Steve's Antics
Scott Mclean
Okay. This one is dedicated to trouble my younger brother got us into.
Mom would walk up and kill a rattlesnake but run screaming from a mouse. Her longtime friend and Mom number 2 to me, Zora, gave Steve and I some guinea pigs. They were too rodent-like for Mom so we didn’t have them long.
Steve had sassed Mom and done something else stupid so she was looking for him. He found a nest of baby mice in the barn and put them in a coffee can. When Mom thought she finally had him cornered he brought out the can to show her the contents. He then proceeded to chase her around the house with them. Mom finally got in the house and locked the front door. The whole time she was yelling “Wait until your Dad gets home!” When Dad got home he had no choice but to punish us. At least if he wanted peace in the house! As was usually the case, I got swatted too even though I had no part in that circus. When Dad was swatting Steve he said “You actually chased her around with a can of mice you silly little shit?” He was also trying not to laugh at the time.
Another time, Steve had misplaced the hidden house key and couldn’t get in after school. He ended up breaking one of the door windows to reach through and unlock it. He then made up a whopper about someone breaking into the house when he got off the bus. He claimed he hollered at the fictitious criminal and the guy threw rocks at him. He then said he started throwing rocks back and scared him off. He elaborated that his bravery undoubtedly saved us from hundreds of dollars in thefts. His story didn’t hold up. Luckily for me, I had got off the bus at a friend’s house to spend the night. Therefore none of it could be pinned on me for once.
Another time, he found a lizard by Marcus Whitman school and put it in his back pocket. He forgot about it when he got back on his bike. The end result was Mom finding a pocket full of squished lizard when she did the laundry. When she confronted him about it, the little turd claimed I must have put it there. I barely escaped punishment on that one!
He was a trouble magnet and usually drug me down with him.
I still miss you little brother!