In Florida Man, the death of Mike’s mother tears his family apart, forcing Mike to leave Florida once and for all. However, a trip back home allows him and everyone else in his family to talk about it.
When Delly first proposed the idea of running away to Florida to Mike, he immediately declined, as he had a dark past in Florida. Unfortunately, Moss forced him to go to Florida and bring Delly back.
One of the reasons he hates Florida is his father, Sonny. Mike finds Sonny selfish and sometimes sees his father in himself, which is probably why he hates him so much. It turns out that there is more to this, and it has a lot to do with his mother’s death.
While Ray-Ray and Buzz are busy preparing and storing the gear they need at a hidden location, Mike and Sonny join an al-anon meeting taking place nearby to distract the people who are attending it. The meeting lets them speak their hearts out, and Mike brings up the topic of his mother’s death.
How did Mike’s mother die?
Mike’s mother passed away when he was only 13. She had cancer and was fighting it. One day, he came back home from football practice and discovered that she had shot herself in the bathtub.
He was the only one at home as his father was at work, so he called 911, and they took her away. Mike, all alone, cleaned up the pieces of his mother’s head to make sure that his sister, Patsy, won’t see that.
They lied to Patsy by saying that her mother’s cancer took a bad turn and she passed away because of that. They couldn’t tell her that she blew her brains out using her father’s gun, who was a cop.
Sonny’s personal weapon was always locked up, but not that day. Mike likes to blame his father for his mother’s death because he thinks that his father didn’t lock the gun; in fact, the gun shouldn’t have been at home in the first place.
Sonny’s side of the story
Following Mike, Sonny opened up about what really happened. Mike’s mother was in unimaginable pain, and she didn’t want her kids to know that. Every night, when the pain got worse, she begged Sonny to kill her.
Sonny loved her more than any other woman he has ever loved, so he left that decision in her hands. So yes, he purposefully left the gun unlocked and allowed his wife to choose what she wants. He thought his son would come late at night after practice, but he came early.
Mike made her death all about himself and his hatred for his father. What he didn’t see is that it was his mother’s agonizing decision to kill herself.
Later on, after watching her family lie at the dinner table, Mike’s sister and Sonny’s daughter, Patsy, reveals that she always knew about how her mother shot herself, though they tried to keep it from her.
Patsy found out from her friends and a kid who talked about it in front of the whole class. Since Sonny and Mike were not ready to talk about it, Patsy had decided not to mention it either.
Also Read: Florida Man review: Promising mystery-thriller is scattered and inconsistent
