That thought died as he came face-to-face with a group of teenage women who had come to bathe. At the sight of his nudity, they shrieked and laughed at him.
His face red, Ren cupped himself and ran to the woods to save what little dignity he could. But inside, he was mortified.
By the time he made it home, his father was waiting for him. The girls had come straight back to tell everyone they had caught him masturbating in the public pool.
"Where are your clothes?"
"Th-th-th-th-"
His father backhanded him so hard, it knocked him to the floor. "Answer me!"
Ren tried, but he was so upset he couldn't say anything in his own defense. No words would come out at all.
His father yanked him up by his arm.
Ren stumbled, his eyes filled with tears of pain. He tried to get his freedom, but his father wouldn't let go. They were headed to the whipping post. Ren fought harder.
Still his father hauled him naked through the house. As they passed Coyote, who watched them with wide eyes, Ren reached for him.
"P-p-p-" He was trying to say please so that his brother would tell their father what happened and spare him his beating.
Coyote ignored him and followed them to the back courtyard. His father tied him to the post, where Ren was given twenty lashes for defiling the pool.
"You are never to go there again," his father snarled in his face, "you understand?"
Tears soaked his cheeks as his lips quivered from trying to speak.
His father buried his hand in his blood-soaked hair and wrenched it. "Do you understand me, you retarded bastard?"
Sobbing in silence, Ren nodded.
His father untied him. "Now go clothe yourself and finish your chores. If there's one thing left undone by sunset, we'll be back here for twenty more." His father stalked away and left him on the ground.
Ren tried to push himself up, but he hurt too much to stand. His limbs trembled from the pain even worse than his lips did.
He lay there for several minutes until Coyote brought him a blanket and covered him with it.
"I'm sorry, Makah'Alay. We were just having fun. I didn't know the girls would say that. We thought they'd laugh about it and tease you. We never dreamed they'd tell others you were doing something lewd."
Still, his back burned from the lashes. "W-w-why didn't you s-s-say-"
"I didn't want to get in trouble. Besides, you know how Father is. He'd have found some reason to beat you for it. There was no need in both of us being punished."
His brother was right. Either way, he'd have been beaten.
Coyote helped him to his feet. Placing Ren's arm over his shoulder to help him, he started toward Ren's room.
Halfway there, their father met them in the hallway with a smile for Coyote.
"My precious son, you're ever kind to those least worthy. While I appreciate your charity, you shouldn't have done it." He curled his lip at Ren. "You can't pamper wrongdoers after they've been punished. Otherwise, they never learn any lessons. Now let him go and take the blanket. He thought it was funny to be naked ... let him walk to his room that way."
Ren waited for his brother to say something in his defence.
Instead, Coyote nodded. "Sorry, Father. I won't do it again." He took Ren's blanket.
Ren struggled to stand alone. His eyes filled with tears, he watched as his father ruffled Coyote's hair and kissed his head.
"Come, my precious son, I have a present for you."