Two Braids and a Brother

I thought it would be fun to post retro stories of me when I was younger. If any of you out there would like join in this, please let me know when you post a story of your past.

This story involved my only sister, Jackie, (11 years older) and my brother, Frenchie, (10 years older). My mom often combed my hair into two braids (see picture). I had very long, curly hair that was unmanageable, hence the braids.

Our first home in Brooklyn had an unfinished basement where our family room was located. There were large pipes that ran across the top of the ceiling. The television was against a wall, a sofa faced it, the love seat was at ninety degree angle from the sofa and lined perfectly underneath a very large pipe.

One afternoon the three of us were watching a suspenseful movie. You know the type – eerie music announcing upcoming doom. Frenchie noticed that Jackie and I were sitting on the edge of our seats. Frenchie and I were sitting together and Jackie was facing the television set on the sofa. We didn’t notice when he got up (our faces were buried half the time in a pillow.

Frenchie got two fishing lines, tying the ends of my braids with one end of the wire. He then placed the wire over the pipe above my head. How could he do all of this and no one notice – did I mention that it was a scary movie and our faces were buried in pillows most of the time.

He waited for that right moment in the movie when the music builds and you know something bad is about to happen. He screamed . . . loudly. I screamed as he pulled on the wire and my braids were sticking up straight in the air. My sister turned and saw my braids sticking up and screamed. I screamed more when I noticed that my hair had a mind of its own.

My brother laughed, until we pummeled him.

© Nadine Z. 2008