"Look what you've done!"
"Me? It's your fault; if you hadn't dragged it then I would've put it back!"
"Why do you keep getting me into trouble?" Leon pulled at his hair.
"I'm sorry." Dorita had her face down. She was apologising even though it wasn't entirely her fault.
"Whatever!" Leon glanced at the glass fragments scattered on the floor. It was their father's award— or rather, what remained of the award.
"Not like we can glue it back." Leon shrugged.
"Let's go talk to mom about it first, she'll plead for us." Dorita suggested. She knew that their mother was always soft hearted and would defend them.
"That won't work. Let's tell dad directly." Leon said with great difficulty.
"Aren't you afraid?"
"What's the worst that could happen" Leon asked.
They both fell silent for a while….
….
….
"Dad, we have a confession to make." Leon spoke a bit hesitantly.
Bruce looked up at the twins and nodded indicating for them to should speak.
"We broke your award." The twins said in unison.
"What?!" Bruce took off his reading glasses, "Which one did you break?"
"The one you won at the sports competition…" Dorita stammered a bit, her lips were quivering. Leon patted her back to calm her down.
"You broke my 'highest goal scorer' award that I won in high school?" Bruce was fuming.
"We're sorry dad!" they pleaded, "It was a mistake."
"A mistake?" Bruce grabbed Dorita and pinched her cheek hard. She started to cry. Leon tried to rescue her but he was slapped hard across the face.
"I will teach you a lesson!" Bruce, whose eyes were now bloodshot, shouted.
Rachael rushed down and intervened but Bruce was beyond placating. He finally let go of Dorita.
"You know what? Either you leave this house or you'll be grounded for life. No TV, no sports, no maths, no food…"
"Bruce that's too harsh!" Rachael was displeased by such punishment. Bruce didn't listen and stormed out leaving the twins in fear and tears…
….
….
"And then you won't wear your contact lenses again." Leon summarised the worst possible outcome.
"But i-it's just an award right? Why would dad send us away?" Dorita asked, her body shaking violently.
According to Leon's story, she would be stopped from studying or doing anything and she won't eat…
"Dad loves us and all, but when it comes to his award, I won't bet." Leon replied with a small voice.
Dorita gulped a mouthful of saliva.
"But in your story dad was wearing a reading glasses, he doesn't wear one."
"It doesn't matter; the point is that if he punished us like that, you'll have to forget about being the best student forever!" Leon frowned. Why would she point out such a small detail?
"I want to be the best student!" Dorita was on the brink of tears.
"Then do it my way." Leon said slowly.
Dorita nodded and wiped her eyes, "what do we do?"
"We'll use a subtle method to tell him and see how he reacts first."
"What if he reacts badly?" Dorita nudged her contact lenses a bit. She had taken it off a while ago.
"Then we'll take your method." Leon said while resisting the urge to call his sister four eyes!
"If we do it my way, what's the worst that could happen?"
"Let's say…" Leon rubbed his temple a bit.
….
….
Rachael looked at the twins who were cuddled together with teary eyes.
"You broke that particular award?" she repeated absentmindedly.
The twins nodded.
Rachael sighed and leaned back into her chair.
"You have to tell your dad."
"But he'll get mad and send us away." Dorita said with teary eyes.
Leon patted her back to calm her down.
"If he does, perfect! I'm already pregnant and will have more children that are less troublesome than you two!" Rachael said happily.
The twins broke into tears. This was unfair.
"Now get going…shoo!" Rachael pushed them to their father's study….
….
….
"Mom doesn't hate us right?" Dorita asked alarmed.
"Of course not. It's the worst case scenario!"
"Okay, but I don't get why you always pat my back to calm me down." Dorita said with a frown.
"Seriously, that bothers you so much?" How could she point out such things? Besides, she is a fragile girl and I have to protect her by patting her back!
"So in other words, we should get ready to leave this house right?"
Leon nodded vehemently.
"But we have a lot of memories here!" Dorita protested. She didn't want to leave.
"Memories? Five years memories, we can make more memories elsewhere!"
Dorita looked lost; her eyes lost the usual glow which was always eminent. Leon wanted to pat her back but refrained from doing so. It was one matter to pat her in his imaginations and another thing to do it in reality. This sister of his could think in the most annoying ways.
"So where's dad now?" Leon asked. He wanted to know where he was so that he could deduce his mood.
"He's in his study."
Study? That's pretty serious; whenever he goes in there it means he's in a bad mood. Leon drew the conclusion. He hoped he would be a little bit more understanding.
"Who will go in first?"
"You of course, you're the master mind." Dorita said firmly. She was scared and didn't want to put herself up as the sacrifice.
"Fine I'll go in first." Leon rolled his eyes and glanced again at the broken award which was made of glass.
Dorita nudged her contact lenses a bit. It wasn't comfortable but she had to wear it since it was necessary; all smart people wore one after all.
The twins didn't waste any more time. They went straight to their dad's study and knocked before entering.
When they entered they were surprised to see their mom there as well.
Why was she here? Leon wondered but didn't get to ask since Dorita beat him to it.
"What are you doing here mom?"
"To beat you up, what else?" Rachael had a stern expression on her face.
Leon and Dorita froze for a bit….