22 November 2012
Little johnny was from a hardworking family. Of his three brothers and four sisters, he was the youngest. The family had arrived in London after leaving Dublin in search of work. Then johnny was born. Johnny's dad was a plumber. He worked every hour of the day to provide for his family, him and his wife often went without just so the children were happy and content. They had left everything and everyone the family had ever known behind in search of a better life. As daunting and as hard as it was in the big new city, you would never hear a hint of complaint. As johnny grew up London became his home. He loved to play football and any time he wasn't in class was consumed by football. Childhood years consist of happy memories for johnny, playing games with his siblings, laughing and joking.
Then he became a teenager.
By this time Johnny's dad was doing well. Business was booming and the plan of the good life was coming together. They had moved to a large four bedroom house in islington, north London. Johnny was very close to his brother James, who was just a year and two months older. They did everything together and shared a network of friends from the local area. Their friends were all from pretty different walks of life. Some were from what's known as 'broken homes' and some had the world at their feet. The thing about London is you have the incredibly rich living alongside the brutally poor. Johnny noticed that some of his friends had it tough at home compared to himself and his brother, but it wasn't something he dwelled on being so young. Through the next few years the group of boys grew together as boys do, experimenting with drugs and alcohol, dabbling in petty crime and antisocial behaviour. Although he had a hard working ethos instilled in him he was always attracted to the lure of fast easy money. As with most teenagers they learn a lot from their friends and these friends can become more influential than their parents and family. Johnny's parents would think he was playing football when he would be out with his friends causing mayhem in the local area. It wasn't through peer pressure or wanting to fit in that he participated, maybe it was his way of rebelling. In a way you become numb to certain rights and wrongs and johnny had seen a lot over the last few years. By the age of sixteen johnny was starting to realise what a cruel world it was. He himself had already had a lot of fights and witnessed violent acts that were meaningless and pointless. One that will always stick in his mind is when he found his friend on the floor after being attacked and stabbed in the back three times. His friend was no angel but his only crime that night was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Johnny was selling drugs at this stage and hated the vulnerability of his customers. He remembers the high flying businessman from a very well known organisation who would come to meet him. This man striked him as the kind of man that took no shit in the boardroom and could bring companies to their knees. But here he was, begging johnny for enough poison to get him through the week, willing to pay well over the odds for it. Unbeknown to johnny, this was starting to effect him deep down inside. It was a constant battle between him and his conscious. He hated the lifestyle but so far it was treating him well. He had all the latest designer gear and his position inside his network of friends had grown. Johnny managed to complete his school years and come out with decent grades. He then went to work with his dad and brothers fitting boilers and heating systems, and learned the joys of hard earned money. Although he could of been making more out on the streets, the fear of his fathers disappointment and the satisfaction of honest money made him stick at it. He surprised himself with how good at it he was, it came naturally. At this point most of his friends were in prison. It felt like every other week there was a party at the pub to celebrate somebody's release, and not as often but far too often, a funeral to attend. On a normal friday night that summer johnny headed to a pub he liked to drink in near highbury. He had worked hard all day and was looking forward to blowing off some steam. After drinking the night away and having a laugh with friends, a girl walked through the door. Johnny was amazed at her natural beauty and the way she moved across the room taking every pair of eyes with her. He said to himself "I'm going to have her". Johnny was always good with the ladies and had had his fair share in the past. Being single at that moment made him more determined to approach her. She was there with some mutual friends of his which was going to make it easier for him to introduce himself. He offered to buy her a drink but she was already being taken care of by someone else. "I bet" he thought to himself. He sat with the group and they kept making eye contact and he realised she was interested. Closing time came and he invited everyone back to his parent's house as they were in Ireland visiting family. They ended up spending the night together, there was such an amazing chemistry between them. Johnny was amazed that she had a good job and her own flat, not like most of the women he was used to. They've been together ever since that night and are stronger than ever to this day. As the romance grew, johnny stopped selling drugs and slowly fell out of touch with his network of friends. He was happier than he'd ever been in his life. Work with his dad had dried up and he managed to land himself a great job that payed him very well. On occasion when he would see some of his old friends and tell them how he was doing he noticed that their happiness for him was false. He had everything going for him and didn't have to look over his shoulder any more. And they resented it. It didn't bother johnny in the slightest and by the age of 23 he was a father himself. Having been from a decent hardworking family and still managing to fall into that trap, he promised himself he would never let that happen to his son. He's now 24 and married, with a second child on the way. He often sits and wonders where he would be if it wasn't for that Friday that he met the love of his life. It still amazes him how people can be so cruel and he tries to understand where society has broken down, and what can be done to fix it. Then he found opuss, and discovered
There's A Million Little Johnny's • Opuss № I