind of cracks a smile when the governor says the tears were his, but to me Benson still looks like he hates it.

I couldn't decide, but was the audience supposed to gather that Katie did not cry? In my story I say she didn't because that's how I interpreted it.

Do you think 8 hand swats sounds about right? Too many, too few?

What would you have changed if it had been your story. Perhaps I misinterpreted some things or had the wrong idea.

[blink]

I would think he would have assumed everyone would eventually know what happened, especially Marcy. I could see him telling them up front like that, the Governor seemed like that kind of guy to me.

It's my belief that Benson probably agreed with the Governor but subconsciously he hoped Gene wouldn't really spank her, at least not harshly enough to make her cry. Benson's disapointment would have been an understandable reaction, he obviously cared deeply for Katie and the thought of her in tears wouldn't be pleasant for him.

As far as Katie not crying, I think it would be presumable due to the great sadness she had already experiened in her life. In my mind the loss of her mother probably callused her emotionally a little, her character always struck me as having a great deal of resilience anyway.

I can see Gene wanting to give her 8 swats but I can also see him stopping at 3 or 4 due to an inability to carry it out.

In regard to changing anything, I can't think of anything other than having Ms. Kraus hitting Taylor over the head with a frying pan or something.

[JRDM]

Yes, now that you mention it, the governor probably could not go through with 8 whole swats, at least not 8 "good" ones. Now that I think about it he probably didn't go beyond 5 reasonably firm blows. I want my story as true to the characters as possible so I will continue to change things in my original story. That's what the edit button is for, right? I think I will take the swats down to 5.

[teen-machine]

It was a HORRIBLE story about Katie being abused by her dad.

[JRDM]

Well, I have now edited my story to less swats. I think now the story reads even more accurate. Thanks blink! If anyone has anymore suggestions on how to make it even better, just let me know.