I think I read this about 2002 and it made a big impression. I think it was a first-person narrative by a 13-15? yr old boy whose father was killed in WWII. He was being raised by his single mother. He found a pistol in his mother's bureau drawer and it accidentally discharged. The bullet went through the wall almost hitting a woman in the next apartment. When the neighbor came to his mother with the report of what had happened, his mother talked of the many problems she was having raising her teenage son. The neighbor lady volunteered to help by showing his mother how to spank. Here my memory begins to fade but I think the first spanking was supervised by the neighbor as his mother used the hairbrush. Also, this may have been a series rather than only one story. Any help recovering this story would be appreciated. Thanks. Philoctetes | 
