Title: Identical (suggestions welcome)
Warnings: mentions of past criminal activity and possible present criminal activity, very slight languange
Summary: Neil and Nick like to trick people. And it's so easy, too.
Length: 2,450 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. I'm not sure what the genre is. There's a bit of romance, and then some kind of family/brotherly stuff. So I'm going to go with "other."
Identical
“Ugh, not corn dogs again!” Neil groaned as he picked up his tray. The lady just gave him a baleful stare as she tossed one onto his plate.
“It’s Wednesday, Neil,” she said, after glancing at his identifying bracelet. He felt the familiar prickle of irritation that came from being labeled like a sheep, but shook it off quickly to focus on the lady.
“Wednesday’s corndog night,” she continued. “You musta been here long enough ta figure that out.”
“Yeah, I know,” Neil grumbled as she handed him a safe Styrofoam cup. “I just hope they’ll change it every Wednesday, and I’m always disappointed.”
“You’ll just hafta deal with it,” the lady grunted. “Next!”
Neil slid his tray along and smiled to himself as he heard his brother Nick enthusiastically praise the corndogs. Even if everyone knew who he was, and who Nick was (and more important, which one they were), they could still trick people. It was Nick who hated corndogs, and Neil who loved them. But everyone in Queensborough Correctional Facility (or QCF, as its patrons affectionately called it) thought it was they other way around. And that was success.
Neil sat at what had quickly become his “regular spot,” and flashed a quick smile at Stella, who was already sitting down.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Still sticking with your corndog story, eh, Neil?”
Stella hadn’t even looked at his ID bracelet. She liked to show off how she could tell him and his brother apart without looking at the bracelet. She was the only one Neil knew who could do that – and that was part of the reason why he hung out with her. Neil winked. “It’s true,” he said. “I hate corndogs.”
A movement to his left announced the arrival of his brother. Neil turned towards him and, as usual, had the unsettling sensation that he was looking into a mirror. The same hair (and the same hairstyle), the same face, the same furrow between the eyebrows when frowning. Except that Neil would never frown at a corndog, unless he was trying to trick someone.
“Hey, Nick,” Stella greeted him. “Sorry it’s Wednesday.”
“I’ll survive,” Nick sighed. “At least Thursday is pasta. I love pasta.”
Conversation dissolved for a moment while everyone enjoyed (or didn’t enjoy) their dinner. But then a slight commotion drew everyone’s attention to the window on the left wall, that showed the entrance. Neil had always though it was weird that anyone visiting QCF could look in on the delinquents dining. Maybe it was supposed to be soothing, like, “These are just normal kids who made a few dozen wrong turns, but they’re just like you and me, really,” or some such nonsense. But Neil had always thought it was awkward.
However, sometimes it was nice. Like for watching the drama when a new inmate arrived. At this moment, the cops were leading in a small girl who looked like she was about fourteen. Her hands were cuffed behind her back and she was giving everyone frosty glares. The cop on her right exchanged a few words with a guard, handing over something that looked like a necklace. Then they led the girl further down, to wherever she would be staying.
Neil turned back to face his tray. Drama over. Nick turned too, and arched an eyebrow at Stella. “You think she stole that necklace?” he asked.
Stella scowled. “I don’t know. Maybe she pretended to be her identical twin.”
Now it was Nick’s turn to scowl, but Neil just laughed. “Touché.”
They weren’t supposed to discuss the reason they were at QCF. It was supposed to be a “it doesn’t matter what you did, you’re just going to focus on being good now and getting out of here” philosophy. Neil understood that, and even respected it a little, but the truth was that everyone knew why everyone else was here. Word got around, or people advertised it themselves.
Take Neil and Nick, for example. They had a whole, elaborate system before they got caught. If Neil wanted to get some drinks or drugs (though they sold drugs more than they used them), or steal something, Nick would stick around pretending to be Neil so Neil would have an alibi. And if Nick wanted to do something illegal, Neil would do the same for him. They were excellent at pretending to be each other. Even their mother could hardly tell them apart sometimes.
When the cops finally caught on to them and threw them in here, most people knew about them. Even in QCF, the kids keep up to date on current affairs. They had heard of two identical twins who had pulled the wool over the cops for the last time. And when two identical twins suddenly joined them in QCF, people knew who they were.
