Asem deur Jan Vermeulen | Chapter 4 | English Summary

Asem deur Jan Vermeulen

Chapter 4 Summary

Back at home with his mother, Barries tries to claim that the police are merely just trying to scare him into submission and that he isn’t scared; however, his mother attempts to be the voice of reason, saying that the situation is dire. Barries then retorts by saying that Theo’s father is a judge and could help them get out of the situation; however, he, child welfare and the police spoke in order to arrive at the conclusion of sending Barries to the six-week rehab with his father in the first place. He and his mother argue because she refuses to give him his phone, so Barries takes the car keys instead, desperate to talk to his friends. With her strength sapped, all his mother can say is “Drive safe”. When he gets to Theo and Floris’s house, Floris quickly hides both himself and Barries from view, explaining that his father does not want Barries at their home.

 

 The De Kock family have to prevent Theo from going to prison for running over the traffic cop who is currently in ICU, and so they have to throw Barries under the bus by testifying against him, claiming that he is a bad influence. With Barries heading to rehab, he won’t be able to testify against Theo which will prevent Theo’s persecution, but they would have to paint him in an incredibly negative light, involving his abusive father and rocky home situation. When Floris’s dad calls from inside, Floris quickly tells Barries that he has to leave. Barries heads over to Lizette’s house, where he notes that they always take forever to answer their door. This time was different; the big wooden door swung open in seconds and Lizette’s mother, clearly livid, stood in front of Barries. She doesn’t want him around her daughter or their home anymore. Barries asks for just five minutes of Lizette’s time, but when her mother pulls out a whip, Barries gets the message and walks briskly away from the situation.

Back at home, he chats with his mother about the idea of going to live with his father and remembers the abuse he experienced at his father’s drunken hand. Like most abusers, his apologies were merely commas in the long paragraph of abuse. His mother comments that the man remarried and stopped his drinking, despite being divorced a second time. Barries tries to request his phone one more time, but his mother denies his request. He goes to his room, slams the door and plays music loudly as he screams into his pillow. He looks around his room for some marijuana to roll up but only finds some ecstasy pills that he has with sour candy and climbs into bed.

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