The Troubled Child

'Is he really coming, daddy?' I asked, still unable to believe what my father had just muttered.

'He is hon. He will be right here in front of you by this evening,' my dad answered while gently pressing my nose like a button. He was packing some things in his car, preparing to get my brother.

'That's great,' I jumped out of excitement, but that was momentary since a horrific doubt started bothering me the very next second.

'Daddy, how long will he stay this time? Last time he barely stayed for a month.'

'He will stay until he doesn't cause any trouble. But I have high hopes this time. The doctors are positive that he is perfectly alright,' Dad said, albeit not being sure of it himself. He then kissed me on the cheeks and drove off.

He seemed different that day, older. He just had a huge fight with Raiko. I know because I heard her yelling at him just like she yells at me and occasionally my brother. She is the real trouble if you ask me. The one who married daddy after mummy passed away. I don't think my brother ever had to leave us if Raiko hadn't entered our lives.

After dad left, I stayed out for a while, roaming in and around the vicinity of our house. There I noticed our neighbor constantly sneaking at our compound from her window. She was visibly anxious and seemed quite overly invested in the happenings of my house.

'Hi, there. Mrs. Kersh, it's nice to see you,' I greeted the old lady as she was doing another of her sneak peeks over my house.

'Hello, Betty,' she replied with a tone that my daddy would call sullen. But that tone quickly changed to a somewhat anxiously curious one when she brought up a follow-up question.

'Is he really coming?', asked she for which I nodded, as an agreement.

'How could the doctors let him go so early this time?'

'This is not early, Mrs. Kersh. He has been there for two months, this time. Longer than he had ever been.'

'You are right, alright. But still, I think this is way too early to let that boy out.'

'No, it is not,' I snapped, 'How can you talk like that, Mrs. Kersh. He is my brother.'

Mrs. Kersh passed a scornful look at me as if I had committed some felony. With twitching her eyes, she bawled.

'Well, missy. Your little brother is a devil. The last time he was here, he gouged an eye out of my cat and stored it in his toy chest. This time I am warning you, keep him away from my house,' Mrs. Kersh then ushered herself into her house, slamming the door on my face.

'That was rude,' I told myself, as I was walking towards my house, 'It is so wrong.'

I hate it when my brother Charlie goes away. Daddy constantly tries to explain to me how sick he is, but still, it doesn't keep me from missing Charlie, does it?

Sometimes, I tell daddy how bored I am without my little brother around, but then daddy makes me feel bad by reminding me of his confinement in the darkroom.

'He is more bored than you could ever be,' says my father whenever he gets fed up by my tantrums. I always beg for him to give my brother the last chance. Of course,(to Raiko's dismay) daddy gave Charlie his fair share of last chances. Charlie had been brought back home many times this year, each time shorter than the other. But every time without fail, it all happens again; People suffer.

Dad's razors were found amidst our pet dog's food, Raiko's vitamin pills were replaced by bits of the dishwashing tablets, a kid from the neighborhood was knocked out unconscious only to wake up after weeks with no memory of his recent past... and much more.

'Where have you been all this time,' Raiko bellowed at me while carrying her year-old toddler Kevin in her arms. I could bet that most of the cracks in her temper were bestowed by Kevin's unstoppable high pitch cries.

Kevin is my half-brother, alright. But he isn't half as fun as Charlie is. Charlie is just very sweet to his elder sister. I mean really sweet. Wherein Kevin... people say babies are cute, but he is kinda ugly if you ask me and very, very, very annoying.

'I was just strolling around the neighborhood,' I answered Raiko in a low voice while keeping my gaze fixed on my toes.

'Look into my eyes,' she roared, 'Here, look into my eyes.' She held my chin tight and raised my head.

'You are hurting me.'

'So be it, you will remember better,' she replied, 'Listen, your brother will be here by this evening. You should not be around him. He is dangerous. I repeat, he is dangerous.'

'No,' I disagreed, 'He is my brother, he won't hurt me. So I will be with him all the time.'

My audacity to counter Raiko's words enraged her, she pushed me away and yelled, 'Okay, go on. Be with him, like if I care.'

I rushed into my room and screamed awful things about her into my pillow. And without any specific intent, I dozed off. And when I woke up that evening, Charlie was already home.

When I came out of my room that evening, I found him in the living room. He was being yelled at by Raiko, I don't quite remember the reason, but that doesn't matter, since more often than not, Raiko has no reason to yell at someone. But I was very excited. At the very first sight of Charlie, I ran towards him and hugged him tightly.

'I missed you, little brother. I missed you a lot.'

'I missed you too,' he replied.

But then we were separated by Raiko. She pulled me aside and yowled, 'If you are so close to him, then for your own good, make him stay away from me and my son. Or else you will pay.'

After Raiko walked away, I told Charlie, 'Don't mind her, Charlie. She is mean to everyone.'

'I know that,' Charlie replied and he pulled out a gleaming smile on his face, 'But her son, Kevin. He is very cute.'

And next morning Raiko found Kevin rotating inside the microwave oven, turned completely into a blackish pulp.

That day everything changed, Raiko stopped yelling at me or anyone in general. She never spoke a word. Whereas my brother Charlie was taken away that day and didn't return yet. My requests with dad to bring him back went in vain, even when the doctors backed me up stating that he was perfectly alright.

According to daddy, Charlie can fake normalcy with ease since he has inherited acting capabilities from our late mother (she was a Broadway actress.) My father was right, his child did inherit mummy's talent. But it was not Charlie.

God!! I hate it when Charlie has to be taken away. It makes me have to pretend to be good until he is back.