Brotherly Love

The final bell rang at the end of the school day, and Tyler was already looking for his identical twin brother, Jake. It was Tyler’s turn to drive them both home this week. The twins alternated weeks carpooling together, since it made more economical sense. Tyler quickly spotted Jake by the front entrance, which was their usual meeting spot. Tyler could tell right away that Jake was in some kind of trouble. His face was white as a sheet and he appeared to be trembling.

“Hey Jake, you don’t look so good,” said Tyler. “Is something wrong?”

Jake nodded sullenly. “It’s going to be a few minutes before we can go,” said Jake with a slight quiver in his voice. “I got in trouble for throwing a pen at Adam Stevenson.”

“But that’s Mr. Stevenson’s son!” said Tyler. “And you did that in Mr. Stevenson’s class? I’m sure he was pissed. So what did he do?”

“I have to report to the office for a paddling,” replied Jake. “I’m really freaking out right now. I’ve heard stories about how hard Mr. Johnson paddles. I don’t know if I can handle it. He makes those big football players scream like little girls. A scrawny guy like me is so screwed, but it’s not like I even have a choice. Mr. Stevenson filled out my discipline form and made sure it was a mandatory paddling with the maximum number of swats, whatever that is.”

“I’ve gotten it before,” said Tyler. “I wish I could tell you that it’s not as bad as you’ve heard, but that wouldn’t be the truth. It’s going to really suck but the silver lining is that it’s a Friday, so you can avoid sitting down this weekend while you recover. Getting it on a Monday would be the worst.”

Jake’s eyes suddenly grew wider. Tyler could tell he had an idea.

“Tyler, I have $60 saved up. I was going to use it to buy a video game, but I am willing to pay you to take my place for the paddling.”

Tyler grinned. “Hell yeah! I will do it. Give me your driver’s license though. Mr. Johnson knows we are twins and he is pretty clever. He might ask to see some ID. Actually, now that I think about it. Let’s go to the bathroom and switch clothes really quickly. I want to be sure they don’t suspect a thing. Do we have time to change?”

Jake glanced at his watch. “We have eight minutes before I have to report to the office. We need to hurry.”

The boys quickly ran to the bathroom and swapped clothes. Their jeans were more or less identical, so they only had to trade shirts and shoes. After they finished, they rushed back towards the lobby. Tyler looked back and gave his brother a reassuring smile while trying to hide his own fear.

Jake sat on a bench outside of the office. He tried to listen in to what was being said inside but he couldn’t hear through the door very well. Suddenly, he heard the unmistakable sound of the paddle making contact. It sounded almost like a gunshot. He could also hear Tyler’s howls of pain. That sound made Jake cringe. He counted off four more swats until there was silence. A few moments later, the door opened and Tyler came walking out very slowly with tears in his eyes. Upon seeing Jake, Tyler forced a smile and gave him a thumbs up.

Jake pulled out $60 in cash from his wallet and handed it to his brother. To his surprise, Tyler brushed it away.

“You can keep your money,” said Tyler. “I was willing to do this for free because you’re my brother.”

The next week, both Tyler and Jake were in the same chemistry class. Jake accidentally knocked over a beaker of fluid and let a curse word slip out loudly. Their teacher wasted no time in filling out a disciplinary form. He specified paddling as the punishment.

Tyler sat beside Jake and saw what the form said. He wrote a note and discreetly passed it to his brother. Jake opened it up and was stunned by what it said.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got you, brother.”

Jake truly had the best twin brother he could ask for.