Mangia! Mangia!
Whose idea was this baby brother?
ANTOINETTE JACKSON

"Don't forget to take your brother with you."

Oh, how I hated those words. They were like knife wounds to my heart.

Here I was a grown up girl of seven, and I had to take my threeyear brother with me.

None of my friends had to drag their little brother with them - they didn't have little brothers.

And besides, Johnny was always carrying a bottle around with him, just like a baby. The kids all made fun of him and of me too. Why did I ever ask for a little brother!

In the beginning when Mom and Daddy first brought Johnny home from the hospital, I was happy that I finally had a little brother to play with, but he was so small Mom said I would have to wait until he grew some.

So, I waited and watched for him to grow as she fed him and bathed him. One time, Mom had him on her bed while she reached for a clean diaper, and he did what little boys do onto the pillow behind him.

Boy, was Mom upset.

She said little boys did that, while little girls did not. Right then and there, I knew in my heart of hearts, my mother liked me better.

It seemed like forever before Johnny could walk and talk, but it still was not fast enough for him to be a playmate for me.

By my fifth birthday, we left our apartment on the North Side of Chicago for a home of our own on the South Side.

Living in a house was much better because there were several girls around my age who lived in the neighborhood.

Our street wasn't busy, and Mom said if I learned how to look both ways, I could cross it to play at the Highlands, the Stylers and the Grahams.

The Highlands lived directly across the street from us.

Lynn was my age and her sister Joannie was a little older. I played with them a lot.

This was before the days of television and we played board games like Monopoly, Clue and Kentucky Derby. Johnny couldn't read yet, so he just watched us for a little while and then wanted to go home.

When we played outside, we usually played cowboys and Indians in their back yard. Johnny always made a good outlaw for us to capture and "lock up."

We put him in the stairway of their basement until he cried, and we let him loose.

Carolyn Styler, who was Joannie's age, lived next to the Highlands.

Everybody called Carolyn "Pidgie" because her father called her "Pidgeon" and her brother Buddy could only say "Pidgie" when he was learning to talk.

Mrs. Styler grew flowers in the back yard and would not let us play there, so we played jacks or pick-upsticks on their front porch.

Pidgie wore glasses that were always slipping down her nose. We thought that was funny and we called her "four eyes." Johnny didn't like playing girl games and never wanted to play at the Stylers' house.

Next to the Stylers lived the Grahams. They had just one daughter, "Marsha" who was younger than all of us, but older than my brother.

She was a spoiled only child who cried a lot when she could not get her own way.

We only played with her if no one else was around.

As my brother Johnny grew older, he became mischievous, a tease and a real pain. One time he taunted me unmercifully, then turned around to run away.

I picked up a rock and threw it at him. It hit him on the back of the head where it started bleeding so badly that we had to go in the house and tell my mother.

She made the bleeding stop, and I got punished.

I decided it would be better not to throw things at him any more, especially since it left a scar and no hair would grow there.

Eventually my brother grew old enough to keep up with the rest of the kids.

One summer when Mr. Matthey's tomatoes were ripe and inviting, Johnny convinced Lynne, Joannie, Marsha, and me to jump the chain link fence and pick some.

Mr. Matthey saw us and shot his BB gun up in the air to scare us off.

Clumsy, slow and the last one over, Marsha ripped her back pocket on the fence and cried all the way back home.

When she told her mother what happened, Mrs. Graham told our mothers and we were all punished for stealing. The next time we played a hide-and-go-seek, we all ditched Marsha to get even.

When he got old enough, Johnny went to school where he made his own friends to play with.

Then, in what seemed like a blink of an eye, Johnny went in to the Army.

When he got home from boot camp, tanned, muscular and handsome in his uniform, he seemed more like a man than my annoying baby brother.

Finally grown, we related to each other as adults.

As he turned his head, his short boot camp haircut exposed the scar on the back of his head, making it more pronounced.

I felt guilty and wished I hadn't hit him with that rock when we were kids.

Angel Hair Past with Gardenfresh tomatoes Four large ripe tomatoes

6 leaves fresh basil, chopped

1 / 4 teaspoon oregano, preferably fresh Salt and pepper to taste 6 quarts water

1 teaspoon salt

3 /4 pound Angel Hair or Spaghettini 1 / 4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

One at a time, drop tomatoes into boiling water. After one minute, remove the tomato and drop into a bowl of iced water. Remove and peel skin. Cut the tomatoes into quarters.

Remove the seeds and liquid.

Chop pulp into bite-sized pieces and put into a glass bowl.

Season with chopped fresh herbs, salt and pepper. Cover and set aside at room temperature.

Bring water to a boil, and add salt and pasta. Cook to al dente and drain.

Just before the pasta is cooked, in a large pan, saut garlic in olive oil.

Carefully add the drained pasta and tomatoes to oil and mix. Cover the pan and allow flavors to meld for about two minutes.

Toss again and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Serve with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Serves four.

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Antoinette Jackson is a Bullard-area resident. You may reach her at Antojxn@aol.com.