「故事·听力」I Paid My Dad To Make Him Spend Time With Me
I Paid My Dad To Make Him Spend Time With Me
This guy, who's breaking the toilet, is me. Why am I doing that? I’ll tell you, and I hope you’ll understand why I did it.
My name is Josh, I am fourteen, and I come from a small family: it's just my mother and I. Actually my father is also part of our family, but he is always away. He works from dawn till dusk to make my mother and me happy. I mean we are not a poor family, we can buy everything we need, my Mom can keep her housekeeping blog and work from home, and every summer my parents send me to camp. I know that many of you are thinking I’m complaining for nothing right now. But I have to tell you, it feels like I don’t have a father – I basically live with Santa. When I wake up, my dad is already at his job, and he comes home when I'm already sleeping. Every weekend he does different chores around the house, goes shopping, and meets his friends to play poker at their place. I almost never see him and we don't spend time together like other guys do with their fathers. I am glad that he can provide for our family and I am honestly proud of him, but I do miss him very much.
My last birthday made me really upset. I invited a lot friends and we just wanted to hang out and make steaks and burgers on the grill. But suddenly my dad received a phone call, gave me my gift, excused himself, and went to his job. And after that I had an idea! I decided to turn into a rebel.
The next morning I put on jeans and a t-shirt, instead of my school uniform. Mom got really angry and insisted that I change my clothes. We started screaming and swearing. Then I refused to change clothes, refused to eat breakfast, and left the house abruptly. I knew that I was insulting my mother, but I was trying not to be too rude and it was only temporary anyway. It was all part of the plan.
That day at school was also not an ordinary day. I got my first “F” and a warning for being late. To make things clear, this has never happened to me before. Mr. Brown – the principal of our school – is a friend of my parents, which is why he called my mom and asked her to talk to me about my school uniform and my behavior.
When I came home, my mother was waiting for me, and she was NOT happy. She tried to find out what was happening with me. I just said something sarcastic and went to my room. My mom shouted at me that when my dad comes home after work, he will talk to me, man to man. I heard it behind the closed door in my room and was so happy. My plan had worked.
But dad came home from work really late. I tried waiting up for him for a long time, but eventually fell asleep. I woke up in the morning and realized that I needed to change my strategy. My mom was still offended by me and wouldn't talk to me.
I didn't eat my breakfast again and left the house. But this time I did not go to school. I knew that a pizzeria down the street was in need of a janitor. I did not have any pocket money, so I had to earn it. I'm a pretty smart guy, so I was immediately hired to work there. One week went by and every day my mother scolded me for being absent from school, for my bad behavior, and my disobedience. She even tried to drive me to school in her car, but it didn't help - I'd wait for a couple of minutes and then leave. I understood that she was worried and didn't want me to get into trouble, so I never got involved with that crowd. I did not want to upset my mother.
I didn't go to school or to work on Monday. Instead I stayed at home. I went into the bathroom, but not to take a shower and get ready. I just started to break the toilet and shut off the faucet. Then I told my mother that I broke faucet and toilet by accident. She did not act surprised. But I said that I would fix everything on my own. Mom reminded me that Dad was a specialist at fixing things in the bathroom and that he would come in the evening and fix everything. But I didn’t want to wait till the evening. When Mom went to write her blog, I took the phone and dialed the number to the plumbing service. I told the manager about the issue and she took down my address. She said that they would send someone over in about ten minutes.
Ten minutes later, I heard the door open. It was my father: in his uniform, with a tool box and a puzzled face. I probably need to explain that my dad is a plumber. He is the only plumber working in our area, which is why he is busy all the time. I knew that I could spend time with my father if I called him to fix the bathroom in our home. His services are not cheap, so that's why I had to get the job. I told my parents about everything and said that I had earned the money to pay for my dad's work..