  “Stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit, it’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.” That’s one of my favorite quotes, unfortunately I’m not sure who to credit. It’s been going through my mind the past few days, bringing up some memories. The first time I came across that quote was in December 1992. Hard to believe it’s been 11 years since that dreadful day but I’m grateful for the passing time. I was a junior in high school that year and life was moving along the same as always until the day the news crew was waiting in my driveway when I got off the bus. The rooster squawked a greeting, alerting the men hanging around outside the van to our presence. My brothers and I got off the bus at our Grandma’s house and walked through our aunt’s yard to our house. Our driveway was in a blind curve so bus drivers didn’t feel comfortable stopping there. On this particular day my oldest brother decided to walk along the edge of the road and get the mail while my other brother and I took our usual route. When we crested the small hill between our Aunt’s house and our own the rooster squawked and the men starting asking for my oldest brother. I don’t remember what either of those men looked like but I’ll never forget having that camera shoved in my face. They filmed my oldest brother walking from the mailbox to the house and up the back steps. They shouted questions at him but he didn’t stop to talk to them. That night I watched and listened in horror as they played the footage of my brother and talked about the charges of child molestation.
The mom of two of his victims had called the station and told them all about my brother being an accused child molester. She called attention to the fact that he was attending public school, still at the age of 20. They showed a clip of the high school my brothers and I attended and questioned the safety of other students on campus. The next morning when I got up to start my day I flipped the page of my perpetual calendar and read the words “Stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit, it’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.” I repeated those words throughout my day at school as people asked me questions about my brother.
Most of the students in my classes had not realized he was my brother until they arrived on campus that morning and heard the rumors. Kids can be cruel, unbelievably cruel. Some of the students I encountered that day were kind, “How are you holding up?” A few simply wrapped their arms around me and told me they were praying for me and everything would work out. A few guys wanted to know if I was in to freaky things like my brother and there questions about whether my brothers and I engaged in sex acts together. I was proud of myself for making it through that day without bursting in to tears or giving in to the temptation to punch somebody.
The principal summoned me to his office to assure me anybody I reported for teasing me about my brother would be disciplined. One of the first things he said to me was, “Until your mother called this morning I had no idea he was your brother. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around that one.” I assured him I would report any problems knowing all along I wouldn’t turn anybody in. Teachers were talking about the news story and within an hour of my Mother’s phone call a memo went out informing teachers the student in the news had two siblings in the school.
My oldest brother was in special education classes so he spent most of his day in the units outside the main building. My other brother and I were part of the general population in the main building. I was in college preparatory classes and my brother was in the “just get me out of this place” classes. Although not twins we were both juniors and everybody knew we were related. One of my classes was family life and we frequently discussed current events and news.
When I walked in the room my teacher looked worried. I was expecting a discussion, people had been talking about it all day so I took a few deep breaths before I took my seat. As soon as attendance was taken the girl sitting at the two person table with me opened the discussion. After a few minutes she said, “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near any of his family. I bet they’re all freaks like he is.” I was speechless. A boy in my family life class had always known about the connection between me and my oldest brother so he asked the girl who was sharing my table to trade seats with him.
The girl refused the offer to trade seats saying, “I like Angela. She’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.” The guy laughed, “Yeah but she might be a freak like her brother; you wouldn’t want to be near her.” My teacher hissed at the guy but I was actually glad to have the relationship out in the open after the class discussion. The girl ended up trading seats with that guy while I was out of the room on a dumb errand my teacher dreamed up to get me out of there.
When I came back the class was completely silent and I felt awkward and uncomfortable as I returned to my seat. My new table mate broke the silence, calling me by my oldest brother’s name. Half the students laughed, half were appalled and he used the noise they were making as a cover to say, “I just couldn’t sit there and listen to that another minute, knowing he’s your brother. You probably hate me right now but maybe you’ll laugh about this one day.” I’ve laughed about it several times over the years but at the time the only thing I could think was, “Stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit, it’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.” 
