She was sitting on her comfy couch by the large window of her luxurious mansion which gave her a pretty awesome view of her extra-large, well maintained garden. She hadn’t realized how quickly her mind had drifted to the dreadful past that she tried daily to forget but to no avail. After all it was a part of her and something that could not be forgotten overnight, although it was nearly nineteen years since the deed had happened. It was almost impossible to shake off the overwhelming feelings that mounted in her chest when she dwelled in those memories.

“You look like someone who is a thousand mile away, May, my darling,” said the soothing voice of her husband, Ray.

His voice had a way to calm and bring her back from any part of the world that she may be wandering in. Startled and grateful to be back to reality, May stood up from the couch and went to give her husband a welcome back home embrace.

“Hmm, from the feel of this embrace, I can tell that something is bothering you. And if I’m not mistaken it’s the same thing that always does,” Ray said raising an eyebrow. He knew already that she would give him the response followed by a warm smile.

“Nothing important,” she said as she turned away telling him to settle in while she prepared something for him to eat.

As he went to their upstairs bedroom he wondered what exactly it was that bothered his wife and what she possibly couldn’t trust him enough to tell him. Same with May, she was biting her head off with questions that she couldn’t answer. She wondered if Ray would understand when she told him and if he wouldn’t judge her and leave her. She finally decided to leave it in the past where she reckoned it belonged. Life goes on, May told herself every time this questions popped in her head.

Soon the dinner table was surrounded by her and her husband, including their son Sam and daughter Gift.

The children had just come from college overseas where their mother preferred them to be. It had been a hassle to get Ray to understand why the children couldn’t just attend local colleges instead of them going so far away in the name of a better education. May had been persistent and so Ray had been forced to give in to her demands. Gift and Sam didn’t seem to mind being away from their parents, for them it was like they had been given the keys to freedom of adulthood in the real world.

Even though May didn’t want to accept the thought, she knew that being away had been tough on their daughter who hadn’t even had the comfort of spending her childhood with parents. She had been sent away to boarding school at a young age, May had given a reason that she knew was very lame. She had said that she wasn’t coping with the duties of being a parent as Sam had been delivered when Gift was barely six. The truth was that she couldn’t stand the sight of her daughter!

****

A good life is not judged by how much money is in your bank account. That was what Tracy kept telling her son and daughter. They had grown so big too quickly and their mother’s advice had now become like an old tape repeated on radio every day. Tracy thought they were grateful children who were thankful, except for their “good for nothing” father Jim who didn’t seem to appreciate any single bit of hard work that his wife did to keep the family going. What Tracy didn’t know was that her husband wasn’t the only ungrateful man in her life, her son Jack was too.

They weren’t a poor or rich family, they were just average.

Tracy didn’t complain. She lately was the sole provider who put food on the table since her husband had resorted to drinking his life away after he had lost his job as a hotel security guard. Jack, their son had been expelled at school where he was doing his matric year. On the other hand, Joy their daughter, was a godsend. She helped whenever she could in the house, though there wasn’t much for her to do, she was obedient and never talked back to her parents.

Joy didn’t seem to mind not going to college, but deep inside it hurt her. However, she couldn’t let her mother worry about her on top of all the burdens she carried. Jack was the reason for their financial problems. He was troublesome; he had stolen and squandered all their savings, killing his sister’s hope of going to college any time soon.

Joy was even more worried about her parents; a day wouldn’t pass without them fighting and shouting at the top of their voices. Her father didn’t seem to mind, he knew that he would just drink his problems away in the bar. Or so he thought.

Tracy knew that she and Joy were the only two who kept everyone together and brought hope to one another. With the little they had, they had managed to start a small corner shop selling basic food stuffs and were happy with their monthly turnover. Jim had sometimes given Tracy a reason to just leave it all and start over again by herself. But the thought of her daughter always brought her back to her senses. She was determined to stay and create a better future for her children whatever it took. It was going to be difficult but she told herself that it was better to die trying. It was the least she could do for them.

For Jack their son, life was all about hustling in the streets to make ends meet, going back home now and then and stealing. He thought that this was the best life as anything away from the world of books was a good enough life for him. He wasn’t bothered by the terrible curses that people threw at him for snatching their belongings in the street and shoplifting.

Joy felt sorry for her brother because he had chosen the wrong path, whilst his mother called him the “bad egg” of the family. All she had ever wanted was a big brother who acted like one. For someone who was almost twenty three she thought he sure as hell was immature, compared to her; nearly nineteen and very mature. It is true that you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family, this was the predicament that Joy found herself in at all times.

***

Tell us what you think: What do you think links these two families? And what is bothering May so much?