CHAPTER 2: A FATHER/SON MOMENT

I woke up to the sound of the alarm clock beeping only to find myself in a unfamiliar setting. At first, I didn't remember where I was, then after a moment of waking up I realized that I was in the Boys' Dorm at Bullworth Academy. Whenever I spend the night at a new location or at a friend's house, I always have that moment where I can't recall where I am. Not until I take a moment and remember what happened the day before. That's just how I am in the mornings.

Tossing the sheets off of me and wearing nothing but a pair of green boxer shorts, I went to the dresser and got together my school uniform as well as put on a pair of sweat pants and a red t-shirt just to wear to get to the showers on the second floor. With my uniform, wash cloth, towel and a bar of soap in hand, I went up to the second floor bathroom. Once there, I couldn't help but notice how even more messy the bathroom was compared to the rest of the dorm. Seriously, there must be mold growing on the tile walls. "Somebody needs to take the time and clean this room", I said out-loud before going into one of the empty stalls.

Here's another thing that makes me uncomfortable: taking a shower in a strange new setting. When I was six years going on to seven, Uncle Roman and Aunt Mallorie were watching a horror film from the 1960's called Psycho. It was after my bedtime that they were watching it and I really wanted a glass of water just so I can get back to sleep. So I went into the living room to ask them for a glass and just when I entered the room, I watched in terror as the shadowy "mother" figure stab the woman in the shower. It was after that that I was afraid to take showers alone anywhere, even in my own home. But as I got older, my fear got better and so now I'm only afraid to shower in new surroundings, especially here. I don't know any of the students here, so I don't know if any of them are potential serial killers or not.

After taking a quick shower, I quickly dried myself up and started putting on my school uniform when I heard the sound of someone coming into the bathroom. Once I had on my khakis, I quickly left the shower stall and then went up to the sinks where the mirrors were. I took out my comb and then started brushing down my long brown hair. My hair was as dark as my father's, but the long hair is from my mom. I never knew my mom at all. She died while giving birth to me and ever since then, all I ever knew about her was that I got the long hair and the bright green eyes from her. My hair isn't as long as that of a girl's or even hippie boys, but it was longer than any other boy's that I know of.

Once I was done with making my hair neat, I went back down to my dorm room to throw my dirty underwear in the hamper. I took a good look at the clock and noticed that it was 8:30 AM. "What is today?" I asked myself. I pulled out my cellphone and saw that it was Monday. Great, I thought. I'm suppose to start classes today. I guess today is the day where I'll be making new friends and enemies. I took my schedule out from under my other papers, folded it and slipped it into my pocket. With thirty minutes of free time, I might as well go about and explore the school a bit. I should have last night after eating out at Burger Shot, but I just didn't feel like coming across other students at the moment, not after having been announced on the school's underground radio.

I was just about to exit my room when the voice of the secretary boomed on the intercom, "Greg Winston, your father is here in the front office". "My father", I said out-loud. He's probably here to deliver my car. That's the only thing that I'm looking forward to when I get up to the office. My dad and I don't have that normal father/son relationship that you see in the movies or even in real-life. He's always in one part of the country far away from me doing odd jobs just to support our family. He can't get a high-paying job in Liberty City since he doesn't have college education or even much of job experience. From what Uncle Roman told me, my dad use to work for different factions of the criminal underworld in Liberty City and even committed one of the biggest heists on the Bank Of Liberty. He was a hit-man for a couple of the Mafia families until he decided to sever all ties to his employers. Something that had to do with one of girlfriends getting killed. But ever since then, he has been trying to keep us floating above water, even after all the money that he earned went down the drain all because of my medical conditions.

Because of our money issues, he decided that he had to do high-paying jobs just to support us. And a lot of these high-paying jobs are outside Liberty State. Throughout my childhood, he has never been there for me. Every award I earned through schoolwork or through some sports, he's never been there. When I broke my arm one time after jumping off a two-story building, he's never been there. Hell, when I had a girlfriend for three months during my freshman year, he's never been around to meet her. It's because of this that I despise him a lot. Uncle Roman is a good uncle, but it's just not the same as actually having a dad around. In many ways, I wish that I had a dad as dedicated as Clark Griswold in the Vacation series, minus the goofball part of course. But even if I had a dad who was a goofball, it would totally beat having a dad that's not around for you.

