Captain Jack (Book Three - ManxMan ManxManxWoman)

Prologue

Have you ever been hit by force so overpowering that it overwrote everything you thought you knew about your physical or emotional strength?

Strangely that was the first thought that went through James Bird's mind as he went flying backwards from the impact of his father's trembling fist as it connected with his left eye.

His second thought was of how much the punch had hurt him physically. But that wasn't the worst part by any stretch of his imagination.

In that single moment, his father's choice shattered James' world, utterly.

It might literally have been the bones in Mr Bird's fist, or perhaps just the impact of the punch itself. But metaphorically, the sound of James' world; breaking in two, was what really killed him.

A father's choice; destroying years of love, years of security, and years of feeling protected by the man who taught him to tie his shoelaces. A father who taught his son to kick a football, ride a bike, and hold his winky so that he didn't pee on the toilet seat, the floor, or his feet.

All of it now just a distant memory of the relationship they would never have again.

His life shattered into countless pieces as James had begged his father to try and understand that; though he was gay; he wasn't a different person. It didn't mean they weren't still father and son.

Words that might have been better shouted into the wind.

From the moment his father had hit him, James ceased to be, and Jack smacked bodily into the wall behind him and came away forever broken.

That single event broke his family in two, and his childhood officially ended.

"Michael, no!" Mrs Bird pleaded.

She stepped cautiously between them, sounding terrified by what had just happened. "Stop it!" Her shrill scream pierced the daze between Jack's ears. "Look at what you're doing!"

Mr Michael Bird was a typical father. He worked hard to provide for his family, and he had been a wonderful father to James and his big brother Edward.

They had always felt that he loved them unconditionally. The way it should be.

"There will be no faggots in this household!" Mr Bird roared, and Jack put his head down, unable to even cry as he touched the blood now leaking from his split skin with the forefinger of his left land.

He was only glad Ned wasn't here to witness this. Though perhaps he'd have stepped in a prevented it from getting this bad?

But what if he'd have been on his father's side...? Could Jack bare that?

Jack was speechless when he looked up again. The tears standing in his eyes were now mixing with his blood, and he literally saw red.

This figure standing before him, nursing a damaged hand, was not his father. It was an unyielding force of hatred and judgement that was overcome by intolerance.

Jack kept his eyes low and his head down, blinking through the pain as the blurred images before him slowly sharpened.

"Michael, please," the woman begged, her hands were on the angry man's wrists, and she held on as his fury continued to bubble over.

This had already gone too far.

Suddenly focused, and drawing on an athlete's fierce calm; Jack sprang forward, not heading for Michael Bird - who was distracted by his wife - but past him. Jack launched himself into the brief hallway that ended with their front door.