3-19-09

Leave me alone, or I‘ll sic my little sister on you

Jessica Pinkey has been my sister and personal bodyguard for the last 30 years. I have never paid her and have never been asked to.
I was taught at a young age to never pick a fight, never hit girls and unless your life depends upon it, walk away. The latter was always easier said than done.
When my sister came along, I think my young frame of mind changed. I was told to always take care of and watch out for my sister.
I didn’t ask for her. Why was I responsible for her well-being? Didn’t she have parents?
As we grew up, I learned to care for her, keep her safe and make her get me things that I was too lazy to get for myself.
My mother and father say that I let her get away with anything. She would hit me, climb on me, take my stuff and generally treat me like a human trampoline.
I guess as I got older, I learned to let things roll off my back a lot easier. Friends would argue with me and it didn’t bother me. Neighborhood kids would want to play with something of mine, take it, and I would usually let it slide.
It just wasn’t worth it to get into a fight over something dumb and I knew that if I got into a fight with a girl, my tail would be lit. As I said, Dad had made it clear to me that there was no excuse for hitting girls.
One day, the relationship between my sister and me changed. It was a change that would be a turning point for the both of us for the rest of our lives.
Lisa Fowler was a tiny, short, super small, little girl that lived next door to us in Clinton, Maryland. I think I was about eight or so and had a group of about seven friends, including Lisa, that I ran with non-stop. We did everything and there always seemed to be one or two of us fighting on any given day.
One day, Lisa was mad at me. I’m sure I did something to start the fight, as this is still a curse that has been cast upon me to this day. I made her mad but I think her mom didn’t have the “don’t hit boys” talk with her.
Lisa found the biggest pieces of driveway blue-stone that would fit in her tiny, little fists.
I began dodging rocks as my tail went between my legs and I made a bee-line for my front door as I yelled for my mom.
Mom asked what was wrong and I told her about the events and how they unfolded. I am sure I spun it in my favor but that didn’t matter.
Jessica was standing there and was listening intently. The next thing I remember and Mom says she remembers is that Jess went storming out of the glass and galvanized metal storm door with a letter “P” in the middle. (Don’t ask how I remember that)
By the time we got outside and found Jess, she was ringing the doorbell on Lisa’s house. By the time we made it halfway across the front lawn, Lisa had opened her front door. By the time Mom and I made it to the edge of Lisa’s lawn, Jess had her hands on Lisa and was dragging her from the front door and had laid her out with a few swift punches to the face and trunk.
Did I mention that Jessica was only about five years old and Lisa was seven?
Now, I don’t condone fighting, but I am all for sticking up for someone, especially family. Jessica showed her true colors that day like a gangster with her first “job.” This loyalty has been a binder between my sister and I to this day.
When Jess met Leigh for the first time, the three of us were out for lunch. When I left to visit the rest-room, Jess put her drink down and calmly asked Leigh, “What are your intentions with my brother?”
Leigh couldn’t wait for me to get back.
Jess is getting married this summer. She has a family of her own now and takes great care of her fiance and her son Justin. Note: She loves me so much that she named her son after me; my first name is Justin.
Jessica, to this day still looks after me and my brother Josh. She has always been there for us and stuck up for us. She has interrogated all of our girlfriends and tried to hit on all of our “cute” friends.
Now that we are older and don’t get into many fights, we just reminisce about the past when we get together.
Jess reminds me of beating up Lisa and she reminds Josh of the time that she beat the school bus bully that was tormenting him and his friend on a daily basis. She waited at his bus stop and when the bus driver opened the double hinged yellow doors, she went running on. The person she was after knew it and took off out the back fire escape door. I won’t bore you with what happened after that.
We owe her big and she makes sure that we know it. She can take both my brother and I in arm wrestling and has pinned us down during all-out wrestling matches that seem to take place around Christmas time late in the evening after a few to many cups of eggnog.
Things like this have a way of repeating themselves.
Now that I have a little boy and he now has a little sister, I try to teach him the same lessons that I was taught at his age. Don’t pick fights, never hit girls and walk away when it isn’t important.
Nash climbs all over Ethan, pushes him off of toys and chairs, hits him and snatches stuff left and right. He takes it on the chin and continues to look after her and love on her whenever she lets him.
He makes me proud but I know that one day he may get a “fist-full of rocks” thrown at him but I am sure he will be quickly vindicated by his little sister, Just like I was.