Twinfestation

"Silvester get up! Up up up!" My mom jumped on my bed, having to use a lot of lower body strength due to the fact that my mattress had no springs. I couldn't take the squeaking so she said she'd get me a new mattress. I fought her, expecting some high-strung tempurpedic thing that I didn't want to admit to owning. I should have known mom was too awesome for that, coming back with the most fluffed up thing I'd ever seen, ten times more comfortable than any thousand dollar commercial item.

Pealing open my eyes, the red lines burned the numbers five zero zero into my vision long after I closed them again. "I still have a hour. Go away." I mumbled into my pillow after a three long string of sneezes.

"No we don't!" She shouted into my ear as she sat on me. "Get up!"

"Yes I do! School doesn't start until eight, mom!" Groaning, I lifted my arms over my pillow and rested my chin on it, sniffling and knowing I'd never get back to sleep after this.

"School? You're planing on going to school? Boy, I am here for three days and you're leaving on Thursday!" Standing up, she pulled on my legs until my body hit the floor. "I can't believe you'd rather go to school than hang out with your mother. I don't deserve a day of motherly love, no, you only shot out of my vagina."

Rolling onto my back, I tried to make out her outline in the almost pitch black room. "I really wish you'd stop saying that."

"Saying what? Vagina?" I could feel the grin creep onto her face. "Vagina! Vagina! Silvester shot out of my vagina! Well, Salem came first, so he kinda stretched out the walls so you just slid right out, slick in vagina juice."

"Grah!" Covering my ears, I went into a ball and started making 'lala' noises through more and more sneezes. "I didn't hear anything!"

"Oh, you didn't?" She knocked into me as she knelled on the floor and yelled into my hand covered ears. "You were covered in my vagina juice and slid out of my vagina! My vagina was all stretch out and sore afterwords because you came out! You know, out of my vagina!"

"Mother!" Salem's hushed voice came from the door way as a light swept over us, making my already watering eyes water even more. "Stop yelling at your son! You're going to wake up Silvia! God dang it woman, give him a break."

"Fine, I'm sorry." She mumbled as she stood. "Do you have the baby bag?"

"I'd prefer you'd call it a baby carrier. That way I don't feel like I'm caring my little sister in my book bag."

Sucking her teeth, she snatched the carrier from the hand with the flash light in it. "Boy, whatever. Come on honey, off the floor, you're carrying your sister."

On the front lawn, mom turned off the lights so they wouldn't wake up Silvia who was sleeping in the carrier on my back. It really was just like a book bag except for the fact that little feet kept brushing against me. Mom led us down the path by flashlight, her ducky pajama pants blowing in the slight breeze. Not to my surprise, the moving truck was still parked across the street, under the same light. Thinking of Alan only made my thoughts buzzing around in my skull that much more physically painful.

The moment mom woke me up, one thought had been humming in the back of my head and gradually began to scream at me. You have to tell dad. You have to tell dad. God, I don't think I can even comprehend how unbearably terrifying that experience will be. And the indirect approach of having my mother do it -because Salem would never- didn't terrify me any less, so I'm equally as terrified to tell her.

Mom didn't think our dad had any right to be involved in our lives, but the court thought otherwise and ordered visitation rights. No one may have liked it -except maybe Salem- but we all had to except it. He had the same sort of horrifying effect on our mom as he did on me, she gave into everything like her life was at risk if she even dare disobey. Most the time he was here, she hid in her wing or clung to John.

"Silvester?" A vaguely familiar voice called. Searching, my eyes finally hit a small form leaning over the edge of the truck, looking out at me. "You have a....kid?"

"Oh, hi Alan." I said in a hushed tone. "Actually, she's my sister."

"Oh. Is she your sister, too?" He asked, motioning to my mom.

Mom gave out a little, flattered, high-school-girl giggle. "No." She answered for me. "I'm his mom."

"Oh. Is your hair natural too?"

"No, I actually use bleach. Who are you, may I ask?"

"I'm Alan. Who are you?"

"I'm Aurora."

