A/N: Ah, here it is. Chapter 2. Song in parenthesis by Killing Joke. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 2- Little Miss Robin Hood

or:

"Eighties"

January 1986

Two months since the decision to build a treehouse, things were looking up. Henry had managed to find a job working at a fast food restaurant called Bueno Nacho. Though it was a terrible minimum wage job, the Go siblings couldn't have been happier. Henry would get a forty five percent discount on his purchases there. There was more money being brought in - thanks to Christmas being a month ago - and their mother had finally said yes to building a treehouse. They had put the money aside and were halfway there to their goal.

Naturally, their father wasn't happy about it. He had taken it out on the kids, which left Melvin with a bloody nose and Sheila with a throbbing headache. After that happened, their mother went to take the twins to the park and their father stormed out of the house in a frustration, most likely to a bar.

"That'll be time for round two," Melvin said bitterly, tipping his head back while clutching napkins to his nose.

Henry adjusted Melvin's head to come forward. "Don't lean your head back with a bloody nose, you'll choke."

Melvin rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Sheila was given aspirin for her headache. "We'll get there soon enough," she said, more to herself. "Amber's dad will build the treehouse and we'll be safe."

"Thank god you're friends with a popular girl," Melvin sneered in disdain. Sheila's eyes went a little wide in reaction to his hostility. Though it was understandable given recent events, he had been cranky prior to the incident.

Henry frowned a little. "Melo, stop it." Melvin did not speak, instead glaring at Sheila. Their mother assumed it was because he became a teenager in January a week ago, therefore he was supposed to get meaner. She said the same thing happened to Henry, which made the eldest frown. Surely he wasn't that mean.

Sheila definitely knew, though. The true reason behind his moodiness – his classmates weren't particularly kind to him, especially since all of his friends were of the opposite gender. Most of the guys only became friends with other girls if they wanted something more from them, but that wasn't the case for Melvin – he thoroughly enjoyed their company and activities. Therefore, he was an outsider. Henry told Melvin to let him know if he was getting picked on, but Sheila knew that he wasn't going to ever tell him.

She knew he was in pain.

If only there was a way to speed up the process of getting more money…

"Can I take up the paper route job?" Sheila asked hopefully, with a false grin.

Henry wouldn't be swayed. "No way. The neighborhood is dangerous, you know this." Sheila's grin disappeared at an instant, scoffing in frustration.

The scene was being watched by their orange tabby cat named Lizzie, a soft meow was heard, lifting Melvin and Sheila's moods instantly. Henry, however, couldn't care less about the cat. A year ago, the stray cat had ended up on their doorstep, looking particularly vulnerable. Melvin and Sheila fell for the cat's charm instantly and begged Henry and their mother if they could keep her. Henry didn't like the cat because it was another living thing to take care of, but he saw how his siblings were smitten with it, and he figured they might as well have some happiness in their lives.

Thank god their father never hit the cat. He couldn't care less about the cat being there or not. It's not like he was home a lot anyway. Lizzie looked at Melvin and slowly blinked at him and he blinked back with a grin. She meowed again, making her way to Sheila and doing the same thing. Sheila also blinked back. She reached over to pet Lizzie, who purred in return. "It would speed up the process though... think of the other things we could buy." Her eyes gleamed with interest and awe. "Like a radio! When I was at Amber's we were listening to Cyndi Lauper."

Henry rolled his eyes. "Whenever mom and dad are out you hog the TV and listen to Cyndi Lauper. What's the difference?"

Melvin couldn't help but smirk. "Not to mention you dance to it like a total dolt."

"I do not," Sheila argued, her face red. "Like she says, girls just wanna have fun."

"It is a catchy song," Melvin agreed. Slowly, he took the napkins away from his nose. The bleeding has stopped. He threw the napkins away and washed his hands. Lizzie jumped from her position away from Sheila and went over to Melvin, who petted her. "But let's worry about the tree house before we buy a radio. We have to walk before we could run."

"How long do you think we have to deal with headaches and bloody noses?" Sheila asked Henry.

