"Willow I need to pee."Charlie whined from the back seat.

"I know buddy but we have twenty more minutes to the drive. Think you can hold it?"I asked hopefully.

There was nothing wrong with stopping by the side of the road and helping my seven year old brother pee but when it came to Charlie it was not that easy. He was disabled, couldn't stand properly so stopping would be a lot trickier. I had to retrieve his wheelchair, help him on it, help him pee then reverse the whole process.

"Yes, I can hold it."He assured me with a winning grin.

"Okay bud, hold on. Who's my big boy?"I cheered looking at him via the rear view mirror.

"I am."He yelled back.

"Yes you are."I concurred with a smile.

I had been driving for more than four hours and as tired as I was, I knew that Charlie was feeling worse. He had to endure all those hours stuck in a car. Even without his disability he would have been uncomfortable, his curved spine just made it worse for him.

Charlie was born with Congenital scoliosis which reduced his mobility confining him to a wheelchair. He would have been okay had my wretched mother agreed to him getting the surgery he needed while young. Instead she had ignored the problem and instead bought Charlie a brace which didn't actually help, just made him uncomfortable as the plastic hurt his arms. I was saving up for the surgery though, he would just have to suffer a few more months until his eight birthday. His video games helped distract him from getting too irritable so I was definitely grateful to the world of online gaming.

My mother, the woman responsible for my miserable existence was also the reason why we were both stuck in the car for so long. She had recently tied the knot, again, for the fourth time and I was definitely not supportive just as I hadn't been the first three times. There was nothing wrong with marriage, it was a beautiful thing between two loving people, my mother just did it too many times and for all the wrong reasons.

Pamela or Pam as she preferred was a thirty two year old beautiful black woman with two children, four marriages under he belt and probably more to come. She became pregnant with me at the age of fifteen. My grandma had been the maid to a rich family way before I was born. My mom slept with the bosses son who impregnated her. The rich asshole denied it so my mom and grandma were chased away. My grandma disowned my mom and I was born nine months later in a shabby motel. My mom almost gave me up for adoption were it not for the rich guy who took pity on her and married her, making her a trophy wife and me the perfect spoiled stepdaughter.

Her first husband Chuck, died when I was three leaving my mom all his fortune and after that it was one rich bastard after another. She married old and stupid white men who loved having a hot young black wife so they were easy to manipulate. Her new husband, Robert for once was much younger, so hopefully he'd be smarter and run before she got her claws too deep in him.

I was not excited to be moving to a new town for the umpteenth time. It never gave me a chance to set down roots or make friends, not that I needed any, people were backstabbing bitches as I'd learned over the years. All I needed was Charlie, as long as I had my brother by my side I could face anything. I just didn't like how the moves affected him, he didn't have any friends, real friends away from his gaming friends. He never got a chance to be actually be a kid before my mom uprooted us and moved us to another town. Charlie had been to three schools already yet he was only going to second grade. As much as I didn't like it, I was only seventeen so we had to stick with my mom until I was of legal age. Immediately I turned eighteen it would be bye bye fucked up mom and hello to new adventures for just me and Charlie.

"Willow look, it's an arcade!"Charlie exclaimed from the backseat pulling me out of my deep thoughts.

It was terrible driving while distracted especially with Charlie in the backseat but at times I couldn't help it. Lost in my thoughts I had failed to notice that we were driving into the new town,our new home, for how long exactly nobody but my mom knew.

"Let's get settled in first, we'll visit later, okay?"I requested Charlie knowing how excited he got around video games.

The town wasn't so bad, larger than I had expected but definitely not as big as some of the cities we had lived in before.

"Okay."Charlie agreed nodding his head enthusiastically.

