That silence, however, only lasted a brief moment as my sister dramatically made her way down the stairs. Each one of her steps left the ground shaking, allowing me to feel her steps all the way from the table.
For someone so small, she walks like she's overweight.
"Good morning, Dad," she greeted.
Seeing his daughter finally arrive in the living room, Dad jumped up from his seat with a wide grin. "THERE IS MY LOVELY DAUGHTER LILY!"
Abandoning the breakfast that Mom worked to prepare for him, he ran up to her and pulled her into a tight hug. Even from here, I could practically feel the fatherly warmth radiating from him as he doted on his Daughter.
Watching this scene, I couldn't help but shake my head.
I've never received that type of love before. Where's the fairness in that?
But I simply continued eating my cake as if nothing was happening.
Once Dad finally settled down and let her go, my sister approached the table. Instead of taking a seat, however, she remained standing, looking down at MY cake with a devilish glint ignited in her eyes. Before she could even do anything...
"The cake is in the fridge. Get your own. Do. Not. Touch. Mine."
Lily crossed her arms, looking at me with an annoyed pout on her face. "Sheesh, you're so rude. What kind of brother doesn't share with his sister? You're the Older Brother! It's your job!"
"It's okay, there's a lot," Dad said as he stepped between us, mediating the situation before Lily could start complaining. "I'll go get some for you."
Dad gently stroked my pouting sister's head, calming her down. Truly the epitome of a doting Dad. He then kissed her on the cheek and hurriedly made his way to the fridge. After grabbing a slice of cake along with a fork, he offered it to my sister as if she were some sort of princess.
"Here you go, my lovely Daughter."
That line would probably sound a lot more cheesy if it weren't backed by a heavy immigrant accent, but because it was, she and I didn't pay it too much mind.
"Thanks, Dada!"
With light, happy steps, she skipped over to her seat at the dinner table and settled down. She licked her lips, shot her fork toward the cake. But before it could even make contact, the cake was snatched away.
Without even needing to look up, I already knew who did it.
Mom was standing there, sister's cake in hand, wearing a nasty scowl on her face that made her look slightly demonic. "How many times do I have to tell you? You can't eat this! If you do, you'll gain weight!"
My sister sat there silently, a dark shadow looming over her face. She was never one to sit still, so this silence had a slight edge of foreboding to it.
My Dad glanced at Lily with a hint of sadness in his eyes. He hesitantly reached out his hand, but it froze mid-air, failing to reach her—failing to lay a finger on her. With trembling eyes, he shook his head and brought it back to his lap.
A loud sigh escaped him, but it was drowned out by the sound of Lily slamming her hand on the table.
"IF I CAN'T EAT IT, THEN WHY DID YOU EVEN BUY IT?!!"
Mom's scowl turned into a fierce, fiery glare. "This isn't for you, this is for my Son!" Mom paused, took a hard swallow, then pointed her finger at Lily's face. "AND DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!"
The crease on Lily's face, and she pointed toward me, as if dragging me into this. "THEN WHY CAN HE EAT IT? AREN'T YOU AFRAID OF HIM GETTING FAT TOO!???"
Mom shook her head. "It's okay if he gets fat, he's a boy! But you're a girl! You can't be fat, you have to be pretty! But you always ignore me! I always tell you to go on a diet, BUT YOU NEVER LISTEN!"
They started screaming at the top of their lungs at this point. I was concerned that the neighbours would notice and call child protective services again. But there was nothing I could do about that. I simply sat quietly and continued eating my cake, blending in with the background.
"I'M SICK OF THIS!"
An ear-piercing sound brought me back to reality. I looked up and saw that the plate of cake had shattered on the floor. Tears were streaming down my sister's face, her cheeks flushed with the bright red of rage.
My Mom scoffed. "What are you crying for? There's nothing to cry about. I'm just trying to help you!"
Mom slowly reached a hand toward Lily, as if to caress her cheek, but before it could even reach, Lily's own hand blurred.
The very next moment, a loud, dull *SMACK* filled the room.
Everything went still. That was, until Lily looked up, digging her gaze into Mom. "I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP. I'LL NEVER BECOME SOMEONE LIKE YOU. I'D RATHER DIE!"
My Mom suddenly froze, her dark eyes taking on a shade of black resembling the void itself. Tears slowly began to form in her eyes, but they never fell—as if they too had frozen.
She clenched her teeth together, forcing herself to utter the words she was about to say next. "I- if you want to d-die so badly… THEN JUST DIE!"
Before my sister could say anything back, my Mother stomped into the kitchen and grabbed one of her innumerable bottles of medication. She turned around and glared at my sister, her hand gripping the bottle so tight that the plastic cracked.
Lily simply stared at Mom with a blank expression as she watched all this happen, her brain struggling to accept what was about to happen next.
My Mother stomped her way towards my sister, a single tear finally sliding down her face.
Lily's body froze, the reality of the situation slowly dawning on her.
I took a bite of my cake, but instead of something sweet, there was this undeniable taste of fear.
My Mother's hand shot towards Lily's face, grabbed her by the mouth, and pried it open.
"I-IF YOU WANT TO DIE SO BAD, THEN HURRY UP A-AND DIE!"
My Mother twisted the bottle open with her thumb and shoved it down Lily's throat. Before any of the pills could escape the container, my sister knocked the bottle away from my Mother's hand.
The pills scattered along the floor, rattling as they collided with the hardwood.
Lily stared at my Mother with wide eyes, her whole body trembling as she gasped for air. "D-Did you j-just…"
Lily slowly brought her hands to her mouth. "g… GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!"
Pushing Mother aside, Lily grabbed her bag and ran out of the house. The entire house shook as she slammed the door shut.
*BANG*
An uncomfortable silence crept its way into the room, enough that it made your very chest sink to the ground.
I took a peek at Dad, but he just had his head hung low, shaking his head. Meanwhile, Mom was standing there completely still, staring absently at the spot on the floor where my sister had just stood.
I went to take another bite of my cake, but what met my fork wasn't the spongy sensation of slicing into the cake; it was the hard collision of scratching against the plate.
I stared at the empty plate, a subtle frown on my face.
"..."
This cake wasn't sweet at all.