Featured on @StorylineReddit: March 2, 2026
It starts small. A bedroom door that doesn’t quite stay closed. A pair of scissors. A few strands of hair on a pillow.
Some conflicts arrive with shouting; others unfold in gestures so strange they almost feel ridiculous until they repeat. On the surface, this looks like cramped quarantine tension in a crowded house. Underneath, something tighter takes shape. Space narrows. Comments sharpen. Certain words are said often enough that they stop shocking anyone except the person they’re aimed at.
She isn’t only being teased. She’s being entered her room, her drawers, her medical supplies. Each time she reacts, the response is the same: it’s not that serious, it’ll grow back, God meant it.
The story circles one uncomfortable idea: what happens when harm is reframed as either harmless or righteous. And what it feels like to breathe in that room.
This conflict isn’t driven by one explosive event but by repetition that slowly shifts the ground beneath the narrator.
While staying with her parents during quarantine, she becomes the focus of her nephew’s invasive and increasingly hostile behavior stealing personal items, entering her room uninvited, making sexualized and homophobic comments, and ultimately taking both of her asthma inhalers. Each incident is minimized. His mother reframes it as moral correction or divine consequence. His father apologizes without intervening. The household authority rests elsewhere, and it is not on her side.
The dynamic escalates in stages: first irritation, then violation, then actual physical risk. When she attempts to regain control locking her belongings, confronting the behavior the structure of the family absorbs the challenge. Nothing meaningfully shifts.
Her eventual departure resolves the immediate danger but leaves the underlying pattern intact. The system remains. Only her presence changes.
What lingers is not a diagnosis of the teenager, but the ease with which repeated boundary crossings were treated as normal.
Text Version
I (20F) think my brother’s (30M) kid (13M) is a psychopath or something
CONCLUDED
I am not The OOP, OOP is u/ThrowRA_ahhhhhhh
I (20F) think my brother’s (30M) kid (13M) is a psychopath or something.
Originally posted to r/relationship_advice
TRIGGER WARNING: Homophobia, financial abuse, verbal abuse, physical assault, mentions of sexual assault
Original Post May 16, 2020
I’m staying with my parents for quarantine. I live alone eight hours away, and I don’t have many friends. I’m asthmatic and I don’t have anyone to help me in case of emergency so I’m back with my parents for the pandemic.
My brother was a teendad and he has been married for about six years. They have two children together. One is thirteen and the other one is a six-year-old girl. My brother and SIL are here too, and I’m beginning to suspect that my brother’s kid is a psychopath. (I’m exaggerating, maybe not a psychopath but something is definitely wrong with him)
My brother is not a bad person but he has changed since he met SIL so we don’t see them often these days. SIL doesn’t like us, especially me. I’m bisexual and I have a girlfriend, and SIL is against it. She constantly makes comments about it, and is usually bitchy towards me.
Her daughter is lovely, and we get along well when SIL is not looking. She doesn’t let her daughter come near me in case I “rape” her because I like girls. Whatever. I don’t particularly like kids anyway, but I have to say her daughter is a smart little girl. I honestly wonder if she’s adopted sometimes because she’s not at all like her parents and brother.
Anyway, back to the topic, 13M is rude, obnoxious and weird. He constantly parades into my room and rummages through my things. He stole my underwear and bra, and doesn’t listen to me! He came into my room and actually CUT MY hair while I was sleeping. I woke up to see my head looking like a rat ate it! It was not much but he cut my bangs and I look like an idiot!
I got so angry and I cried so hard, and SIL made a comment that I was overrreacting. “It’s quarantine, no one would see it.” “It’ll grow back” fuck that! HE came into MY room and CUT MY HAIR with SCISSORS! Doesn’t that make her worry??? As his mother??
13M steals a lot. He stole my earphones, clothes, my colours (I like to paint) etc and when I confront him about it, he says he didn’t take it. When I search his room and find it, he says it’s HIS and not mine. HOW CAN A WOMAN’S BRA BE HIS?? That’s right. It’s his GIRLFRIEND’S. There’s always some excuse.
13M is always rude to me and constantly makes homophobic and mean comments about me and my girlfriend. I can’t even come out of my room without hearing something hurtful. He’s always asking me if I know what a real man’s dick feels like. His comments are always weirdly sexual, but I feel like he’s just repeating SIL’S words.
