THE TOXIC DEAL

2. WE ARE FAMILY

"Always do it on my own so I gotta get through it

and the only thing I know is to love what I'm doing

never give up, never slow till I finally prove it

never listen to the no's, I just wanna keep moving

keep my head up when I act

head up, that's a fact

never looking back, I'ma keep myself on track

keep my head up, staying strong

always moving on

feel I don't belong, tell my thoughts to move along

push my self to be the best

die with no regrets"                                                                                    (NEFFEX)

BRIA

We had a small café attached to the house where Benji worked as a cook and I as a server and cashier. It was not a big and fancy place but it was small and cosy where you would like to start your morning with a cup of hot coffee and delicious breakfast in the winter mornings. Benji has already opened it early in the morning and some of our regular customers were there enjoying their coffee and breakfast. Benjamin was in his late fifty's but still had stamina twice of mine.

After attending the morning rush I finally took a sigh of relief and sat on the counter. I was tired due to lack of sleep and all the work and tensions. There were not many customers for the next couple of hours so I rest my head on the wall behind me as my thoughts wandered to thinking about my life.

I, Bria Maxwell, was living here in this two-storey house with my sweethearts and Benji. My dream was owning the best restaurant in our small town and for that, I wanted to attend a culinary school. But I had no enough money and time to follow my dream. Benji told me that my parents died when I was very little, three years old maybe. They left me this house and some money to live under the guardianship of Benji. He was my parent's close friend. When my parents died he took my responsibility. He didn't even think about starting his own family because he had promised my mother that he would take care of me. Sometimes I felt guilty that Benji had to sacrifice many things for me. Call me selfish but I was also glad that he was my guardian and teacher who cared for me and raised me into a kind-hearted person.

These all kids were not related by blood to me or each other except Lily and Lillian of course. They all were orphans. I was about four when Benji found a crying baby under a bridge wrapped in the blanket when he was taking me back home after a late-night dinner. Juan.

Benji was first hesitant to keep Juan with us. But when I cried and threw a tantrum that I wanted a baby brother he finally gave in and took Juan. The other kids were also found in a kind of similar ways. Their parents abandoned them for god knows what reasons. But I and Benji decided to look after them as a family.

These kids were my life, my family. I wanted to give them all the love and care which I got from Benji. When I completed my school, we realised that the money left by my parents would not fulfil all of our needs. And I also didn't want Benji to work hard for us in this age. So I decided to complete my further studies through distant learning programmes and we opened this café to make some more money. That was what all we had. A large enough house and the property around it. The cafe helped us well with the education of kids and the money we had was enough for our daily expenses. Other than that Juan, Liam and Ava also helped us with some part-time jobs and tutoring. I wanted to give the best education to my kids so they could live a much better life than me.