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My Brother |
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Imagine getting everything you wanted, getting all the attention, and being the cutest thing everywhere you went. Well, that is how I felt being the only child. Yet that was short lived. I was only three when AJ was born. He immediately took over everything of mine. I loathed AJ, even more than broccoli. I was no longer the baby. Sharing was not something I was very familiar with. Who would have thought that I would have to fight for a seat on my own Dad's lap? It was my family, my parents, and of course my attention! Why had this little creature come to ruin my life? I soon realized that AJ might actually be fun. I figured I'd give the miniature person a chance. I figured I knew the ropes and could tell him which way to climb them! Siblings are strange beings. I've grown up with AJ, have come to learn everything about him, and no matter what, I will love him regardless of what he may get himself into. My younger brother and I are a prime example of unconditional love. Even though I think AJ is the sloppiest, most inconsiderate, and least motivated person I know, those qualities happen to be the ones that make me love him more. Maybe it's because I wish to possess some of AJ's qualities. I wish I wouldn't care so much. I wish I wouldn't burden myself with everyone else's problems. Maybe I love these qualities because AJ does inadequate performances in school, jobs, and life in general. Despite his piss- poor attitude, AJ still considers his life to be in order. He lives his life carefree and is happy. Either way, AJ and I are complete opposites! I'm a neat freak. I can't even stand the sight of AJ's room. I am very polite and considerate; therefore, when someone hurts my feelings AJ is the first one to stand up in my behalf. I work very hard at school and my job, while AJ has never held higher than a C average or a decent job for as long as I can remember. Despite all these differences, I couldn't imagine anyone better than AJ to be my kid brother. I soon realized all the power I had over poor little AJ. I remember when I was five years old, which would make AJ two. AJ and I were sitting on our hard kitchen floor banging pots and pans around pretending like we were in a band. Mom was cooking and holding her head hoping that the clanging would soon end. I was a lot more mischievous when I was younger, and after finding a piece of gravel on the floor I got a brilliant idea to trick AJ. "AJ, I think it's time you find out how to be really smart. You have to put this computer chip (which was the piece of gravel) in your nose and it will travel to your brain and make you smarter than Dad," I said mischievously. And with the ok from the little tike, the gravel was shoved up his tiny nostril. What I didn't know is that his nostrils were so tiny that the piece of gravel would get lodged in his nasal cavity, causing a visit to the emergency room. While AJ cried for days about not being smarter than Dad, I was grounded in my room for what seemed like eternity. Yet, after everything blew over, AJ still trusted me and worshipped my every move. Two years later, when I was seven and AJ was four we still enjoyed playing pretend. Our favourite game at this stage in our lives was Helicopter. I would take AJ's frail boney arms into my hands and spin him around in the air. His feet would tangle in the wind and his chubby cheeks would be in a constant smile, while I would get ridiculously dizzy. One wintry day, it was too cold to play Helicopter outside so we decided to play in our living room. I took AJ's cold arms into my hands and started spinning on the hardwood floor. I wasn't used to my shoes slipping and sliding underneath me when I would spin around. I started getting really dizzy and felt myself losing grip of AJ's arms. I tried with all my might to keep a hold of AJ and to slow down the spinning motion. When I was a fraction away of being in the clear, my shoe took its last spin. My feet slid out from under me, like a helicopter losing a propeller. As I fell to the ground, I saw AJ go flying head first right into our brick fire place. My mother came running to shrieks of terror and pain. This too caused a trip to the emergency room. And again AJ cried for days about not being able to fly this time, while I was grounded for what seemed to be an eternity. Yet, after everything blew over, AJ still thought I was the coolest thing ever. As I got older I started relying on AJ as a friend. This worked, because when I turned nine, I was a major tomboy. Growing up in a small town with a neighborhood full of testosterone taught me how to fend for myself quite well. The cool thing to do in my neighborhood was to go four-wheeler riding after school. One spring day my dad decided to let me drive the motorcycle for the first time with a passenger. And could you guess who my guinea pig was... none other than six year old AJ. I was very cautious with him on the bike because I knew the consequences of hurting my younger sibling and they weren't appealing. AJ was having the time of his life, feeling like he was associated with some elite bike gang because the older kids in the neighborhood respected his young skills. When we pulled up at the home front, I was so excited to tell Dad about the ride that I jumped off the four-wheeler and ran in the house. Little AJ sat on the bike pondering how he should approach dismounting himself from the seat. He came up with the bright idea to slide down from the seat to the foot peg and then jump onto the ground. What the poor boy didn't know is what he was sliding on were boiling hot pipes that at first contact burnt large portions of his flesh off his tiny body. My story about riding with a passenger soon got interrupted by horrifying cries from the garage. Dad and I came upon the scorched and terrified sight of AJ lying on the garage floor in a panic not knowing what to do for his frail burnt body. These first degree burns that covered AJ's entire legs and stomach caused yet another trip to the emergency room. I spent another eternity in my room while AJ cried for days about not being able to be in a bike gang. Yet, after everything blew over, AJ and I were still the best of playmates. Still in the tomboy stages at age ten, we got another bright idea on how to be cool. All the neighborhood kids were into baseball. Now we lived in a heavily wooded area, so when someone hit a homerun into the woods that was the end of the game; unless, one of us could talk our parents into buying us another baseball that they knew would be lost in the next hour. Many times our parents wouldn't fall for our pleading, so we would have to use an alternate system. We soon decided that frogs made good baseballs. Now, I can't justify our thinking but at the time it was a brilliant idea. AJ being the tag-a-long that he always was, wanted to play. He wasn't all that great of an athlete at age seven, so most of the time we made him catcher. One summer afternoon, we were all playing baseball in AJ and I's yard, and of course we had already lost our baseball for the day. I was up to bat, and the frog was ready to be pitched. The neighbor threw a perfect pitch and we all knew that the frog was going to fly. AJ behind the plate was overwhelmed with anticipation. He leaned in closer and closer to make sure he would get a perfect view of the momentous hit that was about to take place. And with that I swung the bat with all my might, but before I could even swing forward to hit the frog, my bat took a misdirected turn straight for AJ's head. This event then proceeded with lots of screaming and yelling and another trip to the emergency room. But this time was different, with AJ's cries of pain along came a horrified screech from my own lungs. I had just hurt the one person who only made my life happy. And the normal routine soon followed: AJ cried for days about not being able to be a professional baseball player while I was spending an eternity in my room only to think about how much I hurt him. Seeing AJ, bleeding and scared only made me realize that I no longer needed him as a playmate but as my best friend. I thought AJ was a person who could ruin my life forever. All in all, it turned out AJ could only ruin my life if he was no longer a part of it. In between all the emergency room visits, we had created a friendship that could not and will not be disengaged. I will always have a spot for AJ in my heart. AJ is my best friend, and regardless of what happens, the love we share will always be there. |
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