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Overview
A humble, happy, and unsuspecting family is divided by an immoral and greed-driven woman who possesses a ruthless ability to invoke vile and distasteful acts of cruelty that will shake the foundation of what life is constructed upon. A family is separated by the deeds of her despicable and unforgiving brutality. A father must muster the courage, faith, and strength to release his family from the relentless and evil grasp of her sinister actions. His uncompromising search for help will reveal a societal and otherworldly evil that is all too common-an evil that exists within the confines of his everyday life, but suppressed by the disbelief of a power greater than himself. A husband's love and resilience will be tested as he battles for the life of himself and his family. His obstinate belief in the strength of family shall hopefully prove to be victorious over an unquestionable evil.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781960684653 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Bobby Karim |
| Publication date: | 06/18/2023 |
| Pages: | 126 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.44(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
The Christmas season had come along in full swing. Kevin, Linda, Anna and I were looking forward to spending our first Christmas at our new home, our first house. It was a beautiful two-family brick house that sat on a peaceful and quiet street in a family friendly neighborhood. An elegant white fence separated the concrete sidewalk that created a path to our layered front step. A bay window at the front allowed ample sunlight in. During the evenings, we sipped on homemade hot chocolate within the confines of a very large inner seating area.
There were many reasons why we considered this Christmas season one of the best yet. Linda was going to celebrate her first birthday in the first week of the New Year and Anna and I had sacrificed a lot the past few months to make owning our new home a reality. I had worked two jobs and Anna completed many hours of overtime to save a little extra. Everything that had led up to this time of year had gone very well for us. It was indeed a time for celebrating.
Linda was eleven months old; she was the most beautiful, adorable baby girl I had ever seen. Her ebony black hair, her large brown eyes, and her naturally tan complexion made her beauty so much more complimenting. She was full of energy, full of life, and full of a dreamful future of inspiration that enabled the strength within me. After she was born, there was a feeling of completion within me. I had felt that our little family was completing itself; she had brought closure to all the wants and needs that I could only have dreamed of.
Kevin was two years old and had always been the pride and joy of the family with his jet-black hair, round face, and chubby cheeks. Most noticeably was his general built, he was only two but looked like four. He was chubby for his age which made him a target by the entire family for mischief. He was very fun loving, wickedly playful, and enjoyed every moment of his so very short existence thus far. Kevin and I were ultimately close, we were attached to the hip. Everywhere I went he was right there with his sister by his side. They were very close and even though Linda was filled with innocence and the advantage of youthful ignorance, she was evidently but subconsciously jealous of him. She followed him everywhere because she knew he was her protector, her big brother.
Anna, my wife, was very attractive, weighed about one hundred and thirty pounds, and was lightly complexioned. She possessed a great sense of humor, something that made me fall in love with her instantaneously. She was very family oriented, loved entertaining visitors, and going out and having quality family time together. Anna was an excellent cook, there wasn't anything you could have thought of, or felt like eating, that she did not have a recipe for. She was born in Guyana and migrated to New York at the tender age of fourteen. She attended school and also worked to assist her family with their various needs after arriving in New York.
As for me, I was twenty-eight years old, full of life, energy, and enthusiasm. I was born in the beautiful island of Trinidad, the twin island of Tobago, and migrated to New York in the winter of nineteen-ninety. I worked in the furniture industry then, before I went into transportation. Anna and I recently got married and we had now started a wonderful family. We had plans, goals, and objectives that we were working towards. Every day brought about a new sense of achievement and perspective. I enjoyed the familial moments we spent together. I enjoyed cooking, entertaining guests, and being out at the various destinations we visited as a family. We were simple people making an attempt to live free, live happily, and provide for our children. Nothing was of more importance to both Anna and I. We knew we were on our way to achieving the typical "American Dream." There was no self-doubt that existed since we had planned our lives carefully from the moment we exchanged our vows and had visions of our future. Anna and I had seemed destined to meet each other and be together. I fell in love with her the second I had first seen her. The complete aura of her presence sent sparks throughout my entire system and I immediately fell in love with her.
Although Anna and I were of different countries, we were of the same Indian background. Guyana and Trinidad are both very diversified in their cultures and religions. The population in both countries consists largely of Christians, Hindus, and Muslims. We were all familiar with each other's religion due to the diversity that laid within the small but knitted communities. Due to this heterogeneity, cultures and religions were equally educated and practiced amongst the people. Within the immediate families, we consisted largely of Muslims and Hindus but we were all very educated with that of the Christian religion as well. This multiplicity allowed for many inter-religion relationships and cultural exchanges of likes and dislikes within society. There were exchanges of foods, ethnic beliefs, and understandings that meshed the bonds created from a domestic togetherness.
