The Price of a Lesson
Language: en
My mother had a parenting philosophy: "Kill the chicken to scare the monkey." I was the chicken. My brother, Leo, was the monkey. From the time I was four, my mother used this tactic. If Leo broke a bowl, I knelt on the floor to pick up the pieces. If Leo broke someone else's toy, I wrote the apology letter. My mother said, "You're the big sister. You didn't watch him properly, so it's your fault." When I was eight, Leo stole money from the convenience store down the street. When the fat owner came knocking on our door, Leo didn't hesitate to point at me: "It was Penny! She took…