Max Johnson came home from the factory, removed his tie, and with a big smile he looked at Nero, his dog. After they played together, he sat down at the kitchen table and the dog walked away. Max was tall and handsome. He was born with the lucky combination of blue eyes, dark brown curly hair and a natural sense of style. Through ambition, discipline and hard work, he managed to become one of the most respected, successful men in Leeds. But friends, he had none.
His wife came in and kissed him. 
“Max! I missed you, you know! You really shouldn’t work that hard,” Manon said with a smile.
“Well, if I don’t run the factory, you wouldn’t be able to live in this house and drink coffee with your friends all day,” the man grumbled.
 “And Little John hardly gets to see you anymore,” she continued as if she hadn’t heard his answer. “Our sweetie is now at an age that he really needs his father. He is looking up to you, you know. But when you come home from work, he often has gone to bed already.”
“Please stop calling him little John, you know that I hate that,” Max said with a raising voice. “And by the way, Big John would be more appropriate. How much does the boy weigh? 60 kilo’s or something? Obese John, if anything, otherwise just John!”
 “Max, stop! That’s awful, you know he is trying. He is having a diet for 2 months now. Don’t you love him at all?” Manon shouted with a quivering voice. She could never get used to this kind of remarks. It made her feel as if she was being bullied herself. 
“Well, he might be dieting, but he hasn’t lost a single pound since the beginning. I thought that you were watching him? I really hope that you are not giving him sweets secretly, are you?”
“Of course not, how could you even think so? Tonight, John perfectly sticked to his portions, he didn’t even ask for more. I think he starts to understand that he won’t get it anyway”
The weather was sad. The sun set early in this period of the year. Max looked out the window, seeing the thick raindrops falling from the dark sky. He thought of the days when his wife was still pretty. That was before his son was born.
 “Where is he anyway? Already went to bed?”
“No, he is in the living room, he loves playing with the dog; they seem inseparably recently”
“Well good, at least something that we have in common”
“Why don’t you go see him and spend some time with him? He would love that, you know. If not for him, at least do it for me.” Manon said with tears in her eyes “He is our child. And you know what? He makes me happy every day!” 
The man calmed down a bit. Despite everything he had still some affection for his wife. A bit reluctantly he got up. When he walked to the living room, the dog started to bark loudly. Just before he reached the door, he heard John shouting, almost immediately followed by a profound cry.  
The shape of Nero’s teeth was clearly visible in the bleak flesh of his son’s leg. The dog bowl was empty. And the tears that John dropped on the floor started to fuse together with a couple of half-eaten dog chunks that fell out of his shouting mouth.