Alis Volat propiis

Chapter 18

Let It Go by James Bay

Everything seems to hurt more than usual these days. 

Alex has a little brother and he's... a peach. He gets on my nerves so bad that if he were my own brother, I would've already knocked his lights out by now. Alex and I sat in the recliner together last night like always as he played his video games and I read quietly. I got up to get a drink and his brother smacked me in the face with a basketball. Keep in mind his brother is over 200 pounds and almost a foot taller than me. I'm not one for letting people push me around. However, I took a breath and tried to keep my cool. Then he began to bash me and I snapped. I lunged at him and he ran like a coward. I knew if I couldn't get ahold of him, he'd get off scott free if I didn't do anything about it. I told his aunt and she did exactly what my step mom always did. Played favorites and told him to simply knock it off and then yelled that I shouldn't chase him. It caused my blood to boil, but I went back and sat with Alex. Time passed and I began to nod off to sleep. Alex got up and I followed him to bed. As I was walking out of the room, his brother threw the ball once again. Done. I marched right back in there and yelled at him to grow up and knock it off. He began to laugh and asked what was I going to do about it. 

"Hit me. Hit me. I dare you. Come on, hit me," he said and I smirked, drew back my fist and hit him hard, catching his lip in the process. He staggered back and it took him a minute before he started to curse every foul thing under the sun at me. I just walked off and joined Alex in the kitchen. His brother was squalling like a child about how he'd knock me out and all. His aunt and mom were furious. They yelled that I should've told them what happened before I hit him, but I did and they did nothing about it the first time. He lied and said I hit him first and that he did nothing to provoke it and got his cousins to take his side and lie, which didn't help my case at all. 

I layed in bed on my side and stared at the wall. It really bothered me that Alex just sat there and did nothing about it. If my siblings had bashed him like that or layed a finger on him, I would've made them wish they hadn't. My siblings would never though, they have respect for me. 

I didn't realize I was crying until the pillow became wet. Alex asked what was wrong and I told him how it bothered me and he blew it off and said I'd be fine, giving me a pat on the back. That just made it all the more worse. It was his job to protect me and he didn't care. Everything from that day just piled up and I began to cry harder, hugging the pillow against my chest and burying my face in it. 

It wasn't just the whole Alex's brother being a jerk, there was something else too. Everyday after school, I go out to the buses and talk to my siblings. They tell me everything that goes on at home and we catch up. Back in January, we had family pictures taken. From those pictures, we ordered a family calendar, each kid having their own month. Mine was September since my birthday is this month. Well, I was informed my step mom covered my face with a different picture. It's petty, really petty. It sounds like something a small child would do to a girl in her year book. It hurt, nonetheless, to know my dad let someone treat his kid that way. Who does that? If I had a kid and Alex treated him or her that way, he'd be lucky if I let him even sleep in the same house as me. To know the dad I grew up having, the one who snuck me candy so the other kids wouldn't see, the one who I taught to play Pokemon Go, the one who went days without eating so I could, is gone kills me. He's not only thrown me out of his life, but he threw out my sister at one point too. His own blood. His little girls...