Fiona looked at Frank with eyes devoid of any emotion, leaving only dead ash.
Lip leaned against the pillar with his arms crossed, a sneer on his face, his eyes full of sarcasm.
Ian stood behind Lip to the side, avoiding Frank's gaze, turning his face to the darkness.
Carl, this kid, was excited. His small fist waved in the air, "Yes! Shock him! Make him pay for chasing away my Special Forces soldier! Bzzzt! Shane, give him another one!"
Finally, there was a bang of a door slamming!
It was Debbie, who had been peeking behind the door crack. When she heard Frank say, "I never said I wanted to love you, I didn't want you born either!" she froze completely.
Most of her dependency on her father was gone now, and the filter of Frank as a good father shattered on the ground.
But Debbie didn't cry or scream. She just took a step back and slammed the front door shut.
Immediately after, came the sound of her footsteps running upstairs, and the sobs she could no longer suppress.
The sound of the door slamming woke the dazed Fiona.
Maternal instinct overrode everything. She gave Frank one last pitiful look (which made Frank feel worse than hate), said nothing, and rushed upstairs to comfort her heartbroken sister.
Frank lay on the ground, watching all this.
Listening to the faint crying from upstairs and Fiona's low comfort.
From the surrounding neighbors' windows, several conspiratorial gazes looked over from time to time.
An unprecedented feeling seized him—
This was no longer simple pain or fear, but the embarrassment of being stripped naked, exposed in front of everyone, and spat on by all the "possessions" he created.
Although this feeling might be completely forgotten by him at some unknown time, returning to his rogue character.
But now, his expression was dazed.
Shane saw all of Frank's expression changes.
He stepped forward again. Seeing Frank instinctively curl up in fear of being shocked again, he kicked him in the stomach.
"Cough—! Fck! @" Frank retched in pain, curling up tighter.
Shane squatted down and began the final ultimatum in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"Listen, trash, stinking dog shit. The rules change starting tonight."
"From now on, if this family loses another penny, another bite of food... even a roll of toilet paper... I don't care if you did it, I'll count it on you. Of course, you can also use some dirty tricks against me, against everyone in the family."
"But by then, you'd better have drilled out of the South Side like a rat, into a stinking ditch I can't find."
"Otherwise, I guarantee, you'll have to worry about more than just no alcohol."
After speaking, Shane stood up. He no longer looked at Frank, turned around, passed through the quiet "audience" at the door, walked straight into the warm light of the house, and disappeared inside.
Only then did Lip stroll over slowly, stop beside Frank, and look down at him.
"Ha! Thanksgiving special, old man. Great acting, especially that last line, real emotion."
Lip sneered, then walked to the door and put his arm around Ian's shoulder. "Let's go, Ian. Our 'Father' wants to watch the stars tonight. Wishing you a good appetite tonight, Frank."
Before his voice faded, Lip closed the living room door.
Click—
The sound of the door locking was heard clearly by Frank.
At the door of the Gallagher house, only Frank remained curled up on the ground. Light shone through the window, casting a small patch of dim yellow light on the ground, stopping just beside Frank, stingily refusing to go a bit further.
...
Just now, before Thanksgiving dinner, Shane stopped Lip at the corner of the stairs.
"Lip, no matter what noise you hear outside later, don't rush down."
Hearing Shane's words, Lip raised his eyebrows and understood instantly.
"Oh? You're going to deal with that old bastard? Need me to help hold him down?"
"No need," Shane shook his head. "You only need to do one thing: stop Fiona, don't let others come to interfere, and finally bring them out to watch the show. I want Frank's true colors completely exposed!"
Listening to Shane's words, Lip grinned. "No problem. I've long wanted to see the scene where his 'pitiful old father trick' gets exposed. I'll ensure your audience stays quiet."
Back to the present, Shane said to Lip, "Thanks, brother. The audience arrangement was good."
Lip released Ian's shoulder and patted Shane on the back:
"Your lines and action design were top-notch. Especially the final improvisation (making Frank speak his heart), Oscar level."
Shane looked at Ian again. Ian pursed his lips, becoming more silent.
But the look he gave Shane had something more complex in it.
Lip nudged Ian: "Hey, you okay?"
Ian shook his head, looking elsewhere. "I'm fine. He deserved it..."
After speaking, Ian walked to the kitchen to continue preparing dinner.
Lip walked to the window, glanced at the figure still lying on the ground outside, and asked:
"Just letting him go like this? Aren't you afraid this old bastard will go crying to the social worker tomorrow, saying we abused our disabled old father?"
Shane took a few cans of beer from the fridge, distributed them to Lip and Ian (Ian waved his hand to refuse), and opened one himself.
"He won't." Shane took a sip, his tone certain.
"Why? Because he suddenly found his conscience?" Lip sneered.
"Because he's smart." Shane looked at Lip.
"Frank knows clearly that without us 'possessions', no one will clean up his mess anymore. Without the police (Tony) sending him home in the middle of the night, he can't even survive next month. He fears death more than having no alcohol."
Shane added, "I let him know tonight that the price of crossing the bottom line isn't a beating; it's possibly really disappearing. Between alcohol and possibly losing his life, he'll choose the former and stay away from us."
Lip nodded, agreeing with Shane.
As for why Shane didn't strike a deadly blow to cripple or kill Frank directly?
If Frank was crippled, with Fiona and Debbie's current personalities, they would definitely rush to take care of him.
Even if crippled, Frank could still pull tricks.
Most importantly, if something happened to Frank and the government found out, everyone in this house, except Fiona, would be sent to foster homes (including Shane).
Shane didn't want such a thing to happen.
So, he gave Frank a harsh lesson, made Frank speak his heart out, and let Fiona and the others see Frank's true face.
Although it couldn't make Fiona and Debbie completely disappointed in Frank, at least it was a start.
As for why Frank dared to call DCFS to report his own family in the show?
That was because he was certain that even if Fiona and the others knew about it, they wouldn't do anything to him, at most a scolding or a beating.
But now Shane had made the bottom line clear: dare to do it, and you die.
He believed Frank knew how to choose.
...
Back to the present, Shane asked Lip again, "Lip, how's that mini-program I asked you to make?"
Lip turned his head and replied: "Done. The code runs through. Although the interface might be a bit ugly, it's usable. What's the plan? Did you get the bank account?"
Shane nodded and pulled out the debit card Fiona gave him yesterday from his pocket.
"The password is... connect it for me as soon as possible."
Lip took the card, looked at it, and whistled.
"Alright, brother, fast work. I'll set it up for you tomorrow."
Lip took the card but didn't make the next move. He looked at Shane.
"The webpage is ready, but where is my 'Thanksgiving gift'? Someone promised a brand new computer. You won't renege just because you beat up an old bastard, right?"
Shane didn't take his teasing. "Don't worry, Lip. Besides your 'Thanksgiving gift', I also prepared an extra gift for everyone in our family. I'll give it to you guys during dinner tonight."
Lip nodded, "Okay, hope what you said is true."
Shane gave him a 'trust me' look, then walked up the stairs to the second floor.
"You guys continue with the turkey; I'll go up and check on Debbie and Fiona."