"If we're halfway there..." Henry pondered, mostly to himself. "Probably a few months." Sheila frowned at this; she was growing impatient. She could tell that Melvin was feeling the same way. Henry read both of their minds immediately. "We're going to survive," he reassured.

"Sure," Melvin said dryly.

Henry sighed. "By the way... I have another shift after school tomorrow. Could you guys pick up the twins from daycare?"

"Again?" Melvin and Sheila said at the same time.

"Hey, the more shifts I take the more money we get, and the faster we get the tree house built," Henry pointed out. "So can you guys do it?" He does not trust either of them to go alone at their ages, even in the daytime - the last time Melvin went alone to pick up the twins he was almost robbed and when Sheila went alone two older girls tugged at her hair until she punched them in the face.

"Okay," said Melvin.

"Why can't mom do it?" Sheila muttered under her breath, thinking she wouldn't be heard.

"What was that?" How wrong she was.

But Sheila took the opportunity not to double down, glaring at Henry.

"She gets off from work earlier on Friday's. Why can't she pick the twins up? Why does it have to be Melvin and I?"

"It's... just something that's always been done," Henry said hesitantly. "When you two were in elementary school I was the one who walked home with you."

"Yeah, because when mom said she'd show up to pick us up we were waiting for hours," Sheila snapped irritably. "It was forty degrees out and we were already thin enough as it is, we were going to freeze to death."

"Mom does her best..." Melvin tried to say gently.

Sheila immediately turned on him. "Does she really?"

"You do realize that she's buying the tree house right?"

"No, you're buying the tree house," Sheila corrected Henry.

"She gave us our Christmas money and Birthday money toward the tree house, which is really her money," Henry said, matter of factly. "Be grateful, Shell. Do you realize that mom took the twins to the park just now?"

"It's an act," Sheila retorted.

"Say what you want but that 'act' that she has is the reason that we're not split up."

"It doesn't have to be an act. Maybe if she actually took care of us..."

"Shell, it's good enough that she's letting us buy the tree house. Isn't that what you wanted?" Melvin asked, barely keeping the frustration out of his voice.

Sheila's face grew red in anger but said nothing because it was true. Instead, she changed the topic. "Fine... we'll pick up the twins tomorrow."

Middle school wasn't nice. All the Go siblings - and pretty much anyone with a brain - knew that for a fact. Henry told Melvin and Sheila that in high school it does get better. Sheila doubts this very much because Henry had a growth spurt right before his freshman year and easily became a well-liked guy in his year and even from some upperclassmen, which was why high school wasn't so bad. In middle school, there are three floors of social status formed: The top floor reserved for the popular kids, the middle floor which is known but not really acknowledged, and the bottom floor was for the poorer students and the least popular.

Sheila and Melvin were in the sub-basement.

Melvin would disagree with Sheila being considered at the bottom - at least when it came to popularity. Sheila made friends very easily among other girls in her year that were richer - such as Amber Carmichael and Lucy Weddows. But her best friend was only a little less poor than she was, a loud and expressive girl named Felicity O'Connor. Melvin was friends with them too but that was mainly because he couldn't make friends with other guys. Those are Melvin's only friends, while Sheila floated around easily within the crowd, it was a natural ability she had.

The five of them ended up meeting in front of the school like they always did.

"Thanks again," Sheila said to Amber with a genuine smile. "For the tree house."

"We'll get the money as soon as we can," added Melvin.

Amber waved it off. "No problem! What made you guys decide you wanted a tree house anyway?"

Melvin and Sheila exchanged a nervous look. "Just for a secret base," Sheila said, stretching the truth. It wasn't exactly a lie. "It'll be fun and when the twins grow up they'll have somewhere to play in."

"That does sound fun," marveled Lucy. She leaned in closer, grinning: "I've been listening to Madonna on the radio – Lucky Star is the best song to ever exist. I want to see her live so badly – I think daddy is going to take me one day!"

Sheila became sad. Now she wished she had a radio. "I didn't hear her today. I'm sure she was great."

Melvin rolled his eyes. "No duh, of course she's great."

