Raising Malik almost completely by myself had never been extraordinarily hard.

Well, I wouldn't say it's been only me, raising him. We do have an older brother, Rishid. But he spends most of his time working, trying to give us the money we need to survive in a place like Domino. He's almost like the father-figure of the house, while I'm the mother-figure– despite the fact that the three of us are siblings.

Malik is still very young. He's in his very first year at school. He's a good boy, for his age. He loves Rishid and me very dearly, and he really tries his hardest not to disappoint us.

That being said, receiving a call from one of his teachers in the middle of my lunch hour at the museum, was a bit surprising. She insisted that I come straight down to pick him up. But why? Had something happened? I hope my baby brother wasn't hurt.

I took the rest of the day off– I was grateful that my boss let me. Someone needed to be home with Malik after he was picked up, and it couldn't be Rishid. He works far harder than I do.

I park my car out front and walk into the building, immediately seeing my brother sitting down on a bench in the lobby. I would have gone up to him, but the lady at the security desk was watching me, as if I was some sort of intruder.

"Ms. Ishtar?"

I nodded, in the corner of my eye, watching Malik look up. Something seemed…off about him. I couldn't place my finger on it.

Another woman that was sitting near him stood, clipboard in hand, her expression looking anxious. I have never been more confused. "Why did you call me here?"

"I'm sorry for the trouble, Ma'am, but your son has–"

"He's not my son." I hated it when people made that mistake. I know I looked mature for my age, but still. She looked at me oddly, so I continued. "He's my brother."

"…I see." Was all she said about it. "Well, there seemed to be a small incident, regarding Malik." My eyebrows rose. Small? Why on earth did I have to come down here if it was small? My confusion must have been showing on my face, so she glanced at Malik, trying to explain herself further. "We've had quite a few incidents before this one," She flipped through the papers he was holding. "But he seems to have been growing increasingly more violent over the past few–"

"Violent?" My eyes widened. Well this was new to me. "Why haven't I heard of anything like this before?" I looked to Malik, and he smiling. It was a strange smile though; it didn't look happy.

"Ma'am, most children, especially boys, this age tend to get a bit violent at times. Behavior like that is normal. However, after today, I'm afraid that if his behavior doesn't improve, you're going to have to withdraw him from the class. Perhaps try another school, or wait one more year before starting him off."

I stared at her, not knowing what to say. Send him somewhere else? That was out of the question. Based on my and Rishid's small salaries, I doubt we'd have the funds to put him elsewhere. Not to mention, this is the closest school to where we live. Anywhere else was absolutely out of the question.

Waiting another year didn't seem too bad. But Malik's already five years old, to wait until he's six to start Kindergarten seems like it would be too late. I shook my head, "I really don't think either of those are an option right now. I'm sure all this is just a huge misunderstanding. Malik's a good boy. I can't imagine what he could have possibly done to make you think otherwise."

"Ms. Ishtar…" She stopped, and I crossed my arms, waiting for her to go on. "He tried to strangle one of the other children."

I–

What.

What.

"We're not sure where he's learned this sort of behavior from," She continued, eyeing me carefully. "But you need to see to it that this behavior is put to a complete stop. It is dangerous to the children, and people, around him."

I couldn't believe it. Malik was so sweet at home; I couldn't ever imagine him strangling another child. Even while angry. "Could you please tell me what happened. I'm having an incredibly hard time imagining my little brother doing such a thing."

"Ma'am, if you don't believe me, you could ask the other teacher in the room. The whole class had–"

I felt my patience with her slipping. "I never said I wouldn't believe you. I just want to know what happened."

"Ah," She said. "I'm not sure of what brought it on. You're probably better off trying to hear what Malik has to say about it. Everyone was having quiet time one minute, and then the next, two or three of the children started screaming, and Malik had his hands around Joey's neck, choking him." She sighed. "We had the hardest time pulling them apart, too. Joey's in the infirmary, at the moment."

I put my head down, almost ashamed of my brother's actions. "I'm sorry." I still had a hard time believing it, but I wasn't about to argue with them. "Would you mind if I just collected my brother, and left?"

"Of course you may." She nodded. "However…I wouldn't recommend bringing him back here until you manage to work through this little problem." She didn't even give me a chance to respond. "Best of luck." She turned, her heels clicking down the hallway as she disappeared.

As soon as she was out of sight, I turned to my brother. "Malik, come on. We have a lot to talk about later."

He didn't even move. He just stared at me. Blankly. It made me a bit nervous. "Malik?"

Still nothing. "Come one, Mali–"

"Don't call me that."

I blinked. Did he just…? "What?"

"Don't. Call me. Malik." He said slowly, as if I was the five year old. "I'm Mariku."

Again, I was speechless. The way he was looking at me made me incredibly uncomfortable.

I don't know who he was, this "Mariku". But he wasn't my baby brother.

Called Coin, because Malik and Mariku are like two sides of the same coin, HAHA get it.

idk