"Did you happen to be a princes in a past life?"

"Yes." Mom answered smugly. "Yes, I was. Did you happen to be a office worker in a past life?"

"Do you think I was?"

"Yes. Yes I do."

"Then yes. Yes I was."

"You know what, I like you Alan." Mom smiled up at him when she said it. "Would you like to come with us?"

"Where are you going?"

"Places."

Without missing a beat, Alan shrugged and sat up. "Sure. I'd like to go places."

"Good. Salem, help him down, I don't want teenage boy splattered on the road across from my house."

Alan looked a little too joyful when Salem grabbed him around the waist and when he started walking, I saw just how much he did swish in his loose Mountain Dew pants and over sized green T-shirt. His hips kinda swung to this side, in the manor I imagined a female model's would, and his hands swung freely beside him, wrist somehow seeming lip even when his arms were.

"You're clothes are a little....giant."

"You're one to talk." He said as he brushed off my shoulder. I nodded in defeat. The only reason my shirt was staying on my shoulders was because of the straps of the carrier and the only reason my pants stayed up was because of the draw string that hung down to my knees.

"So Alan" Mom said a little ways down the road. "Why are you out so late?"

He only shrugged. "I couldn't sleep."

"To much in you?"

"No. Not enough." The words felt slightly familiar to me somehow and I looked at him, wondering what he meant by it. "What?"

"Nothing." I mumbled.

"Why are you guys out so late?" He counteracted. "There's school tomorrow, right?"

"Group outing." Mom smiled. "Getting out is more important than sleeping. And the sunset is beautiful around here."

"Have yo-" Alan stopped when a light cast our shadows in front of him and I turned to shield Ve's eyes. No one was usually out this time a morning around here, since no one really had to work at a job that required being up this early.

I smiled when I saw the black pickup truck pull up beside us. Mom quickly handed Alan the flash light, flung open the door, and jumped on the man behind the wheel.

"Hey baby." She said as the loud kissing sounds started.

"Aw!" I complained. "Why do you kiss so loud like that? You're going to wake up Silvia!"

"You came out my vagina!"

"Ah!" Immediately squatting down, I held my ears. "Keep kissing, I'm sorry!"

"Who's that?" Alan asked, squatting next to me.

"That's John." Salem answered, joining us on the ground. "Mom's fiance."

Yep, the princess already had her prince. She met him through the hospital a few years ago. He was sitting in the waiting room, waiting for his daughter's mother to bring her in for a sleep test, when our mom came in dragging me behind her for my dreaded regular checkup. They talked right through my appointment, to my delight. But, unfortunately, we do own the hospitable and ended I up getting a checkup anyway.

They'd been together a few years and he'd proposed twelve minutes after midnight at the beginning of this year. Yeah, he was so amazing that he remembered her favorite number was twelve and new years was her favorite holiday. If that's not love then I don't know what is. They even stuck together throughout the whole baby thing. Of course, John loved Silvia like she was his and my mom's. But I think he was just happy that she dug her nails into his arm while giving birth instead of aunt Lilli's.

When Alan looked back with a confused look, Say added. "Yes, he's huge and black and looked like he might squish her in his arms. But, yes, his name is Johnathan and they're together."

"Was he Mexican in a past life?"

"Yeah, he was." Joining our circle, Mykayla squatted in between Alan and Say. "That's why he keeps telling me frutas means fly."

"Mykayla!" Completely ready to throw myself across the circle and tackle the half black, half white, fifteen-year-old, Salem's hand landed on my chest to stop me.

"You're going to wake up Silvia if you do that." He scolded.

"Nonsense." Mykayle brushed his hand off as she grabbed me in a hug, sliding her hands under the baby carrier. "She'd only fly out and get a little brain damage. Nothing serious like waking up, god forbid that happen."

Rolling his eyes, he looked over at Alan for introductions. "This is Mykayla. John's smart-ass."

"Yep." Mykayla gave Alan a hug, letting out a 'oh' when she realized his cloths were masking how small he actually was. "I'm just sad I can't be as big a smart-ass for him as Salem is for Aurora."

