That brother of mine! Who does he think he is, rolling back here as if nothing had ever happened? And then Dad gives this big party in his honour. Honour, what does he know about honour? As if parties weren’t the cause of his downfall in the first place. Dad never threw a party for me. No, I just get taken for granted. All these years and for what? Just so he can waste what Dad worked all his life for and then turn up again imagining that things could be the same. All that stuff about taking him back as a hired hand – as if he seriously thought Dad could do that. You can’t really expect someone to treat a son like a hired hand can you? It’s just typical.
What would have happened if I’d demanded my share and gone off with it too? Don’t think it never crossed my mind. Dad would have been left with no-one to run the farm, no farm even. It’s just selfishness, that’s what it is. How can anyone be so selfish?
And then Dad says to me “All I have is yours”. Well, that’s as maybe. But how can things ever be normal? He’s had his share and he’s lost it. Does he expect me to give up some of mine to keep him? What’s to stop him going off again? Leopards don’t change their spots. How is he going to make his way in the world?
It is good to have him back though. He was always so full of life, I was jealous of his freedom. And then we thought we’d lost him forever. It’s not going to be easy but I can’t let bitterness destroy us. We’ll have to work something out.
Father, forgive me too.
Mark Hinchliffe
Roby United Reformed Church, Longsight, Manchester
