"What're you looking at?" dad said.
My father always found an excuse to pick a fight with me. It was pathetic and petty, like squabbling teenagers fighting for chores. The man was as bitter as a person who just lost a winning jackpot ticket.
"Nothing," I said.
"You better wash the dishes before I wash you myself, "he said.
"Bongi washed them already."
"You stinking pig," he said
"I just took a bath," I said.
I could not decipher why he called me that. I was one of those good smelling and clean kids. I used deodorants that I stole from my sisters' beauty box. The man made it a point that each minute he got, he said something hurtful to me. I could not understand why he treated me differently.
He bought Bongi expensive clothes with his bonus while I got cheap clothes from second-hand stores. He never bought the older siblings anything.
"Stop abusing the kid," mom said.
"You make me mad," he said.
He shouted and dropped things on his way out to a drinking spree.
"We live in harmony when you aren't here," mom said.
"I see you got yourself a new man of the house," he said.
He yelled at mom referring to me. He then grabbed his bag and banged the door on his way out. It was a common site each time during festive seasons.
"Run to your mistresses," mom said," you can't face your problems."
"Good luck with your new man, "he said.
"Good for nothing miner," mom said.
"Have fun with him," he said.
Our mother was overprotective of Bongi and me. The following morning dad came back, just in time for the usual family Christmas lunch. However poor the neighborhood was, on Christmas days it was a feast no matter what. My brother slaughtered three chickens while my sisters cooked all sorts of vegetables. There was food everywhere one walked. We had all kinds of sweets and desserts.
"Max," mom said, "please say grace."
I then recited the usual grace.
"Amen," everybody said except dad.
"I just lost my appetite," he said.
He pushed his plate away from him.
"But you were hungry two minutes ago," mom said.
"Not anymore," he said.
"Typical," mom said.
He did that every time I came to join everyone at the table. The man knew how to spoil a good moment. He behaved like a broken man; like someone who lost out in his dream life.
#
"Duty calls," Tony said, "I've to rush."
My brother left for work at the mines, organized by dad, around the beginning of January.
"Bring me Mr. T. toy," I said, "when you come back pretty please."
Every little boy my age yearned to own a Mr. T toy. Mr. T was a character starring on some TV show called The A-Team. Most kids saw him as their superhero. It was the toy of choice together with kites and BMX bikes, which were out of reach for most of us, but fortunately, we had the skill to construct kites using sticks and plastics.
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Confessions of Don Black
Mystery / ThrillerMax had troubles that started way back in apartheid South Africa, led a life in squalor until, unbeknownst to him,he was adopted by his mother's master after his mother's death, who turned out to be his biological father. He had almost murdered his...
