Life as Shania

Chapter 29: After Dinner

Chris knocked three times before pushing Shania's studyroom door open slowly. Shania was at her desk with her back facing the door.

"Hey," Chris cleared his throat. 

"Hey," Shania turned to face Chris feeling afraid of what's to come. 

Earlier in the day, Chris had warned Shania that she would be punished for not doing her homework and for being late for her class with Colin. But Papa Lee has already spoken to Chris to give his sister a break after seeing her breakdown after dinner.

"I'm sorry," Shania's lips quivered as she held her tears.

"Sweetie, come here," Chris stretched his arms out to hug his crying sister. He embraced her and pulled her towards the chaise to sit and have her on his lap.

"I'm sorry that my anger left you feeling anxious the entire evening. I know we've been especially strict with you during this period and you're having a hard time getting accustomed to the life you have here," Chris rubbed her back as he spoke.

"I am angry that I have been getting reports about your misdemeanour from Colin. I know that you haven't been submitting your homework and Colin has been turning a blind eye to it, but he only decided to punish you today," Chris continued. 

"But I have been passing out even before dinner or right after dinner. I'm not not doing my homework on purpose, I'm really just tired and have not enough time to complete them," Shania explained with a slight whine as she's frustrated. Her head was leaning on her brother's chest.

Chris rubbed her back to soothe her.

"But of course, you would still have to bear the consequences of your actions and you know I am a man of my word," Chris cupped Shania's face to look at him as he spoke. 

"I'm sorryyyyyyy," whined Shania as more tears fall on her cheeks.

"Stand up and go grab a cane," Chris instructed as he pointed to the umbrella stand at the corner of the room that had a bunch of canes.

"Nooo, pleaseeeeee Chris. I'm sorry," Shania sobbed as she reached for her brother's hands.

"Do you want me to start counting?" Chris pulled his hands away.

Shania stood up and started walking towards the door, trying to run away from the situation.

"Shania Lauren Lee. You dare leave this room and you're going to experience your worst punishment," warned Chris standing up and glaring at his sister.

Shania's knees buckled and she fell to the floor sobbing, "I don't want, please! I said I'm sorry! I'm currently doing all the undone work and will complete them all before I sleep tonight. Please, let me off this time?".

"Go grab a cane. Now." Chris was firm.

Shania laid on the floor in rebellion and refused to move.

"Three."
"Two."
"One."
"Okay, you're testing me, huh?" 

Chris went to the other side of the room and grabbed a cane and then walked towards Shania, she flinched and she tried pushing herself back to move further away. But within 4 strides, Chris caught up with his sister and he grabbed her by her arm. She was flailing her limbs as he yanked her towards the center of the room.

"Stop," the first whack came upon her bum. 
"Resisting," and the second.
"Stand," and the third.
"Properly," and the fourth.

"Fuck you, Chris! Stop!" Shania pushed Chris away shouting.
"Stop hitting me! Fuck you! You act like you care about me, but you really don't! I hate you!"

Hearing his sister raise her voice at him, Chris got a little taken aback and loosen his grip on her arm. As soon as he did, Shania pulled her arm off and ran out of her study. She sobbed as she ran towards her room. Hearing the commotion, Papa Lee came out of his study to have Shania bump into him.

"What's going on here?" Papa Lee asked his sobbing daughter.

Shania shook her head and went inside her room. She ran into her bathroom and locked the door. That's because she knew that she would get into more trouble if she locked her room door. She took some of the clean towels and laid them inside her bathtub and went inside to curl up and cry. 

By this time, Chris and Papa Lee are in Shania's room unsure of how to deal with the situation. On one hand, they were livid; and on the other hand, they know that it would do more harm than good to show Shania their anger.

Papa Lee looked at Chris and sighed, showing his displeasure of how Chris has handled the situation. He left the room to let the siblings deal with it.

Chris knocked on the bathroom door, "hey Naya, shall we talk about it?".
"Go away Chris, I don't want to talk to you," Shania shouted from the tub.

"Okay, we'll talk tomorrow," Chris replied. "But I'm going to wait here until you come out," he continued. "Get out of my room! I really don't want to see you!" Shania yelled. Chris didn't reply and sat on her bed.

After about an hour, Shania came out of her bathroom and made eye contact with her brother on her bed. She turned to return back to the bathroom, "hey, i just wanted to make sure you're okay. Now that you're out of the bathroom, I'll leave you. You don't have to go back in."

Chris stood up and walk towards the door before looking back, "we'll talk about this tomorrow". 

After seeing him leave her room, Shania's knees buckled once more and she cried as she sat on the floor. She felt overwhelmed, frustrated, and also scared. She knew she was still in trouble for yelling at her brother and using profanities. 

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Author's Note:

Hey everyone! I really appreciate the love you have to this book and as much as I want to update regularly, I do experience writer's block often as I have no storyboard. Also, some of the discipline used here may sound like "abuse" but please bear in mind that this story is of Asian background so despite Shania seeming like an angel, the family may still be "unreasonable".

Feel free to leave comments with any ideas and directions you want me to write, I may incorporate it in sooner or later depending on how the story unfolds. I really do read all your comments and DMs. Again, thank you everyone for loving this book and I will continue to do my best to continually update. And, don't worry, I have no intention to end this book anytime soon ;)