Work Text:
été 1976
The sunset painted the sky with vivid shades of pink and lavender and the constant cry of cicadas could now be heard in the background. This meant that Spring had left for Summer to take her place, and that students were no longer to attend school, free to laze away for the glorious period of three months.
However, the arrival of summer was not synonym of vacation for everyone. For Antonio, Summer meant nothing more to him than hard labor in the crushing heat, cursing away at the father that is never there for him. He remembers how he once admired the man, admired his quick tongue, his remarkable physical strength and so much more. He tries not to linger too long on these resentful thoughts that only cause him even more pain in the end. Instead he relaxes his muscles and focuses on sleeping.
After years of waking up early, Antonio is still not used to getting up as soon as 5:30. He grudgingly gets out of bed, tugging on a pair of jeans and slipping inside his tattered straw shoes. He is still in some form of half-haze when he reaches the kitchen and does not yet realize his father is there, sipping coffee out of bowl. They do not greet one each other, as their relationship had been considerably deteriorated over the course of the past months.
"We have a tighter budget this year, we can't afford employees" his father quickly says, cautiously avoiding Antonio's eye. " As of result, you'll be working with Francis in the fields this summer" he continued. To this Antonio answered nothing, didn't even express any emotion. He simply grabbed a piece of bread and headed outdoors, wanting to get the work over with.
Even with his cool exterior, Antonio was boiling inside. Tighter budget his ass. The crops had been very good last year and they had made enough money to hire 20 employees if they wanted. If only the gambling and drinking of his father hadn't drained all of their money, his mother and himself could finally escape this hellhole.
Despite the harsh conditions, the 17 year-old didn't mind working, he was made for manual labor as his muscular build had granted him so. He did mind, however, working with Francis. Francis was the constant reminder that he was the product of adultery. After all Francis was his half-brother.