Two Brothers

Andrew and Bradley were two brothers. Their mother had left for another man in the very early years, and their father was an alcoholic. He would finish work at four o’clock, and then he would go to the pub with his mates as he always did. Usually he would return home at eleven or twelve at night, and go straight to bed. So Andrew and Bradley were left much to their own devices, they cooked for themselves, they washed and ironed their own clothes, and they led life as they saw fit. At the age of twenty, Andrew decided he would leave home. His younger brother Bradley stayed to look after his father for a few years, but could not contend with his constant drunkenness, and decided to go and make a life for himself.

Bradley did not keep in touch with either his father or his brother, but instead got involved with a group of friends, who led him into heavy drinking, gambling and petty crime. It was one such petty crime, the theft of several power tools from a back yard shed, that landed the young Bradley into court. Now in his late twenties, Bradley sat in court, and watched as his elder brother, Andrew, entered. Now a lawyer, Andrew was present to defend the opposition. A clear cut case, Bradley was sentenced to six months in jail. Andrew came to visit his brother in jail the very next day. Andrew was sorry that there was nothing he could have done to prevent his brother’s sentence. Bradley didn’t hold anything against his elder brother, and welcomed him with great enthusiasm. Then Andrew asked him, "Bradley, how did you become like this?" Bradley gazed at his brother, and said, "What do you expect from a guy whose father was an alcoholic!?" Just as he had said these words, he realised that his brother, who had lived under the same alcoholic father as he had, had seen things otherwise, so he added, "But I guess you have a different excuse." Andrew looked puzzled, and as if it were clear as day, he asked, "Brad, couldn’t you see that Dad had it all wrong?"