When I was nine years old, I stole my older brother Johnny’s basketball and popped it with a hammer. Though only a year and a half my senior, he was much stronger, and he held me down and branded my knee with our mother’s iron. I cried and screamed for hours while Johnny received a spanking from our mom.

When I was twelve years old, Johnny and I got in a heated argument on the school bus, and he slapped my face in front of our friends. I cried about it to our dad, and Johnny got a whipping. He resented me for snitching.