Overcome (editing)

Chapter one

I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure which is, trying to please everybody.

-Herbert Swope

"Stop it!" I giggled, as I was being tickled mercilessly by my best friend Kyle. Kyle and I have been best friends for years, ever since I was six years old ... and nine years later we've become inseparable. I can honestly say I don't know where I'd be without him, he has been there for me through my toughest times. One of those was when my dad suddenly decided to abandon me and my mom and my little twin brothers Ryan and Rishaad. No explanation, no warning. We woke up to a single note posted on the refrigerator that read: "I'm sorry" and just like that, he was gone.

I have never seen my mom cry so much and that went on every night for months. I would lie in bed and just listen to my mom wailing in her room, myself crying too, but silently, my pillow soaked from the pain that poured from my heart. I sometimes wondered what couldve made him leave ... I knew at times we struggled financially, I wasnt necessarily the best dressed person at school, but we were always happy. Well.... that's what I thought until that day.

When he left, everything changed. Especially mom, she never smiled anymore, it was like we the kids, were no longer there. Often, she would just sit and stare off as if she could see something we couldn't. With my mom being in the state that she was in, I had to assume the role of the adult in the house, taking care of my brothers and my mom. Eventually I got a part time job for us to be able to afford meals at night and with Kyle taking food from his house without his parents knowledge, we were slowly getting by.

Surprisingly, I was still the top student in my class; failure wasn't an option. As a matter of fact, doing well in school became my ray of hope, believing one day I will leave and become something better, not sure what that was at this precise time and I honestly dont really care, just something... anything would be better than the reality.

As time progressed, my mom started leaving at nights. I assumed she got a job because suddenly our bills were being paid on time and food was a little more abundant. I never asked her where she'd go, I was too scared she'd revert to her depressive ways, just like a dream you don't want to question, in fear it would turn out not to be real. Instead, I pretended to not notice. She still barely spoke to us ... but she provided for us and that's all I could ask for at that moment.

Author: Char Wilson

Edited on: 11/30/2022