My Brother, My Enemy

Excerpt from My Brother, My EnemyMallory bros garage, said the sign, painted just above the double swing doors of an old barn; and in the entrance a shrewd and joyous girl in her early twenties stood between two young men. They were all three squinting slightly against the direct sun and smiling. The family resemblance, even to the self-conscious smiles, was as obvious as any painting of the young Medicis before they fulfilled the promise of their ultimate power. The young men, actually tall boys, towered over her and they were in their shirt sleeves, the present century'sequivalent of Renaissance armor. Ken was holding up a monkey wrench with mock majesty, while the younger and taller brother, on Margot's left, had his hands awkwardly in his pockets, but his hollow eyes looked straight into the camera with the wary intelligence and sad sweet smile of a homely young man.Margot had her arms looped through those of her brothers as if she had been urging them forward, having halted only for the instant the picture was taken, and as soon as the button was clicked, on she would press again, leaving the garage behind without a backward glance. Her goal, to which she herself was driven, was somewhere over the horizon towards a golden land she had heard about with a longing heart. Ken, even with his monkey wrench, had one foot slightly for ward as if determined to go anywhere she led; but Davy, the tallest brother, had his feet squarely on the ground. He seemed to be stand ing alone, but actually he was a little ahead of them.Against the background of sudden death the cheap little snapshot had a poignant bravery. It was a picture of three young people with hope, youth and their high ambitions, and it showed them with all their meager possessions except one. It showed the garage by which they lived; the clothes they wore, for they owned little more; and it showed the front half of the boys' secondhand Dodge roadster with the university pennant of the engineering school on the windshield.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.