"Rise and shine," are the words Mary speaks every morning as she awakens Jasmine from her bed. Jasmine's peachy skin glows from the morning sun as she stretches and yawns while saying, "good morning Mother."
And her mother replies, "good morning Jasmine."
Although the greeting is nice and pleasant between the two; they have been taking one day at a time for the last year and a half, due to unfortunate circumstances bestowed upon them.
Jasmine stares out the window of her bedroom window looking at the bright sun as it slowly rises between the two tall buildings in Harlem. She says a prayer every morning and thanks God for his mercy and grace but at the end of her prayer she ask why? "Why Lord have you brought my family to such shame and disgrace? I once looked out a window of a mansion surrounded by beautiful landscape with hedges six feet tall against the front walls of our beautiful home. With willow, apple, orange, and cherry trees planted throughout our one-acre lawn."
Jasmine waits for the Lord to answer her as she has been waiting on an answer for the last year and a half. An answer that she feels she can understand. But in the meantime all she can do is patiently wait for things to get better. Jasmine lives in a cramped three bedroom apartment with her family, they share one small restroom. The apartment has a tiny kitchen were meals are prepared. "It's a far cry from the mansion with eight restrooms, a chef's kitchen, and staff to wait on your every call."
This was a big change from a year and a half ago. Jasmine thinks she is having a bad dream and someone will pinch her, she will awaken, and the nightmare will all be over. But Jasmine had awakened many mornings to that rising sun showing through her bedroom window so she knew it was real.
Jasmine knew the routine every morning. Her mother had divided restroom time to fifteen minutes each person. So everyone had equal time to take care of their personal business. The family was lucky to get a three bedroom apartment with a restroom inside the apartment instead of a restroom down the hall which is shared by twelve other families. They were lucky to get an apartment at all with three bedrooms were everyone could have their own room to sleep. They almost had to take an apartment with two bedrooms; and her fifteen-year-old brother James would have to sleep on the couch. Lucky them the Super was able to lease them the last apartment in the entire building. Although it is not much and a far cry from were they came from, it is still home.
Jasmine quickly rushes into the restroom to use her fifteen minutes wisely. The family fifteen-minute curfew was not the norm; back at the mansion, everyone had his or her own restroom. The first thing Jasmine does is wash her face and then she brushes her teeth. While brushing her teeth she turns on the shower to let the water warm; so when she's through brushing her teeth she can quickly jump in the shower. She accomplishes every thing in fifteen minutes so her brother James can use his restroom time before breakfast.
Breakfast was not as fancy like when they lived in the mansion. Each morning the family would have pouched eggs, strawberry marmalade on French bagels with freshly home squeezed orange juice and hot steaming imported coffee. But they were still able to fill their stomachs with a healthy meal. Money had gotten low and Robert still had not found work. Life was being unfair to him. Forced out as President of one of the most prestigious banks in Connecticut he lost his momentum and was concerned about his reputation. Embarrassed and hurt Robert knew people would think of him as an embezzler or an accused embezzler.
Jasmine and James were ready to start their day. James had taken off with his best friend Carl; their high school starts at 7:30 a.m. so they try to get an early start. Jasmine had really grown close to a girl named Sharon who lives in her building and is in all of her classes at school. It's been extremely hard for Jasmine to make friends because she has very little in common with the new kids she now knows. She is familiar with ballet, tap, piano lessons and playing the violin, which is her favorite thing to do. For fun the kids in her building play hopscotch and jump rope; which is OK but Jasmine requires so much more. The only thing that Jasmine has in common with Sharon is the library because both girls love to read.
The library became their friend, they would check out the same book to see who could finish it the quickest. Sharon would always finish before Jasmine. The girls love the excitement of competing with one other. Jasmine thought it would help build character in Sharon; and she hoped that competing with her would show Sharon that she could do anything, if she put her mind to it.
The two girls rode the bus together each morning. This transition was hard for Jasmine because she was not familiar with riding the bus. She was driven to and from school everyday. Now she rides the bus? This was overwhelming for her and depressing. With all that had happen to the Hillmans they knew they had to stay strong and believe things would get better. Everyone worked through their own personal demons, they refused to be defeated by the enemy, he could not win.
Jasmine was learning to adjust to a less privileged life and it had not been easy. Sharon had taught her to adjust to life in the ghetto as she knew it. The school bus stops in front of Jasmine's apartments to pick up the kids going to school every morning. Shouts and screams rang out from the bus windows while on the way to school. Jasmine and Sharon sit quietly on the bus while others yell and scream with laughter and play. The bus driver stopped trying to restore order on her bus years ago. "Talking to the kids on the bus is like talking to a two month old baby, but at least you get a smile from the baby." Jasmine and Sharon gently spoke underneath all the loud conversation on the bus.
