"At least it won't hurt anymore," she said while plucking out thorn that her brother had pierced into his hand. "Mina, will we ever see mom again?" The little boy asked.

"I don't know James, hopefully once she's all better."

The little boy got up and ran towards the playground. "What should I make for dinner? I only have $20 for food this week." She mumbled to herself. "I need another job." As soon as she said that a man that had been sitting nearby heard her. Hey, my name is John. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you say that you needed a job? I actually own that restaurant." He said while pointing to a building across the street. "If you'd like we could have an interview right now."

"Thank you so much sir, but I'm here with my brother and I don't want to leave him here unattended." she smiled while starting to walk away.

"You can drop by at any time! The offer will still stand."

"Thank you, I'll think about it!" she grinned and headed towards her brother. Both kids walked down the street to their rundown house. After eating some vegetables, she had received from her elderly neighbor, she put her brother to bed. Lying next to him the man she had met earlier that day came to mind. "I do need money and he just offered me a job, why did I say no? I hope he does not think I'm a brat. I'll go to the restaurant tomorrow after school." Suddenly something else interrupted her thoughts.

"MINA. MINA WHERE ARE YOU?"

It was her dad. Once again, he had stumbled back home drunk from the bar.

"I'm right here dad. What do you want?" she sighed while

"Do not speak to me like that. Who the hell do you think you are?!" He hissed while grabbing a handful of her hair and yanking it back. "Where is my dinner? I'm starving." The man said while patting his big round belly.

"I'm sorry I didn't think you'd come home tonight so I didn't make you anything."

"You are an idiot!" he shouted while throwing a plate in her direction. After storming out of the house.

Mina got up heading back to her room. "Good, he didn't wake up." She thought to herself. The next day Mina got up and walked her brother to his school. It was less than a mile away which was convenient for her. After dropping her brother off she walked for another 30 minutes to get to her school. Waiting for her outside of the building was her best friend, Maya.

"Come to the party with me! It's the party of the year we can't miss it."

"I don't know Maya; I have a lot to do this weekend. Plus, I have to go talk to a man that offered me a job at his restaurant."

"Fine, but if you don't go, I'll never talk to you again." She declared.

After school Mina headed to pick up her brother from the after-school program she had signed him up for. He only stayed there until she was out of school. After dropping him off at her elderly neighbor's house she headed off to the restaurant. Mrs. Eileen was always nice to them. She would watch James while Mina went to work. When she arrived at the restaurant, she opened the door and found the man she had met earlier sitting at the front desk.

"Oh hey, you're the girl from the park!" He got up heading to greet her.

"Oh yes, my name is Mina. I'm here to talk to you about the job offer. I am interested in applying."

"Well I'm glad you stopped by Mina, I need a server. I've been doing fine by myself but recently we've been getting too busy and it's just too much for me to handle on my own."

"I don't have any serving experience, but I am willing to learn."

"Great! You can start tomorrow. Don't worry about the uniform, I'll get you what you need." He grinned.

After leaving the restaurant, Mina was excited about starting her new job. "I think I will make more than I do now." She thought to herself. After picking up her brother from Mrs. Eileen's house they went to their house.

"Are you hungry James?" She asked while opening the fridge

"No, Mrs. Eileen gave me dinner."

Mrs. Eileen was kind to them. She would often give them something to eat so they wouldn't starve.

The next day after school, Mina headed to the restaurant and met with John. He handed her an apron and started training her. After a couple of weeks of working there after school, Mina got used to the routine. She made more money than she did when she worked at her other job. One day Mina had gotten a call from an unknown number, it turns out her mother had overdosed and died. Mina was heartbroken but not surprised. Her mom had left her family because of her addiction. She decided to not tell her brother the news.

Not long after James was born, their mother left. Her dad stepped up and was a decent father for a few years but one day he changed. He began to blame them for her addiction. He took out all his anger on Mina and endured it all so her brother would not have to.

