I didn't know the man personally. Mark always hated his guts and gave me all of the
reasons why. As his
friend I could only know what he told me about it, and therefore share the
disregard he felt for his father. Even though he lived right there on
the South Side, Mark never visited him. He would go out of his way to drop his brother off there or visit his cousin around the corner and deliberately not go into his father's house.
None of them really talked about their dad much, even Louie who respected him to some extent and even lived with him for awhile. It was always just
one of those things you know about your friend's
family life, not a big deal but in that little
roledex of facts that you knowing about shows how close you are to a person. I knew I would never meet him. Mark never seemed to care.
But now that his dad unexpectedly died of a
heart attack, he's having alot of trouble
dealing with it. I mean obviously its a huge
traumatic event when a parent dies, even one you didn't see often. But there's some weird added
element of guilt or
lack of closure when there was a grudge between you and the deceased. Although Mark said he never wanted to reconcile with his father, now he is left
wishing he had and realizing he'll never have that chance now.