Both girls were twelve and in the 7th grade. Never attending public school before things were difficult for Jasmine. The social level was much more intense and frightening for her. The scenery was quite different from what she knew; the young men walked around with their pants sagging and bandannas tied around their heads. This was not appropriate attire at her old school. At her old school, everyone presented himself or herself nice and neat and there was never a question about dress code. Jasmine tried not to focus on what the others kids wore to school; it was hard enough for her dressing down her wardrobe to get less attention. Although the school she attends uniforms are required, some students still manage to dress as they pleased. The less attention on Jasmine the better it is for her. Even though she had never experienced life, as she now knows it, she was a smart girl and knew what she had to do to survive in the ghetto. Her intuition and quick thinking helped her to survive at school.
Jasmine was a friendly and nice girl who made friends easy; she was one of the most popular girls in school. The boys could not help but notice her beauty so she could not avoid getting boy attention. Jasmine did not want the popular title at her new school. She only wants to fit with rest of the kids.
Jasmine loved school and she was a straight A student but over the last year her grades had fallen to C's and D's, due to stress from the dramatic change economically. Her parents worried about her grades, but they knew the new lifestyle change was causing a decline in them. Jasmine's parents knew that it would take sometime but she would soon learn to cope and then her grades would return to A status. The family's problems were so many, that Jasmine's plummeting grades became minor. Jasmine did very well at school, she learned to get alone with her teachers and peers; and this helped her slowly bring her grades to B's and C's.
Although Jasmine's problems were balancing out her father was faced with the biggest ones of all. Always being the breadwinner for his family this was a very difficult time for him not being able to provide the lifestyle that they had grown accustom to and the only one that James and Jasmine knew.
Robert was a smart man. Born and raised in Harlem he knew the ends and outs of the ghetto. But he made himself a promise that if he ever got out of the ghetto he would never return to live. Visit yes, but never live. Little did he know that fate had something different in mind for him. Robert was good with numbers and balancing things. As a child, he made straight A's in math, which was his favorite subject in school.
He graduated from high school as class valedictorian and most likely to succeed. He attended Carver Middle School and graduated from Booker T Washington High School, the same two schools his children attend now. Robert graduated with honors and a Math scholarship to attend Harvard University. This was a big honor for him and his family. He was the oldest of five children and the first one to attend college in his family; his mother was proud of him. Robert wished his father could have been there to see that wonderful day. Unfortunately he pasted of cancer when he was ten years old.
Robert did well during his college years at Harvard, maintaining a 4.0 average while majoring in business. He knew that he wanted to achieve great success in life so he would never have to look back at the stink and grind of the ghetto, and that's exactly what he did; he never looked back.
Robert met his wife Mary at the movies one day; taken by her beauty he knew that he wanted to make her his wife. They married, and six months later, he landed a good job at Monarch Central Bank. They moved to a big mansion in Westport Connecticut, had two children, and then their fairytale life began.
Yes, the Hillman's lived the privileged life. Robert and Mary had come from less privileged families. Mary lived on a farm back in Bonvale, Texas, with four brothers and three sisters in cramped quarters; the small framed house only had two bedrooms one for the parents and one for the four girls to sleep. Her father was a hired hand and worked for a wealthy rancher named Bob Hanson who took good care of his farm hands by providing shelter, work, and transportation. The four boy's lived in one of the farm houses because there was not enough room at the main house.
Mary grew up with a kitchen and a restroom sink, but no toilet or bathtub to bathe. To get a bath everyone bathed in a foot tub filled with warm water heated from the gas stove from the kitchen, and to use the restroom you had to go outside to the outhouse which was scary because if you've every seen a outhouse you know that it's not pretty and it can be quite breezy. During the night if you needed to use the restroom you urinated in a bucket; which someone emptied the next morning. Mary thought very little of their living conditions even though they were poor, they had plenty of love and they never went hungry. Red beans, rice and cornbread went a long way for a family of ten, two parents and eight children. Times were hard but they survived.
