By KEVIN KAUMANS
David hated the snow. It was bright and tasted terrible. He remembered as a kid when his classmates would push him down into it until he started crying.
Jessie was indifferent to the weather. To him, the outside air felt all the same. Anything felt better than the onion-like musk of their cramped apartment.
Despite being twins, Jessie and David were as far apart as physically possible. Jessie stood at five-foot-eleven, with short dark hair that had a middle fade. He was bone thin, with sickly pale skin that made him look diseased, yet at the same time was smoothed and soft to the touch.
He preferred long-sleeved clothes and pants whenever he went out, usually plain clothes with no words or logos.
David was short, standing at five-foot-two. He was sixty pounds overweight and had trouble breathing just walking up the stairs in the complex. His slanted, upward eyes made him look like he was always in a state of exhaustion.
His short neck and flat face gave him an ugly appearance (not that anyone would say it to the poor man’s face of course).
After bribing him with a trip to “Braum’s”, Jessie managed to convince David to put on his jacket so they could get to the noon train station. As they got on, David looked out the window and watched as a buck was hopping over electric fences. The creature has all-white fur that sparkled in the snowy sunlight, with antlers shaped like twisted tree branches.
“You ever rish you were an animal?” David asked.
Jessie took his earphones out. “What?”
“Do you ever rish you were an animal?” David repeated, his heavy dialect making it to where his brother had to take a few seconds before responding.
“Not really…..why?”
David shrugged. “No wesponsibility, no rorries. It must be nice for them is all.”
Jessie looked over his shoulder at the buck. “I mean, you still have to worry about having enough to eat and stuff. It’s not like living in the wild’s an easy life.
David said nothing, reaching into his Superman backpack and pulled out his favorite hot wheel, a black monster truck with flames painted on the doors. He turned it around in his hands, making sure nothing was stuck in the tires.
“Are you alright?” Jessie asked.
“Yeah.”
“Truly?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you sound irritated then?” Jessie ran his fingers through David’s hair, a soothing method from when they were younger.
David looked back out the window; the buck was still jumping back-and-forth over the electric fences.
“You know I didn’t mean it, what I said last night.”
David wrapped his arms around himself.
“You still bruised?”
David shrugged.
“Let me see your arm.” Jessie said, reaching towards his brother’s right shoulder.
David jerked away, his expression accusatory. “No.”
Jessie sighed, reaching into his jacket and pulling out his lighter. He flicked it, his left-hand hovering above the flame.
“It’s gonna be March soon.” he said after a couple minutes had passed.
David shrugged.
“What do you wanna do for your birthday?”
“I dunno.”
Jessie turned the lighter off. “C’mon, you must have thought of one thing at least.”
David turned to him, his eyes nervous. “Can….can we go to the fun place?”
“Which one?”
“The one with the woller coaster.”
“Ah, sure thing love.”
David looked back out the window. “The buck’s gone.”
“I’m sure he’s fine.”
“You think he has any brothers?”
“Beats me.”
They had nothing else to say for the rest of the ride. Jessie decided then to give David his sleeping pills, hoping he wouldn’t wake up until they got to the nursing home. Mom was probably awake by now.
As he was jumping, the buck tripped. The metal coil wrapped around his neck. Within seconds, the smell of his burnt flesh would reach the noses of the squirrels and wolves.