Angel's Devils

Chapter 13 part 2

The little, sick girl lay in her bed coughing and handling a fever, her face was flushed and her fair hair was made into a beautiful looking braid. She had her hands tightly holding a now cold bowl of soup, there was a small amount in which she had been criticizing her brother for being so greedy and not giving her enough food. Her little mind couldn’t wrap around the fact that her family was running out on food again, and her brother wasn’t making enough money to get a proper meal.

“You are selfish,” She said in between tears, “My teacher told me that sharing is caring! Why don’t you understand that?”

“Lily, I haven’t been eating enough food either,” Tyler said calmly, he sat at the end of her bed. “I’m not hogging the food, I’m just not giving you a lot so we would have enough to last us the next three days until my paycheck.”

“You are lying!” Lily screamed, tears continued to flow down her round cheeks. “You are lying and I hate you!” She began rubbing her eyes and her sobbing lessened slightly, and then she looked back at her older brother with a glare. “Why are you not saying anything?”

Tyler let out a weary sigh and then he looked at her, “Because,” He said slowly, “I feel bad for taking all the food away from you. I’m sorry.”

“So you have been eating a lot,” Lily pressed.

“Yes,” Tyler lied; he would do anything for her to stop crying. “And I’m sorry, I will never do it again, I promise. Now, finish up your soup so you could take a pill to reduce your fever.” He edged near her and he pressed his free hand against the small square of her forehead, “You are burning!”

Lily dipped her spoon in her bowl and then retrieved some of the light and tasty liquid to her mouth. After she sipped the spoonful she said, “It’s really cold in here.” Her tiny body shivered and trembled demonstrating how cold it is. However, Tyler knew that the only reason she was cold is because of her fever. It was cold, and Tyler couldn’t afford putting the heater high, so instead he made Lily wear extra clothing, and he wrapped her with her own blanket and Heath’s. As for his mother, he dressed her warmly too, and placed his blanket on top of hers. Therefore, technically, Tyler was forced to go to bed wearing two sweatshirts and pajamas, and slept under a thin sheet of blanket. It was still freezing at night, resulting for Tyler to wake up with every single bone and joints aching from the cold in his body. It would take him several minutes to manage to move his toes and fingers fully.

To keep the house under an affordable state, not only Tyler had to give up on the heater but he had to give up electricity as well. He wouldn’t allow any lights on at the house, only candles were needed. The TV hasn’t been turned on ever since the day Heath was taken away, and Lily was nagging him on and on about how self-centered he was to keep the Television all to himself.

Many wishes Tyler has made for Lily to grow up and understand of the responsibility he has under taken at his age, and how hurtful it was for Lily to accuse him of being evil even though he was mainly trying to keep her and his mother alive. She was being unfair and unreasonable when she yelled at him and would not talk to him for several hours. Then, to his own dismay, it occurred to him that the way Lily was treating him was the same way he has treated Heath since the day their father died.

All Tyler needed was a taste of how responsibility actually is until he realized how unfair he was to his eldest brother, and how Tyler was so childish and foolish. He never knew or realized how much stress Heath has conquered over the ears of trying to keep his family alive, and the more Tyler thought about it  the more he hated himself.