Written by Yosef Michael on June 19, 2024.

Shortly after returning to California in January 1990, we had a family get-together at my eldest sister’s home. I don’t remember if it was a birthday or holiday, but we had lots of food and beer.
My brother got so drunk he began insulting everyone at the table, including our mother. The first time he insulted her, I was shocked but said nothing. The second time he insulted her, I warned him he better stop insulting our mother! The third time he insulted our mother, I yelled at him, “I warned you!”

He was sitting next to me on my left side. As I stood up, I turned towards him and grabbed his chest with one hand under each of his armpits. I picked him up, his chest over my head with his feet dangling. I threw him like a rag doll about 6 or 8 feet in the air across the kitchen into the sink and turned to face him as his back hit the counter and his feet fell to the ground.

I squared off with him 6 or 8 feet away. That was the first time he and our family knew my physical strength, and he saw the rage I had back then in my eyes!

He tried to run out of the closed sliding glass door, but I grabbed him before he could open it enough to escape!

As he pushed his way out, I came with him and knocked him down on the wooden patio deck.

I wasn’t planning to hurt him; he was my brother. I planned to teach him proper dining conversation etiquette and respect for our mother!

My mother panicked, grabbed a broom with a thick handle, and began to hit me with the handle into my ribs and neck multiple times until she broke the handle, and I let him go.
That night, I had drunk too many beers to drive, so I exited the house, sat on my Kawasaki KZ-1000 Racing Edition, and waited for the police!

The next time I saw my brother, as I walked toward him, he said, “You were only protecting our mother, so let’s just forget about it!”

It’s always the quiet ones that you have to watch out for!
Interesting factoid: at the next family gathering, they didn’t have any alcohol! Imagine that: a party without alcohol! Who Knew?

I will have a new perspective to consider and reflect upon the next time I hear the song by the Hollies, He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBI9i3HlFVE. I miss my brother James, who passed away several years ago. James, I love you!