I love all those Bible stories you learn in Sunday School. But I was bothered by one of them. It had to do with Joseph and his older brothers. His older brothers sold Joseph into slavery as a way to get rid of him and the Sunday school teachers made it sound like the older brothers were doing something wrong. I remember thinking, gee, makes perfect sense to me. The younger brother acts all big and bad, teases you about how he’s dad’s favorite and you gotta make nice around mom or she’ll be upset with you. What did you think the older brothers were going to do, just stand around and take it? No way. But I didn’t like having to be responsible for my little brother. So, of course if we can’t get rid of him, maybe he would maim himself and that would take him out of action.
When we moved to Middle Street in North Braddock from the farm, it was quite a shock to all of us children. We went from being country people with wide-open pasture and woods to city people with three feet sidewalks between each house and brick streets. That meant lots of children and in a tough neighborhood, lots of fights. We moved sometime the summer of 1963. I don’t know exactly, but my mom was very concerned about my brother Dan going to school. This was a new school and he was starting the second grade. She made me promise her that I would accompany him to Ben Fairless and back home again. She said, “Buzz, make sure Dan doesn’t get into any fights along the way.” Now the family folklore was and is that Dan likes to fight. We actually went to a boxing match under the lights at a football field in Swissvale when he was a young buck, so there does seem to be something to it. Well, we go to school and there was no trouble. But when school was out, Dan was nowhere to be found. So, I started home. We had figured out a short cut home through an alley and as I came up through the alley there was Dan. And sure enough Dan was fighting three kids at the same time. Now we’ve been in this neighborhood several weeks and this has been quite a familiar site, so I was not surprised at all. I looked at Dan and he was too busy wrestling around with one kid, while he was punching the second kid and occasionally the third one was a part of the action. So, I nonchalantly just moseyed on by. When I get home, my mother asks me, “Where’s your brother?” I respond, “Oh, he’s down in the alley, mom.” And she comes back with, “Now Buzzy, I asked you to make sure you stayed with your brother both going to school and coming home from school. Do you know where he is?” Again, I reply casually, “yes, mom. He’s in the alley fighting with some kids.” She continues, “Oh my. Oh my. Buzz, why didn’t you break it up and bring your brother home? You’re his big brother, you could have stopped the fight.” I ask my mother, “Why would I wanna do that?” She’s getting angry now, “Because he shouldn’t be fightin’ and he could get hurt. You don’t want your brother to get hurt right?” I didn’t say what I was thinkin’, which was it would be fine if he got hurt. Actually, that might slow the kid down a little. But I responded with a Golden Rule response. “No mom. I don’t want to see him get hurt.” She continues peppering me with questions. “Who’s he fightin’ with?” I answer with, “I dunno any of them.” Mom gets a worried look in her eye. “Any of them? What do you mean, any of them?” “He’s fighting three kids.” “Three kids. Three kids. Buzzy, you’re in trouble. You let your brother walk home from his first day of school alone and he gets beat up by three kids in the alley. You go find your brother and bring him home this instant. And you are in big trouble, young man.” But it was clear that our mom didn’t understand the whole situation. “Mom, I would have stopped the fight, especially if three kids were beating him, but mom, he was winning!” Now I remember thinking, to be honest, “If he was losing, I don’t know if I would have stopped it. Well, if he was really in any danger, I’d like to think I would.” My mom stood there shocked. You could have pushed her over with a stick. And just at that moment, Dan comes into the house. He looks all disheveled and dirty. She calls Dan over, “ah, come over here, Honey. Let me look at you. Are you ok? Your brother is in big trouble. He was supposed to walk you home. Those boys pick a fight with you?” Without hesitation, Dan responds, “no mom, I picked one with them.” Our mom, turns to me and tells me to go to my room. And she takes Dan into the tub for a bath. I’m thinking, “Great!” Dan wins, gets a “mom” bath and I get sent to my room. As I turn to leave Dan looks at me and smiles. Almost 45 years later, I like Joseph’s brothers am ashamed for my wrongdoing. I didn’t sell Dan into slavery, but sibling rivalry compromised my brotherly protective role. Like my other brother Jim, he too is one of my best friends! Love you, brother!
