MICHAL
Nothing good will come of it
Hi, it's me, Michal - an ordinary guy from a small town.
I never stood out in any way. As a kid in school, I was a poor student. Besides, I always heard, "Michał, he's bad, weak, he'll never amount to anything." And that was true.
I come from a poor home. My parents barely made ends meet. I saw their helplessness firsthand, and I was furious that they were like that. I promised myself that when I grew up, I would move abroad.
At 16, the partying, drinking, and drug experimentation began. I'd disappear from home for days at a time. A shady crowd appeared. Petty thefts, fights. It didn't last long. I got punched many times myself, and my teeth were knocked out. And suddenly, the police burst into the house. They took me in for questioning. Right then, at my lowest point, I swore I'd never upset my parents again.
After 48 hours they let me go home.
I was free!!!
Companions in life
And so the days, years, passed. Everything normalized again. All the discos were mine. The alcohol, despite the constant lack of money, flowed freely. The buddies were always the same—companions in life and in fun.
When they came to my house, they always felt at home. My mother always chatted with them, laughed at their jokes. When they were hungry, she fed them.
My dad suffered from asthma since he was a child. He worked as a railway worker, working in freight transport. I'll never forget my dad admitting to my mom that six months earlier (on Christmas Day), someone had jumped in front of him on a train. He was unable to work for some time.
I'm the oldest of my siblings. I have two other brothers—Damian and Jakub. Maybe they'll tell us about themselves someday.
Undreamed vacation
Due to my dad's severe asthma, we didn't get to go on our dream vacation. First, my dad's physical abilities were limited. Second, we were short on money.
We went to the seaside a few times as part of an organized company trip. It was great, except that during one trip I had a stomach ache. I developed a fever. My parents spent time with me, taking me to the doctors. It was determined I had food poisoning. Upon returning, my mother took me straight to the hospital with a 40-degree fever. It turned out I had a ruptured appendix and an infected peritoneum.
I immediately landed on the operating table. I stayed in the hospital for several weeks and lost several kilograms.
After returning home, I started eating a lot and gaining weight quickly.
My mother was worried about my appearance. I remember her telling my father, "If Michał doesn't lose weight, no girl will love him."
Credit follows credit
The second and my favorite place to go were multi-day fishing trips to the river.
We'd go out as a family. Dad, me, and my older brother would go fishing. Mom would do crossword puzzles, and my younger brother would play by the beach.
It was truly a remote area. We camped near a waterfall. Sometimes we had to flee when it started raining heavily, lest the stream cut off our escape route.
My father didn't care about his health. He led a sedentary lifestyle. He didn't pay attention to what he ate or how much he ate. His belly grew bigger and bigger, and he had huge varicose veins in his legs.
One day, my dad went for a medical checkup. He was denied a license to practice. My dad went on disability. He received a meager 1,200 złoty. It wasn't even enough to last until the end of the month.
My parents were forced to sell our family car. From then on, there were no more fishing trips.
There was nothing left.