I’m sick and tired of fighting about this with SIL and brother.
My brother always has some kind of excuse. “He’s a kid” “He’s immature” “He’s young” “Boys will be boys.” I have heard it all. The truth is his mother is a monster.
13M is also rude to his sister. He steals her food and shoves her when he’s angry, but I have only seen it once or twice.
As I mentioned above, I’m asthmatic. I have two inhalers in case I ever lose one. My attacks aren’t that frequent but it does happen. I have used my inhaler in front of him a few times, and I KNOW that he knows what it’s used for. He actually STOLE my inhalers. He stole my new inhaler and went through my things and stole the SECOND inhaler as well.
When I had an asthma attack, I couldn’t find my inhaler anywhere. I freaked out and I was literally gasping for breath. My mom had to search his room for my inhaler. I finally got it, but he didn’t even look remorseful. He called me a freak and went back to playing video games like it was nothing. My mom yelled at him but my SIL said god was punishing me for my sins. What the fuck. It was HER son, not god! What is wrong with her? What is wrong with her son?
She dismisses everything her son does to me as “it’s god’s way of punishing you”
What can I do in this situation? What can I do to survive the rest of quarantine with him? He’s turning into a criminal or robber or a murderer, I don’t know! I’m sorry for the rant. I’m angry and baffled. I have to deal with this kid and listen to homophobic shit everyday and also suffer without seeing my gf. I feel like I’m losing my sanity. Please give me any advice you can. Thank you.
TL;DR : my brother’s kid steals my things. He stole my inhaler and called me a freak. He cut my hair while I was sleeping. He’s rude and weird. His mother doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with him. She says it’s gods way of punishing me for being bisexual. What can I do to survive the rest of quarantine with these people?
RELEVANT COMMENTS
anbrosiabelle
That’s terrible. Sorry you are going through this. I haven’t any advice to offer, aside from maybe finding a way to move out. Sorry can’t be much help. What do your parents say about it?
OOP
My dad just had a surgery and is on bed rest. My mom does scold my nephew, but he doesn’t listen because his mom is on his side. My brother is the only person they’ll listen to and no matter how much my mom shouts at him, my brother just apologizes and doesn’t do much.
Update May 21, 2020
Hello. Thank you so much for all the support you have shown me. I didn’t think so many of you would reach out to me and offer help. I’m truly grateful. Some of you were so nice that it made me teary. It’s so amazing that people that don’t even know me can be so kind to me when my own family is acting like this. Thank you. I appreciate it.
I have to warn you that this might be long. I’m back in my apartment and in a considerably better mood. I might end up talking a lot about myself haha. Sorry about that.
After posting on reddit, I actually decided to buy a lock, but I didn’t get to buy it. Before that, my SIL and I had an argument. She actually tried to set me up with our neighbour who is married and is forty-two years old. I’m pretty sure his wife is a doctor and they are very much still together. She’s not home right now, but she’s a DOCTOR. It could be because she’s busy, but for some reason, my SIL believed that his wife left him, and tried to talk me into going over to his home to help.
I don’t know what she was thinking. That would be so awkward?? Trying to seduce a married guy in front of his kids?? Why would I do that? I can’t understand her thinking at all.
I refused to do that, and she wouldn’t stop pestering me. At night, I ended up video calling my gf in the living room, hoping SIL would see it. Looking back, I shouldn’t have provoked her. My niece actually saw me talking to my gf and asked me who it was. I could literally feel SIL glaring at me, but it would be rude to not introduce her so I ended up introducing her to my gf.
That backfired and after the call ended, SIL accused me of brainwashing/influencing her daughter. We ended up arguing about it, and she wouldn’t stop saying very disgusting stuff like I was trying to “rape” her daughter (she didn’t use the word rape. She said I was trying to do “gay things” to her daughter) or I was trying to “transfer my deformity” Those were the exact words. I don’t even know what it means! Wtf.
I know I should’ve fought back and stuff, but I don’t have that kind of courage. I ended up just going back to my room because she wouldn’t stop calling me names. I guess it was sort of my fault. It’s her daughter so I don’t think I have a right to say anything about that.