Damn I really loved the kid. He was just so pure and good. I hated how life had decided to mess up both our lives by giving us the worst mom doubled with his disability. He didn't let that put him down though, he was always all smiles, generally happy and had the biggest,kindest heart. He also looked like his dad so he was very cute too with dark curly hair, blue eyes and brown caramel skintone. I took after neither of our parents, my mom said I looked like my grandma. I didn't know her but I was glad I looked like her instead of my mom or dad. I had dark brown curly hair that I dyed all the time, amber eyes and an almond skin tone.

Charlie and I actually had the same dad. When I was about ten years old, my mom ran into my biological dad. Old sparks flew and nine months later Charlie was born. They did not get back together as our dad, Colton was already married with three kids and could not leave his wife for his fling, my mom. That encounter led my mom to her third marriage, which lasted a whooping five years. It was her longest yet but who knew, maybe her marriage to Robert would beat that one.

Driving through the not so disappointing town I followed the gps of my truck to our destination. It led us to the outskirts of town towards the rich neighborhood with picture perfect houses, zero noise and proper lawns. I had lived in such neighborhoods my whole life and I hated them. They were too nice and perfect while I was the exact opposite.

"We're here bud. Are you ready?"I announced to Charlie noticing our new home pop up from around the corner.

"I just want to pee."He hissed and I knew he was close to breaking point.

"Me too bud, me too."I chuckled admiring his restraint.

I pulled up behind a moving truck, parked in front of the two storey mansion and jumped out of the car. I immediately rushed to the bed of the truck, retrieved Charlies wheelchair, unfolded it before opening the backseat and helping him onto it.

I pushed Charlie past the moving crew carrying stuff into the house making it to the open front door. My mom dressed in a powerful red pant suit and a wide brimmed hat was standing just inside the foyer shouting orders at the moving crew. For thirty two my mom was very beautiful and could pass for a twenty five year old, as one of her many ID's declared. She had gorgeous dark chocolate skin, dark eyes, long hair that she always straightened and a slender pear shaped build. Pamela didn't look like she had two kids and she always denied us whenever the chance presented itself.

She had just arrived back from her three month long honeymoon that had coincidentally fallen into place with our summer vacation. She had stuck Charlie in a disabled kids camp and left me to fend for myself, not that I hadn't been doing that my whole life anyway. I applied for a job as a counsellor in Charlie's camp so we were together the whole time. I might have developed separation anxiety with my brother over the years.

My mother scowled as soon as she saw us, not that we were happy to see her either.

"Oh good, you're here. I was beginning to think you lost your way somewhere."She greeted sarcastically.

We hadn't seen her for twelve weeks and that's what we got. Not even a hug or even a simple hello. We weren't that needy anyway, Charlie and I had learnt to live without her. I wished Charlie hadn't learnt to live without his mother at such a young age but I made sure he never felt her absence that much.

"Too bad your prayers didn't get answered."I mumbled.

"What did you just say?"She asked eyes narrowed at me.

Picking a fight with her never ended well, especially in front of Charlie so I decided to let it go.

"Nothing. Where is the bathroom? Charlie needs to go."I asked noticing Charlies tapping his foot relentlessly meaning he was about to explode.

She sneered at us before pointing down the hall. I didn't even have time to look around. My main aim was getting Charlie's bladder empty before he ruined his wheelchair. We had to manoeuver past more boxes and movers but we eventually made it to the bathroom.

"Charlie I know you want to be responsible for yourself but we don't have the time right now so I will have to help you okay?"I requested not wanting to invade his privacy without consent.

He nodded frantically,face all scrunched up in pain and that was my cue to help him out. Charlie was trying to learn how to be independent but sometimes we didn't have time for that if we wanted to avoid messes.

After helping Charlie pee and wash his hands I asked him to wait outside while I did my business. I relieved myself before washing my hands and face on the sink. We still had unpacking to do so I would shower after we were settled in. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and didn't like the dead look in my eyes. If I could see it then it meant Charlie would too and I didn't like worrying him. He was a perceptive kid and would know immediately if something was wrong so I tried to avoid that. I washed my face again, pinched my cheeks to add color which was useless as I was dark, plastered the most genuine smile I could muster before leaving the bathroom.