Felicity smiled at him, her eyes twinkling. "You know Melvin, I think you're the only guy who likes her because of her music, not because she's hot."

"Oh yeah, totally..." Melvin bit his lip, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment over the implication. "That would be rude." Suddenly, the bell rang, signaling for classes to start. He turned to his little sister. "I'll meet you by the front to pick up the twins." With that, he proceeded to leave.

"Your brother's cute," Felicity remarked, watching him go.

Sheila made a face. "Gross, that's my brother."

Felicity rolled her eyes playfully with a grin. "Okay, but he's a cute brother."

"Gross."

"You're picking up the twins again?" Amber asked.

"Henry got a job," Sheila said. "He's taking up more shifts, so Melvin and I have to do it." She left the part out where their mother could've picked them up, the bitter thought sinking into her mind. "It's fine, though. We're getting more money for our tree house."

The warning bell rang.

"See you guys at lunch," Lucy said. She and Amber were in a different homeroom. Sheila and Felicity waved to them and smiled. Once they were out of earshot, Felicity and Sheila began to walk to their homeroom.

"Does he know that I like him?" Felicity asked her hopefully.

Sheila couldn't help but chuckle. "I don't know. He's pretty oblivious to girls."

Felicity sighed dreamily. "Too bad I'm a lowly sixth grader and he's a seventh grader."

"It's only a year's age difference. I have no idea whether or not he likes you. The only thing I know about my brother is that he's the king of snark."

"Ooh, snarky," Felicity cooed, with a catlike smirk.

Sheila shuddered at her best friend. "Ugh, stop..."

As Melvin was making his way to homeroom, a hand yanked him from the side of the hallway and pushed him against the lockers. Melvin winced in pain, he still had that bad bruise on his lower back, it's like the guy knew where to hit him where it hurt. "Ladyboy," the guy sneered at him. Melvin flinched as the usual tormentor faked out a punch, the flinch making him slam his body against the locker again. He closed his eyes, awaiting more pain, but it never came. The tormentor had walked away.

Once Melvin opened his eyes - hesitantly, hoping it was safe - he entered his homeroom.

She had a belly button piercing.

Henry grinned mischievously as Lindsay Greene made her way to the front of the classroom to solve the geometry question on the board. She was pretty; not just in a way where she had a nice face to stare at, she was interesting, too. She had the looks and especially the body. Not to mention that whenever she spoke, it could be the least interesting thing in the world, but if any guy was around, they would listen to her soft infectious voice. She wasn't dumb, but she wasn't smart either; Henry figured her looks, body, and bubbly personality made up for it. Her blonde hair was tied up in a high side ponytail with a bright pink scrunchie - Henry knew she loved scrunchies - with a navel revealing black shirt, which also exposed her shoulders, and ripped blue jeans. She kept up with the latest trends, both the good, and the bad.

Safe to say, Henry hoped that the school wouldn't punish her for violating the dress code.

Lindsay got the geometry problem completely wrong, but she did wink at Henry as she strutted back to her seat.

So it was a win-win.

When the bell rang and Henry left the room, he heard a voice behind him, "You know... you're not subtle at all." The eldest Go sibling turned around to reveal his best friend, Nathan Bentley. Henry scowled and tried walking away, but Nathan wouldn't let him. "Come on dude, yeah, she's totally hot for you, but you need to play hard to get."

Henry crossed his arms. "If she's into me, why should I play hard to get?"

"Girls like that game." Henry learned from the past to not take most advice from Nathan. The last time he listened to Nathan's advice he passed out drunk on the rooftop on a house where a party was held. He had no idea how he got there. "Trust me."

"You've said that in the past, and almost every time I've almost gotten into trouble with the law."

They began to walk side by side. While they did, a couple of guys fist bumped Henry while they walked, greeting each and everyone of them. Nathan laughed, shaking his head. "Okay but this is Lindsay Greene. You have millions of girls to pick from, but Lindsay is the best. Tell me I'm wrong."

"You're not wrong," Henry said, though it pained him to admit it. "But that doesn't mean I listen to your advice."

Nathan scowled. "Your loss." The bell rang. "I gotta go... Let me know how this whole Lindsay thing will crash and burn." He turned around and walked the other way.

