The Brother I Yielded

After my fathers bankruptcy and suicide, my older brother and I were left to raise each other.
At our lowest, we scavenged for scraps and slept under bridges. When my brother finally fought his way back to reclaim our family's business, the first thing he did was swear to me that he would never let me suffer again.
But then, he adopted a sister from an orphanage.
From that day on, the words I heard most from him were, "Jade is the younger sister. You need to be the bigger person and let her have her way."
And so, my room, my clothes, my jewelryall of it was given to Jade.
Later, the thugs Jade hired beat me so badly I lost hearing in my right ear.
But my brother still told me to just let it go.
So, I found myself a new brother.
And then
I let her have him, once and for all.

1
My brother called to say he couldnt pick me up again.
I stood at the school gate, a desperate tremor running through me. My voice was thick with unshed tears.
"Bob but you promised."
"You promised youd come get me yourself today."
His voice on the other end was laced with that familiar, weary frustration.
"I know, but Jade suddenly felt sick. Nora, be a good girl and take the bus home, okay?"
"I have to take her to the hospital."
I glanced at the group of thugs loitering nearby, their eyes fixed on me. My throat felt like it was closing up.
"But Bob, I need you, too."
"Don't you understand? If you don't show up, they're going to"
Theyre going to kill me.
But before I could finish, Bobs voice turned sharp.
"Nora, why are you being so selfish? Your sister has a fever and all you can think about is competing for attention?"
"Cant you, as the older sister, just let her have this?"
The injustice of it stung my eyes.
There it was again. That same old line. Let your sister have her way.
But I was only six months older than Jade.
Did he even realize?
Ever since Jade came into our lives, I had already given her everything.

2
Jade was a child my brother adopted from an orphanage.
The director told us her parents had both died in a car accidentthe same way our mother had died. That was all it took. In that instant, Bob decided he had to take her in.
He was always saying, "Look, Nora. Poor Jade. Shes all alone, just like we were."
"So from now on, you'll be the bigger person for her, won't you?"
But I never understood. How much did I have to give? How much did I have to let go of before Jade would finally be satisfied? I didnt understand why, after I had tried so hard to be kind to her, she still looked at me with such venom.
She loved destroying everything I cared about.
She tore up my sketches.
She whined to Bob until he gave her my favorite piano.
She snatched the birthday present he had originally bought for me.
But I let it all go. I took my brothers words to heart, convincing myself it was just a little girls insecurity. She needed to feel important, to prove her place in our home by winning these small battles against me.
Until she smashed the pocket watch our father had left me and took scissors to the doll our mother had sewn by hand. Until she scrawled the word WHORE all over my bedroom walls in permanent marker.
I couldnt take it anymore. I ran to my brother, sobbing.
But Bob, the brother who had always doted on me, just looked at the tearful Jade and sighed. "Nora, she only did it because she feels insecure."
"She's your little sister. Cant you just let it go, please?"
"I promise, it won't happen again."
I stared at him in disbelief, questioning the very meaning of the words "let it go" for the first time. I didnt understand. I was barely older than her. Why did I have to surrender everything?
If I had to give up the only keepsakes I had of our parents, did that mean that from now on, anything Jade wanted, I would have to give to her?

3
Before I could even begin to process that question, Jade found a new way to torment me.
She started spreading rumors about me at school.
She paid a group of thugs to make my life a living hell.
This was the fourth time this month they had cornered me at the school gate. They would drag me, alone and terrified, into a nearby alley and grind a boot into my face. Theyd aim their kicks at my stomach, again and again, their words a cruel litany.
"Don't mess with our boss, Jade."
"You idiot. Jade's the real heiress of the Blackwood Corporation. You think you can touch her?"
"You deserve to be beaten to death."
"No," Id try to explain through the pain. "You have it wrong. Jade is the adopted one. I'm the real Blackwood heiress."
"You've all been tricked. Let me go."
"My brother, Bob Blackwood, will destroy you for this."
But they never believed me.
It only made them hit me harder.
After all, compared to Jade, who was always dripping in designer labels, my simple, plain appearance made me look like the charity case.
It wasn't that I hadn't asked my brother for help.
I begged him to pick me up from school, just once, so those thugs could see who the real heiress was. Every time, hed promise.
And every time, just when I needed him most, Jade would have some emergency.
A stomachache. A fever. A sudden craving for a cake from a bakery on the other side of town.
It was always something.
In my brother's eyes, every little thing Jade wanted was more important than his own sister's safety.
My thoughts snapped back to the present, and I realized my face was wet with tears. I clutched the phone, a scream of frustration building in my throat.
But before I could voice any of it, he cut me off, his patience gone. "Nora, you already have everything. You have the family name, you have me. Why cant you just let Jade have something?"
"You're being so childish."
"Look, Jade's stomach is hurting again. I have to go."
The line went dead, and my heart went dark along with the phone screen.
I watched, paralyzed, as the thugs closed in on me.
And I plunged into absolute despair.

