2a

Barbara was 16 when the family arrived bedraggled into Macau. They had traversed over 800 miles in their effort to outrun the Communists and had arrived just in time. Somehow, Barbara's mother, Eileen had secured a one-room flat in the seediest part of town, much to Isaiah's disgruntlement but all that mattered to Eileen was a roof over her family's head.

Naturally, Isaiah being the principal of a school, signified the importance of education in Barbara's family, so of course the first thing Eileen did was tromp her children off to college. Though both Simon and Barbara were both technically too young for college, she knew them both to be smart and quick enough to be able to keep up. Though she foresaw the pitfalls this move would have on all her children, it was simpler than trying to enroll them into a school where she would have to explain why they didn't have the proper papers.

It wasn't long before her foresight proved uncannily accurate. Carol started being afraid and unsure of herself as she struggled with both the fact that her siblings, though younger, outstripped her in studies as well as the news of atrocities committed by the Communists. Any mention of associations with communists made her jumpy. From then on, her claim was always that she was being duped by the other students and she had no idea what they were using the presses for.

Simon grew more haughty and arrogant as he realized his intellectual prowess. Before long, he grew hopes of leaving Macau in search of... something that could challenge him. His boredom grew daily. Eileen puffed with pride every time she thought of Simon. She agreed. For Simon to stay in Macau was a waste. They had to find a way for him to emigrate to America where Harvard, Yale, and the rest of the Ivy League schools could incite his intelligence.

Barbara grew more wild each day. Allowing her to go to college and make adult decisions didn't seem to dampen her spirits any. If anything, any mantle of responsibility seemed to slip from her shoulders to end up discarded. Barbara just loved to have fun too much. *tsk* Eileen's tongue clicked against the inside of her teeth. She would just have to trust that Barbara yuh dou nau - has her head on correctly. At this point in her life, she would just have to trust God.

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