Mary was a survivor and she had become familiar with the good life. Although she was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, unlike her kids. She appreciates the finer things that life had to offer. She had a beautiful house, kids, and a wonderful and loving husband. Mary had everything a girl could dream of and more. Life was good for the Hillmans a life of poverty had not existed in over twenty years but Robert and Mary knew what hard times were and did not won't their kids to every have to experience this way of life. Not ever! Never in a million years did they ever think they would have to live this way again. After all no one left either of them an inheritance. Therefore, they both knew hard work, dedication, and what it's like to live the American dream.
However, one gloomy morning when Robert went to work things had changed dramatically. They were passing out pink slips to employees and the FBI was there to gather his computer and his files. Robert did not see this coming. There had been a secret investigation going on for several months. Nobody in his office knew what would hit them and hit them hard it did. Robert could not believe his eyes when he entered his office and saw the F.B.I. standing there with cuffs in hand. Two agents slowly walked toward Robert looked him straight in his eyes and read him his rights, and quickly cuffed his hands behind his back.
"What's going on here?" Robert asked. "This must be some kind of a joke?"
"I guarantee you Sir this is no joke." One tall man with broad shoulders and a distinctive voice replied. "Sir your full cooperation is needed here!"
"I need to know what the problem is here!"
"Mr. Hillman Sir. My name is Agent Cobb and you are under arrest for money laundering and embezzlement."
"This is absurd! I have never laundered any monies in my life! I have work at this bank for the past twenty years as President at one of the most prestigious banks in Connecticut. Unloose these hand cuffs from my hands at once I say!"
"Calm down Sir. Try to make this easy on yourself. Come with me quietly please."
"I want to speak to my lawyer at once!" Call Johnnie immediately and tell him to meet me at the city jail. And hurry Carla!" (Robert's secretary). "I will be out so fast that your head will spin."
"Sir you are allowed one call at the precinct and you can call your attorney at that time."
"That won't be necessary. I will be out before I'm booked!"
Robert calmed down and went quietly with the agents. It was total chaos that gloomy morning. That entire department lost their jobs and their commander and chief had been accused of money laundering and embezzlement; and more jobs lost would soon follow. Robert was right he was booked and out of there before you knew it. That's what money and a good attorney can do.
Robert was overwhelmed by all the excitement; but through it all, he still proclaimed his innocents to the end. He had an inkling what had happen to him. Tim Harris the accountant for the bank had embezzled monies and made it look like he was responsible.
‘Why has he caused me this tragedy?"
Money was missing and all the evidence pointed towards Robert. It would be hard to prove his innocents. Avoiding jail time was the most important thing for him. Robert could not phantom the idea of being away from his family not even one day. He knew that he would have to except the fact that his good name and reputation would be tarnished forever!
Robert had a long road a head of him, he knew that his family would be devastated and would not understand what had happened to him. The beautiful life that they knew was about to change. He had been wronged and he needed enough evidence to prove his innocents. Robert was facing scrutiny from everywhere. He had I.R.S., family, financial, any kind of problem you can imagine. The days ahead were going to be tough and he needed Mary more than he ever needed her before. No one could imagine that the Hillmans perfect life would turn upside down, forcing all their worldly possessions to sell for money; whatever the government did not garnish. After paying for Robert's legal fees and the I.R.S., they managed to stay in the house for one more year after his demise. It was a hard year. No one to wait on your every call was a big change for the Hillmans. No more recitals for Jasmine. The privileged life that she was born into did not exist anymore.
James helped his father take care of the family as much as he could; he sold his expensive racing cars, a collection bought by his father over the years. He received a hefty fee for the sale of his cars. Robert was touched by the fact that his son stepped up to help the family financially during this crisis. After all, to maintain a house of this size requires a lot of money. The family tried to hold onto their lavished lifestyle as long as the money would allow. The strength that James showed his family proved that he could show he was a man during tuff times. The handsome, tall, fifteen-year- old was class valedictorian, junior varsity quarterback, captain of the debate team, and popular with the girls.
The Hillmans had everything any family could want; but those days are far behind them now. They knew that sticking together was the most important thing. After the anger, frustration, blame and disappointment cleared, their love was stronger than ever! It was hard at first but they survived.
The year was winding down and so were the monies. Robert and Mary knew the day would come and they would have to move from the mansion. Many wonderful Christmases were spent at this lovely home shared with family and friends. The Hillmans gave each other the last gifts that they probably could afford for the last time. Some memorable moments have been spent here, beautiful dinner and birthday parties, the kids summer fun pool parties. The memories the Hillmans shared here will never be forgotten; but things had changed. They had to sell the home to pay for the rest of Robert's legal fees. Keeping him out of jail has not been easy, but it has been well worth it. Mary could not imagine life without her husband. He had been her backbone for so many years and he hers. Life would not be the same if Robert had to leave.
