Page 17 of Structure of Love

That bad a start to the day, huh?Hit me

Erin:Mom forced me into a pink dress and white sandals this morning

Me:Wth why

Erin:’Cause I’m not dressing feminine enough. It’s giving the wrong signal for boys. Plus she’s trying to get rid of all my pants and make me wear a goddamn slip under the skirts, to be “modest” or some shit

Erin:She was talking about getting me UGGs and showed me this magazine of Christian girls. The outfits make me want to hurl

Erin:I cannot get her to compromise on me at least wearing jeans. She keeps saying something like, the jeans are “too revealing of my legs” or some shit

I groaned. That was so typical of my mother’s logic.Remember orange is not your color

Erin:I’m going to burn all of these damn clothes, film it, and post it on social media

Erin:Just see if I don’t

Me:Go for it. Maybe she’ll get a fucking clue then

Erin:Bro you fr rn?

Me:Yep

Erin:BET *string of imp-smile emojis*

Should I have encouraged her? Eh, maybe not, but our mother was doing her best to cram Erin into being the precious little girl she’d wanted. It was part of why Erin rebelled—because their perfect image wasn’t her, and she’d realized our parentsdidn’t actually love her. They loved the idea of her. Kid was smart enough to know the score.

Which meant my parents were about to lose all their kids, ’cause Erin was already talking about going no contact with them the second she escaped their house. Their sons had cut them off years ago, the second we’d left. Maybe it would be a wake-up call to the parents. I wasn’t counting on it, but miracles could happen.

I did try to encourage her.49 days

Erin:And counting

Erin’s birthday was August twenty-sixth, and her goal was to move out the second she turned eighteen. She’d finish senior year living with me, and then I’d help her through trade school, as she wanted to be a mechanic. My parents would no doubt lose their shit, but she’d be eighteen. There would be nothing they could do at that point. Although I was sure they’d try.

Right now, with it being summer, she had a hard time escaping our mother’s attention. Mom was a stay-at-home mother, always had been, so Erin was likely feeling smothered. I felt bad for the kid. Still, she was just under two months away from freedom. She only had to hold out until then.

Erin:Gtg

Mom had probably come back in. It was sad Erin had to hide so much of herself from the parents who claimed to love her.

With a sigh, I put my phone down. Gage wasn’t the only one with a sibling in trouble. The difference was Cooper was trying to ruin his life in every way possible, while Erin was trying to build hers into a better future. Still, I could relate to the man.

I turned my attention back to the bills, as they needed paying, even though I wasn’t a fan. The bar did well, at least. I never struggled to pay bills or employees.

Erin had said she wanted to work part-time for me once she moved out, but I was on the fence. Students should study;I didn’t want her stressing about money and such. Although I might set her up with a bank account to manage, let her get some experience. It was something I’d struggled with the first four years of being an adult. Managing money and gaining the right instincts for how to handle it were things that grew over time. I didn’t want Erin making the same mistakes I had. A year of managing an account, with me nearby to help her out, seemed the saner way to approach it.

Of course I’d need to have her on hand, with license and such, to open an account. Our parents would seize the account and use it as another means to control her if she had it any sooner. They’d barely let her get her license this year, despite her being ready to take the test at sixteen.

Ooh, car. I’d need to help her get a car, too. I wouldn’t be able to act as her shuttle. I had a business to run. Better for her to have her own wheels, anyway. She wanted to find a cute girlfriend, and no one wanted their older brother hanging around on a date.

I pulled up my personal bank account, thought through expenses and such, and decisively opened another savings account before shuffling several thousand into it. There, savings started. I could give the money to her when she opened her own account. She wouldn’t be able to walk onto a car lot and get a Lamborghini or something, but she’d be able to get decent wheels if she did some smart shopping. If she wanted to be a mechanic, learning how to shop for a car was a good first step.

I had a feeling I’d need to lawyer up at some point to make my parents back off. They were not going to take it well when she moved out and cut contact. They also wouldn’t be able to admit they’d screwed up royally with their kids. Literally no one in the family approved of how they’d handled their children, but the harsh opinions hadn’t swayed them any.

Protecting Erin was going to be expensive, but y’know, my sister was worth every penny.

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