We were a normal family. Dad worked in an office as a manager, and Mom was a kindergarten teacher. My name is Rama, and Shinta is my little sister. She was three years younger. We were not a rich family, but economically, we can live properly. Mom and Dad loved us very much, but as the youngest, Shinta often got special treatment from Mom and Dad, which made her a spoiled child and very clingy to both Mom and Dad as well as to me. I wasn't jealous of her because, as a boy, I thought it was normal to spoil a girl. And I loved her very much.
It was unfortunate that when I was in high school, my dad passed away, and two years later, Mom followed. We got shocked and were very sad, especially Shinta. She was very devastated by the deaths of our parents. And from time to time, she became wild and used harsh words toward me. She also often skipped or escaped school.
One day I just got home from work when I saw Shinta in the living room, glued to her phone. I asked her, "Shinta, did you go to school today?”
She looked up with a scowl., “Can you see I’m in the middle of something?” She kept making herself busy with her phone.
“Hey, come here and sit. I wanna talk.” I tried to be patient.
She rolled her eyes. “This is my house too. I can be wherever I want in this house. Just talk from where you are, and I talk from where I am.”
“Fine, that’s true, but I want to talk to you about a serious matter. Come here!” My voice got higher, but I still tried not to get angry because if I was, we would fight, and I was ashamed with our neighbors because we often fought over anything, including unimportant things, and they would hear harsh and dirty words coming from her mouth, sometimes from mine.
She wouldn’t budge, so I continued., "Shinta, since dad and mom died, as your big brother, I take the responsibility in this house.”
She snorted derisively. “News Flash, Big Bro--You don’t OWN this house. Mom and dad left it to both of us. Now you’d better get out so I can continue what I was doing.”
I was too tired to argue further, and if I continued, we would fight so I went to my room. I would wait to talk to her when she was in a good mood.
After dinner, I went to Shinta’s bedroom just to see her keep pressing with eyes focusing on her phone. “Shinta can we talk now?”
