A big brother's duty
»No, I cannot tell you why, because I just don't know,« he said slowly, frowning slightly, »why is it always me how has to come up with an answer for everything, anyway?«
She smiled, looking at him as sweetly as she could.
»Because you are the older and also the wiser of the two of us, brother, that is why. I am just a little girl who hasn't seen much of this world yet to learn how it goes.«
He made a face, she always talked to him that way when she was too lazy too do things on her own. He loved his little sister but knew well he wouldn't do her any good if he was always helping her out with things she should be well able to do alone.
»You won't ever get better at anything, if you always ask me for help you know? Could just as well try to figure out a solution yourself, instead of coming to me straight away.«
She looked at him, then shook her head.
»I cannot do that brother, it takes too much time, I could spend with other things instead. Asking you is much faster and a compliment to you. If I wouldn't think you are clever, I'd not ask you, would I? After all, I want good grades and not just Fs.«
He laughed a bit. She tried to wrap him around her finger again – and it would work eventually.
»Good grades on homework mean nothing though if you have to write exams when I cannot be there to help, you know that.«
»Oh please, please brother just this once more, I want to go out and play with the new girl we have in class. She has no friends yet and I want to make her feel less like an outsider,« she said in her sweetest voice, looking at him like a little puppy.
»Alright, but this really is the last time, OK!?« he sat down at her desk and began to fill in the numbers missing in the mathematical term printed on the pages of her exercise book.
»Thank you brother, thank you so much, I promise it will be the last time I ask«
She smiled happily and kissed his cheek, then ran out of the room.
He'd have to explain that to their parents again and he didn't actually know why he always helped her, really.
He knew well that it wasn't really a way for her to learn anything and that he shouldn't do it. He sighed, maybe he always gave in because he had wished for some help when he was younger too, and hated it that his parents always said no. Also, it kind of was his duty as big brother to make sure that his sister was doing well – and playing outside with friends was surely better for her health than sitting all afternoon, working on her homework.
© Fea Crow, 2024
Copying the story, in parts or as a whole, without the writer's permission, is not allowed