It was one of those beautiful autumn days just perfect for soccer. My Dad, my two brothers, Grant and Nolan, and I were just finishing up a double header of soccer in the city of Grand Island. Grant and I played on a select club team called the York Pumas. Nolan came along for the ride to watch and hang out with Dad and his brothers. On the way to the games I rode up front, and after the games as we went for supper, Grant rode up front.

My Dad had a Ford Probe, a two door car. Naturally being the oldest of the brothers, I thought that it was only my right to be in the front seat. After all, I was Thirteen years old, the tallest and needed more room for my legs to stretch out. Not to mention, I had just got done playing two hard fought soccer games. But to my dismay, even though I was already sitting in the front seat, Dad said that it was Nolan’s turn to ride up front. So with a grumpy attitude, I reluctantly climbed into the back seat with my Eleven year old brother Grant and watched in disgust as my Seven year old brother Nolan climbed into the front seat with a sly smile of delight that sent chills of resentment down my spine.

As we started our trip back to our home in York I began think of ways that I could make Nolan’s front seat ride miserable. Grand Island was about 40 miles from the small town of York that I grew up in. We took US Highway 34 as it was the direct route to the side of town that our soccer games were on. About halfway between York and Grand Island is a small town named Aurora. It was about when we passed through Aurora that I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to get my little brother back for stealing the front seat from me. So I began putting my plan into action. On the back of the passengers seat, there was a foot pedal release that would make the seat jolt forward so the rear passengers would be able to get out of the back seat easier. It was in this little mechanism that I found my solace.

I began implementing my plan for annoyance by stepping on the “lever of revenge“. We had just left Aurora, and we were about twenty miles from York when I ever so carefully slammed my foot on the lever and watched in glee as Nolan flung forward with the seat. Naturally Grant and I thought that this was pretty hilarious. Nolan on the other hand wasn’t too happy at all and neither was my Dad. When someone gets slammed forward like Nolan did there is a usually about five minutes of chaos that transpires before things settle down, and this was the case with my revenge. Once my Dad got Grant and I to stop laughing and had calmed Nolan down. He calmly reasoned with me about why that wasn’t a very nice thing to do and told me not to do it again.

Well, we still had about 15 minutes until we would be home, so of course I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for another great laugh, so up went my foot and down it came again on the lever. Slam! Now things were getting really good. Chaos. Resolution. Reasoning. But this time came the “Threat”. My Dad said if I did it again, I would have to walk the rest of the way home. Ten more minutes till we would be home. Time for another good laugh. Up went my foot. Down it came again on the lever. Slam! Chaos. Lots of laughter. But now something different happened. Something that I didn’t expect at all.

Much to my surprise, my Dad pulled the car to the side of the road. I knew we were about four miles from York because we had just passed Bradshaw. What I didn’t expect was what happened next. My Dad made me get out of the car and told me that I was walking the rest of the way home because I wasn’t respecting Him or my little brother. I couldn’t believe it.

I got out of the car still wearing my bright yellow soccer jersey and my royal blue soccer shorts. Off my Dad and my brothers went. Up a rolling hill, then they disappeared. Well, I guess I got what I deserved, so I started walking. Once I got to the top of the rolling hill, I could see my Dad’s car parked on the side of the road. I walked up to it and stood by the passengers window. Nolan rolled it down, and my Dad said that Nolan wanted me to get back in. He didn’t want me to have to walk all the way home. But I knew what I had to do. I knew that I needed to finish that walk and finish my punishment. So all I said was a simple “No, I’ll walk home”.

So off my Dad and brothers went again, this time for good. I noticed that the sun was starting to set, so I decided to start running. I would walk and run, walk and run for a while. Then all of a sudden a familiar red van pulled over to the side of the road. It was Mr. Collins and his son Jeremy who played on my soccer team. Mr. Collins asked if everything was okay, and I told him about my punishment and that I needed to walk home. He simply said alright, and started driving home. Later I learned from my Dad that the whole Collins family had a great laugh all the way home at my expense. I saw a few more cars that I recognized as I continued my walk. Fortunately I was almost to York. It was getting pretty dark now. Only the tip of the sun was still there, and it was setting behind me. I had just passed the county airport, so I knew I was only about a mile from home when my Dad came driving up. He got out of the car and walked me to the passenger door. He asked me how I was and if I had learned a good lesson. I told him I had. As we drove home I realized that I didn’t want any more lessons from Dad.