My father?
God, I probably sound repetitive, talking about my dad. But anyway... What exactly do you want to know about him? Or, actually, I should ask which one do you want to know about?
There's Benjamin Beck, the man who raised me. He never let me call him dad; he'd always clarify that he wasn't my father, he was my grandfather. I guess he wanted to make it clear that I already had one - he just wasn't a very good one wasn't there. Ben was usually always working, and I was left with a neighbor or a friend of his, but when he'd get home from work we'd talk. Heh, he actually always managed to make me talk, even if it was just by making me sit with him until I'd get so bored that I'd start talking about everything. Whenever I was sick he was there, whenever I needed him he was there. When I started being someone who he didn't want me to become, when I started doing all the things he always warned me not to do, he tried to make me change to the person he had been trying to make me be. It wasn't his fault that I changed so drastically, and he could have probably kicked me out for everything I did, but he never gave up on me. Sure, he'd yell, and we'd argue for hours, but in the end he would always clarify that he only did it because he cared about me.
To me, that's being a father.
Then there's another one. My 'real father,' the biological one, is named Douglas. He did way more than what my mother ever did, and I got to meet him when I turned eight, but he left again after that. I actually never got to see him or heard from him again until last year. I say I hate him for...not being there, for leaving, but there's always something holding me back. I think it's Ben, reminding me from wherever he is that Douglas wasn't the father I wanted, but he's still my father. And it's also partly because of DJ, because if it wasn't for Douglas then DJ wouldn't be here. Douglas lives in Nova Scotia now, with the woman he married in December (who, I guess, is now my stepmom...? all this is damn confusing). I still don't know much about him, because I don't really want to talk to him just yet, but... He had problems in the past, he was an alcoholic and he left a woman pregnant when he was already married, but he's still a good father to DJ and tried to raise him right. Ending up with one good son out of two isn't that bad.
There's Benjamin Beck, the man who raised me. He never let me call him dad; he'd always clarify that he wasn't my father, he was my grandfather. I guess he wanted to make it clear that I already had one - he just wasn't a very good one wasn't there. Ben was usually always working, and I was left with a neighbor or a friend of his, but when he'd get home from work we'd talk. Heh, he actually always managed to make me talk, even if it was just by making me sit with him until I'd get so bored that I'd start talking about everything. Whenever I was sick he was there, whenever I needed him he was there. When I started being someone who he didn't want me to become, when I started doing all the things he always warned me not to do, he tried to make me change to the person he had been trying to make me be. It wasn't his fault that I changed so drastically, and he could have probably kicked me out for everything I did, but he never gave up on me. Sure, he'd yell, and we'd argue for hours, but in the end he would always clarify that he only did it because he cared about me.
To me, that's being a father.
Then there's another one. My 'real father,' the biological one, is named Douglas. He did way more than what my mother ever did, and I got to meet him when I turned eight, but he left again after that. I actually never got to see him or heard from him again until last year. I say I hate him for...not being there, for leaving, but there's always something holding me back. I think it's Ben, reminding me from wherever he is that Douglas wasn't the father I wanted, but he's still my father. And it's also partly because of DJ, because if it wasn't for Douglas then DJ wouldn't be here. Douglas lives in Nova Scotia now, with the woman he married in December (who, I guess, is now my stepmom...? all this is damn confusing). I still don't know much about him, because I don't really want to talk to him just yet, but... He had problems in the past, he was an alcoholic and he left a woman pregnant when he was already married, but he's still a good father to DJ and tried to raise him right. Ending up with one good son out of two isn't that bad.