I blinked, still in a daze, and there was my mom again. The same scene playing out like before. She was holding a piece of that nasty tonic, trying to convince my brother to eat it. He scrunched up his face, complaining about how awful it tasted, but she kept on him.
The memory of suffocating to death made me shudder. I started gasping for air, trying to calm down. My mom shot me a look, pure disgust in her eyes.
"You useless girl! What are you staring at? This is for your brother, not you. Don't even think about it! Now get in the kitchen and make dinner!"
I stood there, frozen. She snapped again.
"What, still standing there? Want me to get your dad to beat you to death?"
She raised her hand to slap me, and I instinctively shielded myself. Her slap landed hard on my arm, burning like fire, but it snapped me out of my daze. Seeing her ready to strike again, I ran to the kitchen. Behind me, my brother spit at me, laughing. "Useless girl!"