Those are memories from a year and a half ago. Now, the family's survival skills in the ghetto had to grow more intense and alert. Robert tried so hard to find work but he kept hitting a brick wall. Mary had never really work before and she had very little job skills. She did have one job as a waitress before she met Robert but that was many years ago. Mary was fortunate to have met a wonderful man that takes good care of her. Money had become far and between and the Hillmans worried.
Mary had been looking for work; willing to take any kind of job that she could find, she did not mind getting her hands dirty; but it has been awhile. She was willing to take any job, she was not to proud or picky about work. Money and taking care of her family was her focus. She was willing to take a job cleaning houses. Although she was use to others cleaning her house know she has to return the duties that she use to demand. It is strange the way life causes you to look at things differently.
Several weeks had pasted and work had blessed Mary. She worked a gig cleaning office buildings at night and houses in the morning. Mary tried to forget about what she had to do; money was the focus. Pride and dignity had no place in her life right now. Mary's working again reminded her of life on the farm. She knew how to roll up her sleeves to get the job done.
Robert was proud of his wife working and would always have dinner ready for his family when they came home. They learned to appreciate and respect each other more. Robert did not like the fact that his wife worked while he stay home; although he smiled on the outside, he hurt on the inside. ‘Things must change' Robert thought to himself. He felt useless, and depressed. But deep down inside he knew he could never leave his family. Not this way. Robert tried to stay positive because he knew he was on the verge of breaking down. All he could do was think about his family to keep him strong.
James could not take it any longer; he knew he had to do something to help his family. He had met some young boys in the neighborhood who he hung out with occasionally, they were a little more rug it than he but James knew how to survive. James is friendly and knows how to make friends easily, but he did not want to make the wrong kind of friends. James best friend Carl knew of these boys and warned him not to get to friendly with them because they could mean trouble.
Carl really liked James and James liked Carl. Carl knew the streets of Harlem well so he stays away from trouble. James is learning the streets and trying to fit in there. Carl only wants the best for James, so he hopes that he will take his words of advice and try to stay out of trouble, he knew the boys in the neighborhood were bad news. Some of them had been in robberies; most were in gangs and sold drugs. Carl knew that James did not want a taste of this life because he may not be able to back away. James has assured Carl that these boys would not intimidate him and that he was just having fun.
James had always lived the good life; so he knew what having nice things were like. So seeing the neighborhood kids with designer clothes on like Gucci and Prada, Rolex watches and name brand tennis shoes was not a big deal to him. Although he had to sell all his material things, he had of value; the sight of designer things still fascinated him. That is probably why he started hanging around kids different from him, plus he needed to make some money fast. Money was vanishing quicker than the blink of an eye. The little money that Mary made was barely keeping food on the table; and trying to pay rent on her salary was hard. This did not include the utilities and personnel items.
Robert was devastated and felt useless. James saw how his father had slipped into a depression and found himself more compelled to help. James did not care what he had to do he just wanted to help financially. Jasmine had no clue to want was going on because her parents did not want her to worry. However, she could see the pain and worry on her parents face and she knew something was wrong.
Some of the boys in the neighborhood knew James' family was desperate for money because of the things that he told them. An offer was made in the past to join them and he refused. Now that offer looks good to him. James despised drugs and all that they stood for; many times kids at his school had offered him to take mushrooms or acid and he refused. He was forced to sell the one thing that he hates. "Desperate people do desperate things." Drugs exist everywhere in the highest of society to the lowest gutters of the streets. Now James has taken on this new venture. He was not proud of the choices he made but he was desperate and needy. James did not think about what he would do; he just did it. He wanted to make the money fast. He knew that if his parents knew he had gotten involved with drugs that it would devastate them.
Big John was the name on the streets. He starts all the young boys in the hood who sold drugs. If there was money, made in Harlem you worked for Big John. Many of the boys made nice money selling drugs on the streets. However, you would pay a price if you were caught. A big price.
James felt he was ready but he knew he could not let Carl know what was going on because he would not understand or approve. Therefore, he went to Mike. Mike was Big John's right hand man; he recruited all the boys who worked the streets of Harlem for Big John. At first, James was scared but when Mike showed him all the money that he could make his fears disappeared.
James was venturing into something new he was not sure what he was getting into he just knew he had to do something fast. Their lights and water would soon be off in less than two days if he did not do something to help. It was not the best way; but it was the quickest way. James knew that if he made this money he would have to be discrete about how he would give it to his parents without them being suspicious about where it came from.
