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Khalid Washington

Doctor Henderson

English 110-03

September 14, 2009

The Family That Runs Together…

During a human’s lifetime, there can be many events that can change the course of the

way one sees the world. These experiences can have a positive or detrimental effect on that

person’s outlook. Sometimes one is not really affected, but learns a great lesson from such

events. In my eighteen years of living, many things have changed my outlook on not only how I

view myself, but how I view others. One of the many events that changed my life was the time

that my brother and I ran from the police.

As always, it always starts with my brother’s mischievous imagination. My brother

worked at the CenturyTel Center, where hockey games are held. When he came home from

work one day, he brought a hockey puck home and gave it to me. He told me that we would

need it later that night, and I but wondered what we would be doing later. He then told me to

dress up in all black and meet him in the driveway at around 9:30 that night. After many random

antics, the time had finally come. At around 9:28, I made my way to the driveway. In case I

would not make it back, I gave my niece a hug and told her that I loved her. On my way out of

the door, my stepmom told me to be good, and I said that I would, despite the fact that hockey

pucks, wearing all black, and any idea of my brother’s was not exactly a Sunday School story.

He had just driven up when I had gotten outside, and then he asked me if I was ready for

the adventure. When I handed him the puck, I followed him until I we got to a streetlight in front
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of my friend’s house. My brother told me that since I had the better eyes, I would have to be the

lookout. I took post, and as I wondered what to look out for, he charged the streetlight and threw

the puck with all his might. I watched as the hockey puck went speeding into the light bulb and

all of the glass went crashing down onto the street. We glanced at each other for a brief second,

and then ran away as fast as we could. Before we fled, I picked up the hockey puck from the

debris. It was my turn now.

As we approached the second light, I felt a surge of adrenaline. My brother was the

lookout, however I did not wait for the signal before the sound of the next light bulb breaking

resounded into the night air. When we ran this time, my brother and I agreed that we could get

used to this. However, as his turn began I had a feeling that something wasn’t right, but I didn’t

say anything because we were having so much fun. He had charged up to throw the puck, but

before he had thrown it, I saw flashing lights come around the corner. The boys in blue had

arrived, much to our displeasure. We looked at each other, and we flew into the night. We were

running together at first, but we had to follow my plan and part ways. Since the bayou was both

really dark and hard to access by car, the plan was to hide out there and wait for about 45

minutes, then leave and go directly home. If one of us was caught, the one who made it back

would find out later. If neither of us made it back, then we would have to deal with our parents

upon returning home from the police station. We got to the bayou, and we broke off in different

directions. He went somewhere west, while I headed somewhere north. After waiting for what

seemed like forever, I headed back home to meet my brother. We high-fived and laughed about

our endeavor for the rest of the night.

I learned absolutely nothing from this experience, but I got more respect from my

brother. We also formed a closer relationship. After a while, I would go to him for advice on
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different things that I dealt with. He would also be there for me when I was not in the best of

moods and needed cheering up. We would go on more adventures; it seemed as if every outing

was crazier than the last. Memories were made so we can go back on and remember for years,

some that we will probably laugh about with our children.