Forty-five: Good things fall apart

There were times that one's emotions felt bruised, and the same way as with a physical bruise, they took time to come up and really show themselves. Yet in that time Ivan had a chance to mitigate them, reduce them, render them more manageable. So... as hard as it was for him, he dragged himself out the door for some endorphin raising exercise. He heard from Alfred that it was a form of self medication, but there were worse ones to choose. It was a healthy coping strategy, Alfred told him.

His parents were wondering what had got into him to make him start exercising so early in the morning before school, it had never happened before.

When he was younger, probably ten years old. He got back from school, sad and angry. He had been a victim of bullying since he was little.

He was so sad that day that he didn't eat. His mother walked up to him and sat next to him on the ground, he had been crying since he got back.

Several times, she and her husband would report to the school headmaster