Prologue

"Brother?"

I spoke as I got off my bed and wandered towards the door in my darkened bedroom, hitting my hip against a sharp corner. I winced as I continued to push myself. Reaching towards the door, I cracked it, spotting a silhouette walking towards the kitchen. As if it's on its own, my body picked up the nearest hard object. I clutched it tightly in my palm and lingered towards the figure. I cautiously raised my hand.

"Don't," the figure said as it turned to me, "it's only me, sis."

I let out an exhale of relief, dropping the item. I trudged towards the light switch to turn it on. As soon as the lights awoke, my brother glared at me wide-eyed, clutching the knapsack in his arms.

"Wow, you were going to hit me with a plastic bowling pin?"

"Why do you have a knapsack in your arms?"

"It's sophisticated." He ran his fingers through his messy blonde locks.

"Sophisticated?"

He shrugs. "It is just—I am leaving."

I glared at him in horror. Why would he leave? Why would he take off, leaving me and mother?

"So, you're just like dad."

"No, I just can't remain here."

"I bet that's exactly what he was thinking." I retorted. I squeezed the hem of my nightgown harder.

He lets out a deep groan. "I just can't, okay?"

Tears stung my eyes as I shifted my head elsewhere. His hand drifted towards my face, but I stepped away. I didn't want to see his face anymore, to assume he was continuing to be here when papa failed to do so. He guaranteed that he would always be here for me.

"Brother, why did papa leave us?" I asked, lying on my bed, fetus style, staring at the chipped white walls.

"He was a jerk sissy; he won't come back."

"It was my fault—wasn't it?"

"No, it wasn't—"

"Yes, it was, I always started trouble. Always ending up in the principal's office. Dad didn't even accept that I was Bisexual!"

"Meka—"

"Charlie." He looked at me and sighed before sitting on the bed

"You don't… you don't get it…"

"Don't worry," he declared, placing a hand on my head, "I pledge I'll be here for you. I will always." He put his right hand over his chest and smiles goofily.

"Promise?"

"Pinkie promise…" We lock pinkies.

I let out a small smile as Charlie leaned down and kissed me on my temple, Meka."

"I guess I love you too."

Charlie gestured an arrow stabbing his heart with a silent laugh. "Okay, good night. Don't let the bedbugs bite."

I shook my head as tears filled my eyes.

"Remember the promise, Charlie? The promise you made me when dad left?" I crossed my arms, staring at the brother I once knew standing by the door. His face plastered a horrid expression, brimming with sadness.

"Yeah, but I can't stay…"

"B-But you promised! —"

��Quiet down, Meka, you'll wake mom." He pulls on the bag's strap and turns towards the door.

He doesn't care about my feelings.

"M-Maybe I want to wake up mom!!" My voice wavers as I peer at him and tears overflowed my eyes. I reached out to seize his arm as he opens the door, but he smacked it aside. He swung around and his bitter, dead eyes met mine.

"Please… stay here, with me!" I flicked my eyes between Mom's bedroom door across the hallway and my brother as I take a heavy gasp, evaluating the problem in front of me. My brother must have seen me glancing at the door because he grasped my shoulders, glaring at me with his cold, dead blue eyes.

"Meka, don't you dare." I drew another sharp breath before performing a split decision. I extracted his hands off my shoulders and shot towards the door, exploding inside.

"MOM!!! BROTHER IS GONNA LEAVE!"

My mom sat up, wild-eyed, while my brother opened the front door and sprinted outside. She got up and rushed towards me and saw the door, opened wide, letting in the crisp, brisk breezes. Snow flurried inside as I rubbed my bare arms, struggling to keep warm. My mother stared at me in a frenzy and snagged a sweater off the coat rack as she darted outside to see if he was still lingering. To her frustration, he wasn't there.

✣ ✣ ✣ ✣

I rested, facing my mother as she frantically called everybody in her contacts, begging if anybody has seen Charlie. I shifted the bowl aside, milk sloshing off the rim. It has been four days since his "grand" escape, and now I couldn't care less.

"Mom, you can stop now. He is not coming back."

She gawked up at me like I somehow killed our cat. Which I would never kill Tubbs. I peeked at the plump, gray tabby lying on the couch, idly licking its paws.

"You don't know that. It's minus five degrees outside! What kind of sucker would run away in that?"

"That sucker is Charlie. He left us! Heck, good riddance." I coiled my fingers closely, staring at the hollow chair next to me.

Charlie would always stick pretzels in his mouth like a vampire, pretending to suck my blood. I would always attack him out of his chair, tackling him. The house seemed alive, worry-free. Now a lifeless seat is next to me, no trace of warmth whatsoever.

"I'm disappointed in you, young lady! That's your brother!"

"Was my brother." I got up, scraping the chair across the floor, as my mother glowered at me. I treaded towards my room, slamming the door, sullen with the world around me. Why must I be in the focus of all this shit? Things were working smoothly. I was already starting to forget about my dad and seem content. Just us.

No…

Us is gone. Dad is gone. Charlie is gone.

He is not coming back. I know that because a few weeks later; the CNN broadcast for the entire world to see that my brother is a criminal.

And I will be the one to stop him.