When faith is gone (part 1)

 When faith is Gone
Part 1
Story by: Damian Henry

Life wasn’t always this hard; we had everything a family could ask for, but all changed when my mother died. Nothing was the same anymore; we lived in the Cape Flats, Hanover Park. As you may have heard, Hanover Park to be a real violent place, but it was actually just the opposite in a way because not everything was as bad as it was thought out to be by some people.

My mom was the person that kept everything in order in our household. My dad was the pillar to the growth of our family. I was the youngest of three, I had an older brother and sister, and their names were Jason and Natasha. My name is Morne; I am eighteen and hope to become an international proclaimed chef. I want to go to Italy, and discover different sorts of food ingredients and recipes. I had five friends, Justin, Adrian, Enrico, Ashley and Henrico, we were very close from Primary School; they always had my back and supported me through all the tough times, as I supported them through their trials and tribulations.

On this day, if I am right, I think it was the Monday, it was morning and I got ready for school; it was 7:00 am, mom had already got up for work. She worked many hours as a dressmaker, so she had to wake up very early and following in her footsteps was my older sister Natasha; they worked at a clothing company. My dad worked as a truck driver and worked very far. Places I could’ve only dreamt of seeing. And my older brother Jason had a talent for making shoes; he was a good shoemaker and opened his own business. The money was alright and although we missed our dad quite often, he’d always come with a bag of items that he bought along the streets he drove through.

This Monday, my dad worked in Upington; Jason was at home, my mom and sister got ready for work, but my sister already drove off, her boyfriend took her; his name was Lionel, he was a churchgoer and served as a deacon. My dad liked him a lot, as we were also very faithful people. My father always made it home for church nights and we would all get ready and went. My mom dropped me off at school and along the road I saw my friends and they jumped in and my mom took all of us to school. The bell went off and we went to class. I was sitting in class and got the strangest feeling in my stomach. It was already interval; we were studying, seeing that we were all in Matric(prom) we had to study everyday. The bell went off and we went back to class, then the call came through and our principal informed our teacher to go home as quickly as I could; my brother and sister was waiting for me in front the school gates. I packed my books in my bag and as I went through the door, my friends demanded to go with me and our teacher, Mrs. Paulse saw it fit for them to join me.
We always completed our work in class. We were always in class. The principal wanted to see me first and I went to his office along with all my friends. The principal then told me that my mother had been in a terrible accident and passed away at 8:35 am. I burst out in tears, they comforted me. We got into the car and we arrived home. My brother and sister tried to get hold of our father but couldn’t get through. We were waiting; my brother already checked her body. It was already 7:30 pm. My aunts and uncles were there, and all my distant relatives. My father arrived there at 8:00 am, the Tuesday morning and got her burial in order, in was a good thing mom put our family in a trust fund. The Saturday came and it was her funeral, my dad, Jason, my friends Ashley and Adrian and I helped carried the coffin. My sister Natasha was very emotional and ran out of church with Lionel running after her. Jason came with his fiance, Lucinda. It was the fist time I saw her.
When the funeral was over so was the figure of perfect family. Jason started using drugs and Natasha left Lionel for a gangster who everyone called Blade, he was an American and he liked to stab people. My dad started a drinking habit, he became an alcoholic. Jason got arrested for burglary and my sister tried to commit suicide by cutting her pulse and she did. I on the other hand remained; when I was feeling a bit down I always looked at my mother’s photo to get strength, she always told me never to give up on my dreams and stay positive; she motivated me a lot. By all means necessary. I also had the support of my friends, they kept me strong, and they kept me going. Meanwhile Jason was still in prison and his fiance bailed him out. y dad was working in Springbok, and arriving on his way back home, he made an accident hitting a young boy. The people wanted to take action into their own hands and kill him, but they couldn’t because the police arrived on the scene, and the boy was still alive, though very bruised and might have been paralysed for good. The police arrested our dad seeing that he was under the influence of alcohol so we went to go bail him out but they asked too much, so Jason made a loan by a dangerous loan shark called Kundo.
But one thing was for certain, we were as in much trouble than we had been in before.