Eventhough I have many complains against my elder brother, I am actually very grateful that I have him. Without him I would not be able to go to many places when I was a child of five or six years old.
It was him who brought me to play near the vegetable or livestock farms. It was him who brought me to the wild on his bird watching or hunting trips, when we also waded in streams and built our shelter out of huge banana leaves and sticks. Sometimes he would let me join his group of male friends in a game of rounders, especially when they were short of one to make an equal number on both sides. I did not mind their laughing at me for my slowness or other incapabilities of a girl. I was not as rough or as strong as them. I enjoyed the game tremenduously because I felt proud to have learnt something from them.
However my brother was not as proud as I was because he loathed the fact that he had to 'babysit' me when my parents went to work in their rubber plantations. He hated me most when I cried especially when I fell after trying to keep up the pace with him. Sometimes I felt he had purposely walked or ran quickly to make me scared. To tell the truth, I was indeed very scared when he would just disappear from my sight when we were in the fringes of the jungle where we used to play without our parents' knowledge.
At times he allowed me to participate in card games that he played with his male friends. From them I learnt to play Black Jack, Poker and Gin Rummy. It was in the game of Poker that they realised this little girl was a 'hell of a girl'. I won in most of the games because they did not realise that I was not as innocent as they thought. I had them fooled, it seemed. Boys being boys, they never really admitted they lost the games to me. Nevertheless, these games were better than any kindergarten lessons on numerals and simple arithmetic!
Much later in life, when I finished high school , I started to work and paid for my own part time study. Seeing that I had no opportunity to go to a full time college, he must had felt much pity for me because in one of his letters to me, he promised to work hard in order to support me financially. Sad to say, his much dreamt about four figure salary did not materialise fast enough to enable him to help me. He went on his personal pursuits and as usual, I had not bank any hope on him at all because I knew it was one of his empty promises again. I did not hate him for that as I realised that I was the one who should strive hard for myself and not expect others to help.
It was him who brought me to play near the vegetable or livestock farms. It was him who brought me to the wild on his bird watching or hunting trips, when we also waded in streams and built our shelter out of huge banana leaves and sticks. Sometimes he would let me join his group of male friends in a game of rounders, especially when they were short of one to make an equal number on both sides. I did not mind their laughing at me for my slowness or other incapabilities of a girl. I was not as rough or as strong as them. I enjoyed the game tremenduously because I felt proud to have learnt something from them.
However my brother was not as proud as I was because he loathed the fact that he had to 'babysit' me when my parents went to work in their rubber plantations. He hated me most when I cried especially when I fell after trying to keep up the pace with him. Sometimes I felt he had purposely walked or ran quickly to make me scared. To tell the truth, I was indeed very scared when he would just disappear from my sight when we were in the fringes of the jungle where we used to play without our parents' knowledge.
At times he allowed me to participate in card games that he played with his male friends. From them I learnt to play Black Jack, Poker and Gin Rummy. It was in the game of Poker that they realised this little girl was a 'hell of a girl'. I won in most of the games because they did not realise that I was not as innocent as they thought. I had them fooled, it seemed. Boys being boys, they never really admitted they lost the games to me. Nevertheless, these games were better than any kindergarten lessons on numerals and simple arithmetic!
Much later in life, when I finished high school , I started to work and paid for my own part time study. Seeing that I had no opportunity to go to a full time college, he must had felt much pity for me because in one of his letters to me, he promised to work hard in order to support me financially. Sad to say, his much dreamt about four figure salary did not materialise fast enough to enable him to help me. He went on his personal pursuits and as usual, I had not bank any hope on him at all because I knew it was one of his empty promises again. I did not hate him for that as I realised that I was the one who should strive hard for myself and not expect others to help.
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