Page 20 - Gary's Book - Final Copy 7.9.2017_Active

When I was a high schooler, I took my girlfriend to a basketball game against our
big rival school. Afterwards, we went to the local Steak & Shake, and four guys
from the opposing high school decided to raze me by banging on my car window
and rocking the car. (Yes, I had a car; I was in high school and worked hard to get

a car.) I learned early on that when I was being threatened by a group of guys, I
just had to quickly punish one, and the rest would back off. So, I opened the car
door, grabbed one guy by the ears, took him to the ground, and started pounding
his head. When the others saw the blood, it was over. The police came, and I ended
up in jail most of the night.

Nancy, my oldest sister, had a temper. When she got out of hand, Dad would take
her to the basement, strip her naked, tie her to a pole and beat her with a belt. She
had welts sometimes so big that she couldn’t sit down or even lie down - like when

you have a bad sunburn, and it’s so difficult to lie down on a bed or to even touch
the sheet; it hurt like that! I can remember my mom putting corn starch or baking
soda or baby powder on the sheets and on Nancy’s welts so that she could get
reasonably comfortable enough to go to sleep.

Nancy was always the rebel and did not seem to be a quick learner. She later ran
away from the orphanage and became a prostitute at age fourteen.

Suzanne, my other sister, for some reason, never really got Dad’s negative
attention. She was the family pet. She got good grades and was the only one who
got to go to Aunt Clara’s house on weekends. I remember that she got a new bike,

and none of us other kids ever got a bike of any kind.

I was usually just hanging around; I never really tempted fate much, so I became
the mediator, the encourager, the counselor, the director, the advisor among us
kids.

Doug was also just a hang-around sort of guy. He never really did any noticeable
stuff like breaking things or spilling milk. We lived together for a short time on a
farm after Mom kicked us out. Later in life, Doug earned many degrees and
became a Presbyterian minister and counselor. He married into a good family, had

two boys and seven grandchildren. He has a very strange way of expressing his
personal feelings. He will be ever so happy to hear from me and then will just
disappear for months with no communication at all. It wears thin on me, but I just
let it happen.

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