Chase’s father Mike rents a boarding house to the homeless as well as works a full time job at a local gas station. Mike is corrupt, irritable, and spiteful, and their relationship is hostile. When money is tight, Mike rents Chase’s room …show more content…
“I must be getting to bed now.” Chase’s father in fury rips off his backpack, breaking a strap and allowing the contents of the bag fall to the ground. In horror, Mike picks up a book, “Success Lies Within” and gasps.
“Haven’t you been saying you be working at old Ms. Margaret’s store each day? Because from what I see, this here’s a book from the library.”
Chase struggles to find the words to speak. He begins trembling, knowing his father is shaking in anger with a face as red as Ms. Marianne’s lipstick. Mike begins ripping the book into incomprehensible pieces, forming tears in Chase’s eyes.
“Where’s this week’s pay anyways, boy? It’s Friday. Or have you been going to the library everyday, lying ‘bout working?”
Chase’s father begins laughing, and with a smirk on his face, he says, “To the basement. Now.”
As Chase drags his once fine leather bag he had taken from last year’s lost and found, now ripped and torn backpack down the stairs, he begins sobbing. To think that there would no longer be chapters of reading about the men of science, no more opportunities of finding inner peace and quiet, and no longer discussing theories of leadership with Ms. Marianne, Chase’s only …show more content…
Margaret’s store to meet Chase. When Chase notices his dad walking up to him in the corner of his eye, he begins sweeping as fast as he could, thinking he was in trouble for not working hard enough. Chase’s dad lays his hand on his shoulder and asks to speak with him in private outside.
When walking through the store’s glass doors, Chase’s dad begins, “I was called into yeer school today,”
With a bow of his head, Chase begins to tear up for the second time today, thinking his academic career was over.
“You’re a smart kid, Chase. I may treat you like you ain’t, but I sure always knew you were smarter than any other kid I’ve known. The principal had told me you’ve been doing good in all yeer classes and wants you to enter smarter classes to ‘challenge yerself’,”
With a pause, Chase looks up at his dad expecting a red hot face and a lecture on how school isn’t important and he’d been wasting his youth at the library. But instead, sees a sympathetic appearance with a small quiver of his lip.
“I told them it’d be alright to put you in them smart people classes.”
Chase begins crying uncontrollably, “Oh father, thank you. Thank you so much. I won’t let you down, I