Mot Time

MOT Time

When couples decide to separate their ways, their decision affects their children most. Their lives change suddenly and this unexpected change can cause negative feelings towards one of both the parents.

The story takes place in England because the cities London and Bayfield are mentioned, which are both in United Kingdom. It is summer time and Jenny is visiting her father Victor, who lives with Annette, his “girlfriend”.

Jenny is our main character; she is a 31 years old single mom. Her husband, Carl has left her and her son Omar, while Omar still was a little baby. Jenny is an independent woman, who despite being left alone with a baby studied banking and even got a promotion at her work. She is the first black woman in the southeast to work as a banking manager.

Jenny has two sisters, and they none of them have any contact with their father. Jenny on the other hand comes once a year to meet her father, only when it is time for her cars MOT.

Her father, Victor is and old 70-year-old retired mechanic, but he still repairs Jenny’s car before its MOT. Victor seems like a man who has problems expressing his feelings for the people he loves. He still wears his wedding ring, but he can’t explain the reason to Jenny. As mentioned, he lives with Annette, who is a young woman from Barbados with two kids. It seems as if Annette is living with Victor, who is much older than her, only to have a provider.

Jenny says that her mother and they never saw Annette as a person, but just as someone, they should not be like. That is why they all get shocked, when Victor leaves them to live with Annette.

Jenny treats Annette with not much respect, she does not like to go and meet her at all. She just wants to take her papers and leave, not even stay and chat a little with her father. Probably also because they don’t know what to talk about and seeing her father with Annette reminds her of how lonely and miserable her mom was, after Victor had left her.

After Victor had left Jenny’s mom, she had, in a way, hated him or at least believed that she should hate him.

The relationship between daughter and father, Jenny and Victor, is the main theme of the story. Jenny’s sisters have cut all connections with Victor, but Jenny still comes and meets him, perhaps the MOT is just an excuse for that. Mot time doesn’t mean just a mandatory check for Jenny, but it means that she’ll get to meet her father. On the other hand, she doesn’t want to get too close to him, after all he had left them all alone and miserable.

When Jenny finds out that Annette is pregnant with Victor’s child, Jenny gets sick and hurries into the WC and sees a photo on her way. In the photo Victor is with Annette’s son in Disneyland and Jenny can’t recall her dad being like that with her. It’s as if