It's late. I'm posting lots on everything. I got here. Now I just need
something to write. This is probably the most obvious one yet.
***
People like to think I'm the smart one. I'm the one with the good home- life, who never felt neglected or endangered or hurt or stupid.
No. People are wrong. My family is the biggest lie in the world. My father's arm has been broken for five years. He's a beggar. I've been working in factories since I was ten, with my sister. My little brother was going to start in the winter, but then I saw the newsies. I knew this job was healthier than factory work. It could well pay better, too.
When I brought Jack home, I did a quick triple knock, the signal for company. I heard some shuffling and the clack of knitting needles and the creak of a rocking chair.
There was some spouting of lies, some pleasant family banter. I didn't mean it to make Jack feel like shit, he doesn't know what I come home to. My own father beats me up for booze money, I hide some so we can survive. Sarah's money and skills go to our clothes, Les and my savings are for food and rent. Mother helps Sarah, though she's usually too weepy to do much. Father's state bothers her. Not surprising, really. It bothers most people with souls and compassion.
I curse the day I was born to Mayer and Esther Jacobs. I curse the day I was born David Matthew Jacobs. Because that was when the trouble began.
***
People like to think I'm the smart one. I'm the one with the good home- life, who never felt neglected or endangered or hurt or stupid.
No. People are wrong. My family is the biggest lie in the world. My father's arm has been broken for five years. He's a beggar. I've been working in factories since I was ten, with my sister. My little brother was going to start in the winter, but then I saw the newsies. I knew this job was healthier than factory work. It could well pay better, too.
When I brought Jack home, I did a quick triple knock, the signal for company. I heard some shuffling and the clack of knitting needles and the creak of a rocking chair.
There was some spouting of lies, some pleasant family banter. I didn't mean it to make Jack feel like shit, he doesn't know what I come home to. My own father beats me up for booze money, I hide some so we can survive. Sarah's money and skills go to our clothes, Les and my savings are for food and rent. Mother helps Sarah, though she's usually too weepy to do much. Father's state bothers her. Not surprising, really. It bothers most people with souls and compassion.
I curse the day I was born to Mayer and Esther Jacobs. I curse the day I was born David Matthew Jacobs. Because that was when the trouble began.
