Through the back door, past the kitchen, and in the living room sat Bobby and Jimmy playing rock-paper-scissors. The best three out of five would determine which one’s turn it would be to hide while the other tried to find them. So far they were even, having each won two rounds. Bobby thought he knew his twin brother’s every move, so he was stunned when he left his balled fist in play, making it a rock and his brother opened his fist to cover his with his paper. Bobby hates hiding. He was never any good at it and his brother would always find him in record time, even if he counted to one hundred! But there was little Bobby could do. Rules were rules. And while Jimmy covered his face with his hands beginning to count out loud, Bobby rushed to his feet and ran from the living room. His mind raced with possibilities of where to hide. He skidded to a stop in the kitchen and looked out the window to see their mother nearly done with the decorations. He smiled with excitement at all his friends who would be coming over. More of them meant his odds of having to hide decreased. Then he heard it, a familiar sound that made him spin in place.
It was over two years ago when they had a walk-in freezer installed on the side of their kitchen. Mrs. Johnson was always buying things that she claimed would save them money in the long-run. This freezer was her most prized purchase. And anytime she had company over she would tell them of the miracles that freezer has created for her. All the money she saved and how when the “big one” hit, they would all be fed for months if not an entire year with all that freezer space. She also cautioned both of her son’s to stay clear when she wasn’t around. But Bobby was desperate to find a hiding place where his brother would never find him and straining his ears towards the living room he heard his brother getting dangerously close to twenty-Mississippi, when he would uncover his eyes and start his search.
Bobby slowly pulled open the freezer door, heavier than he expected. He looked over his shoulder out the kitchen window, happy to see his mother had her back turned. He slipped inside and let the door slam closed with a click behind him. He shuddered from the cold and wished he had thought to bring a sweater with him before walking into the freezer. He slid down against the door so that just in case if his brother should try to peek through the small window of the freezer he couldn’t see him.
When Jimmy was done counting he jumped to his feet and proclaimed to the entire house in a loud voice, “READY OR NOT, HERE I COME.” He quickly ran upstairs to begin his search. As the house was relatively small, there were few places for Bobby to hide and therefore it was easy for Jimmy to search them all in record time. He burst through the bedroom they shared together, the door swinging open so violently it nearly shook the house. Jimmy stood in the middle of their messy bedroom and listened for the sound of his brother giggling. Bobby could never contain his giggles whenever he was close to being caught. Sure that he couldn’t hear a thing he checked under the beds and the closets just to be safe. When they were cleared he made his way down the hall to their mother’s room. Risky to hide in there as she hated when they entered her room without her permission, but he knew how much his brother wanted to remain hidden, at least until their mother called them for dinner, which was going to be soon.
Jimmy opened the door slowly even though he knew his mother wasn’t inside and poked his head through a crack in the door. Her room was dark with just a hint of light coming through her thick black curtains. She only had two pieces of furniture in her room; a mattress in the corner and a vanity where she would sit to apply her make-up. Their mother only spent money on them or things around the house that would save them money. As she felt nothing that would go in her bedroom would be a money saver she felt a mattress was all she ever needed. This left her closet. Both Jimmy and Bobby had been in her closet before and a chill ran up his spine at the thought of going anywhere near it. While most mother’s would just have a closet full of clothes, their mother’s closet was only half full of clothes. The other half was a shrine to their dearly departed father, her husband, and a voodoo god she claimed was the reason he was taken from them so suddenly. The last time Jimmy could remember sneaking into her closet to hide during a game of hide-and-seek with his brother, the smell of blood made him give up his hiding place before he could be found as he ran from the closet screaming. Luckily, their mother was out doing the shopping, buying up as much meat as she could to store in her newly purchased freezer at the time.
Jimmy shook his head. He knew his brother was desperate to hide but he also hoped he wasn’t that stupid. He closed her bedroom door and ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time. When he reached the bottom he put his hands on his hips, resolved to find him quickly. The sun had set and he could hear his mother walking through the backdoor to start plating dinner. He ran out the front door to check the bushes; no luck. Then he sprinted around the house to the backyard. It was possible that Bobby decided to risk being seen by their mother and Russ in the hopes that they wouldn’t give his hiding place away. Jimmy bent down and gave Russ a scratch behind the ear. He surveyed the yard, watching closely as the wind blew the tablecloth on the two rows of folding tables their mother had already set up. He couldn’t detect a person hiding underneath them.
Jimmy started to panic. His brother never hid this well before. He got to his feet and did something he’d never done before, he called out his brother’s name.
“Hey, Bobby, come on now, I give up.” He craned his neck in the hopes he’d hear his brother running towards him from wherever he was hiding but all he could hear was the familiar sound of plates being placed on the dinner table in the kitchen.
