Strong Enough (An Older Brother Story)

Tough Topics

Clayton's POV:

Sophia is just sitting on her bed crying, but not making any sign that she plans on moving or unlocking the phone. I take a deep breathe, realizing how close I am to acting out of anger, and say "Sophia, I am dead serious. You need to unlock this phone right now. I can go get it unlocked tomorrow, but if I have to do that you are going to be in so much more trouble."

Sophia's POV:

I have no idea what to do, I have never seen Clayton this angry. I expect that I am about to see him even angrier though. I take a deep breath, trying to calm down. Then I take the phone from him, unlock it, and hand it back to him. He starts reading through my text messages, it is the most agonizing few minutes of my life. The only thing he says the entire time is a mumbled "I'm going to kill him..."

Clayton's POV:

I am relieved that Sophia unlocks her phone, I am not sure what I would have done otherwise. When she hands me her phone I scroll back to the beginning of the conversation:

—————————————————————
                             Adam:
A: Hey
S: Hey, what's up?
A: *inappropriate picture*
S: Dude, what the heck?!
A: I just thought I would reciprocate, considering what you sent me on Snap.
S: Not the same thing! Anyways, don't send me stuff like this. If my brother sees it he will kill you.
A: Whatever
S: No, I'm serious.
A: *inappropriate pic*
A: I thought maybe you would like this angle better.
S: Lol, okay seriously, stop.
*normal conversation*
*another pic*
S: Hey, this is not cool. I will get in a lot of trouble. Stop.
A: You don't even have parents, how are you going to get in trouble?
S: Ouch. And I already told you my brother will be pissed.
A: You didn't say you didn't like them?
S: I don't like them. Stop.
A: WARNING *most recent pic*
—————————————————————————-

Sophia's POV:

When Clayton finally looks up from my phone he ask me seriously "What does he mean considering what you sent me on Snap?" I sigh, I didn't even think about the fact that he has said that. I don't know what to say, so I just kind of freeze. Clayton looks at me and says harshly "Sophia I'm waiting." I mumble, looking down at my feet, "I sent him a picture of me in the locker room without a shirt on Snapchat..." and then I add, a bit more confidently "But, Amelia already punished me for that and you told her she could without telling you, so I can't be in trouble for that again." Clayton just does this thing he does when he is really frustrated, where he squints his eyes tightly and pinches the bridge of his nose. The he says tiredly "Okay kiddo, I need a breather, I'll be back in a few minutes." And then he just walks out of the room with my phone, leaving me to sit and wait.

Clayton's POV:

I really feel like I am failing at being a parent and a big brother right now. My 12 year old was sending inappropriate pictures on Snapchat! I am not sure that there is a bigger parenting fail. I also feel like a pretty awful big brother. Some little jerk kid was harassing my baby sister and she didn't even tell me about it. I don't know what else a big brother is supposed to do if it isn't protect his little sister from jerks like that. The feeling of defeat and failure is pretty overwhelming at the moment. In moments like this in life there are really only two pretty simple choices. The first is to just give in to the overwhelming feelings and wallow in self loathing and pity. That is obviously not the appropriate course of action in this situation. The second choice is to pull myself together and figure out how I am going to fix things. That is the choice that I am going to make right now. It is not a instant process though. Being determined to find a solution to a problem doesn't make the problem hurt any less. I go to my room and sit in the chair in the corner of the room. I try to take deep breathes to calm down, but I just start crying. I am just trying so hard, but I feel like I am doing everything wrong, and I don't know what to do. Amelia comes into the room and immediately comes over to me, looking really concerned. She ask gently "Are you okay?" I say "No, I am really not." She doesn't say anything else, just puts her hands on my shoulders and bows her head and starts praying for me. It is actually really calming and helpful. I can't believe that this amazing woman is going to be my wife, I am so lucky. I finally stop crying, I am not very proud that Amelia saw me like that, or that I broke down like that at all. It makes me feel very feminine and weak. I know that is old fashioned, but it is pretty ingrained into me and it is hard to get that out of my subconscious. I pull myself together and stand up. Amelia doesn't ask me to explain or talk about it, she just kisses me and says "You'll be okay."