Twins

  by Michelle Elvy

When we turned 50, my twin sister and I inherited money from an uncle. It was a modest amount, enough for me to enroll in a night course at the local college and to buy a new pair of glasses, not the $20 frames at JC Penney but an obscenely expensive designer pair which my made me feel sexy and smart, and which my boyfriend told me to keep on when we made wild rodeo love that night.

Some weeks later, my sister called. “You gotta come visit, see what I purchased with the help of Uncle Robbie’s money!” She sounded excited, so I drove across the state line the following weekend. I rang the bell and adjusted my new glasses, sure she'd notice them right away. She threw open the door with her characteristic enthusiasm and greeted me with a new set of D's, maybe even Double-D’s. I hugged her, mindful not to squish her new acquisitions, and followed her in, my mind responding in overdrive: Good Lord, Patricia, what have you done? I am reading Foucault, have a copy of Discpline and Punish right here in my bag. Wanna read it? No, of course you don’t. I wonder if my $300 left over would get me a downpayment on a set of those. I couldn't afford D’s of course (and they are ridiculous), but C's might be quite sensible...

'You have new glasses!' Patricia interrupted.

'The better to see you with,' I replied. 

Michelle Elvy likes the word discipline but not the word punish. She is sometimes a slacker but when she experiences moments of enlightened discipline, she thinks (fondly) of her mother -- and King Crimson. You can find Michelle at Glow Worm, Voices and 52|250.