Ugly

3

     When I look at my younger brother, I see my ugliness in him too. He has the same dry and wavy hair, the same pale complexion, and most of all the same amount of ugly. His smile was just as vomit inducing as mine. Still, I loved me baby brother with all my heart.

     "Welcome home big brother!" my little brother called as he came running down stairs. There it goes. That ugly smile. I rubbed his head as he came up to me and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "Guess what, big brother!" I couldn't help but give an ugly smile too.

     "What?" I asked.

     "A girl called me cute today!" he announced all proud. I froze. "She said she would kiss me tomorrow and everything!" I watched as he innocently talked about it as if the girl was the fairest of them all. The only fair one is Ivy. And he's not even a girl...

     Though I smiled, "That's great," I sighed, patting his head. He surely thought he was all that now. Its okay. I want him to feel that way. "What do you want for dinner, Timothy?" Timothy paused and looked up, as if he was thinking.

     "Can we go eat at the Chinese Restaurant?" he asked excitedly. I sighed and smiled, nodding. Timothy jumped with happiness as he ran to get his jacket. I waited at the door, scrolling through facebook on my phone. I paused when I didn't see Ivy on my friends list any longer. "Ready!" my brother yelled, clumsily putting on a jacket as he walked down the stairs.

     "Alright... "

~~~

     My mother had came home. She was an ugly, hard worker... She was very stubborn and determined I had heard. And, at one point, she was beautiful. Sadly she was burned from being attacked by a bunch of shit stains who wanted money and sex out of her. Now she was deformed and mangled for the rest of her life.

     "You wasted the soda on the carpet you damn brat!" my mother yelled. I could hear my brother squeal in terror. My hands immediately closed the book I was reading and I got up, heading down stairs as fast as possible. When I made it, my mother was beating up Timothy. Her fists had hit his back and face. My brother cried and screamed.

     I ran over and grabbed her hand. "Enough!!" I yelled.

     "I wish I never had you two!!" she screamed out of no where, "I wish I had an abortion! I wish someone would have stabbed me when I had you. I wish you would have been a miscarriage. You two are hell! I hate you!!" My mother tried kicking me, but I pinned her down. Depression had caused her to jump off the deep end. After my father cheated on her with a pretty, young woman, she flipped out and was never the same. She drunk more, had more men over and even let my father in once or twice. Now I saw the shell of what she used to be.

     I looked over at my baby brother to see him bleeding from the nose and the lip. When my mother stopped struggling, I got up and left her there to recover from her little outburst. I picked up Timothy and took him to the kitchen to fix him some more soda.

     "I hate it here," Timothy muttered, holding his cup closely to his chest, "I want to get far away from here... " Timothy began to cry, causing me to stop what I was doing. Im embraced him in my arms and rubbed the back of his head. He sobbed as loud as he broken voice could manage before it died down to a little whimper. "Please lets run away," he whispered.

     "We cant... "

     "Why not!?"

     "Who'll take care of mom if we run away?" I asked, rubbing his hair, "Think about what she needs. Think about what might happen to her if we leave. Think about how she will feel if we,  her own children would leave her alone... " Timothy just stood there, his light colored brows furrowed.  "Just think about it, okay? When you think about it tell me your decision and we will leave or stay.  He nodded and took the soda I fixed him. My hands reached for the paper towels... As I walked into the living room, I noticed my mother sitting on the couch. "Want me to get you anything?" I asked her. She looked over at me.

     She sighed. "Did you know I was much happier before I had you?" she whispered. "I was really beautiful and wanted before I gave birth to you and your brother... "

     "Of course, " I muttered, soaking up the soda from the carpet, "Do you want me to get you something?"

     "A beer. "

     "Of course. "