1955

“Is this how you clean?” John’s father says. “You’re so useless!”

John is 11 years old. His mother passed away, died of cancer, and his father, who is still angry and deeply sad, takes his frustration out on his only born son, who seems to be doing everything wrong in his eyes. John never seems to be doing anything good, and the verbal abuse by his father and his lack of interest in his life has caused him to have a low self-esteem.

After his encounter with his father, John goes to his room and takes out the medal he won earlier that day, when it was announced that he was the top learner in his class. He gently tucks it back into his bag and weeps because he knows that this achievement, too, will probably not even be good enough for his father.

The memory of his childhood still haunts John today.

John sits up in his bed, staring at his beautiful wife. Feeling too afraid to wake her up, he goes to his daughter’s room and, when he gets there, slowly opens the door, not wanting to wake Anna up too. He stands in the doorway, staring at his daughter, who is the spitting image of her mother. He had promised himself that he would protect and love his child no matter what, and that was a promise he was sure going to keep. He then goes downstairs to prepare breakfast for his family.

After a while, Anna wakes up. “Shit, it’s 7.40. I’m going to be late for school,” she says. Last night was such a struggle for her to fall asleep. “No time for breakfast. I must hurry before the bus arrives.” After preparing for school, she then says good morning to her dad and mom downstairs and off she goes with her lunch and apple for breakfast, leaving her parents alone in the house.

It’s Monday today, which is Emma’s washing day, and she wants to go up to Anna’s room to collect her washing, but John says he will instead. Emma had recently hurt her ankle, and John doesn’t want her to put more strain on it while carrying the heavy load, or even doing the washing for that matter. So, in order to ease her tasks, he offers to help. Whilst emptying the clothes to throw in the machine in his daughter’s room, he stumbles upon a note that was given to Anna, and it reads “meet me at our usual spot for lunch” and it is signed M.

The little note then makes John furious, so he goes to find his wife to tell her about his latest discovery.

“John, I’m sure it’s not what you think,” Emma says after her husband tells her the news. “Please remain calm and don’t jump to conclusions without talking to Anna first.”

“Okay, honey,” John responds. “I’m sorry, I’ll wait till she comes home.”

Tell us: Why do you think John dislikes Mike’s family so much?