Henry smirked and called after him, "Oh I know it won't, you'll see!"

"...Henry?" Speaking of the devil, Lindsay appeared right in front of his very eyes, smirking at him. Henry hoped to god that she hadn't been listening to their conversation. "Hey, so..." She paused, chuckling nervously. "What do you think of Mr. Treneman? He's such a bore. We're not going to need geometry."

Is that what she wanted to talk to him about? His heart sank, but he chuckled back and pretended not to be bothered. "Oh yeah... he is a bore. I hardly pay attention to his class anyway. I think I got a C minus on his last test?"

Lindsay leaned against the wall, laughing. Even her laugh was perfect. "I got an F. Is it possible to get an F minus?"

Henry shrugged. "I'll find out on the next test I'll probably fail."

Lindsay smiled. "Listen..." She looked around to see if anyone was listening in. "I, um... was really wondering, maybe..." Her pupils were dilated with interest, as were his. Henry's heart that had sunk before was now rising up again in hope. "I wondered if you'd like to go out sometime?" She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Henry felt his heart racing as she changed her expression from flirty to worried. "Oh, um... you can say no, of course..."

"No, no, no!" Henry said quickly, and then his eyes widened. "No, I mean... not no that I won't go out with you, I mean no as in I won't say no..." He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Which I'm saying right now... when I'm trying not to..." Lindsay giggled at his stammering. Henry finally took a deep breath in, trying to compose himself. "The answer is yes, I'd love to go out with you. When?"

"Today," remarked Lindsay. "We could go catch a movie. I heard Black Moon Rising is radical. My friend Jackie said that it was really good when she saw it with her boyfriend Derek the other day."

"I'd love..." Henry stopped, his heart sinking again. He had work today... and he had to close for the night. But then again, this was Lindsay fucking Greene! But at the same time, his family needed him. He sighed aloud, his expression going from excited to disappointed. "I can't do today. I have a shift at Bueno Nacho, and then I have to take care of my siblings."

Lindsay frowned, but nodded in understanding. "No worries..." she said, with a sad smile. She put a hand on his shoulder, making him flinch a bit. "Some other time, yeah?" Henry nodded back, also with a smile just as sad. One thing though, he did not see that coming, the way she put her hand on his shoulder.

"Totally," agreed Henry. The warning bell rang and he watched her go. He grinned to himself. She even walked well. But damn it... it sucked that he potentially lost his chance with the Lindsay Greene.

He had a family to take care of.

Their middle school was pretty small, therefore there was a set period for lunch for all three grades. Sheila took this time to multi-task: chatting with her friends while doing homework that was assigned on the same day. She didn't know what was waiting for her at home, so she had to prepare.

"Where's Melvin?" asked Felicity, with a smile on her face. Sheila rolled her eyes. Felicity was always obsessed with boys. For the first half of fifth grade, she was obsessed with Kyle Thompson. The next half was all about how dreamy Paul Erickson's eyes were. Over the summer, it was about Chris Marbach and his hair. The first half of this year was about many boys, but now, her sights seem to be set on Sheila's brother. Knowing the way that Felicity talked about boys, she shuddered with the thought of her speaking about Melvin like that.

"I have no idea," remarked Sheila, trying not to show her annoyance. "He's usually here by now." She had eaten her lunch already ravenously. When she was up there earlier to get her tray, she eyed a collection of peanut butter sandwiches wrapped up in plastic in a corner. She had made sure that none of the cafeteria ladies were looking, and managed to swipe five of them and put it into her bag. No one had seen her. She had smirked; finding potential dinner for later.

"Bleck," Amber spat, making a face at the food in her tray. "What the hell is this mac and cheese? It's revolting." She was about to get up and throw the food away.

Sheila's eyes widened and shouted, "Stop!"

Before Amber could reach the trash can, she turned around to face Sheila. The former looked at her with confusion. "What? I just don't want the food."