Charlie was patiently waiting for me, playing Nintendo on his game console. I kneeled in front of him and his attention was immediately on me.

"Bud I know this is going to be another tough move but you have me okay. I'll always be here."I promised holding out my pinkie for him.

He grinned, joined his pinkie with mine and we both kissed our thumbs.

"I'm here for you too."He replied making me grin.

"I have never doubted that for one second. So are you ready to face this new challenge with me?"I asked getting up.

"Yes, except for one thing. Two actually."He expressed.

"Which are?"I inquired.

"What's his name and do we call him by his name or dad?"Charlie asked referring to mom's new husband.

You knew a mother was messed up when even her own kids couldn't keep track of the men she married let alone know their names. They'd had a court wedding so we had not been invited which I was grateful for. I didn't have the energy to fake smiles through another sham of a wedding.

"His name is Robert and he is not our dad so call him anything but that."I answered.

"Okay, I'm ready now."Charlie nodded.

I took a deep breath, prepared myself mentally for what was to come before pushing Charlie towards where I'd seen the living room.

The house was still mid stage of being moved into but that didn't hide just how huge it was with its white marble floors, expensive paintings, pristine smell and sophisticated look. I'd definitely not get attached because we had no idea how long we would be there.

We found my mom and Robert arguing in the living room, so soon already. Maybe we wouldn't even have to unpack in the first place. I cleared my throat to alert them of our presence as I didn't want them arguing in front of Charlie. They both turned to us the argument ceasing immediately. My mom's frown got even deeper while Robert's sour face turned into a smile.

He wasn't so bad looking for a white guy. He had brown hair, grey eyes, a pale complexion and looked like one of those IT type guys rather than a business mogul. My mom surely did know how to shop for varieties from the billionaire mall.

Robert looked at my mom hoping for an introduction but when he saw that none was forthcoming he decided to introduce himself.

"Hi kids, my name is Robert, your mom's husband. You can call me Robert, Rob or Robbie, your choice. You must be Willow and Charlie, it's so nice to meet you."He greeted enthusiastically.

He was certainly different from all of my mom's ex husband's.

"I'm Charles but everyone calls me Charlie and you can too. I will call you Robbie."Charlie grinned shaking his hand.

"I like that."Robert grinned happy to have won over one child.

Charlie was nice to everyone so his enthusiastic nature didn't mean anything. Robert seemed happy though so I didn't say anything to burst his bubble.

"Willow."I said curtly shaking his hand.

I was definitely not going to be nice to him, I wasn't even going to acknowledge him at all. Why bother bonding when it would be over soon anyway?

"You look just like your mom Willow. So beautiful."He complimented and my demeanor changed immediately.

I hated being compared to my mom and she didn't like it either as advertised by the sour look on her face.

"No I don't."I hissed defensively.

"She doesn't."My mom insisted and for once we both agreed on something.

"Okay sorry my bad."Robert apologized.

I didn't have time to care about his feelings, I was too tired.

"It's been a long drive, point us towards our bedrooms and we will get out of your hair."I requested wanting to get away from both of them.

"Charlie is staying downstairs because of his wheelchair. You can have one of the extra bedrooms upstairs."Robert explained.

Upon hearing that I immediately went into panic mode. Charlie and I would be too far from each other which I did not agree. I looked at my brother who looked like he was about to cry. I didn't like seeing him distraught so I had to fix the situation immediately.

"You only have one bedroom downstairs?"I asked.

"No there's another one but I only had the one prepared. Besides you would have to share a bathroom."Robert replied.

"No problem as long as we're not apart. Where are those rooms?"I asked.

Robert pointed to the opposite direction of the hall we had come from. It was past the kitchen and dining room away from the rest of the house which I didn't mind.

"Thanks."I replied bluntly turning Charlie's wheelchair towards that direction.

We weren't even five meters away when they resumed arguing.

Yep, our days were definitely numbered in the big house.