Sunrise & Sunset

Prologue 2: Goodbye.

It was a week before my birthday.
My mother woke me and my brother up to get us ready for school.
I was nine at the time and my brother was thirteen.
This was his last year in Primary school before he would finally make his way to a Secondary institution.

We were ready.
Waiting for our mother to give us some money for school.
We were waiting outside the house and then the door opened.
My mother kneel infront of us and told us that she doesn't have any thing to give us at the moment.
I smiled and told her that's it's okay we'll survive.
She hugged both of us and we were on our way.

The school day ended and per usual i would wait for my elder brother.
He would always spend sometime with his friends or with some random who he thought he had a chance with, but it was pretty evident that they weren't interested at all.
Waiting at the spot i usually do an ambulance speeds past.
I stood there wandering,who could they be rushing for?
The person must sure be in danger or is on the verge of death.
If they get to that person, will they make it time to save them?
Just a random few questions I asked myself in that moment.

My brother walk towards me and tells me that it's time to go home.
I start to smile and I told him that i was excited to see mother when we get back home.
And for the first time ever.
My brother smiles back at me and says "me too."
My brother has never smiled at me.
He was always so mean to me.
What could have changed all that today?
What could have made my brother be so happy?
I wonder?

Walking home my brother tells me that he saved up a few coins for after school.
He said that he saved them up for us in case our parents had nothing to give us.
He told me" mom couldn't give us anything today, so i saved this up for us so that we won't be hungry all day."
We walked to the local store which was on the way home.
My brother told me he has enough for a half loaf of bread which we could share between the two of us.
It would have been nice to buy a full loaf so that we could bring some home for mother, but still i appreciated that my brother went out his way to get us something to fill our stomachs.
We sat on the corner of the street where the shop was and finished all the bread.
It was so nice to have my stomach filled after being hungry all day which brightened my day up so much more.

We were almost home.
Both brothers talking.
Both brothers smiling.
Both brothers having a good time with each other.
Something that we did not do often.
Which made everything way more better.
Two houses away from home almost at our destination.
I look up and out the driveway comes the ambulance that I saw earlier.
The one that rushed past me.
The one which made me wonder if whoever they are rushing for will be saved or lost.
I look at my brother and I can see his eyes start tearing up.
I look back and then the ambulance pulled away.
No rush at all.
No siren.
Just calmly drove off.
Watching it go past us, my chest felt heavy.

We got to the house and there were two police officers standing at the front door.
With no hesitation my brother dropped his school bag infront of me and hauled towards the front door.
The two officers stopped him and held him back.
He started shouting
" WHAT HAPPENED?,WHERE IS MY MOTHER?,IS SHE OKAY?"
At that moment everything was just so overwhelming.
Once again, i was sweating all over.
I felt like i was burning up from inside.
I blinked and right after my sight started to blurr and get darker.
It felt like i feel to the ground.
I wasn't sure.
My ears ringing.
Voices echoing.
Sounding so close but yet so far.
Did i?
Did i just pass out?
What happened to me?
Ive never felt this before?
Will i be okay?
All these things going through my head in a span of a few seconds.
And then, just darkness.

Sand.
White sand.
Water.
Blue water.
The ocean.
Am i at a beach?
The water feels cold but yet refreshing on my feet.
The breeze i feel on my skin makes me feel calm.
The sound of the waves crashing infront of me is so satisfying and it puts me at ease.
Wait?
My left hand feels free, but it feels as if someone is holding my right hand.
Who is holding my hand?
Looking at my right hand i see that im holding someones hand.
This hand feels soft and warm.
Am i holding a girls hand?
If so, who is this girl?
I look up, trying to get a good look at her face.
She's facing the water.
She has long black hair that covered most of her face running past her shoulders.
I couldn't even get a glimpse of of her face because of her hair covering her face.
"Can you hear me?"
Did she just say that?
"Can you hear me?"
It cant be her, she's not even looking at me.
"Malikai!"
My name?
She knows my name?
"Malikai can you hear me?"
This voice sounds familiar.
Is this...

The ceiling.
The ceiling of my room.
I see the ceiling of my room and my brother above me.
"Malikai are you okay? Can you hear me?"
I looked at my brother confused.
Why was on the beach?
Who was the girl holding my hand?
Was that just a dream?

My brother had tears in his eyes.
I asked him
"Why are you crying brother?"
He replied and said
"It's mom Malikai, she's gone."
After he said that everything started flooding in.
I remembered the ambulance.
I remembered the two police officers.
I remembered my brother rushing to the door.
I remembered him shouting and calling for my mother.
I remembered it all.
Tears started running down my cheeks.
"No, it can't be."
How?
How could she be gone?
What happened to my mother?
My sweet hearted loving mother?
The only person who showed me love?
What happened to her?
How could she just be gone?
Mom?
How could you just leave us here, alone.

My mother has a younger brother who lives in California.
He was the only family we knew at the time.
We didn't know anyone from my father's side of the family.
It seemed like everyone cut him off.
We never knew our grandparents.
Only other family we had was him.
My brother told me that after mom's funeral we would have to move in with our uncle.
He said that the officer told hime this and that this was our only other option or we would go into foster care since our father wasn't stable enough to take care of us.

A week passed by ,and YAY, its my birthday.
This was also the day my mother was burried.
Black suit.
Black umbrella's.
Cloudy skies.
Rain pouring.
Tears falling.

My eyes felt so heavy.
I feel so empty.
Sitting in the church.
My moms friends speaking, giving a few good words about my mother.
Church packed, full of people i did not know.
Who are all these people?
How did they know my mother?
My father,not even present.
Probably somewhere getting drunk not caring about anything in life.
My brother sitting next to me.
Two boys ten and thirteen.
Left alone.
No one but a family relative to take care of us.

The Graveyard.
'here lies-Alicia Jones'
Alicia.
That was my mothers name
Named after her great grandmother.
She told me this herself.
Me and my brother standing beside the hole where she would be placed.
I held onto my brother, crying.
Watching her coffin get lowered.
Some guys filling up the whole where my mother lies.
After a hour they were finally done.
The hole was closed.
Me and my brother stood there for a while.

There goes my bestfriend.
A person who was so sweet.
A person who cared so much about me.
A person who i dearly loved.
A person who showed me all of her love.
Someone who would protect me no matter what.
Someone who would always put a smile on my face when i was sad.
She's gone forever.
Yet she will live in my heart till the day i pass as well.
There goes the woman i love.
Gone.
I will miss you.
Very much.
I hope i get to see you one day again.

Goodbye,mother.