After a while of walking, I made it to the front office. Just as I stepped into the office, that was when I noticed my dad sitting on the couch reading a magazine. "Oh, Greg. There you are", the secretary says to me. Just then, my father looked up from the magazine and says to me in a concerned voice, "Hey Greg, we need to have a talk". This really can't be good, I thought to myself. Usually when he says in a concerned voice that he needs to talk to me, that always meant that he wants to curse me out. Sometimes, it also led to him smacking me in the face. He was one of those parents who did the old-fashion thing whenever I did something wrong. "Before you two go Mr. Bellic, I got to give you the card so that your son can hang it on his rear-view mirror. It is required that he hangs it so the prefects don't call the police to have it towed", the secretary says to him. My dad then took the card out of her hands and says, "Thank you, Mrs. Watson". "Come on, I'll take you to your car", Dad says to me.

I didn't know where the parking lot was, so I was glad to find it with my green 2008 Sultan RS parked in one of the parking spaces near the gate. "You filled out the paperwork, right?" I asked him. "I did", Dad answers. "Thanks", I told him nervously. "Why did you do it?" he then asks me. "Dad, I really don't want to talk about it", I told him. "Greg, I just found out last night through your uncle that you were expelled from North Algonquin High and then enrolled here. I was upset when I returned home only to found out that you're at a whole new school in a whole new town in a whole new state. I just spend hours driving through traffic just to get your car here. Now I feel that you need to give me an explanation", Dad says to me.

"I was targeting the Jocks, okay", I started to explain. "He got in the crossfire. It wasn't suppose to happen that way". "Well what did they do to you that caused you to pull something as reckless as what you did back there?" Dad asks me. I continued explaining, "One of those assholes started spreading rumors about me being gay after I came across one of the hairy brutes naked. It spread across the whole school and everyone was making fun of me". "Greg, have you ever thought about going to a teacher or a guidance counselor about it? Or even the principal?" Dad asks. "Yeah sure, and get made fun of even more. I don't snitch. That's like the number one rule in high school", I told him. I was getting annoyed now. When will he hit me? I'd rather be hit than annoyed right now.

"I wasn't very popular myself when I was growing up", Dad then tells me. "I know what it's like to be made fun of, even for dumb mistakes. There were moments when I wanted to beat the living shit out of everyone that made fun of me, but I didn't. Well, for the most part I didn't. Greg, you have got to learn self-control and until you do, you're going to be staying here for a year. I know the whole deal: if you improve on your attitude, then you can go back to North Algonquin High". "Are you going to hit me now?" I then asked him. "No", he answers. "I know that you're sorry for what you done. But I am going to ask you this: will you please behave? Will you stay out of trouble and not do anything reckless?" I took a good look at him as he asked that and saw that he cared, that he really did want me to behave so I can go back home. "Okay, I promise", I told him.

He gave me a hug and then told me, "You can come back during Thanksgiving and Christmas break. I promise that I'll be home around that time. I'll even come and pick you up if you want". "Yeah, that would be great", I told him. He let me go and then handed me the keys to my car as well as the card for my rear-view mirror. "I'm sorry for disappointing you", I told him. "You don't need to worry about disappointing me", Dad says to me. "I'm just more concerned about your future. I want what's best for you. I know I haven't been a good father, but I still love you and want what's best for you. I'll see you in a few months".

I watched as my dad left the parking lot, heading towards the road probably to hail a Taxi or something. For the first time in years, my dad and I had a good talk. No shouting, no punching, no cursing, nothing but a heart-to-heart conversation. I took a good look at my car and for the first time was glad that I had it. Don't get me wrong, I love my car but Uncle Roman and Aunt Mallorie made several restrictions when it came to me driving it, mainly due to the heavy traffic throughout Algonquin. At least now since I am in a small town, there won't be too much traffic in the area.

And you know what? Since I'm in a whole new school and a whole new town, I could start over. I can focus on my schoolwork and make new friends. When I got into trouble back at my old school, none of my friends there wanted anything to do with me. But since no one here will know anything about what I've done back at North Algonquin High, I can just start fresh. I can make new friends and even get a girlfriend. And since this is my junior year, I really need to focus on my schoolwork if I want to go to a good college...if I can get into college. "Don't think that way, Greg", I told myself. "Just don't think about that for now". With everything settled for now, I opened the car door and put the card on the rear-view window. Once I closed the door to my car, the class bell started to ring. I pulled out my cellphone and saw that it was 9:00 AM. "Damn, I thought I had enough time", I said out-loud. I locked all the doors on my car right before I pulled out my schedule to see what class I had right now.

Right now, I had English class. That's good. English class I can handle. I folded my schedule and then started making my way back to the Main Building. Hopefully I don't show up to class late.