And it’s not like Neil or Nick had tried to keep quiet about their skills. Nothing excited Neil as much as the ability to trick people – and it was so easy to trick them. When they first came here, the staff forced them to wear clothes with their names sewn on the front like a nametag. But that didn’t stop them. Neil was Neil and Nick was Nick, but Neil hated corndogs and Nick liked them. Or so everyone thought.
Everyone but Stella, that is.
Stella was really something. She’d gotten arrested because of shoplifting – apparently she had a thing for jewelry she couldn’t afford. But despite her possibly kleptomania, she was the sharpest person Neil knew. She could always tell them apart.
One time Neil and Nick had managed to switch their clothes. They quickly settled into their old routine of acting like each other, and fooled everyone. Until Neil walked into the Recreation Room during Break and walked up to Stella with Nick’s saunter, and she leaned towards him and whispered, “Hello, Neil.”
“How’d you know it was me?” He’d asked, startled into breaking his character.
She’d just smiled at him. “You swing your arms more when you walk.”
Stella always had reasons for being able to identify them. Nick had more eyelashes. Neil’s skin was imperceptibly lighter. Nick’s voice broke more often. (That had Neil laughing for a while.) Neil sweated when he was nervous. (That had Nick laughing for a while.)
Whatever her secret was, Stella was the only one who could consistently tell them apart. Eventually, when the staff (and probably a few tattletales) figured out what Nick and Neil were doing, they were forced to wear these “ID bracelets” – handcuffs, really, and not much more fashionable – with their names on them. Neil had a bright red one, and Nick’s was a deep blue. No one ever mixed them up now. They were stuck actually paying attention in class (yes, they had class here) and being good kids. But to his surprise, Neil was finding it actually wasn’t so bad. As fun as fooling people could be, every moment of cooperating made it more likely for them to get an early release. And it was kind of nice to have his own identity, and to have everyone know who he was. Not that he would ever tell Nick that.
Neil’s thoughts were thrown off their track when the bell rang, announcing the end of dinner and the start of Break. They had another two hours before they had to return to their cells for bed, at the horrendous time of 10:00 pm. Way too early, in his opinion.
“Come on,” Stella chirped. “I want to get to the ping-pong table before it’s taken.” She hurried to put away their trays. Neil made to follow her, but Nick’s hand on his arm stopped him.
“What is it?” Neil asked, glancing at his brother in confusion. Nick’s expression was worrying – it was the look he wore whenever he was planning something devious.
“I need to talk to you later,” he muttered. “I found out something that totally rocks. But I don’t want Stella to know about it.”
“Okay,” Neil responded with wide eyes. “Why can’t you tell me now?”
“Not private enough,” Nick said, with a furtive glance around the cafeteria.
“Fine. How about when we’re getting ready for bed?”
“Will do,” Nick replied with a nod. “You’re gonna be so psyched.” Then he went to put his tray away.
Neil followed, mind whirling. He had the feeling that he wouldn’t be able to focus on any ping-pong games tonight.
“Okay, so here’s the deal,” Nick murmured as he and Neil walked to their pod (known as the Delta Pod, of D-Pod). It was time to go to bed, after a frustrating and depressing two hours in which Neil lost all his ping-pong games and Nick avoided all of his questioning glances. “I figured a way to get our ID bracelets off. And wait! That’s not all!” Nick exclaimed, holding up a finger as if to ward off Neil’s potential questions. “I think I found a way to get outta here too.”
“Wait a minute,” Neil hissed, turning to face his brother incredulously. “Are you seriously proposing that we break out of jail?”
“Shh! Not so loud!” Nick looked around them, but they were behind most of the people and the guard behind them was absorbed in talking to one of the staff members. “Yeah, why not? I think I found a way.”
Neil shook his head. “It’s not going to work. You’re going to get caught, and then you’ll be stuck here even longer.”
Nick looked at him pleadingly. “But didn’t you hear what I said? I can get our bracelets off! And don’t you want to be free? We still have three months left in our sentence. Three months, Neil! That’s a long time.”
Neil just shrugged, avoiding his brother’s eyes. Three months wasn’t so bad. He thought of the classes, which were actually kind of fun if you paid attention. And the ping-pong table – they could never afford one of those back home. And Stella. She was a good friend, and she had three months left too.
