Sinking with No Escape

Jasmine lay on the floor of her small apartment, surrounded by empty beer cans and wine bottles. It had been five months since she and her children had been kicked out of the home they had lived in for sixteen years, and she was struggling to find a stable job to support them. Despite receiving a one thousand dollar check from her ex every three months, paying the bills and keeping her children well-fed was still a difficult challenge.

"Ah, I am so pathetic." Jasmine muttered to herself bitterly as stared absentmindedly at the red liquid that was halfway empty inside the wine bottle called 'Exotic Fruits'. She still remembers the event like it was yesterday, they shouted at each other for hours, and Liam jump in to start fighting him when he had called her a 'Sorry excuse for a woman.' security was called to drag them out and onto the street. "I can't even get a job since I never truly bother to learn the language properly."

"You shouldn't be talking like that, Mom." Liam's soft voice said from above her as she watched as he grabbed the wine bottle from off the floor. Jasmine could not find it inside herself to protest his action since she knows that she would have continued drinking after the sick feeling inside of her had gone away. "Why don't you get dressed and join me to go get Daisuke from Elementary School?"

"Next time, Liam." Those same hollow words that she always tells them had rung through the air. She swallows the lump in her throat as she still felt Liam's presence so she added. "I am tired, I am going to bed now."

"…Okay, Mom" Liam sighed as he walked out of the room not bothering to close the door, expecting her to just pass out again like always. That's when he saw the sight of Ken coming out of the bathroom fixing his wristwatch, Liam bit the inside of his tongue as he took in his appearance.

Gone were the days when his brother looked healthy and well put together. Now he was simply a teen that is overworked and in desperate need of sleep. He has bags under his eyes that become larger and larger each day, and he is a little bit underweight thanks to giving up his share to go back to work. He looked like he might drop dead on his feet at any time, occasionally he was left-hand twitch with the desire to rub his eyes or clutch his jaw close to prevent himself from yawning.

"Have Mom been crying again?" Ken asked Liam curiously as he glance over towards the room that their Mom was currently residing in.

"Caught her before she got too deep in her thoughts," Liam answered before biting the bottom of his lip as he remembered the haunted defeated look that his Mom gained when she started getting lost in her thoughts. 'This is not fair, why had this happen to us?'

He hates his father for doing this to them, he hates his Mom for being too weak-minded to be able to do anything about it, and most of all he hates himself for being too dumb to get a proper job like his brother. 'The only thing that I am good for is doing street fights.'

A sharp pain came to Liam's nose as it has been pinched by his annoyed brother.

"Quit it, what's that for?!" Liam complained after he slapped his hand away to rub his stinging nose.

"Stop biting yourself to the point of bleeding, idiot," Ken scolded as he used the black part of his uniform to go and wipe the blood off Liam's lip. "I hate seeing you do that, didn't I tell you that?"

'I was bleeding?' Liam thought as he felt his bottom lip and felt a stinging sensation from it. "I am sorry."

"What's bothering you this time?" Ken asked frowning, there is no way that he can go and sell his vacuums to his victims when his twin is this distressed. Liam's face fell as he rubbed his arm nervously, not sure if his older brother wants to really hear what he have to say but when he saw how calm Ken was encouraged him to say what was weighing down on him.

"I am tired of living like this," Liam confessed as he begin to tear up against his will. "It's not fair how we have to live in this tiny apartment and try to pretend that everything is okay."

"How many times do I have to tell you that everything will be alright?" Ken responded as he shake his head. "This is simply just a bump in the road soon we will have stable living again and this time we will be truly happy."

"And how many times do I have to tell you that is a lie?" Liam shot back as the hatred that he was holding in finally flowed out. He did not bother to wipe away his tears as begin to shout at Ken. "None of this is okay!! You're working yourself to death, Mom is drowning in alcohol and Daisuke started to get into fights and keep on running away to god knows where!! I-I just want things to go back to the way it was."

Ken was speechless at Liam's rant, he knew that this was getting to Daisuke so he had been trying to make sure that he would get his space or hang out at one of his friends' houses to help escape the reality that they were in. In the end, he forgot that his kind childish brother was also horribly affected by it. 'It's so easy to forget that he is hurting when he has that same stupid smile on his face.'

"I'm sorry." Ken apologized as he brought his brother into a hug and pat his back, allowing Liam to cry freely. Doing so allow Ken to start crying too as the emotion that he was holding back for so long finally came free. Little did they know, Jasmine was listening to their conversation.

'There nothing that you should be sorry for,' Jasmine thought as she closed her eyes, feeling agony at hearing her kids crying. 'It is all my fault, I don't know how to do anything but be a housewife, allowing myself to trade my independence for a man who never truly cares about anything but profit.'

The only thing she wants to do is leave the room and give those two a hug and apologize for not living up to the standards that she set for herself. But she did not do it, her legs were weak and fear of their disappointed faces got her rooted to her spot.

'Come on, Jaz. Just go over there and apologized.' Jasmine tried to encourage herself yet in the end she was scared and did not want to face it. So with guilt in her heart, she simply grabbed the wine bottle that she had hidden in the pile of dirty clothes in the corner and begin to drink her sorrow.

Knock! …. Knock! …. Knock!

The loud banging at the front door cause her to sit up quickly startled, only to regret it when a sharp pain shot through her brain from the sudden movement. Hissing she nurse her temple as she glared at the offended door with hatred.

"I'M COMING ALRIGHT!! SO STOP KNOCKING ALREADY!!" Jasmine shouted as she stumbled towards the door holding back the urge to barf.

"WHAT!?" Jasmine snapped as she slammed the door open, she become confused when she saw two police officers standing there. Unamused and tired, she lead against the door frame and crossed her arms. "What do you want?"

Seeing the badly dressed woman with nappy hair, bloodshot eyes, and reeking of alcohol cause the two police officers to grimace before looking at each other. Seeing them communicating with each other telepathically made Jasmine even more impatient as she tapped her foot waiting for either one of them to say something. Finally, the fatter one of the two begins to talk.

"Excused me, Ms. but do you know two teens?" The officer asked as he handed her two school IDs that were dirty. Her stomach flip flop as she saw the pictures of her two boys.

"Why do have my children's IDs? What's going on?" Jasmine asked as she looked at them with fear and desperation. 'Are they okay? What about Daisuke? God he is going to be so sad.'

"I am sorry to tell you, ma'am but your children including the young boy ended up in a car crash that took all three of their lives." He told the woman somberly, feeling his heart break in two as he watched her face distort into confusion, horror, then despair as she found understanding the horrifying reality.

"Leave…GO TO X, YOU LYING X!!" Jasmine yelled as she slammed the door in their faces, the police officers did what she asked. Ignoring the animalistic scream of despair that was let out inside the apartment.

"I am sorry, I am so sorry. I am the worse." Jasmine chanted to herself as she curled up on the ground as she rocks back and forth on the floor. She dug her fingernails into her arms as she cried, there were so many things that she wanted to do with them, so many things that she wanted to say. "I want another chance, PLEASE GIVE ME BACK MY BABIES!!"