My Short Stories. The Bigot.

I. A Mother’s Devotion

Valerie and John were a proud family, blessed with two sons. The eldest, David (23), was a successful IT consultant who often worked from home. The youngest, Jack (16), was born with Cerebral Palsy and was wheelchair-bound. Despite his disability, Jack was exceptionally bright and thrived in school, a credit to the values instilled by his parents. David was a devoted older brother, taking Jack to football games and on fishing trips, and handling the school run while their father, John, worked long shifts on an oil rig. Valerie, a part-time nurse, often thanked David for his support with a hug, which David would shyly dismiss, saying, “That’s what I am here for, Mum.”

Jack idolized a specific pop group, treating his bedroom—covered floor-to-ceiling in posters and figures—as a shrine. For two years, Valerie had been dedicatedly entering every competition she could find, spending fortunes on magazines and unwanted food products, all to fulfill Jack’s wish to meet his idols.

II. The Burden of Memory

With David away overnight in London for business, the house was quiet. Valerie settled in for an evening puzzle and a glass of wine, but her thoughts drifted back to Jack’s birth. All prenatal tests had been negative, but the birth itself was a trauma: a sudden rush to the delivery room, immense pain, and Jack being quickly taken away due to difficulty breathing. Three days later, a masked doctor delivered the news with an ashen face: Jack had Cerebral Palsy. John, the more sensitive of the two, broke down, questioning how the condition went undetected. They were simply told it was “an act of God.” From that day, they accepted their son’s life as it was, deciding never to speak of the “why’s and wherefores” again.

III. The Bombshell and the Bride

Valerie’s melancholy was interrupted by a call from David. His voice was unusually bouncy. “Hi, Mum! I’ve met a beautiful girl! You will love her, her name is Rebecca!” He announced he was bringing her home the next day.

The following morning, David crashed through the door, high on excitement. Following him was Rebecca—a “leggy” girl dressed for a nightclub, who gave a wry, forced smile. She immediately ignored Jack, only talking about herself, and rudely covered David every time Jack tried to engage his brother. Valerie tried to keep her patience, but it was shattered when David delivered a bombshell: after only knowing each other for a single day, he and Rebecca were getting married.

Valerie nearly swallowed her teacup. Rebecca, she quickly deduced, was from a privileged, influential family, used to getting her way. David acted like her puppet, agreeing with everything. When Valerie burst out laughing from the sheer shock and absurdity of Rebecca’s rudeness and the hasty decision, David, disappointed, stormed out of the house with Rebecca in tow. The screech of his tires was heard for miles.

IV. The Wedding and the Warning

Valerie’s laughter turned to tears, comforted only by a hug from Jack. John, when he called home from the oil rig, was characteristically laid-back. He told Valerie that David was a man and could make his own decisions.

Weeks later, David called to announce the wedding was on, to be held at a plush hotel. Jack was excluded because the venue was not “wheelchair-friendly”—an excuse Valerie immediately dismissed as a lie concocted by Rebecca. John had given his blessing without thinking. Despite her fury, Valerie allowed David to plead with her to attend alone.

The day of the wedding arrived. Dressed to the nines and traveling in a rented limousine, Valerie was met by stiff, affluent guests who offered only glares, not conversation. The ceremony was ostentatious, and Rebecca’s father, an eccentric gent with a handlebar mustache, looked proud. Rebecca smiled only until she reached Valerie, then dropped her gaze in contempt.

At the reception, Valerie sat dutifully by David, surrounded by Rebecca’s “dollar-billed” family who spoke as if they had marbles in their mouths. Valerie realized she was surrounded by bling that would sink the Titanic. David made a point of dancing with his mother, which drew glares of contempt from his new wife.

V. The Unthinkable Silence

After the reception, Valerie retired to her glamorous hotel room, grateful for a long soak. Before bed, she called home. The Fosters, the kind next-door neighbors who loved caring for Jack, answered. Mr. Foster’s voice was low and teary.

“Valerie, is that you?” he asked. “You must come home immediately.”

The line went dead. Frantic, Valerie called John, only to be told he was already on his way home due to an “urgent family matter.” Racing home by taxi, she was met by an ambulance, two police cars, and John’s vehicle.

Pushing past John, who was weeping and ashen-faced, she screamed, “COULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?”

Mr. Foster brought her a brandy, urging her to sit down. John managed to mumble the horrifying words: “It’s Jack. He has killed himself.“

Valerie collapsed. The next time she woke, she was in bed, hoping it had all been a terrible dream. She walked downstairs, where she found John speaking to an unfamiliar man. John saw her and gently asked if she was feeling better. Valerie, her mind blank, smiled and replied, “Feeling better?” John knew then that she remembered nothing. The man in the room silently slipped out, leaving John to tell his wife the unimaginable truth.

THE END

Prologue Blood is thicker than Water loved his sons he wanted them to make their own way and no one or nothing could convince him otherwise. Three days after John left something arrived in the post, it was evident it was some kind of invitation, the envelope was gold trimmed with a formal name on the front, the stamp was franked rather than having a normal stamp on it, Valerie looked puzzled, headed for the kitchen for a knife to carefully open the letter, “wonder what this is” she thought to herself.” Dear mum”You are cordially invited to the Wedding of David Copeland and Rebecca Swift we would be pleased if you could confirm your attendance.
BIGOTRY

© William Sinclair Manson 2025