"I see you're starting with the smart remarks early today, eh?."

"Why, of course. I start my mornings with some sarcasm juice, bitch flakes, and snappy comments to my mother everyday. Is there any other way?"

Mykayla gave Salem a hug so big he grunted as she squeezed. Though they acted like total assholes towards each other, it was just there way of saying 'hey, you're a cool kid, I like you.' The only time they actually didn't get along is when Mykayla tries to eat his food or Salem starts playing with her hair. He's oddly fascinated with the fro like style she sometimes wears it in. The funny thing is, she always tells us that she didn't do anything to it, no hairspray or product or anything. She just washed it and let it air dry.

I will never understand the physics of of mixed chicks hair.

"Where were you yesterday, Silvester?" She asked me. "Without you, Mrs. Cook had to teach us how to kneed dough by herself. You should have seen her after that, I thought she might start crying."

"You'd think with a name like that she'd actually know how to work a kitchen."

"A kitchen? Please, that lady needs help working a spoon." Laughing with us, she turned to Alan. "Do you go to our school?"

"Maybe." He shrugged. "I start next week at the one off of Tyler."

"Yeah, that's it." Say said. "Hey, now you'll know some people. Eh, Sil...ver?"

Say tried and failed to nudged me out of my frozen panic. What if Alan tells everyone I'm gay? Once again, my friends probably already guessed it, but everyone else only teases me about it to be cruel like they do to everyone else. If they found out through Alan, who was unmistakably gay, I'd be in hell everyday and we aren't even halfway through the school year. It's senior year for god sakes. I don't care how open minded Salem claims our school is, they still make fun of people for being gay. The only reason people don't do it to him is because he's huge and they've seen what he can do to a guy's face. Where as for me on the over hand, most people already don't like me for some reason, I'm on the bottom of every list you could possibly think of.

"Come on, you guys." The booming voice of John yelled from his truck, perfectly timed. "Just climb in the back."

We all piled into the bed, Mykala and me sitting on the big metal box, Silvia still in the carrier only put on backwards, \\ Say sat on the edge and, Alan planted himself on the floor. We moved slow but got there fast, or at least is seemed like it, the sudden stop in movement cutting our conversation short.

Alan stood up and looked around, finally able to see something besides the walls of the truck's bed. "Where are we?"

"Do you know where the park is?" Salem asked as he jumped out of the truck.

"Yeah, kinda. General location."

"Well, if you go past it to where the road turns to gravel because the pavers got lazy, you'll eventually get here."

"So It's like a secret field." The smile on Alan's face reminded me of Conner. Except the streetlights don't shine off of Conner's mouth braces and make him look like a complete dork.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Salem said, taking Mykayla by the waist and lifting her down. "Everyone knows about it, it's just no one bothers to come down here. Most people think it's a waist of time to come down here, after all, it's just a hill with grass on it."

"But it's pretty." Alan got that overjoyed look on his face again when Say took him by the wast and lowered him. "Why not come?"

"Because they weren't turned on." Mykayla replied. "Duh."

Everyone stopped to look at her, mom and John just walking around to the back and Say holding me and Silvia in midair. My feet dangled, hitting his knees a few times before he put me down and burst into a extremely loud laughter, along with everyone else.

"Oh, god." Mom stood up straight from her doubled over position. "What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong?" John's booming voice rose over the laughter "I ask myself that everyday."

"Haha" Mykayla laughed."Funny."

Movement from behind me made me turn around only to find nothing. Still feeling it, I kept on turning and turning, the feeling not leaving. After the dizziness set in, I stopped to see everyone looking at me. "What?" I asked.

Walking behind me, Say took the straps off of me and my shirt fell around my shoulder. As soon as Ve was off of my back the movement was gone and my face heated up. "Oh." Turning away, I grabbed a blanked from mom and started to work up the hill. "Hurry up, we're gonna be late."

I hunched my shoulders when I heard all the laughing voices behind me follow.