Models.

My older brother used to have a unique style.

For what it was. It was pretty dumpy, I thought. But we were all dumpy as kids. And teenagers. And even into college. I actually wore XL shirts in middle school, L in high school, M the first few years of college and now I find I'm most comfortable in S or XS. I bought a kids large polo shirt last week.

We were dumpy and not particularly fashionable growing up from not having much money, fashion sense, direction. A fairly insular community has a tendency to grow a lot of people who look the same.

But not my older brother. He would do things his own way (I don't think he's this way much any more - I realize that we are grown up and wear collars a little more). He had this hat he'd wear some. It looked like a beret that was crushed by a steamroller. It was flat. Lifeless. Black.

One day he came home from being at the University in town. Which at this time was still a college. Athens State. He wasn't taking classes. He was probably sitting under an oak tree and acting deep and tortured (he might have been - I know the only time I am particularly deep is when I am attempting to get someone to think I'm deep; I'm probably projecting). He might have been 13.

A lady came up to me today he tells mom. She'd like me to do some modeling. She says I have a really unique style. I have her card.

What? That's what my heart and my jealousy said. I'm far more stylish. I probably said this wearing a flannel shirt and green denim shorts.

I saw him moving to Paris. Away from Alabama. And he'd get all the girls. They would think he's deep and tortured and beautiful and he has a black hat and sideburns (which I was insanely jealous of). He would speak four different languages. Be studying a fifth.

I probably stormed off. If only I had been there. Then she'd know who has real style my green denim shouted at the top of its lungs.

Nothing ever happened with it. He did move away, though. One town east. Into my dad's house.

I remember a school picture he had from around that time. He was wearing baggy pants, sleeveless flannel over a teal t shirt, sideburns, no hat. In front of a giant '94.