"It sure is," I unscrewed the lip and tipped out the entire thing, watching with a satisfied smile as coins cascaded out like a molten waterfall of pure gold.
"Did you steal this?" My father asked in a hushed tone of voice.
"Of course not." I replied with a frown.
"Then where on earth did you get all this gold from Earl?" He asked with furrowed eyebrows.
I contemplated telling him the truth but one look from my mothers suspicious gaze quickly banished that thought away.
"I cleaned," I told them.
"For who?" Father asked acidly with his arms crossed.
"The Vardlyn family," I replied. "I'd go every morning at sunrise and I would return before you rose from your sleeps."
"Is that so?" Father asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes," I drawled with a irritated roll of my eyes.
"I bet she's lying," Silvia muttered from the end of the table and I glared at her silently.
"Are you telling the truth Earl?" Mother asked with a sigh.
"I am, I did this for months, for us, aren't you pleased?" I glanced at my parents in confusion.
"We are, we are," my father stood from his chair and placed his hands in my shoulders. "We just want to make sure you didn't do anything irrational, we know how you get, especially with those friends of yours."
"Father, this has nothing to do with Danny, Hades or Ciara, I swear."
"Well if your telling the truth-,"
"I am! I cleaned for the Vardlyn family, you know how rich they are, disgustingly so and I did my work well, so they paid me well."
"As long as this wasn't the influence of those boys or that girl." My father began.
"Father, please, they are my freinds."
I looked down at the sound of Coral and Arez inaudible murmurs as they played with the coins sprawled over the table and smiled at the thought of filling their stomachs fully for the first time in months.
"You don't have to give us your money Earl." My mother said, staring at the gold with watery eyes.
"Nonsense mother," I snapped, "I can't live another day with father looking the way he is, we barely have enough to eat, I did this you mama."
My mother wiped her wet cheeks and held out her arms for me.
"There, there now Zamia." My father patted her back as I hugged her tightly. "Didn't I tell you what a wonderful daughter I'd give you?"
"She got it from me you fool," my mother replied humorously with a shaky breath. She pulled away from my embrace and placed her hands on my cheeks, cradling my face lovingly. "Thank you darling."
I dried her cheeks and smiled, "let's count this gold mama."
———————————————
"Twenty two!" Coral squeaked excitedly.
"No, I said two thousand and two," I dropped the last coin back into the jar and handed to my father who left to put it safely in his room.
"That will last us the rest of this year if we spend it wisely plus fathers wage of course," My mother leaned back in her chair and fluttered her eyes close contently.
"To think we were worrying about not having enough money just earlier." My father said as he returned into the room. "I am very proud of you Earl."
"Couldn't let the kids starve." I told him with a smile.
"Better than any son I could've asked for," he muttered darkly as he picked up his fork.
"Don't start now Adelio," my mother warned him.
"You think Levine would've done anything like this for us? You think that boy would come home with a pot full of gold to fill our stomachs?" I looked down at my plate as my fathers voice began to rise dangerously.
"That's enough, Levine will come back to his senses and return home soon."
My father snorted at my mothers words but there was no smile in his face, he shook his head and he shovelled his meal into his mouth.
"You think I'd let him in?" He muttered.
"Adelio," My mother began.
"You think I'd let that failure back into my home," My father leaned over the table, teeth almost bared as spat his words out acidly. "If so, your terribly, terribly, mistaken."
"He's our son."
"He is nothing," fathers yelled suddenly and I jumped in surprise, almost knocking over my glass of water.
"Papa your scaring them," I murmured, nodding at my little siblings faces as they stared at at their father in shock and fear.
"I'm not scared," Silvia said with a scoff and I glared at her.
"I wasn't talking about you? Trust me, no one cares if you're even slightly scared." I snapped back.
"Stop acting like even care about the babies," Silvia hissed, "you should've just taken you stupid money and shoved it up your-,"
"My what? Go on, say it, you spineless coward, you sound like a illiterate fool, I'd stop speaking if I was you."
"Oh please, you think I'd take anything you say seriously? You're a joke, go back to scrubbing the floors of the Elites, that all you're fit for anyway."
"Then I don't expect you to use a single penny of the money I've brought you ungrateful swine," I spat at her.
"Trust me, I won't, you think I need your gold? I could get my own any day, stop acting like you're the only one that can make any money."
"This is not the time girls-," mother began but I brushed her off as I narrowed my eyes at the smug look of Silvias face.
"That's a lot of talk coming from a girl who can't even stay on a job for more than a month, where do you think you could ever get money from if you can't even do that?"
"The same place your dirty friends get them from," she spat. "They're all slags, the lot of them, especially that Ciara girl."
I lunged over the table, grabbing a handful of Silvias almost white hair. She screamed in pain and clawed at my grasp but I refuse to let go.
"Say one more thing about my friends and I'll have your damn throat, you seriously think that just because you're related to me I won't have your head, you're pathetic."
"Earl stop!" Mother shrieked and I let go. "I don't know what's wrong with you both but you need to stop, you aren't children and I expected better from my eldests."
Silvia glared at mother for a few seconds before storming out the room without a word.
"I'm going to bed." Father muttered, screeching the chair legs against the concrete floor as he stood from his seat. "Wake me in the morning Zamia."
"Adelio," mother called and my father turned around tiredly.
"Send the kids to bed Earl." She hissed at me before getting up from the table and walking over to my father. I watched as she whispered something to him before leading him out the room.
"Alright, time for bed lads." I exclaimed after a moment.
"I'm a lady," Coral stated and she licked the chocolate of her fingers.
"Barley," I replied, " and you sure don't look like it."
"That's because I'm in disguise silly." She drawled and I held up my hands.
"Okay," I told her and began to gather the plates of the table.
"Arez could you give me hand buddy," I asked and smiled when he leapt of his seat and began gathering up the cups.
"Good boy," I told him.
"He's not a dog Earl," Coral said.
"Coral shut up," I said sighed.
"Why," She wined.
"Because your annoying as-," I bit my lip before I could finish my sentence and I turned to her with a forced grin.
"Listen, why don't you go run the bath?" I asked her, "Arez and I will finish with the washing up."
"Don't want to," she muttered.
"Oh but you will," I snapped, losing my patience, "go."
I stared at her till she slipped out her chair and left before glancing at the clock on the wall. It was almost time.