Ugo's memories.

the father.

I don't know much about my father. All I know is what my mother told me and what Valentyn made me feel bad for. Which, of course, made me hate every bit of him left in my body.

The only thing me and him had in common was our hair. Naturally dark brown and curly. Oh, and also he was 'a lazy fucker, without any sense of responsibility', as Valentyn often told me.

He made my mother pregnant and then left her all alone, in a dark shady flat. My mother seemed to like him, but mostly just because he was good in bed. As every man she met.

Since I don't know his part of the story, I can't really tell what I think about him. But so far, I hope he rots in hell.

That's my biological father, a man i never met. And I hoped I would never be like him.

My second father was George, Valentyn's biological father. He only came around every 4 months to pick up Valentyn, take him for a noble dinner and then disappear.

He brought me a plushie everytime. I was grateful, those were the only presents I got, well except for the money our grandpa gave our parents every month to take care of us. But my mother took it all and bought herself alcohol and expensive stuff.

George was a nice guy, he was Irish from what I remember. But after mother's death he stopped showing up, so we just assumed he forgot us. I missed him, even tho Valentyn told me to never mention him again.

That was my second father, a man who taught me how to be the right gentleman and care only to look nice.

My third father was my mother's boyfriend - a tall thin man with sickening point of view of the world and cigarette breath. The only thing he did was lay at home for days, make perverted comments about everyone in the house and smoke.

I almost forgot about the night. The night with capital N, I was twelve back then. I woke up to many screams, but the loudest one was Valentyn's.

Paul, my step father, came home drunk and tried to beat up my brother, probably rape him too while he was at it. They ended up fighting and he almost killed Valentyn. I was scared, shaking and in tears.

I hated Paul with every tiny cell in my body. Every move he made, his disgusting laugh and his big shaky hands slapping me when I didn't do what he wanted. My whole body was consumed by fear and rage.

They both yelled at each other, Valentyn lying almost without a breath on his bed. I took a baseball bat and smashed Paul's head. I felt some kind of excitement or even manic euphoria while seeing his body on the floor. I wanted more, wanted to keep punching 'till he moves no more. But I didn't. I looked up at my brother silently, expecting.

I didn't get a 'thanks for saving my life' , I got slapped across my face. For being kind. Valentyn stared me dead in the eye and said: "I fucking had him, Ugo. You're just as useless as your stupid father. If you consider this bravery, you're wrong. It's just your selfish needs. You didn't do it for me, you did it for yourself. It's embarrassing."

That was it. My second father. The man everyone hated, everyone feared and the man who became my enemy very fast.