1 PROLOGUE
Mike woke up Friday morning to the annoying sound of his alarm clock. Mike wasn’t really his name; his full name was Michael Patricia Jacobs. Mike was just a nickname given to him by his best friend Harry and it stuck. Everyone who knows him just started to call him that, even his parents.
6.00 am the alarm clock read. He dreaded going to school so much but at the same time loved it because it was his ‘safe haven’. A place where he could be him without having to worry about his damned family but yet again there was no such thing as a ‘safe haven’. It just didn’t exist, at least not for Mike. Every safe haven has something dangerous threatening its safety and for Mike, it was his siblings. Steven and Sophie were that danger that threatened his safety; they were the two people who made life unbearable and brought him so close to the tipping point on more occasions than one.
Though they were his siblings they made it their mission to torture him both physically and mentally. At some point it became so bad that he wanted to commit suicide but he didn’t go through with it. More like couldn’t do it because his family was religious, though the way they lived their life didn’t show it, and they believed that suicide was a sin and quite frankly he enjoyed living his life regardless of how bad it may be.
Sometimes he wondered if he was bipolar because of the way he felt about school. One moment he’s happy to get away from home then in the blink of an eye he’s sad and depressed because his siblings were going to be there but today he had a reason to be happy. Just the previous day they had written a test in their mathematics class. He was excited because he was very confident and knew that he had studied very hard and was confident that he had done well.
He quickly did his morning routine and went down to the kitchen for breakfast.
“Morning mum.”
He greeted as he sat down on one of the stools which surrounded the island counter. There on the island were six plates with eggs, bacon, beans, and toast just waiting to be eaten. They were a family of six and because of that their parents always made sure that there was six of everything making it always enough for each person.
Each person had their designated spot at the island counter and never dared to sit anywhere but where they were supposed to sit. Mike was always one to wake up early because he didn’t like how the mornings unfolded in the Jacobs household, especially for him. His older siblings would taunt him and his father and mother would do nothing about it and just watch. So he developed a way to wake up early so he wouldn’t have to go through the endless taunting his siblings inflicted on him.
“This tastes great mum.”
He said while taking a bite from his expertly prepared breakfast.
“I know dear. That’s what you say every morning.”
His mother chimed back throwing him a smile as she said it. Mrs. Jacobs was an expert chef who was well known and owned a couple of restaurants across the city, so the Jacobs never had a bad meal unless their mother was traveling to do some catering work in other cities but even then they didn’t because Sophie loved cooking and learned from her mum so she would take over the cooking when their mother wasn’t around.
He just chuckled at his mother’s response because he did say that every day and she would also answer the same way every day. A few minutes later he was done with his breakfast and stood up to put his dishes into the dishwasher and just as he shut the door his siblings and father walked down the stairs and made their presence known and they all sat down at the island counter to eat their breakfast. They all exchanged good mornings and how was your night but not once did anyone ask Mike how he slept or even threw a good morning his way but he was used to this treatment and didn’t blame them for how they treated him because he blamed himself. That was what they all made him feel, like it was his fault he was different and treated him as such; different.
He quietly moved out of the kitchen to get to the living room where his school bag was but stopped on the account of his brother’s voice, Steven;
“Morning looser. Where are you going so early?”
Even though it wasn’t the greeting he wanted, it was still a greeting none the less and he appreciated that they didn’t completely ignore him.
“I’m going to school.”
He said with a small smile plastered across his face.
“Junior sit down and wait for your sibling. Aren’t you going to the same place? ”
His father questioned but he remained silent.
“Answer me boy!”
His father bellowed making everyone in the kitchen flinch at the sudden outburst. He was used to this kind of thing and the only reason he didn’t answer was that he was trying to muster up his courage to answer because he tried to avoid any and every confrontation with his father because it always led to one thing and it was never in his favor.
“Junior don’t just stay quiet, answer your father.”
His mother said after a short silence overtook them. Even though his mother was the kindest to him out of all the Jacobs when push came to shove she would always take her husband’s side and ridicule him.
“My friend is coming to pick me up, sir.”
He said looking at his father dead in the eye not wanting to get into any more trouble. It was weird he was always told by his father to address him as ‘sir’ but with his other siblings, they could call him ‘dad’ without landing themselves in trouble.
“You’re still hanging around that boy. He only hangs around you so he can get a taste of our wealth.”
His father and brother always tell him the same thing but Mike knew that wasn’t the case with Harry because he had been with Mike for such a long time. He refused to listen to his father and walked to the living room to get his school bag before he left the house leaving his father saying something along the lines of;
“If he drains you of your saving don’t come to me asking for more money!”