Eventually she dreaded going to work but she still went. She needed the money. Not only for her but for her brother. How was she going to feed him if she didn't make money? Her dad barely made enough to cover the rent. That is why she still showed up to work. She put up with the touching. John had begun to touch her. It was hell for her, but she knew that if she said something, he would fire her. Every time he laid a finger on her she screamed internally. She couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to run out screaming for help, but she couldn't. She was stuck.

John's touching got worse, and it became more frequent. At first, she did try to defend herself but John did not like that. He said he would fire her if she said something. Mina could not afford to be fired. She needed the money, so, she put up with it.

"He's just touching me. Nothing more. I'll be fine, I can endure it." Mina consoled herself.

Her friend, Maya, had left the country to go study in France and because of the time zones they did not keep much contact. Mina was alone and she felt it. Her only motivation to keep going was her brother. Eventually, Mina got used to her new routine.

Wake up, feed James, get him ready, walk him to school, and go to school

Pick James up and take him to Mrs. Eileen's house

Work a 7 hour shift at the restaurant, get touched, go home

Cook something for James and dad

Put James to bed before he shows up

Endure dad's yelling and occasional discipline

Got to sleep and do it all again tomorrow

DECEMBER

Mrs. Eileen couldn't watch James after school anymore as she was getting older and less capable to taking care of herself. Her son's put her in a nursing home. James insisted on staying home alone after school since he was able to take care of himself. Mina, not knowing what else to do, allowed him to stay home by himself after school while she worked.

"Bye James! I'm heading off to work now. If you need anything call the number that's on the piece of paper that I hung on the fridge." She said while placing a kiss on James' forehead.

"Okay, you can leave now." James exclaimed while playing with a train set that Mina had bought him for his birthday.

8:30 pm

"Hey John, since there's no one else here do you think I could head out early? It's my birthday and I want to spend some time with my brother."

"Oh, today is your birthday? Follow me to my office I have your present back there." He smiled.

9:05 pm

Mina ran home with her shirt and pants torn. Her eyes and cheeks were flooded with tears. All she felt was disgust and pain as she ran. She was in shock. She tried to fight. She tried to run away but it was impossible. He was 3 times her size. It was impossible.

8:25 pm

"James! GetAll in here and start a damn fire." The man slurred his words.

"Yes dad. I'll get the fire started." The little boy said while rubbing his tired eyes.

9:10 pm

"It hurts too much but I have to hurry. I can't let James see me like this." She cried while fixing up her face and hair.

When she turned the corner onto her street all she could see were red lights and big clouds of smoke.

8:45 pm

The flames grew until they touched the ceiling. The father was too drunk and deep into his sleep to notice his own flesh burning. James woke up soon after. Smoke filled the entire bedroom and his lungs as well.

"Mina? Mina...where are you? Please help me." The boy faintly said as he fell into a forever sleep.

9:10 pm

All she could see were the firemen desperately trying to take control of the flames. Despite the pain, she ran as fast as she could toward the house.

"There were two in there but no survivors." said one man to another.

"With those flames I doubted there would be any." Claimed the other man.

"We've got the boy, but he's gone." said a woman while gently placing the tiny body onto the sidewalk.

Mina dropped to her knees next to James. His face was unrecognizable to anyone but her. She clung onto her brother as his flesh burned hers. She sobbed as they pulled her away from her brother's body.

A week later they gave her the ashes of both her and her fathers. She clung onto James' ashes as she walked on the Golden Gate Bridge. She looked over the railing thinking about everything that had happened to her. She was in an imaginable amount of pain. All she could think about was not being home in time to stop the fire. She had failed to protect her brother. She cried as she climbed over the railing.

"At least it won't hurt anymore." She said as she took a step forward.

Pokegirl2017... signing off. It was truly an honour getting to know all of you. Shoutout to Alejandro for motivating me to finish this chapter. Although we may be worlds apart, it was ultimately who kept me writing. In addition, shoutout to the guest who called me an asshole for not finishing (i was literally in a coma lmao)