Beck McCarthy

Beck is loyal, caring and observant. But that is exactly what you would expect from a man with such a shocking past.

He grew up in Kent, England in a middle class family but was part of one of the wealthier families in his town. Everyone assumed that a boy with such money, opportunity and privilege would be thriving in his younger years, but they were wrong. He was what you would call your typical outcast - the black sheep of the family. He was treated poorly by his father and ever worse by his mother, who had no maternal instincts. They both consistently reminded Beck that they did not even want a child, since they were so young themselves (Beck's father was 20 and his mother was 22 when he was born). It was as if they hated him, everything about him, his mother would tense up her body whenever he hugged her, like he didn't have permission to touch her. But alas, Beck loved his parents dearly because they were all he had, until he turned 7.

At this point, Beck had lived alone with his mother and father for so long, being forced to do chores with short deadlines, otherwise he would be severely punished, it was all he knew - he didn't know that parents were supposed to hug and kiss their children, and tell them they loved them. All of a sudden, Beck's mother announced she was pregnant and they were going to have another baby - this confused Beck a little because his mother had always told him that she never wanted him in the first place, so why was she having another child?

Despite everything that happened to Beck, he was still an optimist. He thought that with a new sibling around, his parents would be nicer and do things that other parents would let their children do, like watch TV, or eat dinner at the table with everyone else. He was right. Beck's baby sister, Jasmine, was born and everything changed. Unfortunately, it didn't benefit him. His mother and father would coo and fawn over baby Jasmine for the entirety of her childhood, but this only meant that things got worse for Beck. He was to sleep downstairs in the basement, on top of a table with a thin blanket, not allowed to leave unless he had been given something to do. He was to do twice the amount of chores in half the amount of time, and the punishments became worse and worse the more his mother got tired of him. His father was mostly absent, "working late", he would say, but his mother knew exactly what that meant, and it only angered her more.

When Beck was 9-years-old, his father had walked out. But as he got older, his father had been his only source of what seemed to be relief. If his mother was being too difficult on him, Beck's father would step in. But now he was gone. His mother had Beck all to himself, to do with him as she pleased. And so she did.

Beck's new life became sitting in the basement waiting to be used as a cleaner. If his mother was extra angry with him, she would make him sit on the wooden basement stairs and sit on his hands. Beck sat on his hands until they went numb. For an extra 5 years he did this.

But when Beck was 12-years-old, he had an altercation with his mother one day before school, worse than before. She always made him run to school and she never let him ride the bus, nor did she ever take him herself in the car. He was running to school like any other day, trying to think of excuses to tell the teachers for the bruises on his body, and the fact that he could not move his wrist because he was in agonising pain. The teachers had always been suspicious of Beck's bruises and scars that appeared everyday, but his mother would always coach him on things to say to make sure she was never found out. As Beck arrived to school that day, he did the daily routine and took himself to the nurse's office - the headteacher had required it, just to check on Beck and his safety. The school nurse was appalled at what she saw and she ordered Beck to tell her what happened. But he couldn't remember what his mother told him to say, and so he burst into tears. He wept. He let his heart out and told the nurse everything.

From then on, action was taken and Beck was removed from the household. He had been raised by an older couple who were supposed to be fostering him, but decided to adopt him permanently when he was 14-years-old - they were in love with him. Beck had a happy life after that, he realised what a family really was. His new family gave him hugs, and kisses, and they sat at the table together every day, he even got along with his new parents' children, despite them all being grown adults. He has 3 older siblings from his new adopted family. Those include: Oliver, who is 25. Jacob, who is 28 and Marcus, who is 32.

Beck still lives at his new parents' house, and has a full-time job in a retail clothing store, but is eagerly awaiting to have enough funds in order for him to move out and start his own life. He never looked back to his mother and hasn't heard much from his sister since he was taken away. He has no idea where his father is.