A man who buys books because tey're pretty (part four)

I admire Bragg's brutal honesty about not knowing if he responded to a dying man's cry for attention or just wanted the present. I have also had anger about men in my life and what they have done to my mother and my family. Bragg drops in Hardee's parking lot fights to remind the reader of the setting of the story. He goes on to say that if his "daddy" had a favorite it must have been him. I've also felt this way. The more you display actions, thoughts, and manners that your relatives have taught you first hand, the more they like you. They want something to be proud of...I think the following sentence speaks worlds of truth: When you see that person's life red on their lips and know that you will never see them beyond this day, you lisetn close, even if what you want most of all is to run away. Bragg could have taken the opportunity to unload on his father but what was the point? "Life had kicked his ass pretty good." As he is writing about the last few hours with his father he says something I identify with all too well, "For the next few hours-unless I was mistaken, having never had one before-he tried to be my father." It is a strange feeling not to know what to do with a figure that is traditionally supposed to be there, all your friends have one, but that you've grown accustomed to not having. I suppose it is much like being born without a big toe! You would understand how one works if you had one. He goes on to say that his heart should have broken when his father gave him books, and maybe it did a little bit. He is still trapped somewhere between his hatred and what might have been forgiveness. It wasn't until the last moments that he had insight to his father and I feel emotional reading about such a topic. All in all, I enjoyed this passage!