Favoritism
John and Jacob were both born into the world on March 11, 1980 to the Smith family. They were fraternal twins and just the cutest little angels you'll ever lay your eyes on. They were born five pounds and nine ounces each with chubby little cheeks and aqua blue eyes. They were Mr. and Mrs. Smith little gems and the Smiths love them both greatly. However, if only the Smiths could love and treat them both equally, for then this horrific incident would never have happened and there would be no need to tell this story.
Ever since the age of one and a half you could tell that John was a mommy's boy. He would always be by her side and did everything with her. He followed her everywhere and would try and help her in little but heart melting ways. For example, one time while his mother was working in the kitchen cooking a meal for the family, he saw that she looked very tired and decided to pour her a glass of water to drink. Her heart melted at seeing the sight of her little man who could barely hold the glass itself pushing it above his head, toward her, to offer her a drink. Jacob on the other hand did not do such things. He was a curious little explorer and would sneak around every corner of the house looking at everything. In his little expeditions through the vastness of his house he would accidentally knock and break his parent's valuables like a glass vase that was located inside the curio. His parents, in their anger, spanked and punish him for this action, failing to realize that it was only an accident.
These types of actions continued from the two brothers and soon you could easily tell from the way the parents were treating their kids that John was the favorite. John began getting all of the attentions from the parents while the only time Jacob ever got any were when they were yelling and punishing him for something else that he had done wrong.
At the age of five Jacob resented his brother for always getting the attention.
The feeling of resentment toward John slowly built itself up in Jacob until the delicate see-saw tipped and the feeling developed into its full form. This point in time occurred when John and Jacob were at the age of five. John and Jacob were in Kindergarten in the few days left before the Thanksgiving vacation. Their class project today was to draw and describe what they were thankful for. John drew a picture of his parents and him holding hands and standing in front of their house. With the help of his teacher in the spelling department he wrote I am thankful for my parents because they are the best parents ever. Jacob decided to draw a picture of his Power Ranger action figures, instead. Underneath his picture he put I am thankful for my Power Rangers because they are the best things ever. When they arrived home and presented their projects to their parents in the kitchen, their parents immediately notice John's work and took it from his hand to examine it. They scanned the picture up, down, diagonally, and all other possible directions to be sure of not missing any detail. Under their breath they read the words that he had written over and over again with a widening smile each time. They did this until their mouth could spread no more. They picked John up into their arms and began thanking and lavishing him with compliments for the picture and words that he had written. Jacob was still left on the floor and was jumping up and down trying to show his parents what he had accomplish. Jacob wanted to be picked up too and he wanted his parents to say nice stuff to him too, but his parents were too busy with John to notice. After several minutes of futile effort an idea popped into Jacob's head. He thought that maybe his parents would look at what he had done and give him some attention if John's paper was no longer there to captivate their attention. So he began jumping up and down trying to grab the waving paper from John's hand. After several attempts he was able to get the paper away from John's hand. Immediately as his feet touched the ground he tore it up into two. At the sight of this John began to bawl. Wondering why John was crying Mr. and Mrs. Smith looked down to see that the picture of the family was now in two with John being split in half while Mrs. Smith being on the left piece of paper and Mr. Smith on the right. Mr. Smith, outraged by what Jacob had done, yelled in a thundering tone for Jacob to go to his room and pointed his finger to show Jacob the way. Jacob with head down stomped his way to his room. There in his room, he sat against the wall and played what had happened over and over again in his head.
He began mumbling over and over, "It's all John's fault. It's all John's fault"
He felt that his parents didn't love him and that the only person in their heart was John. He felt that his parent hated him and didn't want him. He resented John for taking his parents away from him. Jacob's hatred for his brother was the first step leading up to the incident.
The second step was when his parents inadvertently caused him his depression in an attempt to better his grade. He and his brother were ten years old and they had just gotten their first marking period report card. John had gotten straight A's on his report card while Jacob had gotten three B's and two C's .When they arrive home to show their parents this their parents congratulated John on a job well done. As for Jacob they tried to encourage better grades out of him by dealing him a little tough love.
They said, "Look at John and how smart he is. He got straight A's. Why didn't you get that? Work harder because I want to see straight A's next time, like your brother's!"
Jacob's hatred for his brother grew stronger because it was because of John that his parents were once again mad at him. However, he wanted to make them proud and to finally be loved, so for the whole second marking period he worked his hardest to get the straight A's that his parents wanted. When the second marking period was over and report cards were handed out John once again got straight A's. Jacob was very close to his goal but he only got straight B's. Disappointed but hoping that his parent would still be proud he showed them his report card when he got home. His parents seeing the change on his report card thought that their tough love must be working, so this time they made it even harsher and yelled at him for not getting perfect grades. They began to compliment his brother for getting such good grades trying to get Jacob jealous so that he'll work harder. Their plan didn't turn out as expected. Unaware that his parents were doing all of this to help him he thought that once again he was hated and unloved.
He began falling into a dark hole of depression. He would shut himself in his room and would become more and more isolated from everybody, even his own parents. He was in his own little world and he no longer paid attention in class. His grades began to drop and in the end hovered around the seventies. Each year his grades dropped closer and closer to the threshold of failing until finally in tenth grade it slipped below a seventy, and he was held back. By now he had lost all interest in school and was so deep into his hole of depression that there was no longer a way out. He dropped out of school.
He went to work at Mc Donalds while his brother graduated to become a very rich business man. He lives in a rented apartment that is cramped, unsanitary, and a mess. Plastic forks and paper plates were littered all over his apartment and the sofa had so many holes in it that he had to lay a beach towel over the seat to sit on it. His brother on the other hand lived in a two story four bedroom house with his parents. The floor was made of marble and all the rooms upstairs were carpeted. The house was clean, organized, and spacious.
He is jealous of his brother and feels that it's all John's fault that he is like this. That it's all John's fault that he's living in a dump and has no life. He felt that his life was not worth living anymore and that each day would just bring more pain and sorrow. He decided to end his life and John's with it. He invited John over for dinner, and while John was at the table thinking that Jacob was bringing the food out, Jacob shot him in the back of the head. For once in Jacob's life he felt a sense of happiness and with this last feeling ingrained in his mind he shot himself and fell to the floor with a smile on his face.
Two hours later when John still hadn't come home from his dinner with Jacob their parents began to worry. They decided to call Jacob's home phone number to ask if everything was ok and when John would be coming home. The phone rang many times but no one answered. They dial and dial again but still no one answered. After calling for the third time without any response they took their car and drove to Jacob's apartment. The door was left unlock. As Mrs. Smith opened the door the beam of light shining in grew slowly larger and larger until it fell on the bodies of two men lying on the floor. At once realizing that it was her sons she let out a loud shriek and ran to hug her boys with stream of tears falling down her face. Mr. Smith got the phone and called the police.
One week later they had the men's funeral at a nearby church.
There Mrs. Smith cried on her husband's shoulder, "Why God? Why must you take both of my boys away from me? Why!!!"
The Smiths felt great sorrow and guilt for the death of their sons. They looked back at all of the times that they had spent with their sons and realized that they had favored John over Jacob. They realized of their unfair treatments toward their sons. They realized how they had spent all of their attention on John during their sons' childhood. In their heart they felt the pangs of guilt from the way that they had treated Jacob. From then on they spent their days wishing that they could go back in time to right the wrongs that they had done to their son, Jacob.