Low Yin Yee

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Faith: ‘A useless thing humans choose to believe in out of
desperation’

Faith: noun – Complete trust or confidence in a person

Noun- strong believe in God or doctrines of religion

Noun – a strong belief or theory

Taken from the Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus.

Faith. A word that came out of nearly everyone’s mouth as they spoke of putting
faith in their infidel spouses or faith in the great God above. Sarris was no fool.
He, a mere 12-year-old boy was forced to grow up far beyond anyone his age
should. Teens his age should be enjoying themselves, rolling wheels down the
cobbled stone of London, smiling and giving praise to the wonderful Queen
Victoria.

At the tender age of 8 on the 29th of September 1886, Sarris watched as his
house was engulfed in flames, he was screaming for his mother who was
sleeping off a cold in the age-old mansion of the Lord Venire. His father had
dropped to his knees, head buried in his hands as he sobbed loudly. The crimson
flames ate at the old walls of the mansion greedily; taking away everything that
was precious to Sarris.

The firefighters came far too late. By the time they came, Sarris’ mother was
ash. She was no longer of this world. The young boy sat there, his cerulean eyes
empty, cold as he watched his father sob pathetically.

2 years after that incident, Sarris was sent to live with his widowed aunt after his
father, Lord Venire committed suicide to join his wife in the afterlife, unable to
bear life without her. Sarris was not shocked. His father had been going in a
downward spiral of depression and was always found staring at the portrait of
him and his beloved in his study.
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Life at his aunt’s was by far a better one than the one he had with his father. How
could a man who kept a strong hope up that soon enough his wife would invite
him to join her in heaven look after the needs of an eight-year-old who wanted
his father to look at him with pride and love?

His dear Aunt Mirada doted upon him as though he was her very own son, not
that she didn’t have her own. Her son was older than Sarris but 4 and half
months and was close to Sarris like the brother Sarris never had. The grounds of
the Lady Mirada Hermann nee Sylvester was filled with the bright laughter of two
young boys, running about the courtyards and escaping lessons together.

What a pair Sarris and his cousin, Ricky made. Sarris’ very heart swelled with
joy. He had a family here. It was perfect and so beautiful, he was so sure nothing
would shatter it. His aunt told him he had faith and it was a good thing because
faith kept a person going. A small part of Sarris doubted it. Faith was what led his
father to his death but it didn’t matter now. He had Aunt Mirada and Rick.

That was until Rick was diagnosed with tuberculosis. One that couldn’t be cured
because it was far too late to do anything anymore. Still, Rick told Sarris to have
faith in the Lord and keep praying that Rick would be strong enough to fight off
the disease. 2 months later, Rick died in his sleep, leaving a stricken and
heartbroken Sarris behind and a depressed Aunt Mirada at the loss of her young
ten-year-old son.

Sarris watched sadly as his aunt followed the path his father took after the
unfortunate death of his mother. His aunt became an alcoholic, indulging in both
wine and men. She brought home different ones everyday and all seemed to
hate Sarris greatly. One even went as so far as to raise a hand to Sarris and
abused him, breaking Sarris’ hand that night.

Still, Sarris recalled his aunt’s words of keeping faith in his new family because
they would always be there for him no matter what. But faith it seemed eluded
poor Sarris at every turn. Leaving him to grow up faster than any child should as
he discovered his aunt’s body in her study in a pool of her own blood a year later.

What was faith if every one Sarris treasured and cared for seemed to end up
dying? As the young eleven-year-old was brought back to the renovated mansion
from the ashes, he pondered on things, observing the people that walked by from
the window of the carriage.
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He saw mothers embracing their children, young beggars tucked away in the
dark and smelly alleys of London and boisterous men who had pretty young
lasses hanging off their arms. It seemed that every one of these persons had
faith. How could those homeless people still have faith when they were looked
down upon by the society? With a quiet sigh, Sarris slumped back into the seat of
the carriage, his cerulean eyes sliding shut.

It was only thanks to his title as Lord was Sarris kept out of the foster system.
Even after the death of his father, his aunt had taken over the Venires toy
manufacturing company, teaching Sarris a few things on business over the time
he’d stay with her. Add to the equation, a twice-removed cousin by the name of
Angelo had stepped in and took over as Sarris’ apparent guardian.

It was a fine Saturday morning, a year later when Sarris finally lost all of his
innocence. As per usual, he was holed up in his study looking over papers and
business contracts offered to him by other companies when Angelo stormed in
rudely and started swearing vulgarities at the young 12-year-old because he no
longer had a say in Sarris’ toy company.

Sarris had found out not too long ago that his dear cousin had only stepped in
because of he knew of the amount of money Sarris would make every month and
Angelo being a greedy and money-minded fellow took the opportunity of Mirada’s
death to take over as guardian to the young Lord.

Angelo crossed the line when he raised his large hand and slapped Sarris across
the face, the resounding sound echoing around the spacious study. In a haze of
rage, Sarris grabbed a gun he kept in his drawer and took off the safety, shooting
Angelo through the heart.

Angelo fell backwards as time seemed to slow, his blood pooling on the wooden
floor of the study. Sarris dropped to his knees in horror and tried to stop the blood
flow, pressing his bloodied face to his hand when he realized the man was dead.
He sat there in shock, the blood getting to his pants as the day slowly turned to
night.

Sarris’ maid entered the room and screamed blue murder, rushing off to call the
Scotland Yard. As soon as she came back, Sarris threw his head back and let
out a peal of manic laughter, scaring the maid badly. The Scotland Yard came
and arrested him for possession of a gun and murder of Angelo. As the police
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dragged him out to the carriage, a smirk bloomed on his face.

Sarris twisted easily out of the seemingly half-hearted grasp of the two policemen
dragging him along by his arms. He’s playful wrestles with Rick seemed to have
paid off as Sarris kneed the police on his right in the lower back and punched the
police on his left whilst pulling the man’s gun out of the holster. Everything was a
blur then as Sarris got ready to shoot the police. Three loud gunshots cracked
through the air as Detective Aden placed three well-aimed bullet in Sarris.

The loud cracks of the gunshot brought the servants of the Venire household
running, everyone screaming and crying as they watched their young master fall
backwards bonelessly and somewhat gracefully, his breaths coming out raggedly
as he coughed up blood. The life in Sarris’ pretty blue eyes seemed to be going
out like a bad light bulb as he had a fleeting realization. Today was the 29th of
September 1888. 2 years ago he had lost his faith and most of his innocence. 2
years later, he is here, lying on the damp ground as he wheezed out softly, a true
gentle smile on his face, “Mama, Rick, Aunty… I cannot wait to see you again,”

With those words spilling out off his lips, his eyes slipped shut, never to open
again as the rain pattered down on the bloodied body, washing away all signs of
his death.

Faith was something fools and desperate people believed in. Sarris Jamison
Venire learned in his short life that faith; it was just a useless thing.