2325. Tragedy begets tragedy © Bruce Goodman 12 January 2022

When one is poor like myself, one frequently wonders why someone from such a rich family would do himself in. But that was exactly what Jake’s nineteen-year-old brother, Tate, did. When he missed out on getting selected for the local soccer team, he went out into the back shed and hung himself from the rafters. The parents were away at the time and it was left to twenty-year-old Jake to untangle the rope from the body, call the police, and phone the parents. Jake spoke at his brother’s funeral. He said, “This time last week I had no idea I’d be needing to do this.” His parents took it very badly, which is possibly why on the first anniversary of Tate’s death, Jake’s mother went out into the back shed and did exactly the same thing. Twenty-one-year-old Jake was devastated, as was his father. Tragedy begets tragedy. On the second anniversary of Tate’s death and the first anniversary of the mother’s death the father went out into the back shed and… Need I go on? Twenty-two-year-old Jake inherited the lot. As he drove off in one of his father’s Vintage Tucker Automobiles he couldn’t help but think that it may have taken a lot of planning but it was a job well done. Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story