Friday, April 16, 2004
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Friday, April 16, 2004 |
| Big Brother’s got your back By Rick Ryckeley As Old Miss Crabtree pulled him out of the classroom by the ear, Down the Street Bully Brad sneered at me through clenched yellow teeth, “After school, I’m gonna pound you into the ground like a nail!” That certainly wasn’t something I wanted to hear from the biggest kid in the class. Bully Brad had been a bully as long as I could remember. He was a bully to Big Brother James when he was in third grade, he was a bully to Older Brother Richard when he was in third grade, and now he was a bully to me in Mrs. Crabtree’s third-grade class. Maybe if he had concentrated more on studying and less on bullying, he’d be out of third grade by now. At least, that’s what I told him. That’s why he wanted to beat me up. Out the doorway and down the hallway they went towards the office and Principal Baker, “I’m gonna pound you ... Hey! Easy on the ear, Miss Crab Cakes! Owwwww.” Bully Brad’s words echoed in the hall as cold shivers ran up down my spine. I thought, I’ve never been pounded into the ground before. I need some help after school or someone is gonna get hurt, and it looks like that someone is gonna be me. This could be painful. At lunch I told Big Brother James what Bully Brad had threatened. “Don’t worry about it,” he calmly assured, “Big brother’s got your back.” It was the first time James had said such a thing to me, and since then I’ve heard the phrase a lot from my big brother. After school, Bully Brad was indeed waiting for me down by the old magnolia tree in front of Candi’s house. We referred to the magnolia tree as the fighting tree. It was just far enough from school that teachers wouldn’t stop the fight, which was good if we were winning, and just close enough to 110 Flamingo Street so we could limp home if we were losing. When Brad jumped out from behind the fighting tree and all the kids from school started circling around us, I figured it was going to be one of those ‘limp home’ days - that is, till Big Brother James came around the corner. With clenched fist and a snarl Bully Brad spat, “This ain’t got nothing to do with you, James! Stay out of it!” “Oh yes it does,” James replied calmly as he walked over and stood behind me, “If you fight one of us, you fight all of us.” Weighing his options, Brad grumbled under his breath, “This ain’t over.” James called after Brad as he stormed away, “We’ll be waiting for you.” There were days during the summer when James was at football camps that Bully Brad took advantage of. He would find me and pound on me, but for the most part, when James was around, Brad stayed away. Years later, at Briarwood High, home of the Might Buccaneers, football recruiters from all over the nation came to see Big Brother James play and his dream of playing college ball was very close, ‘til a knee injury his senior year took that dream away. It was replaced, as dreams often are, with another: a wrestling scholarship to Auburn University. My senior year I was offered a football scholarship, too, to Appalachian State in North Carolina. With much still to learn from my big brother, I turned down the scholarship, not ready to face the world alone. Instead, I followed him to Auburn. Over the years he has taught me many things, but he really doesn’t know it ‘cause he’s been busy with his life: a business, a wife, two daughters and another on the way. Me? I’ve been watching and trying to learn. Just last week I learned something else from him. No matter what happens in my life, when I really need him, big brother’s got my back. All the competitions, arguments, and fights of our youth have long ago faded away and been replaced with an odd short of friendship. One built out of respect and understanding for each other. It’s not because he’s three inches taller that I look up to him or because he was a better athlete in school or even that he’s more successful now. It’s because he’s my big brother. Big Brother James has pulled me out of the fire many more times than he ever got me into it over the years; well, let’s just say he’d make a good firefighter. Besides, if you can’t count on your big brother to help get you out of trouble, who can you count on? Isn’t that’s what big brothers are for? [Rick Ryckeley is employed by the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services. He can be reached at saferick@bellsouth.net.]
[Rick Ryckeley is employed by the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services. He can be reached at saferick@bellsouth.net.] |