“Jimmy. Bobby. Dinner time, boy’s. Time to cut out the play-time.”
Jimmy’s eyes went wide as he looked towards the backdoor and he gulped as he thought of what to say to her. He walked through the door and sat at the table, careful to avoid eye contact, then he heard the familiar sound of the freezer and a glimmer of hope shone on his face. But it was quickly dashed when he remembered their mother’s rule. Bobby would never break that rule.
“Where’s your brother?” she asked. “Where’s Bobby?”
Jimmy looked up, his eyes wide with fear as his bottom lip trembled. “I don’t know, ma. We was playin’ hide-n-seek like we always do an...an...I can’t find him,” he answered, bursting into tears. They were fake but he hoped his mother would feel sympathy enough for him not to blame him if Bobby did go running off somewhere.
She slammed her fist into the table as the thought of her son being in danger came over her. “What?” she blurted. “How long has he been missing? Are you sure you checked the whole house?”
“I don’t know, ma. I counted to twenty Mississippi’s like I always do when we play. I looked all over. Wherever he is, he ain’t here.”
“Come on,” she said, grabbing Jimmy by the ear and hoisting him to his feet. He yelped as she dragged him from the kitchen out the front door and to their car parked just out front. “You better hope he’s okay, boy. Now, get in.” Without another word she started the car and it screeched as it pulled out of the driveway in search of Bobby.
It was nearly four hours later when Jimmy and his mother returned home. The make-up on her face was smeared from crying her eyes out to the police. Her son was missing and she needed their help to find him. They promised they would do all they can and suggested she return home in case he should show up sooner or later. She couldn’t bear to look at Jimmy. After all, he was the splitting image of Bobby. Instead, she went right to bed and stayed there until the doorbell rang the next morning.
She rose with a start, remembering the party! She glanced at her clock and realized it was already well into the afternoon. She had overslept and Jimmy hadn’t bothered to wake her up. She stormed out of her room and banged on the door of her twin boy’s but there was no answer. Her heart sank as she thought the worst. Jimmy ran away because he blamed himself. But when she heard his voice downstairs greeting those who had just rung their doorbell. She ran her hands across her face to try and wake herself up and noticed streaks of black on her fingers. She had fallen asleep in her make-up from the night before. She didn’t want to alarm the guests who were invited for a birthday party, so she ran into the bathroom to freshen up as best she could.
When she got downstairs she found everyone that was invited had arrived. The adults were talking to each other and their children were playing. She caught the eye of Jimmy and he promptly excused himself, running towards his mother who stood in the door frame of the backdoor.
“Don’t worry, mom, I didn’t tell them. I just said he’s not feeling well and you don’t want him to get anyone else sick so he’s going to stay in bed today. They bought it,” he said, whispering the last part. She managed a slight nod that she understood what he had just said. “Everyone was asking about the cake. They remember the one you baked last time, and—”
“The cake!” she said, striking her forehead with the palm of her hand. She had forgotten it in the freezer! With everything that had happened she neglected to take it out the night before so it would be fresh. She rushed to the freezer and yanked the door open. She quickly put her hand over her mouth to cover her scream as her son, Bobby, fell back and hit the ground with a thud. Jimmy saw him too and knew instantly he was frozen to death. “Go out there and don’t let anyone in the house,” his mother said, trying to get him to stop staring at his dead twin brother. “Jimmy!” she shouted and he snapped out of it instantly. “Close the door, son.” He did as he was told, turning back to the guests, none of whom had bothered to look towards the backdoor. If they had, they would’ve seen the scene that Jimmy was having a hard time erasing from his memory.
The guests left soon after they arrived, disheartened that the cake was not properly thawed for consumption and wishing Bobby a speedy recovery. Jimmy could hardly say a word to them as he closed the front door on their exit. Once they were all gone he watched in silence as his mother proceeded to carry his twin brother’s body out of the freezer and into the backyard. She sat him in one of the lawn chairs and started digging a plot near the house. Jimmy didn’t speak a word when she placed a blanket into the hole she managed to dig several feet deep and then laid Bobby’s body down. As she started to shovel the dirt back in the hole, covering his brother’s body, he could stand no more and went to bed. There would be no dinner eaten that night.
The next morning Jimmy woke to the sound of his mother humming a song. The last time he heard his mother humming was the day their freezer was going to be installed. She said it was the second happiest day of her life. The first being the birth of her twin boys. As his mind raced with why she would be so happy he made his way downstairs.
“Bout time you joined us, Jimmy. Your brother’s already had two helpings of eggs,” his mother shouted up to him when she heard his familiar footsteps on the stairs. He stopped when he reached the bottom and gripped the railing in disbelief at what he heard her say.
“If he’s not coming to breakfast, can I have his eggs, mom?”
“Of course you can, son.”