"I'll eat it," Sheila said willingly. Amber and Lucy exchanged a curious look, as if trying to figure out something. Felicity said nothing and kept her eyes anywhere but her friends. Amber handed over the tray to Sheila, still looking at her strangely. "Thanks." She took the plate and began to eat the mac and cheese, rather quickly.

"You've been doing that a lot lately," Amber said skeptically. "You eat so much that I'm wondering how you stay so skinny." Sheila did everything she could to not to snap at her, saying that she didn't eat enough, because they could barely afford food. God, Amber was so stupid. Why else couldn't they hand over three hundred and fifty dollars immediately like it was candy? Why else could she and her brother be extremely thin?

Then again, she was thankful that Amber wasn't bright enough to notice.

"Fast metabolism runs in the family," Sheila quipped, not even looking at Amber.

"Anyway..." Lucy said, opting to change the topic, for which Sheila was thankful for. She leaned in, whispering: "Did you hear about Karen Blythe and Jimmy Santoni? I heard from Mindy, who heard from Jennifer, who heard-"

"Get to the point, Lucy..."

"Oops, sorry Felicity. Anyway I heard that Karen and Jimmy were kissing in the boiler room!" Lucy loved to gossip about drama surrounding the seventh and eighth graders. There wasn't anything worth talking about when it came to their grade, especially when it came to relationships. Sheila didn't particularly care for any of the drama, but listened anyway because she'd rather hear about that than potential theories they had about why she was so skinny. "And the teachers caught them, and that's why they aren't here right now. Do you think they got suspended?"

"It's possible," Sheila said absentmindedly. Truthfully, now she was starting to get concerned about the whereabouts of Melvin. He would be here by now. She got up and packed her belongings. Looking down at her empty tray, she put it in the garbage can. "I have to go find Melvin, he's probably in the main office."

Hiding... Her mind was screaming at her.

Even though there were lunch monitors, Sheila managed to slip out and make her way out of the cafeteria. To her surprise, she didn't find Melvin in the main office. It wouldn't be the first time he tried hiding there.

Lucy mentioned the boiler room, where Karen and Jimmy kissed - seriously why was this important, Sheila would never know - but it was a place where not only kissing would happen, but a lot of the bullies would kick the crap out of people down there. She hoped that wasn't the case, but if Melvin wasn't down there, then he would be missing. Sheila made her way to the boiler room, a forbidden area for students, but of course they found their way down there anyway. And to her relief and horror at the same time, Melvin was there.

Like Sheila had thought, there were four bullies - they looked like a mix of seventh and eighth graders - that were quite literally kicking Melvin while he was curled up in a ball, as if he was trying to make himself appear small. They were laughing at him, tormenting him, belittling him.

Sheila couldn't take it anymore. Despite the fact that he wanted her to mind her own business, Sheila charged toward the group and threw herself in front of Melvin. "Get the hell away from my brother!"

This was the wrong thing to say, because the bullies began to laugh harder.

"Wow, I guess your sister has to fight your battles for you, huh?"

"I guess it's girls sticking up for each other!"

Their laughter increased. Sheila pressed her lips together as if she was trying to keep her temper inside. "I'm warning you to get lost." It was getting more and more difficult... "I'm serious. Leave now."

"What the hell are you going to do?" One of the bullies retorted. He towered over her to the point where she had to move her neck up in order to face him. She wasn't afraid. At all. The same bully turned to his friends. "She's so short, I swear... OW!"

Unfortunately for this bully, Sheila had kicked him in the private area, and he fell down to the floor and writhed in pain. "What's your damage?!" Melvin, like he had done many times before, looked at his little sister like she was insane. Moments like these made him realize that she probably was. The other three boys looked very nervous. Sheila smirked and crossed her arms. "You have a total of five seconds to leave this room. I'll start counting. Five... four..." She didn't even have to get to three. The bully had gotten up and ran, with the other three boys following him.

Sheila held her hand out for Melvin to take, helping him up. He sighed, and Sheila knew why – he was unable to even look at her after she saw him on the floor completely defenseless. She glared at her brother. "Why didn't you tell Henry and I that this started up again?"

"It's not a problem."

"Except that it is."

Melvin glared back at her. "You promised you wouldn't tell no matter what."

