I am not that small, I mean I am not tall or big and neither am I short. But my junior sister makes me seem small. She just grew fast and is now the same height as me, in the race of growth we are on the same lane and she isn't giving me any breathing space either. I think before next year, she will be taller and bigger than I am. And because of this, my mom buys us the same size and type of clothes sometimes.
So, on a Saturday, my mom got us some clothes, and as usual, she called us both, and then we started choosing one after the other. We did it in the order of me being the senior choosing first, then Hafi. My mom then brought out two crop tops. One was blue, which was a color I didn't really like, and then the other was white, which was my favorite color. Hafi picked up the blue one as she was already in love with it. I knew she liked it so much, but there was a problem. The white one had some flower decorations on it, and that just made me dislike it.
Long story short, I chose the blue top, and Hafi wasn't pleased at all by my choice. A few days after, I had a friend come over, and we planned to go on an outing. It was hot outside, and I decided to wear my new blue top. I went into my room to change it while my friend waited for me in the sitting room. To my surprise, the blue top was nowhere to be found.
I thought, ‘It had to be Hafi’s doing.’ There was a time she did the same thing, and she often took my clothes because they fitted her perfectly. I walked to her room and asked her for it, very sure that she was responsible.
“Hafi, I need my top now," I said to her.
“Which top?" She sat up on her bed, lowering her tab to look at me, looking confused.
“The blue crop top mom bought. Stop acting like you don't know," I was getting impatient and annoyed by her acting puzzled.
“I didn't take it," Hafi said as she rolled her eyes and went back to operating her tab.
I stood there looking at her, filled with rage. Then I looked at her box and then back at her and back at the box again. Hafi hated people touching her belongings, even though she saw no boundaries when it came to my clothes. I looked at the box. I was going to search it, and I knew there was going to be a fight.
I slowly walked to her box.
“What do you want to do?"
I ignored her and avoided eye contact. She knew exactly what I was about to do and wasn't going to let it happen. I unzipped the box open.
Dum! I heard her leg as she jumped down from her bed.
“Don't touch my things," Hafi said, pulling me back. She was able to get me almost on the floor. She zipped the box before I could get my balance, and when I did, I quickly grabbed onto one side of the box while she grabbed the other side. I used every single ounce of energy I had in me to pull the box, but Hafi wasn't ready to give up no matter the maneuver I tried using.
“I told you I didn't take it," Hafi yelled.
"What is going on here?” My mom dashed into the room, followed by my friend, who stood at the door.
"She took my clothes,” I said between sobs, panting, as I left the box for Hafi. Besides, I was tired already. What frustrated me more than anything was how Hafi, being my younger sister, was so much stronger. It made me feel small in more ways than one.
“Which clothes?" My mom turned to Hafi.
“She thinks I took her blue crop top, but I didn't," Hafi said softly, like she wasn't even in a tug of war just moments ago. That made me sob harder, with my eyes all watery, the fact that my junior sister was by far stronger than me. I felt intimidated and defeated.
My mom then sighed, "Danny,” she called out to my brother, who came running into the room.
"Yes, Mom,” he answered with his mouth stuffed with biscuits.
"Go into my room. In my first drawer, you will see Snow’s blue top. Get it," Hafi hissed, took her box back to where it was, and climbed back onto her bed to operate her tab.
“You left it in the dryer, and I forgot to give it to you after I took it,” my mom said before exiting the room as the issue was resolved.
I looked at my friend, who watched me still breathing heavily. I felt so dumb; I was barking up the wrong tree all this while.
From that day on, whenever I was looking for any of my clothes, I checked the house properly and asked everyone first before secretly checking my sister's room if I still couldn't find it.
