The other week my mum told me that she is going to quit her job. I know being a factory worker isn’t really a good job, but it’s how she’s been supporting the family all these years. I did know about my dad recently getting a pay rise at the dockyard but I am sure he is not earning enough for the family. I couldn’t understand why she wanted to quit.

She then told me that she doesn’t really want to quit but she has no choice. The reason is really important and she has to make a sacrifice. I asked her why, what is going on around here that I didn’t know about? She didn’t reply and looked down at the floor. I looked at her face and saw her eyes. They were watering and red. I got up to grab some tissues and handed them to her.

A while later, she started to talk to me. She said that she has to do it for my brother. I had a little laugh as soon as I heard the word “brother” but I quickly shut up and listened to what she had to say. After my mum had finished telling me the story about my brother, I realised that the laugh I made was a mistake.

There is a serious problem going on in my family, which I didn’t know a thing about. Last year I left to live with Tai at her house and I hadn’t come back often to visit. Now my mum was telling me that she is going to quit working to stay home because it seems my brother has gone crazy!

My mum told me that the other day, when he was home alone, he called my grandmother and told her to come over to help him right away. He said that my dad was dead and that now someone was trying to kill him. But really there was nothing like that going on. My grandmum told my mum that he looked really paranoid and scared when she arrived.

Then again, a few days later in the middle of the night, he was crying without anyone knowing the reason. But finally, he stopped and said that he missed our uncle and aunt and then started to walk out of the house. He said that he was going to visit them. My dad had to run after him and bring him back home; he seemed to have forgotten that they had moved to America last year.

The following morning it looked like everything was back to normal. He didn’t even know what had happened the night before. However, that afternoon, his classroom teacher called to say that Guy was pacing around the classroom. He was looking and acting very strangely. Everyone in the classroom was really scared including the teacher. My dad had to go to pick him up straight away.

Later that day my dad went to see my grandmother about what to do. He didn’t really want to take Guy to a mental hospital, which is full of crazy people. My grandmother suggested my dad take him to see a psychiatrist in Bangkok. She said there is a clinic there where they help people who have this kind of problem.

As soon as I heard my mom tell me that, I was really worried about the cost of it all. As much as I know there aren’t that many clinics like this in Thailand compared to America or Europe. I was really sure that this was going to be pretty expensive. It’s OK for one visit, but if it’s not, I don’t think that my parents could afford it.

Why is this happening to my family? Every time things are starting to go well, there is some kind of problem that wrecks everything. Can you tell me why? Maybe my family and I have no luck with life. I doubt we will ever have a pleasant life like other families.

To be continued next week.