"Hello boys, how are you doing?" Father asks as he steps into the room.
Looking at the three of us intensely, he walked to an empty chair, and sat down, then resumed his gazing. He was really expecting an answer?
"Fine, father." I answered, for me and my brothers. He nodded then, his eyes finding the document which laid idly on the floor.
"I see that you have found the document of division, and retirement…" He started.
We nodded, knowing that he needed echoes of agreement either in words or in deed, to keep his speech reeling, else there would be consequences.
"What do you think of it? Is it not the best birthday gift?" He asked, and my brothers and I nodded simultaneously again, even though we actually thought otherwise.
We would take our concerns to our step mother. She was the best advocate for us. She might not be our real mother, but she at least tried to show up, unlike the only blood relative we had left in the world.