4
Bob didn't come. The thugs thought I'd been playing them for fools.
They beat me harder than ever before.
One of them, a girl named Jenna who was Jades most loyal follower, drove the heel of her shoe into the side of my head.
In an instant, the world went silent, replaced by a single, piercing shriek that tore through my nerves.
I thought I heard someone gasp.
"Oh god, her ear is bleeding!"
"Is she deaf?"
"Jenna, are you crazy? You cant kick her with a heel like that! What if you kill her?"
Jennas voice was casual, unconcerned.
"So what if she dies? Jade said she'd handle it."
"She's the Blackwood heiress. She can clean up any mess."
Jenna smirked, her eyes gleaming with a cruel satisfaction.
"Well, since one ear is already bleeding, I might as well make it a matching set."
Her high heel swung towards my left ear.
I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the agony. But it never came.
A figure shot out of the shadows, sending Jenna sprawling with a single, powerful kick.
"You little punks! Bullying people on my turf? You got a death wish?"
A voice, rough but steady, cut through the ringing in my head.
"Hey, kid. Don't fall asleep. Your big bro's gonna get you to a hospital right now."
My big bro?
He must be. No wonder he was so strong, so fearless. He was taking down the same thugs who terrified me, scattering them like bowling pins.
I remembered, before Jade, when the vultures in our family couldnt get to Bob, they came after me. They hired men to kidnap me, but Bob fought like a cornered animal to save me, again and again.
Life was so good then.
In Bob's eyes, in his heart, there was only me.
But then everything changed.
Suddenly, I was being lifted into a surprisingly secure embrace. The person holding me was saying something about a hospital. I fought to open my eyes, to see his face, but all I could make out was a dragon tattoo on his arm and a shock of bleached-blond hair.
Then, the world faded to black.

5
I woke up in a hospital.
For once, my brother had actually left Jades side to come see me.
He sat by my bed, his face etched with exhaustion and worry, his expression pained.
I watched his lips move for a long time before I could piece together what he was saying.
A kind stranger had brought me to the hospital just in time.
I was alive.
But the trauma to my right ear was too severe.
I would never hear out of it again.
Tears flooded my eyes. I remembered when I was little, my mom would stroke my hair and say, "Nora, my little pianist, you have to remember that a good musician doesn't just protect her hands. She must also protect her ears. Music is the art of hearing."
But Mom, I havent played the piano in so long.
Not since the day Jade cried and took it from me.
And now, because of her, I had lost my hearing in one ear forever.
I watched Bob break down in front of me, his apologies a torrent of self-recrimination. But strangely, I felt nothing.
He said he was wrong. He said he never knew anyone would actually try to hurt me. He thought it was just a trip home; what could happen if he didnt pick me up? And besides, Jade was really sick. He couldnt just leave her.
He was drowning in a sea of his own excuses, but none of them could change the fact that my hearing was gone. The tiny bones in my ear were shattered. Even a hearing aid wouldn't work.
I stared out the window at the autumn leaves for a long time, then I picked up my phone.
"No more crying, Bob. If you're really so sorry," I typed, "then let's get justice."
Right there, in front of him, I reported the assault to the police. Then I handed over all the audio recordings I had secretly made.
The officer played one of the recordings for him.
He listened to the thugs bragging about how Jade was the Blackwood heiress, how she would cover for them even if they killed me.
A violent shudder went through Bobs body.
He gripped my hand, his knuckles white, and said through gritted teeth, "Nora, don't worry. Even if it was Jade, I swear to you, I will make the people who did this to you pay in blood."
I looked him straight in the eye.
"Bob," I typed. "This is the last time I will ever trust you."
"So please, don't let me down."
He met my gaze, his own unwavering for once, and nodded. Then he left with the police.
I let myself sink back into the pillows, surrendering to the crushing exhaustion. I was so, so tired.
Just before I drifted off, it occurred to me that Bob had never told me who my rescuer was.
But it didn't matter.
When I was better, I would find him and thank him myself.
I remembered the tattoo on his arm, and that bright, defiant blond hair.
And I knew, somehow, that he was a good big brother.

