The Zenith System

Chapter 010

It is a hot day as Zack lies on his bed and stares at the ceiling, doing and thinking nothing. Suddenly, his phone buzzes. He automatically picks it up, thinking that it’s Mason, and starts the call.

“Mason?”

“Brother? Zack?” she starts, her voice trembling. It is his sister, Trina.

“Hi, Trina, how are you?” he asks.

“Zack, thank god! I finally reached you!”

He scratches his head. For the past few days, he is not answering any calls from them. He knows what they want — more money. And it is something he doesn’t have. He doesn’t even know how to survive the following weeks. He tried to look for work, but none were asking him to come for an interview.

“Zack, are you still there?” she asks.

“Yes, I am still here.”

“My tuition is due, and if it’s unpaid, I won’t be able to graduate.”

His gaze sweeps across his tiny room. What can he even do? He can’t even fend for himself.

“The fees are due next week, Zack,” she continues, her voice filled with desperation. “If I don’t pay, I can’t take my final exams.”

“Trina, I’m trying, but it’s just that...” he responds, his voice a strained whisper. “... things are tight right now.”

Suddenly, his sister bursts into tears, her sobs echoing through the phone. Zack’s heart clenches at the sound and he instinctively tightens his grip on his phone.

“Please, Zack,” she begs again between hiccups. “I don’t know who else to ask.”

Celeste’s name comes up in his head, but he ignores it. She is on vacation and he won’t lower himself to ask for her help… again. What’s lower than being her servant, anyway?

“Trina, calm down,” he says. Hearing his sister cry is unbearable.

“Can’t you ask Sis Celeste for help?” His other sister, Janice, chimes in. “She always finds a way.”

His heart sinks further, feeling his incompetence more and more. “Celeste’s not here. She’s gone on a work vacation. So, it’s just me.”

“Oh, figures. That’s why stupid Trina is asking for help from our useless brother.”

“Janice!” Trina scolds. “You can’t say that!”

“Why not? It’s true! He’s been useless and only uses Celeste as his crutch! I don’t know how he can live with himself!”

Zack grits his teeth at his sister’s harsh words. She always had a sharp tongue and never hesitates to use it against him.

“Stop, Janice!”

“Why?! You are even calling him because you don’t want to end up just like him! If he’s going to leave us, he should have been more useful to us!”

Zack understands her resentment. He knew it was born from years of looking up to a brother who promised them stars but delivered only dust.

“Janice!”

“He’s just waiting for some alms! Hoping for some miracle to change his life! But guess what?! It will never happen! He will stay as a loser and will be—”

Trina mutes the call and Zack feels the ache of his inadequacy all the more. His sister’s words are like a punch in the gut. Janice is not wrong, though. He is a college dropout, and is working a dead-end job — which he also lost now.

When Trina comes back, Janice is no longer in the background.

“Sorry about Janice. She doesn’t mean it. She’s just angry about something.”

“It’s fine,” he says, his throat constricting. “And Trina...” he adds, his voice low. “You don’t have to worry. I will figure something out, okay?” he assures her.

However, the assurance is much more for himself rather than to her. He can’t let her down. He can’t be the reason why they stumble. He longed to be the protector and the provider. Yet the harsh reality is that… his pockets are as empty as the promises he is making.

“Really? Thank you!” his sister exclaims, her voice filling up with hope.

“Yes, yes. I will figure something out. Just give me some time,” he says, sounding confident, even if he has no idea how he will get the money.

“Okay, thank you so much, Zack!” Trina beams through the phone. “Talk to you later!”

Trina ends the call and he heaves a deep breath. Sweat beads on his forehead. The weight of his sister’s needs is pressing him down like some fallen shelves from Quickfix.

He sighs and glances around his tiny room again. He feels suffocated. How is he going to come up with over a thousand dollars in just one week?

“But I can’t let them down,” he whispers to himself. “They’re counting on me to pull them out of poverty.”

Zack can hear his sisters’ voices echoing in his head — each plea a lash against his need to provide.

“Tomorrow,” he breathes. “Tomorrow, I’ll find a way.”

He closes his eyes. He no longer has Mason’s emotional support and Celeste’s financial backing. Now, he feels all the more helpless. He feels as if he is about to fall into a dark abyss very soon.