Little Brother
by Andric Adail Barrios
Life has been one hell of a ride that has yet to reach its halfway
point. At a very young age all I knew was family
and nothing else.
Growing up with four siblings and millions of cousins has been
quite the blessing.
Of those blessings,
sharing a room with my brother was not one of them.
It’s as if my mothers cleanliness gene has only been obtained
by her youngest son and bypassed her eldest son's genetics.
When I was younger I would ask myself….
Why do I have to keep the room clean?
Why do you tell mom and dad that you are going to take care
of me when we go to parties but I take care of you?
Why do I always have to stay up at night to sneak you in
through the front door?
Why do I feel like the older brother?
The aroma of our room stings my nose like a bee.
Dirty socks on the floor, laundry basket filled to the brim, trash
barrel overflow, and an always messy bed.
I say to him “Why can't you just clean up a bit?”
He replies “You worry about your half and I'll worry about mine”.
There was no changing him.
There was no resolution.. other than one.
For 2 and a half years the couch was my new bed.
It was my new comfort zone.
Being as skinny as a stick was finally an advantage.
The couch felt no different than my comfy bed.
Was it my good hygiene that kicked me out of our room or was
it your carelessness for your little bro?
We are opposites.
We are two rugs with different patterns created from the same
cloth.
Remember when we were younger?
We would always fight until you took things too far.
I was small and skinny.
You were big and bulky.
It was like David vs. Goliath, but I would never win.
I had one trick up my sleeve that guaranteed my victory.
You hated this trick,
I absolutely loved it.
It’s funny to think that all it took was one word for you to wave
your white flag and surrender.
All I had to do was yell out “mom” and my victory was
secured.
You’ve never been much of a role model to me
And we aren’t as close as I wish we could be.
Why couldn’t our bond be better?
I’ve tried to open up to you but it seems like you aren’t interested.
You open up more to our cousins than you do to me.
Cool.
Maybe one day things will change.
I hope that day is soon
The day you no longer see me in the picture frame
I will be looking back at you.
Time goes on and things between us seem better.
The hope is for you to become the man you are meant
to be.
I see you grinding and chasing that cheddar
And don't worry big bro, your little bro would take a
bullet for you as you would for me.