Disclaimer: Dude, if I was Aaron Sorkin then I would be both cooler and richer than I am now.
A/N. This was written for Jae Gecko's 500-word Defining Moment Challenge. You can see the other entries at http://www.jaegecko.com/defining. This story is, sappily enough, dedicated to my dad, who has always tried his best and is, I think, very like Charlie.
Guardian, by soupytwist"Charlie, you can look after Deena, right?"
That first time he didn¹t want to; little kids annoyed him. They were there to make fun of, and to feel superior to, if you believed the guys in the schoolyard. If he¹d had his way, he would¹ve been outside with his friends, probably playing some ball. It was a hot, stuffy afternoon, and he had much better things to do than look after his little sister.
"Okay, mom."
The problem, obviously, was that he had recently realised that if he didn¹t look after Deena, nobody else would. His mom was always busy. He was proud of her, of course; she worked harder than any other mom he knew, and made sure the family had enough, which not all families did. But all the working to make sure the Youngs could go to school with their heads held high meant somebody got stuck watching Deena, and the somebody was pretty much always him.
"You make sure Deena¹s in bed in an hour, okay?"
"Okay."
He did, too. Charlie knew he wasn¹t the quickest with a ball, and he was only usually top of his grade, but being the responsible one was something he seemed to be naturally good at. He didn¹t forget to turn off the stove after making a snack or anything stupid like that. He¹d been mortified when his mom came home early to find him still reading a bedtime story, an hour after Deena was supposed to be in bed. He¹d made very sure that wouldn¹t happen again.
"You can bake cookies or something, if you need something to do, yeah?"
Gradually, as Deena grew up, Charlie began to realise that he actually liked looking after her. She needed it less and less, but his mom never stopped asking him and he never stopped doing it.
"Charlie, you can look after Deena, right?"
That would be the last thing she¹d ever say to him. Charlie hadn¹t known that at the time, of course, but later he¹d wonder whether there wasn¹t something subtly different in the intonation that last time, something that showed how much more significance those words would take on. He supposed that really it shouldn¹t matter; he knew the promise he¹d made, even if it hadn¹t always been in words. That should be enough.
College was out now, for a while at least. He¹d been working to save up for it, but he had more important things to do with that money now. He didn¹t mind, exactly, since he figured he¹d get there in time. It would just take a little longer, was all, once his family (which now, he realised, just meant Deena) was OK.
But he did notice that sometimes, when she was complaining about the school work she had to do, Deena would often stop mid- rant, then give him this look before dissolving into silence. It was kind of irritating, really, but it didn¹t matter, not in the scheme of things. It was worth it.