6
With proper care, my wound began to heal.
My lawyer kept bringing me good news. Because of my recordings, Jenna and the other thugs were all arrested. The police had even tracked down the person who hired them. Since they were all over sixteen, they would be tried as adults and sentenced.
Everything seemed to be getting better.
I was happy, and my body healed faster.
But a nagging feeling of unease lingered.
That feeling reached a crescendo the day I was discharged from the hospital.
There, in the middle of our living room, stood the mastermind herself. The person I had imagined was locked away in a cellJade.
She turned as I walked in, a wide, triumphant smile spreading across her face. Holding a mango cakemy deadliest allergyshe walked towards me.
"Welcome home, big sister," she cooed. "I made this cake just for you. Come and have a slice."
I stared at Bob, my voice cracking.
"Isn't she the one who planned it all?"
"Shouldn't she be in jail?"
"What is she still doing here?"
Bob wouldn't meet my eyes, hesitating. It wasnt until he saw Jades eyes well up with tears that he finally spoke. "Nora, I didn't tell you because I didn't want to upset you while you were recovering."
"But your injury it really had nothing to do with Jade."
"She just has a fragile ego. She might have mentioned her connection to our family to those people, and they just assumed she was the heiress."
"As for the assault, it was that Jenna girl. Apparently, she saw you bullying Jade at school and wanted to impress her by teaching you a lesson. She just got carried away and didn't realize how hard she was hitting you"
"Bob," I cut him off, my voice dangerously calm. I looked at him in utter disbelief. "They told you that, and you actually believed them?"
He shot me a disapproving look.
"Nora, it's not just what they said. I saw it myself."
"Look how much Jade cares about you. She was up at the crack of dawn baking this cake for you. Look, she even burned her hands."
He held up Jades hand for me to see.
"Someone who cares about you this much, who loves you, how could she possibly hire people to hurt you?"
"On the other hand, who knows what you were doing to her behind my back at school to make people misunderstand like that."
His words were so absurd I almost laughed.
I pointed at Jade. "Bob, you say she cares about me? That she loves me?"
"If she loves me so much, how could she not know I'm deathly allergic to mangoes?"
"Look, out of all the fruits in the world, she just happened to pick the one that could kill me. Is that what you call caring?"
Bobs gaze flickered to Jade, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.
But it vanished as quickly as it appeared. "Nora, you're overthinking it. She just forgot. If you don't like the cake, we also made your favorite sweet and sour ribs, and coke-braised chicken wings"
A tear slid down my cheek.
He had forgotten again.
The person who loved sweet and sour ribs and coke-braised chicken wings wasn't me.
It was Jade.
I closed my eyes, a wave of hopelessness washing over me. "Fine. Let's say she really did forget about the allergy."
"But do you honestly think I'm in any position to bully her?"
"They tell you I bullied her at school, and you just believe them. But have you ever seen a bully end up like me?"
"Bob, I'm begging you, open your eyes and look! What do I even have left in this house?"
"My piano, my favorite thing in the worldyou made me give it to her because she said she wanted to learn."
"My bedroom, the big, sunny oneyou said Jade was used to small, damp rooms, so you made me switch with her. Now I'm the one living in the small, dark room."
"My clothes, my jewelry from Mom everything that was good in this house is now hers."
"Even you! How many times did I beg you to pick me up from school? Did you think those thugs only attacked me once? No! Every single time you promised to come and then broke that promise for Jade, they beat me like a stray dog. All because of this this bitch you protect!"

