Strong Enough (An Older Brother Story)

Amelia Part 2

Sophia's POV:

I walk down the hallway toward the living room, but I stop whenever I hear voices.  It sounds like Amelia is crying "I just don't know what else to do, I don't understand why she hates me so much." Wow, I didn't really think that I would make her cry. I wasn't trying to do that. I have never really thought about her as a person before, or at least one with feelings, just as an annoyance. Clayton sounds sad when he replies "Baby, she doesn't hate you. You just need to give it more time." she replies "Yes she does, she won't even speak to me. I have given it six years, I don't know how much time you think it is going to take!" by the end she is starting to raise her voice and I hear her take a deep breath and say "I'm sorry honey. I'll be fine. I will pray about it, but you need to get to work mister. I love you." he says "I love you too. And thank you for staying with her, I really appreciate it." he sounds a little happier. She says "No problem, Kindergarten doesn't have class on Tuesdays or Thursdays anyway, and Friday is work day, so it worked out. Now come on, you need to get going! Also, I packed your lunch, it is in your bag. My man is not eating a cold slice of pizza for lunch, what would the other women think of me?!" she says the last part feigning horror. He laughs and says "You are the best." and sounds a lot happier now. Maybe she isn't the absolute worst after all, she really does seem to make him happy.

After I hear him leave I tip toe back to my room and sit on my bed for a little bit. After a while I decide to pray about everything. When I finish I realize that the way the I have been treating Amelia is wrong, and that holding so much hate in my heart, especially for someone who hasn't done anything to me, is really bad. I close the door loudly and then I walk down the hall. When I walk into the living room Amelia is sniffling and trying to look like she hasn't been crying. I stand in the middle of the living room awkwardly and say "Hey, can I talk to you?" she takes a deep breath and smiles at me and says "Of course you can kiddo." and pats a spot on the couch next to her. After I sit down I look at my lap awkwardly for a few moments, and then I finally get up the courage to mumble "I'm really sorry about how I treated you..." she looks surprised for a moment and then says "Oh, it's okay kiddo, don't worry about it." I finally look up at her and say "No, it's not okay. I was really selfish and unkind. And I don't just mean today, I mean everything. I am really really sorry. Please forgive me?" she looks absolutely shocked, but then tears start brimming in her eyes and she says "Of course I forgive you." and hugs me. I even kinda hug her back, it's actually not the worst, maybe this will be a good thing. When she pulls away from the hug she looks at me and says "I love you Sophia, I know you may not believe that, but I really do, entirely separate from my love for your brother. I have know you since you were six years old and I have wanted to be there for you to help you through things, but you have just never let me in. Please just know that if you need anything, even something you don't want to talk to Clayton about, I am here for you." I smile at her and says "Okay, thanks." This is going to take some getting used to.

Then she says "Alright kiddo, Clayton told me what happened, and what your punishment is, so why don't you go ahead and get started on your schoolwork and I am going to clean up a little." I sigh and say "Alright." and go to my room and get started on my work. Clayton lets me use my computer for school when I am grounded, because he trust me. I don't think he checks if I use it for anything else when I am not supposed to, but it doesn't matter, I would never betray his trust like that. My brother can be pretty strict, meaning that he has high expectations for me, but he is not overbearing. He trust me and let's me have a reasonable amount of freedom. And he doesn't ever stay mad at me or hold a grudge when I fail, whether that be a moral failure or some other type of failure. He just tries to help me be better and then forgives me. He really is the greatest person in the whole entire world. He's my hero, and I always know he loves me, even when I am in trouble, like right now. My work is not very hard, so I am finished with it by 12. Wow, I guess we really waste a lot of time at school. When I finish I walk out to the living room, I figure I will do some of my extra chores right now before I do the extra assignments that Clayton made for me. When I walk out to the living room I realize that the entire house is spotless, Amelia really got a lot done while I was working. I make my way into the kitchen and I see her sitting at the table reading her Bible. She has a half eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich in front of her and another full one sitting on a plate across from her. The crockpot is on the counter and it looks like she is cooking something, whatever it is smells delicious. She finally looks up and notices me and says "Sorry, I was just about to come get you, but I didn't want to interrupt. I just made a you a sandwich for lunch, I hope you don't mind. I had just finished cleaning and I didn't want to dirty up any dishes. I am making pot roast for dinner though." I smile and sit down and say "This is fine. Thanks." and start eating. Honestly, this is much easier than being angry all of the time, I kinda wish I would have tried it earlier. She goes on and says "I know you are supposed to be doing extra chores as part of your punishment, but I think everything is as clean as it is going to get, so Clayton said it is okay if you skip that part of your punishment today, however he said that does not mean you are getting out of doing his extra assignments." I sigh and say "Well, that's okay, I didn't figure I would be getting out of either, so this is still better than I expected." We eat the rest of our lunch in silence, aside from the occasional sound of her turning a page, but it is okay because it is not an awkward silence, just a peaceful one.