My brother's keeper by Jay Bennett is a short story of two brothers: Ted and Jamie (the youngest).
Their parents were killed in a car crash which can be considered as a rite of passage for both of them. Although, they don't handle it the same way.
Ted, the older brother, gets himself into a lot of trouble after his parents' death and relies on his brother Jamie to solve them. But then Jamie realizes that his brother's toxic behavior was harming him, and he puts an end to being "his brother's keeper" forcing Ted to grow up and take the consequences of his own acts. There is another rite of passage. Jamie accepts that he cannot take the consequences of his brother's actions anymore and Ted is being forced to grow up and take responsibility of his own actions.
Option b seems to be correct