Greg and I are not brothers, although I've always considered us that.Greg and I are not brothers, although I've always considered us that. Our mothers are twin sisters, and when Greg's dad ran out on them, Greg and my Aunt Lou moved in with us. I was three and Greg was six. We grew up together. Greg was always a big bruiser, wanting to be in control, and I'd like to have a dime for every time he beat the shit out of me, over the years. He was a lousy student and always a problem - his mother and my parents were always bailing him out of trouble. Before he even graduated from high school, he got into enough trouble with the law, that Aunt Lou signed her permission for him to join the Army to stay out of jail. Greg seemed to love the army, serving 2 tours in Viet Nam (in some macho-commando type unit), and became a "lifer." I was just the opposite. I went to college and, after my junior year, married Amanda, my neighborhood sweetheart, the summer after she got out of high school. I finished school, got a job and we moved out of state. Amanda and I have been married for 15 years, and we have a lovely daughter, Cindy, who just had her 14th birthday. A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from Greg. He just retired from the service, after 20 years, and wanted to come visit. I hadn't seen him in 18 years, and wasn't sure I would even recognize him. Anyway, he was almost my brother, so Amanda and I put in for a few weeks vacation and invited him for a visit. I couldn't believe what I saw when I picked Greg up at the airport, that Friday. At 3 years older than me, I knew he was 38, but he looked 10 years younger than that. His hair was still clipped short, military style, and his 6'3" body bulged with muscles on top of muscles. He looked like he had a 30-inch neck and could start as a linebacker for the Forty-Niners. He was huge and mean looking - just the way I remembered him, growing up. As I was driving home, he punched me in the shoulder while we were laughing about something, and I thought I was going to pop through the car door. He whistled when he saw the house, and whistled even louder when he saw Amanda. |