After that, it was kind of quiet for a while, but the next day, I was taking a shower and my nephew went to my room again. I had been keeping my inhalers locked in this little safe-like box. I kept the key with me at all times, but that little demon threw my shoes, the box with my inhalers and some of my clothes out of the window. I did go down to the backyard and bring it back so I didn’t lose anything.
When my mom confronted SIL about throwing my stuff, all she said was that god did it. This was the last straw, and I felt like they really just wanted to get rid of me. Nephew had been banging and kicking on the door to annoy me too. He would also shout or scream when I didn’t give him attention.
I ended up calling my gf. I really didn’t want to, because I was the one who encouraged her to go back to her parents because she was worried about them (They’re really old, 61F and 63M) Edit: I’m really sorry for saying 61 is old. I keep getting mean messages about it. I got it, guys. I’m so sorry. It was a mistake. Please don’t get angry. I already got told off by a lot of people. Please stop messaging me about it. I’m sorry.
She came to take me back the day before yesterday. We packed my stuff together and came back to my apartment in her car. My brother didn’t even try to stop me and say anything. That hurt just a little bit, but that’s okay. I didn’t expect anything from him anyway.
The only small victory we had was my gf didn’t answer any of my SIL’s questions seriously. SIL kept hanging around us while we packed, and my gf made a joke out of all of SIL’S little comments. SIL made a small comment that we would go to hell and my gf said something like “Yeah we’ll have lots of kinky lesbian sex in this life and then meet you there.” I should’ve used that trick this whole time. I didn’t know it would work.
I’m now back in my apartment, and I’m in a much better mood. I just talked to my gf’s mom and she’s just such a sweet person. She told me I can go there anytime, and it really made me happy.
So yeah, it may not have been the perfect ending. I also lost my colours and stuff which nephew hid somewhere, but I guess I’m okay. I can just buy more. I know some of you were like “punch them both and throw them on the street” but yeah, I can’t do that. I’m sorry. I can’t tell my brother and SIL to get out.
There are many reasons for that. First of all, my dad just had a heart surgery and my mom is not in a good place emotionally. My SIL is a bitch to me but she’s very helpful and she’s the one taking care of MY father. My brother is supporting my parents financially which is something I can’t do at the moment. Telling them to get out is the most selfish thing I can do at the moment.
Thank you for all the help though. I won’t be seeing my brother and SIL for a long time, and I’m happy I don’t have to worry about that anymore. I was hoping my brother would at least say something, but it’s alright for now. Maybe he’ll come to his senses some time in the future.
For now, I’m just going to spend the rest of quarantine in my own apartment and try to enjoy some time with my girlfriend. Thanks 🙂
Source
She wakes up and her bangs are uneven. Shorter. Jagged. There are strands on the pillow and a pair of scissors somewhere in the house.
No one heard the door.
Harm that happens while you’re asleep has a particular texture. It’s quiet. It’s almost petty. And yet it rearranges something fundamental about safety. The scissors aren’t the point. The access is.
After that, the pattern doesn’t explode it accumulates. Clothes go missing. Underwear is found in his room. He shrugs and says it belongs to his girlfriend. He walks in without knocking. He stands in the hallway and asks if she knows what a real man feels like. He laughs. His mother watches and calls it immaturity. His father apologizes. No one removes him from the doorway.
Then the inhalers disappear.
She searches her room. Checks her bag again. The second inhaler is gone too. Her chest tightens. Breath shortens. Her mother runs to his room and finds them. He goes back to his video game. That sequence stands on its own.
It would be easy to pin this on adolescence, or pathology, or rebellion sharpened by quarantine. The narrative itself gestures in that direction. But midway through, the focus shifts. Authority does not intervene because it does not need to. The mother reframes. The brother smooths things over. Financial support complicates confrontation. Caregiving obligations blur moral lines.
The nephew’s behavior feels learned, but not entirely contained by that explanation. The fixation, the precision, the targeting of what keeps her breathing those details resist neat placement.
When she leaves, there is no reckoning. Her girlfriend jokes about meeting in hell. The sister-in-law lingers in the room while they pack. The brother does not argue. The door closes.
Distance brings relief. It does not clarify what, exactly, was growing inside that house.