Daddy, dont go! Please, dont leave us! Dad, dont buy me anything anymore, or Alfie either. Just stay alive with us! We dont need toy cars or sweets. No presents at all! Just be here! cried six-year-old Oliver, clinging to his fathers leg.
***
Their mother was sobbing in the next room, too weak to stand or come out.
Fourteen-year-old Alfie stood with clenched fists, love for his father warring with hatred.
Oliver was just a little boyhe didnt understand. But Alfie had seen how their mother suffered. How shed knelt earlier that day, begging their father to stay, just until Oliver was older. But her pleas had meant nothing.
Stop it! Get up! Dont humiliate yourself, you hear? He doesnt want you. He doesnt want any of us, so let him go! Alfie rushed forward, prying his little brother away.
Son, why are you like this? Ill visit. Ill help. Ill just be living somewhere else. I still love you just as much. This is just how things are, their father began.
Who decided? *You* decided! You think I didnt hear? Mum begged you not to leave. Were your family! And youre walking outfor some woman! Is she worth more than us, then? Alfie fought back tears with all his might.
***
If his father had hugged him, set down his bags, and said this was all a stupid mistake Alfie would have thrown his arms around him. Forgotten everything. Forgiven him.
Because he was Dad.
The man whod taught him to fix a car, taken him fishing for pike, played football in the garden, read bedtime stories. How could he just erase them? Erase *himself*? For what?
Olivers screams tore through the air. Their mother wept. Their father looked at them allthen left, head bowed.
Long after, the cry chased him down the street: Daddy! Dont go!
***
After that, life was never the same.
Alfie hated their father. He refused to see him, hurled back the gifts he brought.
Oliver waited. Sat by the door. Stood on the balcony, staring into the distance.
Their father asked to take them out. Their mother said no.
Not that Alfie wanted to. Oliver ached to see him, but was told, *Your father doesnt want you.*
Their mother wouldve refused child support out of pridebut they needed to eat.
Your dad fell in love. Thats how it goes! The grass is always greener! He doesnt need children nowtherell be new ones soon enough.
Alfie listened in silence. Oliver cried.
***
A year later, their father came back. Or tried to. Oliver wasnt homejust Alfie and their mother.
He begged forgiveness. Said hed made a mistake. Understood now. Couldnt live without them.
Their mother refused him. These were her moments of vengeance.
And Alfie refused him too. The wound was too fresh. No room for mercy.
No one asked Oliver. He was still too small.
***
Time passed. Alfie went into sales. Oliver became a doctor. The older brother started a family; the younger cared for their mother until she passed.
Soon after, Oliver decided to marry his childhood sweetheart, Emily.
Before the wedding, Alfie had business in another town. He suggested they go togethera break. They took the train, sipping tea to the rhythm of the rails.
They rarely argued, living peacefully despite their differences. But they were opposites. Alfie, hard-edged and stubborn, listened only to himself. He jokingly called Oliver Mr. Mercy, telling him kindness was out of fashion.
After their business, they wandered the unfamiliar, beautiful citythen headed for the station.
Near the entrance, Alfie nearly tripped over a man sitting on cardboard. Disgusted, he muttered about beggars clogging up the place. The man was filthy, bearded, legless. Then he looked up.
Oliver had walked aheaduntil he heard his brother laugh. He turned.
Alfie was pointing, roaring at the homeless man. Oliver rushed back, grabbing his arm.
Stop it! Thats vile. We dont know his story. Its not ours to judge! he whispered fiercely.
Not ours? Oh, its *exactly* ours. Dont you recognise him? You were too young. But I knew him straight away. Those eyessame as ours. Green. Mum always said she fell for his eyes. Waste of time, wasnt it? Enjoying the view, *Dad*? Surprise! These are your sons. Didnt expect that, did you? Never thought wed meet again. But I guess justice existslook at you now. This is for Mums tears. For ours. For *everything*!
***
Oliver was too stunned to speak. The man on the ground wept silently, murmuring only, *Youre so handsome.*
Nothing like you, though. Shame youre our father. You disgust me! Rot here. This is your punishment. Cry all you want. Wheres your great love now, Dad? Found some homeless woman to shack up with? Worthless.
Enough! Stop itnow, or I wont be responsible for what I do! Oliver shouted.
***
Alfie sneeredthen gasped as Oliver knelt.
He reached out, touched the mans dirty cheek. Stroked it.
Hello, Dad.
Their father seized his hand, pressed it to his faceand sobbed.
Who did he see then? The little boy with wide eyes whod clung to his leg years ago, screaming, *Daddy, dont go!*
His sons were men now. And he owed them everything.
Alfie raged on. Their father took it. Hed earned this.
But what shattered him wasnt the angerit was Olivers quiet kindness. Not a single reproach.
That undid him completely.
All right, were done. Come on, Oliver, our trains leaving, Alfie snapped.
Im not coming. You go. I cant leave him.
What? This *filth* who ruined Mums life? Ours? Have you lost your mind? Look at him! Spit on him and walk awayIve never been happier! He deserves this!
***
Then Oliver lifted their father into his arms.
He was lightjust skin and bone. Only his hands were strong, the ones he used to drag himself along.
Bystanders gasped. Alfie stood speechless. Their father clung to Olivers neck.
Time seemed to freeze.
Alfie cursed and stormed off.
Son my boy. Forgive me. The legs nearly froze that winter. I wanted to come back. It just never happened. Been drifting ever since. Leave me. I dont deserve this.
I forgave you long ago, Dad. But I wont leave you here.
He carried him slowly toward the exita young, strong, handsome man with the broken father whod abandoned him.
Some shook their heads. *Why bother? Let him crawl, like the older one said.*
*An eye for an eye.*
Others admired him. *Blood runs deep.*
But reallyit was just the little boy whod healed toy animals, grown into a good man.
Who loved his father, despite everything.
