My father and grandfather were both British. That meant harsh discipline, corporal punishment, and men being stoic. And a few other Britishisms. From a parental standpoint, it meant that I didn't put up with much guff. I had no issues meting out a spanking to any of my kids if they deserved it.
I divorced when my eldest was 10 and my youngest, six. I met Sonja two years later, and a year after that I was into my second marriage. Sonja had three children, same as me. She was a widow though, so we had her kids full-time, unlike the wonky 50-50 schedule my ex and I had worked out with mine.
Nina was the eldest, eleven years old when I married her mother. Zachary and Mikhail were eight and six respectively. My three children, Noah, Janice, and Rachel, were all quite well-behaved and respectful, knowing what fate they would meet if they pushed me too far. Zach and Misha quickly learned what boundaries they could operate in, and after a reasonable adjustment time, fell in line were basically good boys.
Nina was different though. I could never reach her. She was the only one of the three who never came to call me 'Dad', referring to me only by my first name, John. And she was wicked. She misbehaved constantly, acted out, stole, lied, pranked, teased, smoked, fought... There seemed to be nothing I could do to tame her spirit.
She was extremely smart, but her school marks were erratic. She would get A's as often as she got F's, and had praise as frequently as condemnations from her teachers. She was a frequent visitor to the principal's office, and had been suspended twice.
I beat her ass the same way I did with the other five, when they deserved it, but on her it seemed to have no effect. The only thing that made any difference to her behaviour is when I took my belt to her. I was loath to do it, and I'd only ever taken the belt to Noah twice and Rachel once. And for good reason. The other three never earned that.
With Nina, I'd give her the belt, and then she'd actually be good. For about a week or two, tops. Then she'd be back to her old tricks. It drove me mad.
I have a bit of a temper, too. Probably something to do with the repression of emotion or something. In any case, I'm very calm. Until I blow. Then, look out. I'd only ever lost my temper with any of the kids twice in my life, and never while punishing them.
Anyhow, Nina was eighteen now. I hadn't had to use corporal punishment on any of the other kids past the age of about thirteen. By that point they'd got it. But with Nina, it seemed to be the only way to ever get any kind of limited good behaviour out of her.
When she reached adulthood, I vowed that I would now never again lay a hand on her.
It had been two and a half months since her birthday. And my patience was wearing thin.
"Nina!" I called out, knowing she was upstairs in her room. Predictably, I got no response. "Nina!!!"
"Whattaya want, John?" came her snarky response at my second intonation of her name.
"Come downstairs, please. I want to talk to you."
She took her time. I struggled to contain myself. I swore she did little, subtle things like that just to irk me. It was like a constant contest of wills, and she knew the ways to push my buttons. There were only two months of high school left! And she'd pulled her marks up admirably; she could probably get into any college she applied to now. Why couldn't she just be good?
"Whassup, John?" she asked in a bratty pose with her hips tilted and her arms crossed. Her lips were screwed up in a defiant snarl.
"I think you know." She was dressed sort of Goth, like usual. She had on a sort of corset-thing and a black silk top, with a gauzy skirt and black-and-white striped leggings. Her hair was dyed jet black and messed, with pigtails. Her makeup was thick and dark. I hated it. She also got her nose and lower lip pierced for her 18th birthday. She did it just to defy me, I was sure.
"Yeah, well, that bitch had it coming to her."
"We've talked about this before, Nina. You can't be fighting. Even if you're provoked. You've got two more months to go. That's it. Do you really want to get kicked out now?"
"Whatever," was her dismissive response.
"Look, Nina," I sighed, trying to keep my cool. "I've tried to reason with you here. You're the smartest kid I've got."
"I'm not your kid," she broke in.
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. You're the smartest... person I have living under my roof that I pay for all of her food, lodgings, clothing and allowance." She screwed her face up at me even more at that. Lord, why did she provoke me like this? I was trying to treat her like an adult! Why did she always make it so difficult!?
"Look, Nina, this can't continue. All you've got to do is finish this year off, ok? Then you can apply for college, get a job, travel for a bit, whatever you want! We've talked about that. I think I'm being more than reasonable to you. Just two months! Ok?"
"Whatever,