Leather, Chocolate, and a Rosary
By Alice Elric7
"Mihael, wake up!" I whisper-yelled to my twin, shaking him. "Come on! It's Christmas!"
"Ugh…" Mihael moaned then buried his head under his pillow. But I wasn't having that, so I threw off his covers and started to drag him out of bed.
"Get up, get up, get UP!"
"Fuck, Maria," Mihael whined, pulling his head out of under the pillow. "You know Santa didn't come last night. Why the hell are you so damn excited?" Mom and Dad had told us two weeks ago that, because of budget cuts, Santa wouldn't be coming. I had taken it pretty well, but Mihael was still pissed off, even though Mom promised that we'd get some presents from them.
"Because it's Jesus' birthday! Stop whining like a little bitch and get out of bed!" I dragged him into the hallway and we ran to the living room of our one story house. In the corner of the room was our Christmas tree, covered in hand-strung popcorn strings with newspaper-wrapped packages underneath.
I heard footfalls behind us and turned to see Mom and Dad in their bathrobes and drinking coffee. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Dad asked. "Go on and open them." We raced to the tree. There were only 4 presents, 2 for each of us, and, together, we both chose the biggest ones. I shredded the paper to reveal a leather jacket, at least 6 sizes too big. I glanced at Mihael and snickered as he held up a pair of leather boots. "Oops." Dad chuckled. "Looks like I mixed up your presents. The boots were supposed to go to Maria."
I held my jacket out to him. "We can trade, if you want."
Mihael shook his head. "No, it's ok." We grabbed the smaller packages and ripped those open to see our favorite candies—chocolate for him, and black licorice for me. "Thanks Mom!" Mihael called out before taking a huge bite out of his sweat treat.
"Well, that's everything." Mom sighed. I shook my head.
"No, it's not." I said before racing into the bedroom I shared with my brother. Searching under my mattress, I found the three little packets I had hid there a week earlier. As I walked back into the living room, I handed Mom and Dad two of the packets, the ones labeled 'M' and 'D'. They smiled at each other, sharing a 'she's-so-cute' look before opening them. Inside were matching bracelets with a small cross on each one. "I made them in Sunday School Class." I explained. "Here, Mihael, this one is for you." I tossed him the packet labeled 'B' for brother.
He opened it and inside was a red, plastic rosary. Mihael took it out, curious, before gifting me with a smile and hung it around his neck. "Thanks, Maria. I love it!" He frowned. "But I have nothing to give to you." He looked around, as if expecting a gift to pop out of nowhere, before handing me one of the chocolate bars in his lap. "Here."
"Thanks!" I smiled brightly, and then squeezed the life out of my twin.
One week later, the Keehl house was robbed while the children were at school and Mr. and Mrs. Keehl were at home. Both parents were killed and the twins split up. Mihael was sent to the Whammy House in England with nothing but the cloths on his back, a pair of leather boots, and a red rosary. Maria was sent to an orphanage in the countryside of New York with her leather jacket and two crossed bracelets given to her by a police officer after her brother had left. Neither twin had contact with the other since.
Two years after this, Mihael, now Mello, was informed by Quillish Whammy that his sister's orphanage had burned down and most of the inhabitants were dead. Her body was never found.
So! I was inspired to write this little story because of Spanish class. We had to translate sentences, and one of them was 'My parents gave my brother leather boots.' And bam! I thought of Mello and this is what was spawned. So if you want Mello's twin to come back in a story, review, and I'll send you some of Mello's Christmas Chocolate!