Anna and I came to a decision that we weren't going to keep any family gathering on Christmas day; however, we were going to celebrate Linda's first birthday with much grandeur, being that it was just a couple of weeks after Christmas. We were planning every day in the last two weeks of December and the beginning of the New Year. We needed to get special foods for the various people we invited. One of my sisters followed the Hindu religion due to marrying into a Hindu family and the other a Muslim due to marrying into a Muslim family. They all had certain foods that were taboo so Anna and I promised that we would make everything perfect. We shopped for decorations of mutual likes for everyone and the specificity of each individual that was invited. It was important that all who were invited would be comfortable and had a theme of their own beliefs represented at the party. Everyone was given invitations; my mother, brother, both my sisters, and their husbands. Anna's mom, dad, and her two brothers were living in the basement apartment of our house, yet out of formality, they were officially given invitations as well. Anna and I also invited a few friends from our respective jobs to participate in a gathering for the ages.
The day had finally arrived, the 6th of January, 2001. It was Linda's birthday. I had taken the day off from work and gotten up very early that morning along with Anna. There were lots of preparations to be made. It was such an exciting day. The cleaning, the decorations, the cooking; everything was being tended to without any disruptions. On this gorgeous day, everything automatically fell right into place. All chores were so harmlessly and efficiently being taken care of. I remember thinking, "This day is definitely meant to be."
Later that afternoon, the preparations were completed. The living room was entirely decorated with balloons, streamers, and various colorful garlands. The stacked table was laid with food and an assortment of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The multicolored stenciled art that made the cream walls their background brought about a jubilant and festive mood. Anna, Linda, Kevin, and I, David, were already bathed and dressed and laid in wait for our expected guests. They were sporadic in showing up but it was about seven o' clock that evening when everyone finally did. We were all having a great time; there were lots of food and drinks, a great musical ensemble, dancing, and, most importantly, the enjoyment of a family gathering celebrating the birthday of our much-beloved daughter.
Everyone seemed to be having a great time and enjoying themselves. I'd take little glances across the packed room, homing in on each individual at two or three-second intervals. My eyes laid to rest on Anna's mother, Lucy. She stood next to the glass china in the dining room in a floral-patterned dress that provided a beauty far beyond the backdrop of her very dark and wrinkled skin. Her hair glittered from the abundance of white and her breasts hung below her abdominal line, exaggerated by the seams of the dress she wore. Her sunken eyes provided no assistance to her cold, sinister, and unforgiving ogle as her head turned towards Anna with a befuddled look. She didn't appear to be very happy. She'd stare at all in attendance with a sign of disgust and envy written on her face. I didn't make anything of it at the time because she was in her sixties, very old fashioned, and wasn't very fond of parties and such.
Anna was her daughter and she cared deeply for her. They did everything together. I got concerned at times due to how close they were. I worried that if anything were to ever happen to Lucy, Anna would become very emotionally depressed. Anna had a profound love for her and they seemed inseparable. My mother and sister had always warned, and made fun, that I should never let an in-law move into the same house where I lived but I didn't want to disrupt the relationship Anna shared with her mother. They were never too fond of Lucy and only pretended to have respected and cared for her for mine and Anna's sake. They thought she was pretentious so they never forged a more meaningful relationship with her. They had always believed that she was not Anna's biological mother. Lucy's and Anna's traits did not match. There were many distinguishing contrasts to their personalities, their physical features, and their general demeanor.
About half-past eight I saw her walk over to Anna and slyly say something to her. I was across the room and did not hear what was being communicated, especially with the music being so loud. She appeared to be very short on words but straight to the point. Anna did not seem happy but nodded her head in approval. Lucy then proceeded toward the kitchen at the rear of the house where there was an entrance to the basement apartment where they lived. She slammed the door shut and was on her way. The guests did not appear distracted due to the music but I saw her clearly from where I stood.
The basement apartment in which they stayed was converted from empty space into an operational two-bedroom, full kitchen and bath apartment. Anna and I had several opinionated conversations about what should have been done about the extra space the basement provided. I had wanted to use it for storage but Anna thought that it would help if we converted the space into an apartment. She thought we could have rented it out to generate a little extra income to assist with the mortgage payments. I finally agreed with her and we completed the renovations in short order. Around that time, Lucy, Richard, and Daniel were in the process of looking for an apartment and it was hesitantly decided by Anna and I that we would rent it to them. Lucy had pitched to us that she would assist with the kids, being that she would be so close by. That idea had appealed to Anna and I so we decided to rent the apartment at a discounted rate to them, rather than to strangers.