"...I did promise," Sheila admitted sheepishly. Damn it, this was so tough. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Let's go to the cafeteria. No one will bother you there."

"You shouldn't have to protect me," Melvin snapped irritably, shrugging it off. "I'm the older brother, I take care of you. Do you understand?"

Sheila blinked in surprise. "I was only trying to help you..."

"Don't," Melvin emphasized, raising his voice. "I don't need your damn help. I can handle this on my own." With that, he stormed away from Sheila, leaving her alone in the boiler room.

Though she understood his reasonings for being upset, Sheila was enraged. She was enraged that he was taking out his anger on her, enraged that Melvin had to put up with crap at home and at school, and that she felt completely helpless in speeding up the process of getting more money.

There had to be another way…

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Their mother hissed at Sheila on a Sunday. The family was dressed in their nicer clothes than usual. Their father was out working, so it was only the six of them. Sheila stared at the floor, not even daring to look at her older brothers, who looked just as angry as their mother. "What you did was a crime, Sheila!" The twins were sitting in the living room pushing a small ball back and forth, completely oblivious to what was going on.

"You know my reasons for doing what I did!" Sheila snapped. "Someone had to!"

"Sheila," Melvin said sharply. He didn't use his nickname for her. That alone proved how pissed he was. "Do you realize how much trouble we can get into?!"

"If you hadn't said anything then we would've been fine!" retorted Sheila, her eyes flaring madly. "Think of how great it would've been!"

"Great?!" Henry scoffed, running a distressed hand through his hair. "No, this is not great. This is wrong. This is a new low, even for you, Sheila..."

Sheila crossed her arms. They just didn't understand. It was for the greater good! "That money wasn't going to go to anyone. They keep it all to themselves! I just took matters into my own hands. If they truly gave a damn about us, we would be getting that money because we need it, but we're not."

"Stealing money from church is not a good thing to do!" Their mother yelled. It was a terrible thing to do, Sheila knew that. But last week when she went to church with her family, she saw one of the ushers take the money for himself. Then, the other ushers began to do the same. So this week, she planned a little something different. A taste of their own medicine. Unfortunately for her, two hours later, Henry had discovered the ten dollars that she managed to snatch when they weren't looking.

"Where did you get this?" He had asked her. She lied at first, saying that she found the money on the street. A terrible, terrible, lie because no one would drop ten freaking dollars in their neighborhood if they had the chance to have it. She didn't leave the house all day except for church, so Henry had connected the dots pretty quickly. Funnily enough, this was one of the only times she wished Henry was dumb and aloof like he usually was.

But of course, that wasn't the case.

"Have you seen where they put it? It goes into their own rich pockets!" Sheila yelled back, narrowing her eyes. "You're just too blind to see it."

"That doesn't mean you fight evil with evil, Sheila!" their mother snapped. "I knew you were stealing food and I turned a blind eye but this time you're stealing money?!"

Sheila rolled her eyes dramatically. "Turning a blind eye. That's all you ever do."

"Excuse me?" Her mother emphasized, appalled. Melvin gave his little sister a look that basically said to shut up, but she didn't take the hint. Not because she didn't notice, because she did, she just didn't care.

"You heard me."

Wes and Wen stopped pushing the ball back and forth and stared up at their big sister.

Her mother pressed her lips together, heat rising in her cheeks. "Go to your brother's room right now." Sheila wouldn't budge. Of course this made her mother angrier. "Sheila..."

"So I steal money and now you're here? Where were you when dad nearly dislocated my shoulder, huh?"

Henry stepped in. "Sheila..."

"No really, because…" Sheila let out a mirthless laugh. "I think it is just so Interesting that you can pick and choose when to jump into our lives, mainly when I'm the one that's in trouble-"

"What the hell do you know, Sheila?" Melvin blurted out. "You should be a little more grateful instead of behaving like a brat."

"God, you are such a momma's boy-"

"That's enough," Henry interjected, and Sheila finally bit her tongue when Henry asked her to. He took a long breath. "You're going to walk with me and return the money. You're going to apologize, say that stealing is wrong, and you can't watch TV with us."

