BOUND BY BLOOD

Welcome to dinner

"You cheated." Seven year old Leo stubbornly folded his arms as he sat in the oversized game's chair. His foot could barely reach the gas pedal even while standing and steering at the same time but that didn't stop him from trying nonetheless.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Kelly said with a lighthearted eye roll. The teen patiently held out her hand to her younger brother. The rules were the loser paid one dollar for every lost game.

Leo reached into his pocket and bitterly handed Kelly his last dollar. She belted out an evil laugh as she pulled out all of the money she made from her little brother.

"1. 2. 3." Kelly counted the bills doing her best Count Dracula impression. "4.5.6.7" She threw the bills up in the air and cheesed hard as they rained down on her face.

Leo let out one of his annoying cries that starts out silent and ends in a full blown siren sound.

Kelly shook her head and laughed at how her little brother threw his head back and made a scene. He was all trash talk until they decided to put money on the games.

"OKAY! okay." Kelly chuckled as she wiped a tear from his face. "For your troubles." She handed him a single dollar.

Leo stopped crying for a moment to look down at the bill. After noticing that it was only a dollar he went right back to howling.

Kelly stifled a giggle.

"Okayyyy." Kelly slowly pulled out her billfold "this is your participation award, don't spend it all at once." She handed him yet another dollar which sent him over the edge as he added jumping up and down to his act.

"You're such a scammer." Kelly whispered as she handed him all of his money back and checked for onlookers.

Leo wiped his tears away and glanced at his sister as he unsuccessfully tried to hide his growing smile.

Kelly playfully nudged him "Come on." She smiled and grabbed hold of his hand. Their mother told them they had 15 minutes of gaming left 30 minutes ago and to meet her in the food court of the mall. The two kids headed to redeem their tickets at the stand.

"Which one do you want Leo? You can choose between these five things." Kelly bent down to her brother's height as they both stared into the glass.

"That one." Leo grinned as he pointed to a small yellow toy ball.

"He'll take the ball and I'll take some laffy taffy." Kelly stood and told the attendant. "Thank you." She nodded as they took their awards and proceeded to the exit.

"Aye bitch." Kelly heard from behind her and froze. She didn't even have to turn around to know that the voice belonged to Monica. Flashes of fists and kicks coming her way in the empty hallway of the school popped into the teens head.

Not againnnn

"Who's that?" Leo tried to turn around but Kelly had a tenacious grip on his arm and pulled him forward in one fluid motion slightly tripping him.

"Let's go." She sped up her walk to the exit without batting an eye in Monica's direction. Leo did his best to keep up with his sister's agile stride but his pint-sized limbs would never allow that.

"She used a bad wo-" Leo was cut off by Kelly being harshly pushed forward narrowly missing hitting her head on the metal door. The sound of laughter from behind the little boy jarred him into a state of shock. Never had he witnessed that kind of behavior.

"You hear me bitch." Monica spat as she closed what little space was left between her and Kelendria who had turned around just in time for a little spit to fly into her face.