7
CRACK.
His hand struck my face.
The impact sent a shockwave of pain through my still-healing ear.
I dont know if it was the pain or the heartbreak, but the tears started flowing faster.
Bob looked at me with utter disappointment.
"You say you don't bully your sister? You call her a bitch right to my face. I can only imagine what you do behind my back."
"You say you've given everything to Jade, but don't you get it? You're the true master of this house. When you grow up, everything here will be yours."
Jade smirked at my swollen cheek. "That's right, sister."
"You're Bob's real sister. I'm just a pathetic nobody that no one wanted. I'm grateful for every bowl of rice this family gives me."
"Please, don't be angry with Bob."
"If you care so much about the jewelry and clothes and the room, I'll give it all back to you right now"
"That's enough!" Bob grabbed Jade's hand, his eyes locked on me. "You say I'm biased? Fine. I'll show you what biased looks like."
"Mr. Davison, take her credit cards."
"Jade, you don't have to listen to a word she says."
"And Nora," he snarled, "if you can't recognize your own mistakes and offer your sister a sincere apology, then I'll help you recognize them."
I saw the cold fury in his eyes and suddenly, I laughed.
In that single, crystalline moment, the brother who had once loved me, protected me, and promised to keep me safe forever was dead.
I knew what he would do. He was going to use the same ruthless tactics on me that he used on his business rivals.
He was going to show me what true favoritism was. What it really meant to give in.
But what more could he do?
Cut off my money? Starve me? Ignore me, belittle me, abuse me?
Throw me out on the street?
And then watch, waiting for me to come crawling back, begging him and Jade for forgiveness.
No.
It shouldn't be like this. I wouldn't allow it.
How could it be that in my own home, I felt like an unwanted guest? That I had to beg my own brother for a scrap of affection like a beggar on the street?
Once, I was my parents treasured child.
It wasn't that I was unlovable.
It was just that the person who was supposed to love me had changed.
If that was the case, then I wouldn't love him anymore either.
Maybe, I could just find someone new to love.
I grabbed my school bag and turned towards the door.
Mr. Davison, our housekeeper who had been wringing his hands anxiously, rushed to stop me. "Miss Nora, what are you doing?"
"You're just a young girl. Where will you go if you leave home?"
But Bobs voice, choked with rage, cut him off. "Let her go!"
"Let's see how far she gets with not a single penny to her name!"
"Jade, let's go."
"Allergic? A heartless person like her doesn't deserve to eat the cake you made!"
As his furious shouts echoed behind me, I opened the front door and walked out.
A fine, misty rain was falling.
I had forgotten to take an umbrella, but I had no intention of going back for it.
The door slammed shut behind me with the force of a guillotine.
I smiled.
He really was done with me.
But that was okay.
I had my own two hands and my own two feet.
I wouldnt starve.

8
I walked aimlessly through the light rain, with no idea where to go.
My cards were cancelled. I had fifty dollars in my pocket. After my fathers bankruptcy, I had no other family in this city. I was still on medical leave from school for another ten days, and I didn't have a dorm room. Even if I went there, they'd just turn me away.
I wandered for what felt like hours, until I found myself in front of an internet cafe.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door and walked up to the front desk, where a guy with bleached-blond hair and a dragon tattoo on his arm was managing the counter.
"Hi," I asked. "How much for an all-night pass?"
He didn't even look up from his game.
"Twenty. Thanks."
And just like that, I had a pass. I chose a computer right next to his station. Somehow, it felt safer.
This wasnt how it was supposed to happen.
In the hospital, I had planned out exactly how I would thank him. How I would thank the anonymous hero who saved a girl from being beaten to death. He had dropped me at the hospital and left without even giving his name.
I'd had to do some digging to find out who he was. My plan was to bring Bob with me to thank him properly. If he needed money, we'd give him a huge sum. If he needed a job, Bob would help him. We could even buy him a car, a house.
But now, I was just a homeless girl.
I didn't even have the courage to tell him who I was.

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