Centennial Year

Road hockey. Peter saw it transpire and was admittedly not that surprised by his father’s reaction. The neighbourhood kid—one of these red-headed Anglos whose parents resented the Greeks and Italians who lived in most of the homes now—had taken a wrist shot that sailed well past the net and struck Theodoros in the back of the head. And Theodoros had then lashed out at the boy, using the hard slap that Peter and his siblings knew well.

It was the centennial year, his father explained afterwards, and what better way to celebrate it than to have the country’s newest immigrants smack the worthless offspring of these Anglo barbarians who had come before them. Of course, Theodoros’s attitude changed when he realized that he would have to explain himself at the police station.

Published in TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 7. Purchase the book to read the full piece.