Superstitious Mother, Dangerous Future

Recently, my mom had gotten ahold of a bunch of opium-based tonics, and they were piled up in the corner of the living room. The whole house reeked of this sour, rotten smell, and it made me want to gag. My brother had ballooned up even more, and now he could barely move without wheezing. My dad had started coughing constantly too, but my mom kept insisting they just needed more nourishment. She cooked up endless pots of chicken and fish soup, but every batch was tinged yellow and had that awful sour smell from the tonics.

The three of them drank every drop, never leaving any for me. According to them, "a girl like me didn't deserve it." Honestly, I was relieved. I wouldn't have touched that stuff if they'd begged me.

It wasn't long before things got worse. One morning, after making breakfast for everyone, I called them to the table and noticed my brother sitting there, pale as a ghost, breathing heavily. His eyes were bloodshot, and sweat was pouring down his face.

My mom panicked. "Oh no, sweetie, what's wrong? Where does it hurt?"

He just kept saying he didn't feel good but couldn't explain why. My parents freaked out, trying to get him up so they could rush him to the hospital, but they hadn't accounted for his weight. Instead of lifting him, my mom ended up flat on her butt.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing and stepped forward to help, but my mom shot me a nasty look. "Don't just stand there, you useless girl-- help me up!"

After my mom managed to get back on her feet, she tried to lift my brother again, but he refused to go to the hospital. "It's too hot outside," he whined. "I don't want to walk."

My mom, always quick with an idea, smiled and said, "Alright, sweetie, if you don't want to go to the hospital, that's fine. Just write down where you're feeling unwell, and I'll take it to the doctor for you. You can stay home and rest." She immediately went to grab paper and a pen.

When she handed him the paper, my brother waved his chubby hand and pointed at me. "I'm not writing it. Make her do it."

With a scowl, my mom shoved the paper into my hands. I grabbed the pen, waiting for my brother to say something. After a few moments of dramatic sighs and moaning, he finally muttered, "I feel bad everywhere… dizzy."

I suppressed a small smile, wrote down what he said, and handed it to my parents. They rushed out the door with the note, not even considering that I had school that day. "Take care of your brother while we're gone!" they shouted on their way out.

As soon as the door closed, I heard my brother's voice from behind me. "Hey, loser, get me a cold Coke from the fridge!"

I turned around and stared at him. When I didn't move right away, he screamed, "You worthless girl! If you don't listen to me, I'll have Mom beat you to death!"

I gave him a cold look before turning to head back to my room. He flinched, startled by my expression, and stayed quiet for a moment. But as soon as I turned my back, he started yelling again. "You brat! Just wait until Mom and Dad get home-- I'll make sure they punish you! You're so mean. No wonder they want to sell you off to some old man!"

Later, when my parents came back, I was still in my room reading. Suddenly, there was a loud crash as my brother kicked the sliding door, knocking it off its shaky track.

"Loser! Mom and Dad are back! Let's see if you're still brave enough to cross me!" he yelled.

I put down my book and walked out to the living room, where I overheard my parents grumbling. "What kind of quack doctor can't even prescribe some medicine? He said we have to bring our son in for a checkup. Our son's too important to be dragged out for every little thing."

"Exactly! We wrote down that he was feeling unwell. What more does the doctor need? Useless," my mom added.

"Don't worry, honey. I talked to that online tonic seller again. He said our son's fine-- just a little weak from the heat. I'll make sure to give him some good supplements later," my mom said as she picked up a piece of opium-based tonic from the corner and handed it to my dad. "Here, honey, you should have more too. You're the backbone of this family."

Then she turned to me, her face twisting into anger. "You lazy girl, why are you just standing there? Get in the kitchen and start cooking! You trying to starve us?"

"Yeah, Mom, she didn't even get me a Coke earlier," my brother chimed in from the side.

"What?! You little brat! Are you trying to make me lose it? How dare you refuse your brother!" My mom glared at me with fury. "If anything happens to my precious boy because of you, you'll pay for it!"

She immediately went back to coddling my brother, and I watched them for a second, disgusted by their display of affection, before silently turning and heading into the kitchen.