The Pretend Darkness

"Brianna, the doctor says it's bad, like really bad. Your brother needs this fancy imported medicine that's gonna set us back a hundred bucks a month. You have to pick up more shifts. From now on, his medicine is on you."

I had heard this spiel more times than I could count, in this life and the previous life.

Months of summer gigs and the college fund I hustled for got hijacked by Zane for his shiny new computer.

I had been busting my hump day and night, living on free white bread, just to scrape by with tuition. Meanwhile, Zane was relaxing with the air conditioner, gaming and guzzling Cola, while I was out there roasting in a mascot suit, handing out flyers, dreaming of a meal with more than two vegetables.

The sting of it all faded in seconds, and I steadied myself. That was the break I had been waiting for.

"Look, Mom, I've got classes all day and dinner's on me at night. I can't be working all the time. I'll clean on the weekends, but I'm going to snag a night job, try to rake in some extra cash for better meds for the kid. We have to get him back on his feet, right?"

"You're just trying to weasel out of chores, you lazy bum!" Mom snapped back, but she was stuck. Ever since she left her teaching gig back home, she's been scraping by as a supermarket cashier in the city, barely making 200 to 300 a month.

Zane's spending was like a black hole for my paycheck, and the only thing keeping us afloat was the settlement money from Dad's accident at work.

However, even though I was busting my tail at a part-time job to pay for Zane's meds, Mom played it super safe—she kept my ID card under lock and key.

Since I started college, she would only hand it over when necessary, then snatch it back like it was made of gold. She was terrified I would bolt, leave them to drown in their sea of troubles.

However, I was not going anywhere. I was just waiting for my shot, and it looked like it had finally arrived.