He started to laugh sardonically, then moaned, and placed a hand on his ribs. They were probably bruised. Mohawk had been wearing some pretty heavy boots.
“No, they’ll just make me report it to the office. I’ll be fine.”
With an eye roll, I stepped away. “I will get it and tell them it is for me. I’ll say I have cramps or something. Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
I didn’t give him a chance to argue, I just turned and walked away. A minute later, I was about to pass the ticket table and stopped. Torn, I glanced back at Randy, who had already been joined by a couple of other boys. He’d survive. He owed me anyway.
I quickly bought my ticket to the game, then continued on to the health office.
Thankfully, they were busy. Which meant they did not question me when I told them I slammed my fingers in the bathroom stall door and needed an ice pack - odds were I would actually need one for cramps next week. They just reached into a drawer and grabbed one. They twisted it a few times and then handed the disposable ice pack to me before turning to the next kid.
Randy was laughing with his friends when I returned, like nothing had happened. I walked up and shoved the ice pack on his eye, a little roughly, making the other boys laugh.
Randy caught my hand as I moved to leave them. He smiled softly and squeezed my wrist with affection. “Thanks, Fi. You’re the best sister.”
He was a butthead. I melted and smiled back, giving him a small nod. It was nice to see a small glimpse of the boy I used to know.
The bell rang not much later, before I even had a chance to grab something to eat. I jogged over to one of the kids who I knew sold snacks out of his backpack and handed him one of the few bills I had left in exchange for a bag of chips. All he had left was plain Cheetos. Which I was fine with since I didn’t care for the hot ones anyway.
After school, Katia waited near my class anxiously. We had separate lunches, so I hadn’t seen her since our first-period class ended. I lifted my game ticket up and she squealed. I laughed with her as we boarded the bus home. I didn’t mention anything about Randy or the debt I paid for him. I didn’t want to do anything that would ruin her day.
That night, I stood on the sidelines with her parents. All three of us recorded with our phones, while Katia belted out the National Anthem at the first round of finals. The crowd cheered - because my best friend had the best voice in the world. It had nothing to do with me being biased either - which I totally was - she had tried out and earned her placement there.
We left before the game even started. Her parents surprised us both by taking us out to eat. Their treat. I sighed with relief. Katia never needed to know my brother almost ruined her night. She wasn’t his biggest fan to begin with. Never had been. I didn’t really know why, nor did I care. It didn’t affect my relationship with either of them.
Randy ended up getting his arm broken a few weeks later.
By the same guy.
Sadly, they both knew who would pay the debt.
I was grateful when my brother left for college at the end of the school year. I still had two more years to go, but I had my plans. As soon as I turned 16, I got a work permit from school and started working at a local movie theater. I was planning to save everything I could up for college. I worked as often as they would let me.
I thought I would get a reprieve once Randy was gone. I thought I would no longer have to be his keeper, paying off his debts.
I thought wrong.
I had already started a bad habit of helping him out.
No one but me knew about his gambling problem, and I wanted to keep it that way. I just had to keep faith that eventually he would kick the habit.
