Responsibility for my brothers and flood in the house

Name of speaker: 
Sima Buḥbut
Gender of speaker: 
Female
Occupation of speaker: 
Domestic worker, jam and liquor making, and jewellery design
Age of speaker at time of recording: 
71
Year of immigration: 
1953
Speaker's country of origin: 
Speaker's community of origin: 
Language: 
Judeo-Arabic
Conversation topics: 
Documentation: 
Yaʿel Wecsler
Year of recording: 
2019
Translator: 
Sima Buḥbut

Translation: 

I raised my brothers. I am the eldest sister. My name is Sima and they would call me Simḥa (Joy) in Moroccan. I had two brothers growing up, Shimʿon and my late younger brother, Shalom. When I was six, my mother had to give birth and she told me “I am going to bring you a little sister. Sima! Take care of your brothers and the house." I wanted to shower my brothers and there was no water in the taps. When the night came even then there was no water. We went to sleep with the family who lived nearby. When we returned in the morning the whole house was full of water, while the threshold maintained it from flowing outside. My mother and father were expected to be home that day with the new baby. I was very scared of my father's reaction that he might hit me because I'm irresponsible. When they got home, father saw all the mess and hit me, but mother gave me a bag of candy.