Brotherhood Personal Narrative - Dominic Miller

       Dominic Miller
         Sonya Fix
        Personal Narrative

         09/28/23

Brotherhood

         

          When I was a little boy just starting elementary school, I lived in Centerville where my only friend was my younger sister. My neighbors had kids my age, I could always hear them running around screaming and having fun but I could never actually see them because of the thick trees that separated our yards. After 1st grade was over, my family decided to move that summer 30 miles away from where we had lived, Clayton. I would spend the next decade of my life here growing up. I remember saying to my mom “ I'm not going to make any friends.”

         One day early on in our new house, I noticed  some kids were in their backyard next door passing the football around. I was really hoping to make friends, so I did. My new friends and I talked through the crack on the fence taking turns introducing ourselves. We passed an Ohio State Buckeyes football back and forth over our tall wooden fence for a brief moment until their parents called them in for the night. I was elated; I had made new friends. As years went by, I would meet more kids in my neighborhood that would end up becoming like my brothers. And I made sure my new friends looked after my little sister as well as I did, she was one of us. She's a part of this brotherhood. During a hot summer day we’d be out riding around all day, going up to the gas United Dairy Farmers or Casey’s gas station. We always got something cheap like an Arizona Tea and a donut then checked out and went to find somewhere outside to sit down and eat. But we didn’t always have that freedom, we all used to get grounded by our parents if we even tried to leave the neighborhood. We’d be posted up at the front of the neighborhood daring each other to run up to the gas station, but no one would. We were all paranoid that our parents would see us coming home from work or something. And not only did we have to worry about our own parents catching us, all our parents were friends. So if my friends mom see’s me trying to cross the street to the gas station, I just knew I was fucked. Eventually we grew, and everything we weren't allowed to do was everything we did.. 

        All those hot summer days sweating our asses off from pushing our bikes up big hills that looked really sick to go down but not quite thinking about how to get back up, and those cold winter nights waiting for someone to land a trick on their board while everyone else can’t feel their hands. A Lot of used socks for gloves. We didn’t care about the weather, we did what we wanted. Skating around and riding bikes really brought us all together as brothers. My brothers and I would ride our bikes up the interstate just to get Wendy’s. I think riding on the interstates is terrifying, if you do it alone. When we got there we’d combine all our pocket change, and always have just enough for a Wendy’s junior bacon 4for4 along with water cups but we always put sprite in it. One of us would get the fries, another would get the nuggets, and we’d split the burger. We also sat on the curb outside everytime we ate. But the trips there and back weren’t always this smooth. One time in particular I was riding bikes with my friend Dylan down the interstate when we both realized a storm was building overhead. We had just grabbed Wendys of course, when we walked outside to our bikes we noticed thick black clouds were beginning to fill the sky. As we peddled down the interstate I began juggling around the bag that held our sacred 4for4 in it. My feet slipping off the pedals I began swerving side to side off the road as it began to rain. It was impossible to see out there because of the dark clouds and for the entire ride home there were no street lights. The drinks were spilling everywhere and not just a drink, I was balancing a whole drink carrier. As more chicken nuggets and fries began to fly with the wind, I gave up on the food entirely. My white tee was splattered with chocolate frosty stains all over it. Dylan and I split ways for the night to our own houses. As I was just down the street from my house, my phone rang it was my mom, “ Boy where the fuck are you ? “ I ran inside frantically. As soon as I got inside I heard the news channel playing, Tornado Warning for Clayton, Ohio. This could’t have been any better timing I thought, I had just fucking made it home as the storm was evolving around me. My family and I took shelter in our basement. We stayed down there for over an hour until we believed it was safe. The storm eventually died down, we didn’t go outside til the next morning and it was clear as day we’d been hit. Our largest tree had been uprooted from the ground and collapsed onto the fence line. 

         Moments like the one I shared with Dylan that night is why I believe facing adversity not alone, but with your friends is what creates that brotherhood. We all faced adversity together but also on our own but we did everything to support one another. I hated seeing one of my brothers sleeping on just a mattress laid on the floor, while all his other siblings had bed frames. So for Christmas that year another friend of mine, Darrius and I chipped in money to buy him a bed frame. We made sure he wasn’t home and went in and built it for him. When he arrived home we were still there and surprised him, he was so thankful and happy he even started jumping up and down on his bed until he jumped too high and hit his head on the ceiling. All of us started laughing hysterically. It was definitely a highlight in my life. The gender norm for guys is to not build super strong bonds with their friends, instead they make it seem like guys should be “ manly” and hide their feelings from others, but when it comes to my friends we express our feelings to each other.