Two

But was his mother still alive?

That question was left unanswered as he heard his name.

"Mike?"

Turning his head, his eyes met that of his older brother's. He still had that familiar look although he looked slightly older than he last saw him, with his hazel eyes and heavily built frame.

Mike gave out a smile and stood up.

"Is this really you?" Ben asked again, an astonishing look on his face. He looked like he had seen a ghost. If anyone had told him his little brother would be on his doorstep that day, he would have called it a bluff.

But his brother was here, and deep within he felt relief wash over him. Knowing his brother is fine and healthy all here while was enough for him.

"Yes it is me"

"Wh..where...Damn I thought..."

"Look, just listen to me brother. I need to let this off my chest. I am sorry for leaving. I was always the stubborn and care free type, always doing all the bad stuffs and leaving it for you and mother to sort out. I can say i am a rich man now but i wish to be with my family again. I want to be a changed man now, i want to be a good son and a nice brother to both you and mother, if you will forgive me"

Mike said with his head bowed to show how sincere and honest he was at that moment.

"You left without a word and left me worried Mike. I was very worried about you. You made mother worried and she suffered from a heart attack. She died a year after you got missing".

A tear escaped Mike's eyes as it suddenly dawned on him.

"M...mom is dead?"

His mother was dead.

And it was all because of him.

He had killed his mother.

"I tried my best to fulfill her last wish which was to find you. I searched every nook and cranny of the city, got detectives to track you, thinking i will one day get to you or find you"

"But i never did. I did not want to think something bad had happened to you Mike. What was left for me was to pray that wherever you were, you would come back home safe and unharmed"

He walked to Mike and held his shoulders.

"And here you are. Seeing you has erased all the anger i had towards you. As long as you have realized your mistakes and wanting to start a new life, I forgive you baby brother"

Mike smiled and hugged his brother.

"Thank you Ben. You don't know how much your forgiveness means to me"

Pulling away from the hug, Ben ruffled Mike's hair.

"It's been seven years,we have a lot of catching up to do. How about we go talk at the balcony and rekindle our relationship"

"That will be nice brother"

"Sarah, could you please make two mugs of coffee?" Ben shouted as the two brothers made their way to the balcony.

"I'll get it in a minute" Was the answer.

They talked, laughed, cried and sunk deep to old times. They did not know what time in the day it was.

But it was so soon,as night came suddenly.

Susanna sighed as she walked out of the restaurant in which she worked in. She was a waitress at Madam Sheiriki's restaurant, a work that does not pay her much.

But at least it gave her money to take care of her daughter.

It was 8 pm and she still had to pick Hannah who was still at her teacher's house. She was not an owner of a car and so she had to walk to the teacher's house in the cold and chilly night.

It is the type of coldness that reaches into someone's bones, as if her heart were a door left wide open to the icy wind, slamming only to open again. The only thing to do is keep moving, keep heading toward home and the steady warmth of the hearth. The sky is rolling blanket of cloud the colour of wet ash, and the ground its dank reflection. Each step becomes a prayer for the teacher's house as she walked, seeing the light from the doorway in their flickering daydreams, letting it become more real than the chilly night.

She knocked.

The door opened to reveal a woman.

Her porcelain skin was ashen, almost anemic; a cold sweat glistened on her forehead and her recessed cheeks; the moss of her eyes had turned into a leaf that was desperately trying to cling onto the last bit of its chlorophyll, its life. She had hair so black against skin so white and it made a contrast that only served to make the woman look like she was even more older, all the more alluring; her lips were pink and she had a pair of glasses on her nose.

"Mrs Brownwell, come in, nice to see you. I will go get Hannah, she is asleep" The teacher said as she stepped aside for her to come in and then afterwards, went in on the purpose of getting Hannah.

She came back a minute later with the little girl who slept loudly in the teacher's arms. Susanna smiled as she watched her baby sleep. Her six year old bay girl.

"How will you be able to go home in this cold night with Hannah Susanna? Hannah has a fever and she cannot go out. You can leave her here and you can come back tomorrow to take her to the Doctor." The teacher offered.

"I will not be able to stay in peace knowing my daughter is not in my sight" She said as she pulled her jacket and used it to wrap Hannah,and afterwards carried her from the teacher's arms.

"Aren't you going to catch a cold?"

"I won't. Thanks for your help. I will be going now" Susanna said and walked out of the house and down the road with the teacher watching them till they disappeared into the still night.