1 1: Money trials

I peeked my head around the corner of the doorframe, listening to my parents high strung voices.

"Seventy five percent! There won't be enough money left to feed us for the rest of this month." My mother cried as she rolled out a pastry on the flour coated tabletop.

"There's nothing we can do Zamia, we must pay our taxes." My father lowered himself onto the kitchen chair stiffly with a painful grunt.

"Taxes my foot, Tiano has been increasing it every year since they took to power, they'll let us starve whilst they hoarder their gold like the weasels they are."

"Enough Zamia, it wouldn't help if you hung for your words as well." My father sighed and lowered his head in the table wearily.

"Is everything alright mother?" I asked, taking a tentative step into the room.

"The harvest is low and so will be the profits," I winced as my mother  rolled out the dough with much more force than was actually necessary, her head turned slightly to answer my question.

I glanced at my father as the setting sun lit up the edges of his thinning hair with a golden hue and he raised his head to met my concerned gaze with an painful attempt to smile in reassurance. I pursed my lips softly in return but could only see the pain and fatigue in his eyes.

It didn't help that every month there is new spurs of unrest in the three districts of Evelon. Just last week, people in Devora, the manufacturing district, had been protesting against food shortages. The same with Ocelia, the port district, they suddenly stop over seas trading and shut the costal borders down. Nothing changed of course, all it took was a visit from a dozen or so soldiers and they were quickly reopened.

Sometimes when I get filled with this indescribable feeling of anger, I entertain the most treasonous fantasies about Tiano, like dreaming about rats infesting their food stores or that the entire place was set on fire and you could make out the faces of the Taino rulers in the mist of the hungry flames.

"Earl go call the kids, their playing outside." My mother told me.

"Why can't Silvia do that?" I whined childishly.

"Get my name out your mouth Earl." Silvia snapped and I glanced at my father once more before leaving the room.

The front door was agape and I pulled it open to see my twin siblings running around a tree with twigs in their hands. Their high laughter filling the air like music made with innocence.

"Hey! Coral? Arez?" I called out to them and my only response was more giggles. "Alright guys, that's enough."

I walked over to Arez and pulled the twig out of his hands.

"Give it back!" He screeched but I ignored him and instead turned to Coral with my palm outstretched.

"Give it," I hissed and she whipped her hands behind her back with a resolute shake of her head.

"Listen, I'm hungry and need to eat, I'm not going to have two stupid animals like yourselves prolong that." I grabbed a hold of Corals shoulder and Arez's arm and dragged them towards the house, rolling my eyes at their ear splitting shrieks of defiance.

"But mama said we play outside for as long as we wanted to," Coral sobbed.

"Yeah, she did, she told us to go play outside." Arez added, attempting to bite my hand as he did so.

"And now she wants you to come inside and eat, you can't play outside forever." I told them.

Coral collapsed to the ground and started one of her tantrums. I gave Arez a suffering look but he only sniffed and turn away.

"Well then can't we play after we eat." He asked as I picked Coral off the ground and heaved her on my shoulder, try to ignore the rain of hits she began to inflict upon my back.

"The suns setting little buddy, it'll be dark, you wanna play in the dark?" I opened the front door with my hip and ushered him in, dragging Coral with him.

"Mother! Come help me with this child." I called out.

My father instead peaked his head around the door and came over to help me with Corals sudden act of stubbornness.

"Come one sweetheart, don't you want to eat the food mommy and I made?" He bent down to whisper to her as she lay sprawled in the threadbare carpet in the hallway.

"You didn't make anything father." I whispered playfully and he nudged me with a hint of a chuckle.

"No, I don't wanna eat anything right now," Coral snapped, hitting her dusty feet against the cracked wall.

"Nothing?" My father asked.

"Yeah," she replied with teary eyes, "nothing."

"Not even mamas sponge cake with chocolate cream? You know we only ever eat cake and cream in a blue moon." I added with a telling waggle of my eyebrows.

"Really?" Coral asked, her golden eyes narrowed in uncertainly.

"Coral look!" Arez called from behind us and we turned to see him standing outside the kitchen with chocolate covered spoon and a crumb filled grin. "Mama made cake!"

Father and I laughed as Coral scrambled up immediately and ran on her little legs to the kitchen for her own slice.

"Didn't take much convincing did it?" I asked, helping my father get to his feet.

"The whole lot of you are obsessed with food," he said regretfully, "shame I can't give you more of it."

"Father you give us enough," I assured him, "if you gave us anymore we'd all be like mother."

"I heard that!" She called from the kitchen.

"What? Beautiful and smart?" Father asked with a finger to his lips.

"Of course," and we fell into hushed giggles.

"Ungrateful pigs," My mother snapped as she sat down on her chair and I skipped over to give her a peck on the cheeks.

"Love you mama," I told her, stroking back her grey streaked hairs.

"Well I love you more," she muttered and I smiled in victory.

"Actually I have a surprise for everyone." I exclaimed with a resolute clap of my hands. "Let me go get it."

I rushed into my bedroom and scrambled to the floor, reaching out for the glass jar kept underneath my bed. My hand clawed at the darkness for a second and then my fingers hit the heavy object and I pulled it out to view.

I jumped to my feet and return to the kitchen, holding the jar behind my back with a excited smile.

"What's that you got there Earl?" My father asked, looking up for his steaming plate of potato strips.

I walked over to the head of the table regally and set the jar on the the wooden surface with a resounding thump.

"Oh my goodness," my mother gasped, throwing down her napkin to inspect the contents inside the jar, "my dear child, is that gold?"