#finding dad

“Mama Can’t Raise No Man”

“Life in general is a test. And raising a son especially a black son in an area [environment] with hardly any tangible prospects or prominent male figures to look up to as role models is a test within itself. Not to mention the fact that the same area [environment] is known for low income, crime, police rivalry, inequality, broken homes, drugs, violence, and prostitution. The list goes on and…

Ever since Luke was little he’d wondered why he was different from the other kids, it didn’t really bother him much until he was about four. That’s when he really started to ask questions, lots of questions. he’d come home from school one afternoon and asked his mom who, and where his daddy was, she got this upset look on her face and told Luke it didn’t matter, but Luke was a very persistent little kid, so he kept asking. She sighed and finally told him that he was alive and that he’d left them before Luke was born, Luke guessed that was the day his fascination turned to determination to find him. Ever since he could remember his mother Lilah Morgan had been the CEO of the Wolfram and Hart New York branch, and Luke spent as much time with Lilah as her job allowed, but lately he was spending most of his time in school and many lonely days and late nights in a house that is way too big for two people. Anyway three days after his thirteenth birthday Luke tried asking her about his father again and Lilah just got angry and told him to drop it, that he didn’t need to know about his father.

So Luke did what any thirteen-year-old kid, whose parent refused to give them answers would do, he waited until she was at work and snuck into her room and found a box full of his father’s things. Now he had a name and a face to put with the name. Luke knew that he had to meet him; I mean everyone should know who their parents are. Luke knew his mom must’ve still cared about him at least a little because she’d kept some of his things and she’d looked hurt and angry when he’d asked about him. He knew she’d never let him go see him, so he had lucked out by getting to go on a school trip to London. The privileges of going to an expensive private school included much better field trips. He and his friends had managed to sneak out of their hotel rooms once their chaperones had gone to sleep, and were now quite happy to roam the streets of London, hoping that they could have plenty of fun before having to make their way back to their rooms before they were caught.  They managed to walk into a pub not too far from their hotel. Luke was happy to be out with his friends, but he was also hoping to possibly run into his father too.

The boys walked into the pub and grabbed a table near the back. Once they were settled they took a moment to take in their surroundings. "It's kind of like I've seen them in movies." Elioit one of the slightly taller boys said. Luke nodded in agreement as he pulled the picture he'd found and brought with him out of his back pocket. He'd also taken the leather jacket from the box he had gotten the picture from. He studied it for a moment then looked around the room.