Jimmy listened to the sound of his mother scraping eggs from the frying pan onto a plate. He gulped. Was that his brother’s voice? It had to be. But how? He wanted to burst into the kitchen but was afraid. All he could see was the way his brother looked when he was laying on the kitchen floor. His eyes frozen open, his lips purple.
“Where is that brother of yours? Jimmy, are you coming to breakfast? The cake is thawed now. You and your brother can each have a piece.” Jimmy shook his head, unable to speak. The last thing he wanted was cake! He heard her footsteps walk across the kitchen floor and his heartbeat raced. “There you are,” she said, her hands on her hips. “Why can’t you be more like your brother? Up early this morning with an appetite. I swear, sometimes I think he got the good genes between the two of ya.” Jimmy ran out the front door and spent the rest of the day as far away as he could from the house.
Once the sun set, Jimmy knew he had to go back home even though he regretted what he would find. The house was completely dark and he felt a bit of relief. He reasoned with himself that his mother was in denial of what really happened to Bobby and is not fast asleep. He hoped she would make more sense in the morning. He opened the front door and started to climb the stairs.
“Jimmy, would you come in here, please.” His mother’s familiar voice stopped him on the first step. She was sitting in the dark in the living room, waiting for him. He lowered his head and did as he was told, afraid to even look at her. She turned on the lamp beside the chair where she sat, illuminating her face, highlighting the dark circles under her eyes. “You worried your brother and I half to death. Where have you been all day? Just because it’s the summer doesn’t mean you can just run off without telling me where you’re going. And you left your brother behind.”
“Mom—”
“Don’t interrupt me when I’m speaking. You are grounded. You will stay in your room till I tell you you can come out. Is that understood?” Jimmy nodded. “Now go to bed.”
Jimmy turned to leave but stopped. There was a question he just had to ask but was terrified of what her answer would be. He straightened himself up and with his back to his mother he asked, “ma, is Bobby in bed?”
She didn’t answer right away and it scared him. “Yes, but he’s in my bed. We didn’t know if you’d be home and he was tired. Didn’t want to sleep in your room by himself. I told him he could sleep with me tonight. I see no reason to wake him now that you’re back.”
Jimmy ran upstairs to his bedroom. Whatever was wrong with his mother would have to wait, he was just happy to be home. He also wanted to confirm for himself that his mother really was in denial. Their bedroom window overlooked the backyard. He slammed the bedroom door closed and slowly pulled back the window curtain. What he saw made his stomach twist in knots. The hole where he watched his mother bury their brother was dug up. The room began to swim and he thought he was going to throw up. Was it possible that he wasn’t really dead? But how? Why?
His mind stopped racing when he heard his mother’s footsteps outside his door. He rushed to it and turned the lock on the door slowly, hoping she didn’t hear it lock as she walked by to her bedroom. He listened as she walked into her room and heard her door close. He was more than confused, he was scared. What would it mean if his brother wasn’t really dead? He saw him with his own eyes. The fear soon turned into an exhaustion he could no longer fight and he laid down on his bed, leaving his clothes on.
The next morning Jimmy’s eyes opened wide, but he couldn’t move his body. He looked around and realized he wasn’t lying on his bed anymore. The ceiling was silver with a bright light shining in his eyes. He tried to breathe but struggled to take a breath. He wanted to sit up or even move his limbs but he couldn’t. His eyes moved to the left and focused on a large piece of roast before he lost consciousness.
Mrs. Johnson brushed dirt from her clothing and leaned the shovel against the house as she walked through the backdoor. Two months had passed since her twin boy’s eighth birthday and she felt like things were finally getting back to normal. She listened to the boys in the living room laughing as they watched a cartoon on the television.
The doorbell rang while she washed the dirt from her hands in the kitchen.
“Coming,” she shouted from the kitchen, wiping her wet hands on an apron hanging from a hook in the kitchen. When she passed the living room she said, “Now, you boys keep it down in there. I can hardly hear myself think with all that laughter.”
“Yes, mom,” she heard them say in unison before she opened the door to find a policeman standing on her doorstep.
“Yes, officer?”
“Good afternoon, ma’am. Sorry to disturb you, but there’s been a complaint from one of your neighbor’s and I’m afraid I’m going to have to check it out. Would you mind if I come inside?”
Mrs. Johnson’s eyes twinkled as she smiled sweetly to the officer. “Not at all, but mind you, don’t you go bothering my boys. They’re in the living room watchin’ some god-awful kids program.” The officer entered the house and was immediately met with the smell. He tried not to let it show as he walked towards the living room. He couldn’t hear the TV because as he soon discovered, there was none in the living room. Just a coffee table, and a couch. A couch on which sat the corpses of twin boys. Their body’s beyond the point of decay.
“Now, boys, what do we say to the nice policeman?”
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