“I’ll think about it,” Neil muttered to the floor.
Nick shot him a quick grin. “Fine, but there’s not much to think about. It’s pretty obvious.”
Pretty obvious that this scheme is crazy, Neil thought. But all he said was, “Yeah.”
Neil couldn’t get to sleep that night. He tossed and turned on his thin, creaky mattress, until he felt like he was waking everyone up and stayed still. The pale light of the moon filtered in through the barred window behind him, and lit up the stainless steel surface of his sink and toilet.
He had his own bathroom here, in a weird way. Hell, he had his own room, sort of. He didn’t have that at home. He shared everything with Nick.
Part of Neil was really excited at the thought of breaking out of jail and disposing of the ID bracelets. Going back to their old shenanigans, getting money, spending it, stealing things. Once you’ve lived that life, it’ll always call to you.
But the greater part of Neil was more cautious. He believed that Nick had found a way to get the ID bracelets off. He was smart like that. But did they really matter? Yes, fooling people was fun, but did he really want to base his life on that? He had to live on his own sometime. And if Nick was really planning to break out of jail, maybe now was the time to start being independent. Because Nick was going to get caught. And if Neil went, too…
Well, then who would hang out with Stella when she get out of QCF?
“Well?” Nick asked when Neil joined him in the morning, after a refreshing shower. Neil looked at his brother – literally the spitting image of him. They’d gone through so much together. But…
“I’m not going to do it,” Neil said.
Nick laughed nervously and offered a tentative smile. “You’re joking, right?”
“No. I think it’s an unnecessary risk, and a stupid one too. I can wait the three months. I can even wait the three months with everyone knowing it’s me doing the waiting.”
Nick’s smile slowly dropped into a frown. “What’s gotten into you?”
“I don’t know,” Neil said with a shrug. “Maybe I’ve grown up.”
“Grown up?” Nick repeated with another laugh, this time mocking. “This is about Stella, isn’t it? You don’t want to leave her. You like her.”
Neil could feel his face getting warm, but tried to ignore it. “Yeah, she’s part of it. She’s a good friend. At least she has some sense.”
“Yeah, ‘cause shoplifting is a really sensible thing to do.”
Neil just stared at his brother. Nick sighed, but Neil could tell that his confidence was dwindling. He had expected Neil’s support. Still, Nick tried one more time.
“Once I get the bracelets off, they won’t be able to tell us apart again. If I get caught, I could say it’s you, and then you’d be the one with the extra jail time.”
Neil struggled to hold back his own mocking laugh. “You wouldn’t do that,” he said. “Besides, even if you did, Stella could tell us apart. She’d know you weren’t me.”
Nick clenched his teeth and groaned in frustration. “You’ve thought this all out, haven’t you?”
Only all night. “A little.”
Nick stood silently for a while, and Neil let him think. He knew it would be hard for Nick to let this idea go, but he also knew that Nick would see sense eventually. Nick wasn’t stupid, he was just impulsive – like Neil used to be. And maybe Neil still was impulsive, just in a different way.
He had grown up. And Stella might have had something to do with it, but that was neither here nor there. Now it was just time for Nick to grow up, too, and to start to make his own way in life.
Nick sighed suddenly, and Neil looked up at his brother, raising an eyebrow. “Well?”
“Fine,” Nick said sulkily. “You’re right. Breaking out of jail is stupid. But are you sure you don’t want to get rid of our ID bracelets?”
Neil thought of Stella, getting ready in Alpha Pod. He thought of her magical ability to tell them apart, even without the ID bracelets. He thought of the thrill he felt whenever she recognized him without looking at his bracelet. And he thought of the unique experience of everyone knowing who he was, even if, for now, they had to look at his bracelet.
“Maybe later,” Neil said. “But for now, I kind of like them.”
THE END! J
This is truly a great story because it has a wonderfully creative premise, is very well written, relates an interesting tale and reveals some life lessons. Two thumbs up, double applause and a second encore (all to honor your twins)!
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed this. A twin who has spent most of his life using the fact that he is part of a two-some coming to the realization that he is an individual. Nice premise, well-written, and believable. Also really liked the way you used having someone who could see him as an individual lead him to that realization. Well done!
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