Twinfestation

"He was outside....eating?" Repeating the sentence over and over in my head didn't help make any sense of it. What kind of Japanese is this!? I eat outside all the time, what's wrong with it? Someone wouldn't braek up with me because I like to enjoy a egg-roll in the sun.....would they?

Maybe I should stop eating outside.

"That's enough of that for now." I pushed my intern work aside and opened my book bag to do some homework.

Being an intern is....frustrating. It's not that I don't like it, I like it just fine. And it's not as if I don't know what I'm doing, I know precisely what it is that I'm doing, it's just that there's too much of it. I mean, how am I supposed to translate several poorly written manuscripts, spell check several pre-translated manuscripts, write a report on why I did what on each, and get my school work done? I'm only sixteen, I can't do that much!

Niichan usually does my homework, until recently that is. It's not that I pay him or anything, he just offered one day and has been doing so ever since. In return, I do all the chores our mom has us do. I'm not too good with school, but I can cook anything from Mi Fun, to fried ice cream.

But lately I've been working on becoming more independent with....everything. I'm sixteen, I should be able to memorize the periodic table of elements, know the consequences of trench warfare, and be able to find out what C is when A is seven and B is twenty-three. I should also be able to go to the store without having to get a ride from Niichan, and be able to stand up for myself when someone wants to harass me. I won't have Salem forever.

I guess growing up with constant money really does have a effect on what you can and can't do for yourself, no matter how much our mother tried to reject that theory. It's kind of hard to believe when the only example of that I have is Niichan. He's fine with everything, grades, being social, self-defense. The only thing it seams he can't do is cook and clean after himself. Which isn't any different from most teenage boys.

So I guess the way we work things out is good, considering those are the only two things I am good at. Unless you count being flexible as a skill. Sometimes I think I should have taken kickboxing instead of gymnastics, like Niichan.

As soon as my eyes hit the paper, I knew I couldn't do it. A wave of numbers and letters hit me so hard it almost knocked the breath out of me. Row after row, problem after problem, incomprehensible lines one after another headed into my eyes and crammed into my skull, pushing against the edges and threatening to burst.

I took a deep breath "It's just like adding.....with letters." If only I could add correctly.

Realizing the answer wouldn't just pop into my head, I tried to work out each problem bit by bit. But working each problem out wasn't a method I was great at. Actually, no method was a method I was good at. Not only am I dyslexic, but I'm just no good with school except when it comes to English, and even then half the time I can't do it because I can't read it. Eventually the frustration got to me.

"Nope, I can't do this." I banged my head on the table over and over, trying to clear my head but only giving myself a more severe headache "Who the hell put letters in math!? Who the hell can't writing Japanese properly!? And why the hell is this shirt to itchy!? What is this made of!?"

I felt something go down by back and froze. It kept going lower and lower, stopping every few inches. Then I could feel it on my leg and my stomach. "Fuckfuckshit, they're on me."

Tearing off my cloths, I cautiously searched for any sign of a bug or of anything that even remotely looked like one. Nothing was there. Only a pile of clothes next to the homework I couldn't do and the manuscript I didn't understand.

"Why can't I do this!?" Dropping everything, I put in a anime and went to the kitchen.

No matter how bad I wanted to be independent, I knew as soon as he stepped foot into my room that I'd completely crash if it wasn't for my brother. Crying into his shoulder like a coward, I was once again glad that I was granted with him and no one else. Can you honestly say that anyone you know would sit there and listen to someone yell about the same old shit over and over?

And over and over again, as soon as he started talking I believed everything would be okay. Sometimes I didn't listen to what he was saying, like this time, only listened to his voice and nodded, knowing that whatever he said it'd be okay. Because this is Niichan, Salem, he'd make everything better. He'd help me with my homework no matter how much he has of his own, he'd sit there and read over my report to correct the many spelling errors, he'd drive me to the store when I need to go because I have no license.

No matter what he said, I knew it was all going to be okay, and clinging to him I knew that as long as I had this brother, I'd never be in any trouble. Even when I grow up and get married and he moves to New York to get married, he'd make everything okay, even a million miles away he would. Because that's what big brothers do, whether it be by seven minutes or seven years.

I'm glad that, no matter what, he'll forever be my brother.