Legal Question in Family Law in California

I need some help on a child custody matter.

The child in question is not my own, but my little brother. My grandmother assigned my stepmother as my brother's legal guardian should anything happen to her, but my little brother does not want to live with my step mother or my father (no relation to the child) and the only other person that can claim guardianship over the child is my mother, a registered sex offender with charges of domestic violence. My mother has not had custody of this child since he was 2 and has only visited him once, when he was 6, but is determined to get custody of my brother should my grandmother pass away. I know for a fact that living with my mother would have a very bad impact on him, and so does he as he has expressed his own concerns regarding the topic many times, insisting that he does not want to live with her. My little brother will be 14 next January and I wish to try and get custody of him. My problem is that I am going to be moving out of the country and I was told by my grandmother that I wouldn't qualify as a parental guardian because of that.

What I need to know is if I have any grounds to try and get custody of him. My father and stepmother may be willing to hand over custody, however my mother will fight tooth and nail for a child she's done not one thing to help raise.

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