“It’s your businessso you deal with it.”
“Mum, you had him for yourselves, not for me. You look after your little Billy. I need to catch up on sleep before uni.”
“Harry, I dont ask often. Just this oncetake him to school. Its his first day back, after all. All the other children will have their parents there…”
“Thats just itparents,” Harry cut in. “Where were mine when I had school events? Always with the little one. Let him go aloneit wont kill him.”
“It wasnt always like that. Only a couple of times, and never on purpose…”
“Well, now its just happened again. Hell manage,” Harry replied calmly, taking a sip of tea.
Margaret was taken aback. She hadnt expected such resistance. After all, they fed and clothed him, yet he refused to lift a finger for the family.
“Right,” she began, frowning. “You live in this household, Harry. And in a family, everyone helps each other. Your father and I do our partwe give you pocket money, cook your meals, even tidy your room sometimes. The least you can do is pitch in.”
“I never asked you to clean my room. And I dont need your pocket money. Im eighteennot a child, not a babysitter. My opinions should count for something.”
With that, Harry grabbed his mug and retreated to his room, leaving Margaret alone, weighed down by guilt and the uneasy thought that her son had grown selfish.
When had that happened?
Her first marriage had been a failure. Harrys father had never grown up, preferring the sofa, video games, and his phone over responsibility. He worked sporadically, earning barely enough to cover his own expenses. Eventually, Margaret had enough. She filed for divorce and moved back in with her mother.
When she remarried, Harry was fivestill young enough to accept a new father figure. Thomas quickly bonded with the boy, becoming “Dad” in no time.
Then, when Harry was ten, Billy was born. That, Margaret supposed, was when things had started unravellingthough she hadnt noticed at the time.
That was the first year Harry went to school alone on the first day. Margaret, still recovering from childbirth, couldnt manage it. Thomas was working, her parents were too far awaysome in another town, others at their cottage.
“Harry, love, its just how things worked out. Youre a big boy nowyoull manage, wont you?” shed asked guiltily. “Id love to go with you, but you see how things are…”
“I see,” Harry had sighed. “Its fine. Im not a little kid.”
Back then, Margaret had thought nothing of it. Hed gone without complaint. But as it turned out, hed remembered.
Three years later, it happened againthis time because Billy had caught a bug at nursery.
Billy was always ill. Once, hed even brought home chickenpox, just days before Harry was due to go on a school trip to London. In the end, Harry had to stay home.
“Mum, I get it, but Im sick of being ill. Cant you at least quarantine him?” hed snapped as she dabbed calamine lotion on his spots.
“Harry, were a family. Where he is, I am. And Ive got the house to run, meals to cookwe cant just shut ourselves away.”
Part of her understood. Every time Billy fell ill, Harry usually caught it too. But shed accepted it as part of life.
Soon, Harry started resisting when asked to help around the house or with Billy. At first, he didnt refuse outrightjust procrastinated or did things so half-heartedly that Margaret ended up doing them herself. She dismissed it as teenage rebellion, even when arguments flared.
“Why should I clean the living room when Im never in there? You and Billy are the ones making the messyou deal with it,” hed said once.
“But you use the kitchen,” shed retorted. “And Im the one who cleans it. Cooks, too.”
“You wipe down every drop on the sink. If I lived alone, I wouldnt bother. Sterile cleanliness is your thingyou do it.”
Sometimes she forced him to pick up a cloth. Other times, she let it slideher nerves couldnt take it. And now, here they were.
No one could take Billy to school for his first day. Her parents were too far, Thomas was away on business, and Margaret couldnt get time off work. For the first time, Harry outright refusedeven though he had the day free.
What now?
First, she called Thomas.
“Right. So he wants a taste of the real world? Fine. Ill talk to him when Im back. If thats what he wants, let him try,” Thomas said grimly.
“Thomas, dont go too far,” Margaret pleaded. “Were already losing him. If we push too hard, hell leave for good. What then?”
“Let him. Id like to see how he manages without Dad, can you give me a lift? or Mum, can you pick up my parcel? We never refuse him.”
Margaret sighed. Thomas wasnt wrong, but she was terrified. He was stubborn, and though he loved Harry as his own, he might push too hard.
The problem with Billy was solved when Margaret turned to her friend Eleanor, whose son went to the same school. Not only did Eleanor take Billy to school, but she also took the boys to the park afterwards. Not the same as being with parents, but better than nothing.
“Oh, Eleanor, thank youyoure a lifesaver,” Margaret said warmly when she collected Billy after work. “Come in for tea.”
“Dont mention it. Youve done the same for me. Mums have to stick together,” Eleanor said with a smile.
Margaret persuaded her to stay, and as they talked, she shared her worries about Harry. Eleanor, only twenty-six herself, remembered well what it was like to be a teenager.
“Honestly, I get where Harrys coming from,” Eleanor admitted. “I was always roped into helping with my younger sisters. You might be pushing him too hard. He doesnt see the point in scrubbing the housenot while hes living under your roof. And Billywell, he *was* your choice… But I get your side too. It *is* family.”
“Im not pushing. I just want things to be fairresponsibilities shared.”
“Fair to you, maybe. To him, its just your whimlike Billy. I felt the same way.”
“So what do I do? Its a good thing Thomas wont be back for a weekhell cool off. Hes ready to kick Harry out over this.”
“Honestly? Thats not a bad idea. But there are two options. Either cut off all helpcook only for yourselves, go cold turkeyor let him go. Not throw him out, but rent him a place. Let him see what real lifes like.”
“What if he drops out of uni? Or cuts contact?”
“Theres always a risk. But if he wants to leave, hell find a way. I ran off and married youngsaved us all a lot of resentment. So Id go with the second option.”
Margaret thought it over, and when Thomas returned, they rented Harry a flatjust two streets away, for two months. They stocked the fridge, tidied up, and handed him the keys.
“Right. So youre kicking me out to prove a point,” Harry muttered, but took the keys. “You know I cant manage this and uni.”
“Were not kicking you out. Youre our sonwe love you, and youre always welcome,” Thomas said firmly. “But as a guest, since you dont want to live *with* us.”
“Who said I dont?”
“Living together means shared responsibilities. If you take, you give. Right now, its all one-sided. Weve paid two months rent, left you food. After that, youre on your own. Mutual respector independence. Your choice.”
Harry grumbled but packed his things and left. For a month, he barely spoke, answering Margarets calls with curt replies. She only knew he was home when she saw his light on.
Then, slowly, he started reaching out. How to clean the oven. Which detergent worked best. Once, he even asked how to make soup. Thats when Margaret invited him over, fed him, and sent him back with groceries.
“We miss you,” she said as he left.
He didnt replyjust hugged her tightly.
By the third month, he asked to talk. The rent had run out, and Harry had been managing alonethough Margaret didnt know how.
“I want to come back,” he said. “If youll have me. But only if its fair. Billys your responsibility, not mine.”
