Chapter five
1139 Words
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It's almost as if the pieces of my life are beginning to reassemble. Not like my life didn't fall apart right from the day my dad left, but in this moment — I feared something greater than fear, as the unfamiliar feeling slowly crept in.
I stood in the hospital ward with my mom, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy in my heart. Next to us was the malnourished body of my younger brother, which was almost lifeless. He was more bones than flesh, merely a shadow of himself.
Looking at him like this hurt me. Deep down I really wished this had all been a bad nightmare, or better still, a prank, with him waking up and my mom laughing that they had all gotten me hard, but my delusional fantasies were met with a slap of reality.
"What happened to him?" I found myself asking.
"Why is Myler's body malnourished?" I found myself lamenting.
My mom cried.
"The doctor said he collapsed from severe malnutrition," she announced.
My face dropped.
"How? Why? Can this be possible?" I found myself asking all at once.
"I don't know. I never knew the food I gave him was too little," my mom said.
"He told me the half portions were fine since we didn't have much food," she added with regret.
"Half portions! And is that all he gets for the whole day?" I asked.
She stayed quiet.
"How do you expect anyone to survive on that?" I cried out.
"We didn't have much," she defended.
"I know we are poor, but was food something that rare?" I pondered in disappointment.
"I am sorry Mara, we could barely afford anything. The company wasn't doing well so I got a severe pay cut. I couldn't tell you because I didn't want that to affect your studies," she answered, face down.
"Why couldn't you say something? What difference did any of that really make — I eventually got suspended anyway, didn't I?" I reacted.
She said nothing.
"This can't be happening. How do I know Minna isn't also facing the same problem?" I said as I left the hospital ward in anger and dejection, with many thoughts and emotions hitting me all at once, tears flowing freely from my face as I accidentally bumped into an incoming doctor.
"Sorry," I whispered as I dashed out to the reception.
I was at the reception where I sat with my hands on my face, crying. I couldn't bear the fact that I might lose a sibling soon. That reality stung me so badly. I was about to question everything — why my world feels this way, why life decided to push me to the unkind side of it — when I felt a gentle tap.
I removed my hands from my face and saw a handkerchief stretched out.
I looked up.
And I was faced with grey eyes I had never seen before.
"I don't know what you're going through, but I hope things get better for you," he said as he handed me the delicate white handkerchief.
"How?" I found myself asking.
"How will things get better?" I questioned further.
He stared at me blankly.
"You don't get suspended, losing part of your scholarship for a situation that got out of your control, only to get home and discover your mom got a pay cut, your brother is severely malnourished and fighting for his life, and you can't even afford what comes next," I found myself explaining.
He listened.
"And then I ask — how will things get better?" I asked again.
He sighed, then paused for a while.
"You could get a job," he finally spoke.
"Who will give a 16 year old a job?" I asked half heartedly.
He paused again.
"Can you work in a*****e?" he asked.
"Why not," I responded.
He pulled out a card and handed it to me, which I examined with keen interest.
"Do you work here?" I asked with no emotion in my tone.
"Yeah," he said.
"My boss currently needs more people to help manage the store," he added with a smile.
I paused and looked at him clearly while examining his features. He had short black hair that complemented his grey eyes and was wearing a well ironed overall.
"Aren't you like 16 too?" I wondered.
"I am 17," he said.
"And I'm working," he continued.
"Think of the suspension as an opportunity to help save your brother. I have to be somewhere," he added finally as he waved goodbye.
I stared at the card once again, then kept it in my pocket. I was about to ask for his name when I saw he was gone with no trace of him anywhere. Instead I was met with a sorry glance from my mom, who slowly walked toward me.
"Mara," she whispered.
"Will he be okay?" I asked.
"I don't know," she said.
"The doctor..." she added, then paused.
"What happened? Is Myler going to be okay?" I wondered.
"He needs surgery," she finally declared.
"I'm going to get a part time job," I said.
"It's urgent," she said, with no hope in her eyes.
I left.
"Why is all of this happening?" I thought to myself when I felt something very warm in my pocket. I reached out for it — it was the card.
"Should I just go get a job regardless?" I said as I observed the details on the card.
"How I wish I had enough money for Myler's surgery instead," I expressed in disappointment, when all of a sudden, the strangest thing happened.
The card started falling apart on its own like sand, almost like it was a tragic magic, followed by a transition into something. Something that the rich take pride in, the poor hope for, and the lack of which could cost my brother's life — a large SUM OF MONEY, and for a moment, it felt like my brain had paused. No one could see this coming, and I was no exception.
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