True Confessions

My arms were tied into Luke's and Jake's and we were walking home. Luke had his overnight bag, he was going to stay with us for the whole weekend.

Luke always stayed in my room, despite the neighbors' glances at our house or the suspicions of us as we walked by, gripping each other in some way. We were the outcasts of the "normal" world, I because of my brother and Luke because of his attachment to me. I didn't ask him to give up his social status but we never discussed it. He loved me and I loved him, just the way we came. We were a packaged deal, the two of us misfits.

And then there was Jake... My sweet twin brother Jake. He was not of the "normal" world, but I loved him just the same as anyone else.

"True? Luke? I'm hungry."

"We'll be home in a few minutes. Remember Luke is staying for the weekend, he'll make you your special waffles for dinner one night!"

Jake's face lit up like it couldn't be true, but that happened every weekend. Jake would forget until Friday, but even then we had to remind him of the day and the time and the second that it was okay to be free again.

They put restraints on his mind at school. I hated the board for doing that to him when he was so creative and fun. They made him write numbers and practice math over and over like he wasn't capable of remembering even the tiniest little thing. I knew he was. I loved my brother so much.

Our feet hit the grass on our lawn and I was waiting for Jake to rip away and run straight at the door, but he didn't. There was something wrong.

"Hi kids."

My father called out a tired greeting and my mother met us at the door.

"Hi honey, how was school?"

She asked in a general air, but we all knew it was directed towards Jake. There was something fake in his smile, something I'd never seen before. I wondered if mom saw it too.

"Ok."

"Oh good. Go finish your homework, I'll call you down when dinner's ready. All of you."

She treated Luke just like family, seeing as he did practically live with us. We all walked up the stairs and made our way to the rooms were called ours. Like I've said before Luke and I shared. He sat on his makeshift bed and I sat on my little twin bed, smushed in the corner on an awkward angle that reminded me of everything I was, or was not.

"I wonder what's wrong with Jake..." Luke was saying as I passed him a calculator.

"Me too."

"DINNER!"

She called up the stairs in a higher octave than normal, so we all knew something had ended up getting on her nerves during the day.

"What's wrong?"

I asked my question as I was setting forks next to plates and cups next to spoons.

"Nothing."

"Mom..."

"What?"

"What's bothering you?"

"Nothing. Why do you always assume something's bothering me?"

"You're voice goes up an octave when you're upset," Luke cut in.

My mother scoffed and looked away, quickening her movements to set the food on the table. We gathered around the food, my lean father sitting next to my mother, they were looking into each other's eyes liek love sick puppies. After all those years, it was kind of like magic to see that everything was still perfect between them. They had such a peaceful and young beginning, no one thought they'd last. But two kids later, they were still as much in love as they were the first day they set eyes on each other. It was so odd.

"Mommy, what's a Ree Tart?"

Jake's question caught us off guard because we had been sitting in such a peaceful silence.

"A what?"

"A Ree Tart. Someone said I was a Ree Tart today, and I didn't know what they meaned."

"Oh sweetie, you aren't a retard. They're the retards. Who was it who called you that?"

"Johnie Mies. I thought he was my friend. He always lets me give him pencils in the halls when he doesn't have one. And today I said 'there friend' and he said, 'you aint my friend. You a Ree Tart.' Then they laughed, so I laughed to, but I didn't know what they meaned."

"Oh, honey! You aren't a retard. Don't listen to him. He's not your friend."

"Okay."

Jake's lips fell silent and instead of it being comfortable, it felt suddenly stiff around us.