Hey Brother

My brothers...I can't say I'm close to either of them. At least not anymore.

Kenneth, the younger brother, was my side-kick and partner-in-crime since his birth until about the age of 14. Being 7 years apart, I did a lot of his upbringing due to the fact I was stuck at home watching him while the older siblings did their own things and my parents working. We even shared a room, which I would say isn't typical for mixed gender siblings the ages that we were. We liked the same t.v. shows, listened to the same bands, we even had our own inside jokes. I really loved the time with my little brother, and it was nice to have a sibling I can relate to. I mean, I have my sister Josephine, but we're polar opposites. Our relatable topics include being girls and knowing the same people. Granted, I do enjoy our sisterly bonding times, but the relationship I had with Kenneth meant a lot to me.

What exactly happened, you ask? Typical teenage boy stuff, that me as a sister should not have to deal with. At the time, my mom was working back and forth from St. Maarten and Reno while my pops was working in small town Amelia, LA. I can't recall if my older brother was still in Shreveport or went back to New Orleans by this time, like I said...not close. I had already moved out on my own, but Josephine was still there. Although, she had her own life going on that still seems like is more important than family.

When those female body parts came up on my kid brother's pictures on his phone, I FREAKED! You may be thinking I have no right to go through his phone, privacy, yadda yadda...well guess what? I can't change the past. I had bought him a new phone because he always ended up with one of our hand-me-downs, so at the time, I believed I did have the right - not thinking about the ramifications of that action. So after said freak out, I emailed my mom about it. Yep, you read correctly, email - our main form of communication for almost 2 years. But like I said, I didn't feel as though I should of had to deal with that situation and was in no place to discipline him.

Knowing how I was disciplined when I was around his age for a "sex"-related issue (more details later...promise!), I honestly thought my parents would be as upset with his actions as I was. Maybe it was different because I'm a girl, or they were upset and I just didn't know since my parents aren't real big sharers of feelings. But I do know that Kenneth's punishment consisted of spending the summer with my mom in St. Maarten (or was she in Reno then?...it was hard to keep up). Either way, he was punished with a vacation. And I was punished with losing his trust.

No more brother/sister fun times, no more Sunday lunches, no more inside jokes, no more friends on Facebook. The silent treatment that lasted almost a year was torture enough. I recently asked him about it, and the response I got was "Lavate las manos," which translates to "wash your hands." If any of you have an inkling of what HE meant by that, please, enlighten me. Because I just don't understand him anymore.

He seems to be letting me back into his life slowly the closer he gets to his high school graduation. I'm not sure why, but I'll take it.