The night of the party moved along enjoyably slow and around midnight or so, our very welcomed guests began to depart to their homes. It was about two a.m. when the remaining guests had decided to leave.
Kevin and Linda were allowed to stay up a little later than usual so I took them up the stairs, gave them a quick bath, and took them to their respective rooms. I then returned downstairs to help Anna get the place cleaned up. I knew that she would not have waited until morning. She was conscientious of keeping the place tidy and would have wanted it done right away so she'd have a peaceful night's rest. While in the kitchen tending to the dishes, I asked her what her mother had said to her and why she had left the party so early. Anna responded by saying that her mother wasn't feeling that great and wanted to rest a little early. I didn't make anything of it because she was elderly and I totally understood. We then finished up the cleaning and turned in for the night. As I laid in bed, I thanked God for making everything work out so well and thanked Him all so much for having blessed me with all the happiness He had showered upon my family and I.
Little did I know, that night would be the last night we were going to have so much fun in months and months to follow. Little did I know, that for months to come, they would be filled with pain, grief, and so much sorrow. How was I to know that such a monster of a storm was about to take hold of my family? To this day, I am yet to recover from what took place in the months following Linda's first birthday. The light which had shone upon my family was about to lose its glow and allow the darkness to slowly crawl in.
CHAPTER 2Anna and her family were from the country of Guyana. They were traditional and believed in the old ways. Family traditions and customs were held in high regard there. They believed in adopting their culture into the modern world hoping that it would bring about a togetherness which was sometimes lacking in our foreign society.
In the few days that followed the party, Anna's mom, Lucy, decided to make a sudden trip to Guyana. She asked Anna to accompany her and she also wanted to take the kids along. In the second week of January, Anna came to me to seek my approval to go along on the trip.
Anna and I were very close. All the years we spent together, we had learned how to get along, not only as husband and wife, but also as best friends. Because of this reason, there were many people that respected us. The love and friendship that we shared were admired by all. It's very hard to believe, but we never fought; problems always seemed to have worked themselves out. Friends and family would tell us they've never seen a relationship that was more meant to be than ours. I always told my friends that I could have left Anna by herself on an island of men and I knew nothing would happen. There was a special trust I had developed for her due to her background and her successful and worthy nature. It was a relationship borne in heaven and one that was etched in the ideology of man and wife. Due to her family's traditions, they were having her marriage arranged to someone else, someone the family had also known and was close to. Anna chose love marriage over an arranged one; she chose me. She went against family traditions and opted for love, our love. Everyone knew that the existence of our relationship was not one of normality but one of rarity and longevity and it was forged from the God of love. Anna had always promised that she would never marry someone who smoked, who drank, and she never would have gone against her parent's wishes. She went against all her family and against her own beliefs because she fell in love. I, fortunately, was the one she fell in love with. I smoked, occasionally drank, and did not adhere to any one particular religion, yet she fell in love with me. We had met at a furniture store where I worked and through circumstances of chance, I was the one who delivered the furniture she had purchased. That's where our budding relationship had begun its nurture and bloom. I spent hours at her house assembling the various pieces of an entertainment center. Although her family being present, I was able to get in a couple of words here and there. By the time we had finished assembling everything, I had built up the courage to ask her out, but she referred me to her father, Richard. She said in their family, I had to ask her parents. Richard, although being in his sixties, was very built and appeared tough. There was a certain swagger to him that created a fear from his demeanor and his huge upper body. He had worked very hard in Guyana and had gained respect from his peers and family. Anna wouldn't have gone out with me if the permission wasn't sought for and granted. I built up the courage and finally asked her father and he said that it was fine. From that day onward, we never looked back; I had become well-liked by Richard, Lucy, and Anna's entire family. There were many times spent with her family at the park, at the beach, and at various family gatherings. After all, we had gotten engaged in the backyard of their family's home with much pomp and great attendance from both families and friends.
I didn't anticipate any issues with her and the kids accompanying her mother, so it was agreed that they'd go. Anna and her mother made all the necessary arrangements for their trip and they were scheduled to depart out of John F. Kennedy International Airport in approximately two weeks, on January 20th. I was an illegal immigrant that migrated from Trinidad and Tobago and lived in New York since the time I arrived in 1990. After marrying, Anna had submitted the necessary paperwork so I can become naturalized. My green card and essential travel documents weren't finalized yet, so I was unable to accompany them even though I wanted to. At the time, we were a little strapped for cash and I would have probably stayed back anyway, to avoid the costly trip. In the following two weeks, Anna spent a lot of time with her mother, they were out a lot and even when home, she'd be in the basement apartment. I knew that preparations needed to be made; shopping, planning, and all the arrangements for their visit to Guyana.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Weeping Walls"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Bobby Karim.
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