I'll Help You Carry the World - Solangelo (short story)

Prologue - I tie Bianca's shoelaces but forget about mine

"Wake up, girls! Time for school!" I yell while knocking on both of my sisters' rooms. Hazel comes out of her room. Her extremely curly hair all over the place, and she walks to the bathroom to start the day.

"Oh, damn! Hazel's already in the bathroom!" I hear from behind me. I turn around and see Bianca standing there, her teddy bear in her arms and bunny slippers on her feet.

"Bianca, watch your language." I say sternly.

"Sorry. It's just... she takes hours in there! She'll make me late again!" Bianca tells me scowling. I find it adorable when she scowls because you can see her missing tooth.

"Come on, little bumble bee, you can use my bathroom for today." I tell her.

"Thank you, Neeks!" She says, and then she jumps into my arms. I hug her back before sending her to wash up and get dressed while I make breakfast.

For breakfast, I decide to make some prima colazione. It is an Italian food that consists of caffè latte (hot coffee with milk) with bread, butter, and jam. Just as the coffee maker finishes my dad comes downstairs. I keep making breakfast and pretend to not even notice his presence. My dad and I haven't gotten along ever since my mom's death. She died six years ago while giving birth to Bianca, who never got to meet our mom. Dad hasn't been the same since then. It was the second time that something like that happened to him. You see, my dad, Hades, and Hazel's mom, Marie, had an affair when I was about three. Marie got pregnant and, sadly, died while giving birth to Hazel. My mom was, obviously, not too pleased when she became aware of this, but raised Hazel as her own nonetheless.

Dad got some coffee and left to work without a word. "Don't forget to say good-bye to the girls." I said when I heard him open the door. He obliged. He knew this was important to me as we only spoke when it was imperative to do so. This was in fact the first time I've spoken to him in three months. A few minutes later Hazel came down the stairs ready for school. She sat at the table, and I put her breakfast in front of her.

"Mmm, prima colazione. Grazie, fratello [1]!" Hazel said while kissing my cheek.

"Nessun problema, piccolo gioiello[2]." I respond. Bianca, then, appears with her hairbrush on her hand as well as a hair band.

"What's with the Italian?" Bianca asks as I put her breakfast in front of her.

"È necessario praticare il vostro italiano , calabrone[3]." I tell her.

"Ma io non sono nato in Italia[4]." She fires back.

"Sì , ma Hazel and ed io eravamo[5]." I say.

"Bene[6]." She says while finishing her breakfast. "Can you do my hair, please?"

"Sure, come here." I say. Bianca hands me the hairbrush, and I start combing her hair. "Any ideas on what to with Bee's hair today?"

"You could do a braid." Hazel said looking up from her food for the first time since I put it there.

"Great ide- wait. Are you wearing... eyeliner?" I ask scowling.

"So... what if I am? You use it all the time." She says shyly.

"Yeah, but I'm older and "emo"." I say, making air quotations when I say emo.

"I'm already twelve." She grumbles.

"What is it, little gem? Who are you trying to impress?" I ask while I braid Bianca's hair.

"Nobody."

"Mhm. Yeah, and I was born yesterday." I say sarcastically as I tie Bianca's hair. "Go put some shoes on, little bee." Bianca giggles and does as told. "Hazel, you can tell me if you like someone. You know I'm homosexual, so I would never judge you." I say once Bianca gets out of ear shot.