"What?! That's totally unfair!"

Henry crossed his arms. "Actually, I think that's very fair. You committed a crime. Let's go."

Wen and Wes began to whimper. Melvin instinctively went over to the twins, but Sheila's voice cut through. "No Melo, you're not the mother. She is." Sheila glared at her mother, who looked just as angry. "How about you take care of them and comfort them?"

"Loud," Wen whined, his eyes brimming with tears. He toddled over to Sheila and tugged on her dress with his arms going up. "Up!" Sheila smirked and looked over at Henry, who rolled his eyes. Wen's lower lip stuck out, his arms still raised. "Up!"

Wes made his way over to Henry, requesting the same. "Up!"

Henry looked over at Melvin. "Melo, take care of them please, Sheila and I have to return the money." Sheila's smirk disappeared for two reasons. One, she still had to return the money. Two, Henry was absolutely okay with Melvin taking care of the twins and not their own damn mother.

Returning the money was awful. Sheila did feel a pang of guilt when she returned it, but she still felt her blood boil because she saw those same people pocket the money for themselves. They were stealing too, why was she being punished? Henry pretended not to notice, which made her even angrier. He could turn a blind eye to them, who obviously didn't need the money, but god forbid she did, she was a criminal. If being a criminal meant doing bad things but getting a result, then sure, she'd call herself a criminal.

Sheila was in the boys' bedroom while her parents were in their bedroom and her brothers were all in the living room watching TV. She heard the giggles from her baby brothers, she could imagine them chasing each other as usual, and her older brothers were probably talking amongst each other.

Sheila was throwing a handball to the floor so it would bounce off the wall to catch it. She repeated this action while sulking. Why was this so unfair?

She did not hear Melvin enter the room. Her eyes went to Melvin's, who was holding a chess set. He looked neutral toward her. She went back to throwing the handball again like she had been doing before. "Wanna play?" She couldn't say no to a game of chess even if she tried, but she only nodded, putting the handball to the side to come face-to-face with her brother, getting the chess pieces together. Sheila made the first move, followed by Melvin. They spent the first five minutes playing the game in complete quietness. After two pawns from each side were eliminated, Melvin was the first to break the silence.

"Why did you steal the money?" He asked in disbelief. Sheila looked up away from the chessboard, blinking at him. He shrugged. "I'm not even mad anymore... I'm just curious now. What was going through your head?"

Sheila pressed her lips together and went back to focusing on the chessboard, pondering about what move to make and how to answer Melvin's question. She did the latter first. "Wanted to speed up the process of getting money. Since we can't get any jobs, I decided to take matters into my own hands." She moved a bishop a space. "Wes and Wen have been looking thinner. Last night we barely had any dinner..."

"You've always been worried about the twins," remarked Melvin. "...But you had never stolen money before. Something's different." Sheila sighed at this. He was painfully good at reading her emotions, something she both loved and hated at the same time. Melvin waited before moving another pawn forward.

"I did it for you..." Sheila revealed sadly, her eyes lingering on the board. Melvin's eyes grew wide. He looked at her like he wanted her to explain more. Alas, she did after she put a pawn in front as a sacrifice. He smirked at this, knocking out the pawn with another diagonally. "I know you don't want any pity or sympathy but I just... can't stand those bullies. The faster we get money, the faster you can hide. The faster we can hide."

"Shelly..." Melvin said softly, his eyes completely away from the board. He wasn't focusing on the game anymore. "I may be immune from dad after this, but I'm not from them. They'll continue doing it, it's relentless."

Sheila's eyes grew incredibly sad. Double edged sword. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. "You really don't want me to tell Henry?"

"No," Melvin said quickly, almost sounding nervous. "I can make it through." Sheila believed that, she really did, but it didn't mean it wasn't going to worry her. Melvin frowned, noticing her troubled expression. "Hey, look at me." She did. "I will be fine," he said firmly. "Just... don't steal money ever again. Okay?"

Sheila nodded at this, giving him a small yet strained smile. "Okay." They sat through the rest of the game in silence.