Chapter XVIII: Breaking Point

The summer before Mike’s social experiment (in the previous post) was an eventful one. His oldest sister (Marge) got married in June. He helped clean and organize the reception hall and read two scripture passages as part of the wedding ceremony. A month later, Mike joined the newlyweds on a trip to Bristol, TN. They didn’t plan on taking him, but when the day came he needed to be out of the house.

The day before his sister and her husband planned to leave, Mike spent the day doing chores--as usual. Just as he finished, Don came home from playing at the local park--as usual. Mike told Don there was one chore left for him—to weed and hoe around the vegetable plants in the garden. As expected, Don refused. Mike wasn’t concerned. He’d done almost all the work himself and wasn’t going to cover for Don anymore. When their dad asked later why the garden wasn’t finished, Mike would explain.

Somehow, responsibilities had passed from the oldest son (Cal) directly to Mike. Don's only responsibilities seemed to involve goofing off and starting fights, usually just out of the blue, with Mike. Cal couldn't handle confrontation and always backed away from Don, giving in. Mike didn't start fights, but he wasn't going to back away.

Mike told Don he wasn't going to cover for him. At which point Don took a swing at him. Mike ducked the punch and the two started scuffling. Thanks to dealing with Don, Mike had learned to put aside his usual soft-spoken ways and get angry when he needed to fight. But unlike Don, Mike kept his wits about him. He didn’t go into blind rages—until that day. Mike was sick of having his older brother at his throat and he snapped. It happened in a split second. Since he had ducked below Don’s punch, he was low, like he was tackling Don. But he didn’t tackle him. He picked him up, ran the few short steps out their back door, and drove Don’s back into the corner of a solid, built-in table on their back porch. In that split second he hurt his brother.

Don couldn’t get up.