With eyes that burned like coal, the elderly woman narrowed her eyes upon the pair before her. Saggy wrinkles and thin skin gave her a sinister look to the young lady in front of her. She most certainly was not the kind lady whose eyes wrinkled in amusement when watching the world spin around her. She resisted the urge to run or hide behind the man who stood directly next to her.

The elderly woman shook in anger, her cane tapped against the wood floors from the force. Then, like a switch had been flipped, she stood perfectly still. With as much strength as she could muster, she raised her cane and brought it down on the floor, like lightning striking the barren earth.

“You are of my flesh and blood, boy!”

Calmly, the man stepped forward. It was like like she had issued a challenge, one he stepped forward to gladly accept.

“Yes, I am, Mama. But, she is my flesh and blood.”