"I know I will tell my parents that I have a job working at The Burger Shack across town after school. So that way I can bring the money home without them knowing the truth." ‘This plan is perfect,' James thought to himself. "No one will ever know."
The first night on the streets James made five hundred dollars; being a smart young man, and a fast talker, it was not a problem for him to make a sale. James kept $200 dollars out of the $500 every time he made a sale. The rest went to Big John. James likes the fast quick money and he'd been careful while working the streets of Harlem; but all he could think about was his family. That made it easier for him to make a sale. Although saling drugs stood for everything that he hated, his family came first.
His parents were proud of him for stepping up and helping the family to pay for expenses. James saved the lights and water from being cut off. Robert felt bad about James taking his place but he knew he had raised his son to be responsible, kind, and caring. Therefore, that is exactly what James was being responsible.
"James has truly turned out to be a fine young man," said Mary to Robert, and I am proud of him.
"Yes I'm proud of him as well," said Robert. "I just hate the fact that he is going to school and working to support us."
"Don't worry honey things will get better we just have to keep the faith. I know this has been hard on you not being able to support the family; but its times like this when we have to stick together. I know things will get better soon." Mary said. You have been our provider for many years now, and this is the least we can do to help ourselves."
Robert reached out, grabbed Mary, and gave her the biggest hug and kiss.
"I needed to hear those words from you. My family is my world, I do not know what I would do without all of you. We will make it through these trying times Mary. We will survive."
James watched in the background while his parents embraced each other; it made him happy to see his father smile again. And he felt no guilt in working the streets.
"This is only be temporarily." At least that's what he told himself.
Several months had past and things were looking good for the Hillman family. All their bills were paid; and they had plenty of food in the house. Because of the extra money James brought into the house Mary was able to save more money. James was doing well on the streets; he had managed to save over $30,000 dollars. Jasmine was happy again; her grades had gone back to A status and she was once again taking violin lessons. Things were evening picking up for Robert; although they tried to black ball him from the job market he finally decided to go into business for himself. All he needed was some investors to help with the cost. He still knew a few business friends who would love to invest with him in his venture.
Robert was determine to pull himself from the rut and depression, so he could get his family back to the good life they once lived. Kevin Smith was a good friend of Robert's they attended high school and college together. After college, Kevin had moved down to Atlanta, Georgia and opened his own practice. Kevin's practice as a brain surgeon had done well for the past twenty years. He offered to be an investor in Roberts's consultant business. Yes, that's right Robert planned to open a consultant firm. He wants to show companies how to make and save money for their business. Robert needed five big investors to invest $100,000 dollars each. He already had one investor and he needed four more trust worthy investors. Robert had composed the best business plan he knew how and sent it to four of his friends; and by the end of the week, he had his investors. They each guaranteed $100,000 each. Robert's good name and reputation can now be restored. Robert thought that it would only be appropriate to name the company, The Hillman Consultants.
James had anonymously sent his father the $30,000 that he had managed to save from selling drugs on the streets. James wanted his father to have the money but he knew that he could never find out where it really came from; because his father would have never accepted it or, the fact that his son once sold drugs. James left that life behind him several months ago. He knew he had to walk away before things became too intense and he would not be able to walk away. Lucky for him, the news never got back to his family. His discreet and cleaver ways kept his secret safe from them. Now, the Hillmans can restore their name decently.
Several months have pasted and Robert had moved his family from the ghettos of Harlem and back to Westport, Connecticut. The Hillmans found a beautiful old colonial home five streets over from where they use to live. Jasmine had her beautiful lawn once again, with her six feet hedges and all sorts of trees planted throughout the lawn. James could not wait to start collecting cars again; even though he will be away at college, he would make this his summer hobby, plus sharing pool parties with Jasmine.
It has been three and a half years now since things were back to normal for the Hillmans; and Robert could not wait to take Mary on a long awaited vacation. It seemed just like it was yesterday; and none of this had ever happened. But the Hillmans have the memories to look back on, so they knew that it had happen. All the hurt and pain was behind them now, only good days were ahead from now on. Everyone was older, wiser and more alert. The future looked bright for the Hillmans.
Robert's success secured the future for his family and their future families. Even though his father did not leave him a legacy, he was still proud of him as his son was of him. To be rhapsodized is an experience that can make you either weak or strong. Nevertheless, the Hillmans strength is impeccable. They shall never be forgotten.
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