My Pinoy Big Brother

How can a minute asthmatic grade-schooler safely walk in and around a school campus where bullies and pompous kids roam around?
A. You are the child of a high-ranking school official.
B. Your surname is exactly the same as that of a high-ranking school official.
C. You have a big brother who looks after you.

My answer is C.

From 1st to 3rd grade, I have some unfortunate brushes with people who were magnetized by my small frame thinking that I was a push-over. Well, they were actually right. One teenager guy shoved me away from the sago-gulaman cart because he wanted to be in line first. I fell down and scratched my knee. My big brother saw me limping a bit and got the picture immediately. He asked me to point the boy and immediately confronted him with the warning of keeping away from me. Their discussion was short but the guy seemingly understood it because I never saw him near me again.

In another instance, a 4th grader student gave me his Ali-punch straight to my waiting face. I got a free dental extraction that time minus the anesthesia. My big brother’s friend saw me gurgling away the blood and immediately called my big brother to hunt down the student. For 3 days, that student did not go to school after realizing that I have this big brother waiting to pounce on him. On the 4th day, however, realizing that he cannot miss anymore school days, he finally decided to come. Expectedly, he was welcome-surrounded by my big brother and his close friends. The student, now shaking in fear, was brought in front of me. Everybody else was prodding me to get even with as many punch as I can throw, but my big brother wanted him to apologize first. If I accept it, then he is free, he clarified. With bended knees, the student begged for my forgiveness which I gave with some hesitation. I caught a glimpse of my big brother nodding in approval of my decision to let the incident be a bygone.

This is what I truly admire of my big brother. He protected me without fully resorting to violence. Yes, he did scream and may have made threats, for all I know, but I never saw him actually lift a hand to strike any of my unfriendly peers. He is all the big brother I can ask for in protecting me during those years without the emphasis on getting even but in forgiveness.

By the way, the student who hit me became a good friend of mine even after my big brother has already graduated from our school. We both learned and benefited from the lesson of forgiveness because of my kuya.