Life With Bubba Essay, Research Paper
Life With Bubba
My brother, Shawn, has had a tremendous impact on my life in many ways. I never
quite realized how much he affected me until he was gone. His roles have changed over
time. In the beginning, he was my enemy. Later, he became my partner and defender.
Now, he is my example for life.
Our relationship started out quite rough. He wasn?t fond of me, and the feeling
wsa mutual for me as well. Mom was in college, and dad was at work. The only ones left
at home were Shawn and I. My brother enjoyed these days of torment quite thoroughly.
On the other hand, they were the times I dreaded the most. When mom left, I became his
slave. All of the chores he was told to do were now my responsiblity along with my own.
There were times I dared to challenge what seemed to be an unfair concept of slavery. It
didn?t happen very often though. The consequences for even thinking such a thing could
be quite harsh. It could be anything from being made to eat soap to being black and blue.
Who knew what would cross his mind?
There is one particular moment I recall quite clearly. Shawn had become bored.
This was a dreadful thing because it was also my job to keep him amused. I didn?t mind
this duty though. It sometimes came in handy, and kept me from having to do so much
work. He had decided it was time for me to sing a song. He didn?t care what it was as
long as he was entertained. I was brave that day, and decided that I was worn out and
didn?t want to sing a song. I continued to refuse, so he found other ways to have fun. He
continuously hit me until my arms were really starting to hurt. I would have to wear long
sleeves for days to hide all of the bruises. I finally decided that amusing him had to be
better than this kind of torture. After all, singing didn?t hurt nearly as much as this did.
This was my first, and hopefully last, encounter with Palmolive soap. It was no longer
enough for me to sing. My brother had a more creative and entertaining way to amuse
himself this time. I wasn?t just going to sing. I was going to sing with soap bubbles coming
from my mouth. He enjoyed this little show very much. I never lived my little ?song and
dance? down.
Later, I suppose he got a little older and a little wiser. He finally realized that it
would be better to have me as a friend than as an enemy. Shawn had finally realized that I
could either help him out, or I could tell on him for his every move. So, we finally had a
deal. I would help him out and not tell. He, in turn, wouldn?t beat me up or take my
money. So, we now had an ?I?ll scratch your back if you?ll scratch mine? type of
friendship. It was more of a deal than a friendship, but it worked.
Around my birthday and the holidays we were really good friends. There was a
well thought-out explanation for this unusual behavior. It just so happened that these were
the times when I actually had money. This didn?t happen very often, so when it did he
took advantage of the money-making opportunity. You could almost see the dollar signs
in his eyes. Shawn would take me in his room, and somehow managed to convince me that
I needed something from his room. There would also be a small fee for this, of course. By
the time I had left his room, I had bought a quite expensive box of markers. He sold me a
box of markers for ten dollars. He claimed that this was a good deal because I wasn?t only
getting markers. I was also getting a complimentary box too. He has always been
a natrual business man. That?s probobly why his major in college today is business.
Shawn, however, did have his good points. He always had a way of making people
laugh. I?ll never know how he learned to make the facial expressions that he makes. He
can look exactly like a monkey, or whatever he feels like being for the day. If a scientist
had seen this face, they?d use it as more proof that humans did evolve from apes.
Also, Shawn was always the first to defend me. There wasn?t very many people
that were brave enough to mess with me. It wasn?t me that they were afraid of. They were
afraid of my brother?s temper. He had this concept that ?I can kick my dog, but you
can?t.? In his mind, it was two completely different things.
325