for as long as anyone could remember, the relationship miles held with his father was complicated. there was the dad who took miles to ball games growing up. the dad who would play catch after a long day at work. the dad who taught miles how to ride a bike. and then there was the dad who screamed any times miles screwed up, even in the slightest. there was the dad who cared more about his public image than his family. there was the dad who miles was terrified of. the past few years, it seemed like the latter was the only father left in the hollingsworth family.Â
one of the last times that miles vividly remembered a real moment with his father was his thirteenth birthday. of course, there had been times here and there that miles could see a glimpse of the man he used to know. but an overwhelming amount of the time, he was the monster that miles viewed him as in his own mind. but back to his thirteenth birthday, the last real moment he had with his father. he came into miles’ room way too early in the young boy’s opinion. but he carried with him a small box, told his son happy birthday, and watched as he opened the expensive gift. it was the watch that belonged to his own father, costing around $14,000. he explained the importance to miles, and miles promised never to lose it or break it.Â
but here they were now, over three years later, and the watch was nowhere to be found. miles didn’t know how bad the argument would be. all he knew was that hunter planned to take the blame for losing the watch, something that miles couldn’t believe he was letting his younger brother do. he contemplated how he would tell the dad the truth, but he knew if he did that, things were likely to escalate beyond yelling and screaming. at least if hunter took the blame, their dad may go easy on him. “are you sure you want to do this?” miles asked, holding hunter back just beyond the living room entrance. their dad was in the room, and if they went in, there was no going back. “it’s my fault, i can tell him the truth,” miles offered one last time.Â
