"Your brother." She would say. "You have to take care of your brother. I might not be here for you both. You have to keep him safe."
My mother looked like me. Her hair was brown, and matted, like mine. Her eyes were blue, and listless, like mine. She was beautiful, even if her eyes were sunken and her bones showed through her skin. Beautiful, even covered in dirt and fear. I don't know how she managed to smile, but when she clung to me, holding me to her chest and swollen stomach, she did. And sometimes I could too.
My mother and I lived outside, in a caged enclosure usually used for large dogs. She told me when she was taken here, she was pregnant with me and had me here. She said my dad had been killed by the Man here. I felt sorry for my brother; the Man had made my mother pregnant with him. His father would be a devil. But mother said I still should care for my brother. Because, she said "Its not his fault he's being born. He needs to be protected. You have to protect him. Keep your brother safe."
Keep him safe.
When I woke up my mother was screaming. I could tell she wasn't trying to, trying her best to keep silent, but childbirth isn't easy.
"Babydoll… Your brother is coming… You need to remember what I told you…" She hissed. Her face was covered in sweat and she was pale. I didn't understand. I rested my head on her shoulder and she hugged me, trying to squeeze away her pain. Tears rand down my face, I didn't know what was happening. "Its okay babydoll… its gonna be okay." She would whisper between cries.
Then her arms fell loose around me. I knew she had died, but I was more afraid of why my brother wasn't crying. I crawled, scooping him into my arms. I was still small myself, mom had said I was no more than five, though she wasn't completely sure. It was hard to keep track of time.
I tore the cord with a rock and cradled my brother, who was pale, almost blue, underweight and completely silent. His hair was silvery gray. I shook badly with fear, unsure of what to do, trying to keep him warm. Was he breathing? Was he even alive? I held my breath and listened; he breathed, just barely. He was so frail.
This was when the Man came outside. I wrapped my arms around my brother tightly, desperately trying to keep him to myself, distrusting of what He would do to him. But I was small, and he was big, and he pried him from me with force, causing my brother to start crying. I screamed, and wailed, but there was no use. Only a few minutes into his life and I had already failed him and the promise I made to him, and to my mother. He took my brother into the house, and I would be forced to wait and see.