NOTES: Words written in italics are to distinguish when English is being spoken.
Extra story notes and character descriptions at the end of this chapter.
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London Ontario, October 2010.
Chris had just turned 19, but he felt like he had been an adult his entire life.
His mom had him when she was still a kid herself and she didn't know the first thing about taking care of a child. He was often left to fend for himself and expected to be the bigger person. Although he loved his mom, he swore he would never become like her.
He loved her, but he could never rely on her. In a sense it was like they were growing up together. Maturing together.
But at one point, she stopped growing, and he continued on.
Back when he was 14.
He had just walked home from school on a harshly cold November's day. He made his way into the apartment complex, careful not to make eye contact with the druggies hanging in front of the building. He climbed up the 3 flights of stairs before being met with the familiar stinging scent of marijuana.
He opened the door to their little unit.
"Mom?! You been smoking weed again haven't you?"
His mom sat on the couch. Out of it as always.
"I'm pregnant" She said.
Chris had seen his mom with plenty of guys, and he hated each one.
Every single relationship left her depressed for months afterward, but the real bad ones left her bruised.
More than once Chris had to call the police on his mom's so called boyfriends.
More than once he faced the threat of being taken away from his mom.
More than once he wondered if it might be better than living like this.
He didn't have to wonder for long. It happened within the next 2 years.
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He didn't know his grandfather that well, but he did know that he rejected his own daughter because of her rather irresponsible lifestyle. That didn't sit well with Chris. It felt like being shut out without any chance at a good life.
It seems selfish.
Yet here Chris was, being taken away from the only life he knew, and the one person he cared about, and being shipped off to his grandfather's house.
16 years old, with his stupid baby brothers.
He didn't hate them... Not exactly. It was just that they made everything so difficult. It was only because of them that they were being taken from their mom. Granted... It wasn't really their fault. Their mom was in no way a fit parent to young kids. And she just HAD to get pregnant with 3 of them. How does that even happen?
But to make matters worse, their grandfather was what his mom referred to as "a crotchety old Korean man"... Which meant that he was strict. And for a 16 year old that grew up without even knowing a father figure, this meant they were bound to butt heads.
As the next three years went by, Chris learned a lot about his Grandfather. He might almost say he bonded with him. They had a lot in common when it came work ethic. Both of them always had a plan, a schedule.
But he could see how his mom would have hated it here. There was no goofing around. No affection. No deep conversations. No asking questions.
He wanted to know why his grandfather never talked to his mom. Even if he was so against her lifestyle, didn't he at least care about his daughter? Couldn't he overlook her mistakes?
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Party of Eight
FanfictionA story of brotherhood. Chan was just 20 years old and about to take on a responsibility that he wasn't sure he could handle. Born to a drug addicted mother, and never having known his father, he grew up taking care of himself. When his mom had mor...
