It's been five years

“I don’t think it's impossible.”

“Alright then.” He heaved a sigh of relief.

“How’s it going? Any traces of Anna yet?” Jackson asked with a tiny bit of hope in his voice this time.

“No, nothing. I will be leaving Jersey in a few days, and I don’t even know where to search anymore.” Jacob’s voice was strained even though he had tried to keep the emotions in check, and his twin brother felt it through the call.

“Come back home then. Rhoda and Christain also came back a few days ago, you should come back home too.”

“I can’t just give up. It's been 5 years.”

“And anything could have happened. Come home and let's think about our next step, okay?” Jackson urged. He was also feeling very lonely and heartbroken, but he didn’t want his twin brother to grieve on his own.

“I will think about it,” Jacob replied before he abruptly hung up. Feeling empty and desolate, he stared at the Ice cream store for a while before he decided that would prefer booze.

A few months later, Marcelo started his first year in school, and he gradually became the golden child in his class because of his gorgeousness and his extremely high IQ. He was very good at arithmetics and he was so cheerful and eager to teach any of his classmates that wanted to learn.

In a few weeks, he had earned the heart of almost all the teachers with his intelligence but his honest way of speaking up about his thoughts always landed him in trouble.

“My mother is the best. Yours cannot even cook. You buy food every time.” Marcelo said to a taller kid, who had said he didn’t have a daddy.

The kid, Brian pouted his small lips and pushed Marcelo to the floor. “You are smelling! You smell of garbage every time, that's why you only have a mommy. What a mommy boy” He shouted at Marcelo as the teacher in charge started running towards them.

Before she could get to them, Marcelo already helped himself up and stepped on Brian’s foot with all his . “Do not talk to my mother that way!” He was about to hit him in the face when the teacher held his hand and scowled at him.

She couldn’t believe that what she had thought was just a brawl between two kids could get to this point. Since Marcelo was a regular kid, she told him to apologize to Brian immediately.

“No, he took my book and called me a fatherless child.” Marcelo pointed to his book, which was still in Brian’s hands.

Even though he didn’t know what a fatherless child means, he could tell that Brian was insulting him because he didn’t have a father.

The teacher felt confused and stunned, she couldn’t tell where Brian had heard those words from, but she couldn’t reprimand him as he was the son of the school’s chairman.

Unsure of what to do, she took the kids to the headmaster’s office and Anna was invited to the school.

“Hello, sir- Marcey, what's wrong?” Her heart almost leaped out of her chest when she entered the headmaster’s office and saw a bruise on her son’s arm.

“Marcelo had a brawl with another kid. He is currently in the clinic. His feet were broken after Marcelo stepped on him.” The Headmaster replied in a serious tone as if he hadn’t just told the teacher to take Brian to the school clinic, so he could make sure that nothing was wrong with him after giving him candy.

Anna, who knew that her son would never fight with anyone without reason, asked Marcelo what had happened but the little boy refused to talk.

“We don’t accept bullies in our school, Miss Annabella. After this, if any-

“My son is not a bully. I won’t accept such a tag on my child. We will be leaving.” Anna said sternly as her eyes met Marcelo’s bruised arm again. She couldn’t believe that they hadn’t even attempted to treat the bruise.

Without saying any other word to the headmaster, she picked up her son and left the school. Anna didn’t even bother to take any of his things, not his backpack or even his books.

She couldn’t wait a minute more in the school after the headmaster called Marcelo a bully.

On their way home, Marcelo was holding back his tears because his mother hadn’t said a word to him ever since they left the school.

“Mommy?” He called out faintly but Anna was lost in thought as she couldn’t even tell what had actually happened to cause the brawl. She blamed herself for not waiting long enough to ask the headmaster.

“Mommy, are you mad at me?” Marcelo couldn’t bring himself to call Anna again until they arrived at their home.

“No, Marcey baby, but you need to tell me everything that happened in the school, okay?” Anna knelt at her son’s height as she spoke to him.

Marcelo nodded and started relaying everything that had happened to Anna.

“Still, you shouldn't have stepped on him. When people hurt you, you need to report them, not hurt them back, okay?”

Marcelo pouted his lips and didn’t reply for a while. He didn’t agree with his mother since it was Brian that bullied him first but when he saw Anna’s stern look, he gradually nodded.

“Okay, mommy.”

Anna sighed heavily after Marcelo’s words, she felt heavy-hearted because until now, she had no idea how much Marcelo hated the status of being fatherless. She had thought that she was enough for him.

Attempting to cheer him up, she decided to take him to an amusement park after attending to the bruise on his arm.

On their way to the amusement park, Anna told Marcelo about London, how she had left her home country with him in her stomach, and every other thing that could cheer him up.

“Mommy, is daddy in London too?” Marcelo asked all of a sudden, stunning Anna into utmost silence.