Game Of Sins

4 - Marcus

"Markie!",three tiny voices squeaked from my empty house. The corners of my lips kicked up involuntarily at their tiny voices.

I closed the door behind me, cutting off half the light in the apartment.

Damn it, I forgot to pay the electricity bill again.

I grinned as three shadows ran over to me. I dropped my bag to the floor and crouched down.

Leah, Hannah and Mia ran over to me and collapsed in my arms. They giggled and hugged me tightly.

They were it. They were my only family. They were my sisters and they were triplets.

"You're so late.",Leah said, cocking her head to the side.
She was the responsible one. Even though the three of them were just nine, Leah was way more mature than anybody in this house. I'd tried braiding her hair in the morning and it ended up being a disaster but Leah still smiled at me and went to school with the same hair. Her messy hair framed the shadows of her face. She was the bold, motherly one who took care of all of us.

Hannah and Leah let go of me. Leah picked up my bag and ran to my bedroom with it, placing the bag on my bed and running back.

"We ordered pizza. Is that okay, Markie?",Hannah asked. Mia still clung on to me.

"You guys did what?",I asked in disbelief. They were just nine.

Hannah grinned sheepishly. Hannah was the mischievous one. She was the prankster. The clown and we all loved her for it. She could make any situation hilarious, usually unintentionally, with her clumsiness and her wrongly timed questions.  She had cut her hair herself with a pair of scissors she had found in the bathroom and asked me to completely trim it off.

Don't ask.

And then there was Mia. The delicate, silent one. She never talked to anybody, clung on to me for dear life and absolutely hated new people.

The three of us belonged to our own little world where no one else was allowed.

The three of them were so independent at such a young age, I couldn't be prouder to be their older brother.

I got up, carrying Mia with me. She clung on to my neck with her tiny arms.

I decided to pay the electricity bill later that night, after the three of them were asleep. I headed into the kitchen and plopped Mia down on the table. Mia got down and obediently took her place beside her sisters at the tiny table. Dim light shone from the electric lamps placed in the corners of the house. The entire house was filled with sporadic oranges washing the walls.

The tiny table was enough to accommodate the four of us. Leah, Hannah and Mia said their prayers and we waited for the doorbell to ring.

I'd probably have some spare change to be able to afford the pizza.

The money that Boss gave me covered the expenses of the house. Leah, Hannah and Mia were good students and I was more than happy to acknowledge it. They knew how tight we were on money and did not ask for any unnecessary expenses.

I had recently landed a job in a nearby cafe, Jackson's, as a waiter. I figured that would be enough to pay for food.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Pizza's here!",Hannah grinned and took off. I smiled as I got up and fumbled in my jeans pockets to see if I had spare change. I found a twenty dollar note tucked safely in my pocket and sighed in relief.

Leah took the money from me and went to the door. Mia sat with me, clutching my shirt in her tiny hands, waiting for the delivery man to go away.

In the dim light, the whites of her dark eyes were almost completely invisible. Her bangs fell on her pudgy face.
"Send him away.",she said.

"You won't get any pizza if we send him away.",I smiled and took her hand in my palms.

"Do you think any of this will get better, Markie?",she said. She always had this sad gleam in her eyes. Even when she was happy, the sadness never left her eyes.

"But everything is fine, Mimi. Why would you want anything to change?",I asked, my eyebrows furrowing as I tried to smile for her sake.

She looked up at me and her dark eyes shone.
"You work so hard for us. You don't get any sleep. I'm worried about you. What if something happens to you one day? What would we do without you?",she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

My eyebrows furrowed harder.
I pulled her into my side.
"Nothing's gonna happen to me, Mimi. Your big brother will always be right here."

Leah and Hannah came running back with the pizza. Hannah placed the pizza on the table, thankfully without dropping any of it. Leah opened the box and grinned at us.
"Dinner time."

"What's wrong, Mimi?",Hannah asked.

Mia shook her head and wiped away her tears as she smiled that sad smile of hers.

"So who wants first bite?",I said, quickly changing the topic because I knew Mia would hate having to talk about her feelings.

In some weird ways, she was who I had maximum commonalities with. I loved the three of them completely without any biases but I connected with Mia the most.

Hannah and Leah grinned as they each grabbed a piece of the pizza. Mia took one and slowly started chewing on it. I grabbed a slice and quickly ate it. I didn't realize how hungry I was until after I'd eaten the slice.

There were three pieces left in the box. I got up to wash my hands, leaving the slices for them. I gulped down a glass of water to fill my stomach completely and rinsed my mouth.

After dinner, the three of them went to their rooms and I went in too because no matter how much they grew up, they couldn't sleep without knowing that their big brother was right in the room with them, ready to protect them from monsters.

The three of them lay down on the bed that I'd managed to afford for them. It was a bit small but they fit snugly. I snuggled into the side wrapping an arm around them protectively as I waited for them to slowly fall asleep.

They were my girls and I would do everything in my power to keep them safe and happy.

---

Soon, the sound of snoring filled the room. I slowly got up from the beginning, untangling Mia's hand from my shirt. I gently smoothed her hair, pulled the cover over Hannah and gently pushed Leah away from the edge of the bed. I tiptoed out of the room and shut the door behind me. One of the lamps flickered. I sighed when I remembered I still had to pay the electricity bill.

I was too tired to actually go pay it so I decided to do it online. I decided I'd have to cut down on this month's expenses of laundry and do it at home itself to save some money and pay the bill right now.

I went to my room and for a moment, sat down on my bed, exhausted. I rubbed my eyes and got up and walked towards my old PC. After half an hour of fiddling with the computer, I managed to transfer the money. The power would return in the morning. I took off my shirt and threw it on a chair as I slumped into my bed.

I pulled the covers across my body and tried to fall asleep without thinking about l the crappy things my sisters and I had to experience these past few years.

I tried not to think about dad abandoning us.

I tried not to think about mom killing herself and the blood that pooled around her as she lay lifeless in the bathtub after slitting her wrists.

I tried not to think about Leah, Hannah and Mia unable to even understand what was going on because they were only four.

I tried.

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