A Hero's Penance
My father was a hero cop, but I was a blemish to his shining resume as I was a delinquent who smoked, drank, and got into fights.
Every time I tried to visit him at the precinct, he would slap me and tell me to leave in front of his colleagues.
His fatherly love was all meant for Nana Smith, the daughter of his fallen comrade who was a paragon of good character and academic excellence.
When Nana was kidnapped, he sent the entire city's officers after the kidnappers.
When I was stabbed three times by some thugs and called him for help, he snapped at me, "Quit being a bother. The death of vermin like you is simply good riddance anyway."
Even as I suffocated in agony, I lay in a pool of my