𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇

I

— RORI —

𝙰𝙿𝙿𝚁𝙾𝚇𝙸𝙼𝙰𝚃𝙴𝙻𝚈 𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝚈𝙴𝙰𝚁𝚂 𝙰𝙶𝙾 . . .

"Happy birthday, Sorellina. How does it feel to finally be in the double digits?"

I look up, only to be met with the emotionless eyes of my eldest brother. Shrugging my shoulders and offering him a small smile, he gives me nothing in return.

"I got you a gift," he says, as he hands me a small, neatly wrapped box.

My eyes find his once more, a bewildered expression on my face.

Zephaniah has never cared for birthdays, nor celebrations.

Zephaniah has never cared much for anything.

That means that there must be an ulterior motive behind this gift.

"Go on," he urges. "Open it."

Sending him one last look of suspicion, i hesitantly untie the satin ribbon that rests on top of the elegant box. The lid pops off and, much to my astonishment, a classy, golden locket lies inside for me.

"Possessions aren't permanent but family is. This is just a reminder of that. Happy tenth, Sorellina. I'm proud of you."

Zephaniah leaves the room before i can thank him, leaving me alone with my thoughts and my now most treasured possession.

Inside of the locket is a picture; one of the only pictures there are of me and him.

I am a baby and he is a young boy of around twelve. It is quite a funny sight, to say the least. Here was my most intimidating of brothers holding a tiny, little me in his hands...and when i look closer, i can almost see the trace of a smile on his face.

I can't help but smile to myself when i catch sight of it, gazing down at the photograph with an unforeseen fondness.

"Possessions aren't permanent but family is." his words ring in my head.

Zephaniah is proud of me and he has blessed me with a beautiful new necklace.

Best. Birthday. Ever.

𝙿𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝙳𝙰𝚈. . .

"Stupid, godforsaken, cursed little locket," i seethe, my fist colliding with the punching bag between words, as though to emphasise my contempt.

Five years ago today marks the night my two eldest brothers abandoned us.

What would have been my tenth birthday has now turned into my fifteenth, yet they are still not here; they are still not home. They don't care about us. They never will.

During my ten years of living with Yakov, i never got to know him all that well, which was undoubtedly a result of our age difference, as well as the fact he generally had zero interest in spending time with me.

Overall, he was quite different from Zephaniah. In fact, they were opposites in many ways. This didn't seem to hinder their relationship. Rather, they balanced each other out.

I did like Yakov once upon a time, even though he holds little to no place in my heart anymore.

I cannot say the same for Zephaniah, unfortunately.

I always disliked him, and he always disliked me.

"Ria?" the sound of Vinnie's voice echoes from the corridor. "Ria, are you down here?"

I fail to acknowledge my brother's presence, relentless as i deliver one punch after another to the helpless punching bag.

Though i am playing at boxing, i do so in one of our spare rooms on the ground floor, as opposed to the more appropriate option of using the room purposefully designated for carrying out such physical activity.