"Era! You're back!"
Era laughed gaily. "Stop! Don't run or you might fall!"
"Your brother?" The taxi driver asked as he handed her change.
Era beamed with pride. "Yes, he is."
The taxi driver nodded. "He looks so happy to see you. You two must have a very good relationship. Your parents must be so happy."
Era made a show of fixing the strap of her backpack over her shoulder to hide the tears that suddenly appeared in the corner of her eyes when the taxi driver commented about her parents.
"Hmm…thank you and be safe," she said, turning around and quickly wiping the corner of her eyes before her younger brother would jump on her as if he wasn't already taller than her at age twelve.
"Hey! Are you trying to kill me?" She feigned anger, hitting her brother's shoulder. "You're just too old to do that."
Jake pouted his lips and said. "How could you say that? Am I not your baby brother anymore?" He asked with fake sadness in his eyes.
Era stared straight into her younger brother's eyes which were so different from hers. His was black just like their parents while hers was soft gray. She always wears black contact lenses whenever she is out but today, she did not wear any because she was wearing her fake nerdy glasses, and her eyes weren't noticeable. The color of her eyes wasn't noticeable in them.
"Is Ma home?"
"She's not. Her boss had asked her to stay because there were a lot of customers in the restaurant."
Era ruffled Jake's hair when the smile on his face faded away. She nodded acknowledging what he said the reason why their mother wasn't home yet. She had no plan to tell him that their mother wasn't at the restaurant washing dishes at this hour. She was at the karaoke place across from the restaurant where she was working as a cleaner.
What Jake said was the same reason her mother had told her when she had asked her once why she had been coming very late at night from the restaurant. She did not believe her but she let her have her reason. However, the next night, she waited for her mother near the restaurant where she was working, and half an hour later, she came out from her usual time at the restaurant. She crossed the street and entered the back door of the karaoke place.
She didn't have to know what she was doing there. There was very little work there that she could have done, especially since she could not speak the English language. Her mother, when they had immigrated to the US, refused to learn the language, saying she was too old to learn a new one, hence, she could not get other jobs other than those where she did not have to meet anyone to talk to her.
"Did you cook dinner?" She asked, ruffling Jake's curly hair again.
"Stop it, sis!" He said with real annoyance this time. He hated his unruly hair and because she knew, she made it a point to mess up his hair to piss him off.
"Did you cook dinner?" She asked again, ignoring his irritation. It made her happy to see him irritated at her.
"Yes! I cooked your favorite stir fry noodles with tons of veggies because I knew you won!" He whispered as he pushed the rusty gate of their small house, tucked between neighbors' houses.
Era gave her brother a warning look. No one is home and no one can hear them talking right now but she's hellbent on keeping her secrets a secret.
Her father had found out about her racing before and he had made her promise not to do it ever again. She promised him and it pained her that she could not keep that promise.
Jake, just like their father had accidentally found out that she was racing because he went to one of her illegal street races. She was so mad at him for being there because he was not supposed to be there, and the same with her. She wasn't allowed to be there.
They had a stare-down that night. In the end, the two of them agreed to keep each other's secret, especially hers.
"I can pay some of Pa's hospital bills with it."
"I wish I could help you too."
Era stopped her step and faced Jake who looked dejected.
"Listen to me, Jake," she said, tilting her brother's chin for their eyes to meet. "You're helping a lot. You're the one that stays in the hospital whenever Pa has to be confined or has to have his check-up. You're the one who takes care of Pa here at home. And on top of that, you're doing really well at school."
Era kissed her brother's cheeks–one after the other, "you are doing more than enough."
"Tch," he rubbed the spots his older sister kissed, clicking his tongue in fake annoyance. "I'll go buy a soda."
Era watched Jake escape to the store. She knew that he was getting emotional, hence, he left. Things are getting harder and harder nowadays. Their father's stay in the hospital was getting longer and longer and the medicines he had to take were growing.
And with all of it, the bills are piling up and their debts go with it as well. There are fewer and fewer people that are willing to lend them money without an unreasonable percentage but despite it all, they don't have any other choice. They need to survive.
She looked up at the night sky and exhaled a deep sigh. If only I had a lot of money, she thought to herself as she walked into the house.
Their problem could be solved easily if she had money. She could take her father to a bigger and better hospital, with better doctors. Her mother didn't have to take two jobs, working so hard to earn money that just ended up paying their debts that were just accumulating instead of getting paid.
Jake can go to school without worries. He could have fun with his friends without worries about money.
"If only I had a lot of money," she told the empty house when she pushed the door open.