The Boy He Abused

For the longest time I couldn't discern fact from fiction when it came to my father, he was a naval officer, he wasn't, he was a hero, he wasn't; he was an educated man, he wasn't, and, he was a good father, he wasn't.
The lies my father's family told about my father began so many years ago that fact and fable became one, the oldest son and naval hero ago, rising from nothing to accomplishments beyond his dreams set the tone for my up bringing, and paved the way for a childhood of beatings a...