Brother

I have a faint memory of my dad speaking louder than usual in anger and throwing out the chinese equipvalent of “Useless and digrace, no backbone” towards my brother one day after school. I was a little boy and hid silently away in my room to avoid whatever wrath might come my way if I accidently stepped into the living room in the middle of that conversation. Brother became very quiet after that day.

Fast track to this year a few weeks ago during one of my rare moments at home alone with my mom. She told me that my brother was beaten up that day by gangsters that's when my brother enclosed himself in his shell. Before that he was as outgoing as I am. She feel bad for raising my big brother wrong, she feel responsible.

When I was small, I used to think that the way my father had lectured my brother that day is natural and acceptable. But now that I look at it, I saw the impact that it had on him. Yes he has to help himself out of that situation but as I understand him more and more, I become more compassionate towards him.

I didn't understand it before, why he seemed so weak in my mind. Now I have the full story as mom began telling me of all the problems in the familly that they hid from me. I remembered that once when i was small, I looked up to my brother… when he was bright and outgoing.