Chapter Text
001. Ants
“Don’t do that.”
Milagro looked up from where she was crouching, magnifying glass clutched in one hand, “do what?”
Jaime didn’t answer her. He held out his hand, huffing impatiently, “give me that.”
Milagro held the magnifying glass close to her chest, an automatic reaction to whenever someone told her to give them something, “no.”
“Milagro,” Jaime warned, voice louder this time, “give me the glass.”
“Why? Why should I give it to you?”
“You have homework to do.”
“I’ll do it later.”
“Milagro, stop. You’re hurting the ants. You’re killing them.” He peered down at her, frowning, “what you’re doing is wrong.”
“I saw you doing this last week. And the week before!”
Jaime opened his mouth to say something, but shut it just as quickly. He didn’t have a defense for that, and they both knew it. Milagro turned back to her afternoon activity, already angling the glass to heat up the second batch of ants. She had just come home from school, and she wanted to try what those boys on the bus told her about. Jaime was trying to ruin her fun, she thought, like he always did.
“Look, I know that I did it last week, and the week before, but that doesn’t mean that you should do it. You’re hurting those ants.”
“That didn’t stop you,” She mumbled, not looking at her brother.
“I… I know it didn’t’!” Jaime crossed his arms at the rebuttal, lips set in a thin line, “but mama caught me. Told me to stop, yelled at me and…” he leaned back on his heel, “and stuff…”
“She yelled at you?” Milagro’s voice was curious. It was also tinged with fear and a little empathy for her brother.
Jaime nodded, anger suddenly gone, “yeah, yeah she did. Told me to stop doing it, said I was causing a whole lot of destruction. Said that the ants weren’t doing anything to me… and that I should leave them alone.”
Milagro stood up, hand still holding the magnifying glass, but with an unsure look on her face.
“I don’t want mama yelling at you…” Jaime said quietly. He held out his hand, holding it until she acquiesced, the magnifying glass falling heavily into his hand, “thanks.”
Milagro said nothing, wouldn’t even look at him.
Jaime sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, “look, I won’t tell her about this okay?”
“You promise?”
He shook his head up and down, “yep. No point in yelling at you when she already yelled at me.”
Milagro nodded her head, swallowing thickly. She glanced at the house and then the ground, eyes roving over the mini-battlefield. She had devastated two anthills and killed a bunch of ants. Granted, it was only five ants, but it was still five more than she needed to kill. She had been prepared to kill more, and if Jaime hadn’t stopped her, they wouldn’t have stood a chance. The ants that were still alive walked around their burnt friends, poking them and feeling them with their antlers. Did they not realize that they were dead?
Her eyes started to water, so Jaime walked closer, gathering her in a hug. She wrapped her hands around his stomach, hugging back but weakly. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad, but now you understand right? Why you shouldn’t do it?”
“Yes,” she sniffed, muffled by the fabric of his t-shirt.
“You feel bad?” He felt her nod against his chest. He breathed out slowly, remembering when his mother confronted him, how bad she made him feel about what he did. How his father had only given him a sad look when he had tried to turn to him for comfort, “yeah, I did too.”
-
002. Boyfriend
Milagro watched her brother close the door behind him. His friend had spent the whole day with him and her, watching movies and participating in cooking and papercrafts. He was pretty cool, but he ate way too much, “is he your boyfriend?”
“Bart?” Jaime inquired, confused.
“Yeah.”
“What? No.”
“Oh I’m sorry!” Milagro corrected herself, “is he your girlfriend?”
Jaime gaped, “you do know that Bart’s a boy right?”
His sister peered at her brother. He was so confusing sometimes, “so he’s your boyfriend?”
Jaime sighed and rubbed at his temples, wondering exactly how in the world he ended up with a sister like her.