Sammy's Kitchen - 5. Chapter 5

I couldn’t sleep and neither could Jake. It was already midnight and my heart was racing. I couldn’t tell if it was Jake or Hellzone responsible for the excitement. Probably both. We were laying on our beds facing each other, having another one of our wordless conversations. It wasn’t unusual for our hands to form a bridge between the two beds and tonight wasn’t different.

I was thankful to Jake for not trying anything. I had too many emotions fighting for dominance inside me and neither was winning, yet. My twin brother must have sensed that as he held my hand, transmitting the confidence and serenity I was desperately lacking. At the same time, he seemed to be soaking in my anxiety and confusion without any visible effect on him. I could only hope I wasn’t a burden to him.

Then I remembered the feeling of caring for him, feeding him, and cleaning after him when he was sick. Did it feel like a burden? Yes, but it was the most pleasant burden under the sun. It made me feel like a mama kangaroo, carrying her joey in her cozy, furry pouch. I hoped Jake felt the same about me now, holding my hand, his eyes telling me that everything will be alright.

***

I woke up to the cutest sight I could wish for. Jake was standing sideways to me, in front of the tall mirror attached to one of the wings of our double closet. He was fixing his curly hair, wearing only MY white briefs and his nice button-down shirt, which was currently unbuttoned and revealed his toned chest and a V-line, disappearing behind the nicely-bulged white fabric. I found it very hot and… exciting. Not counting the stolen briefs, the view was nothing new to me which only reassured me that I wasn’t seeing my brother in the same light anymore.

“Hi, Jakey,” I said and sat up on my bed.

“Morning, Sammy,” he answered without looking my way, as he fought an unruly curl that refused to get in line with the rest of his many twin brothers.

“Why are you wearing my briefs?”

“I’d rather not answer. Let’s just say it’s my payment for letting you sleep in. I’ve been dying to wake you up for the last two hours.”

“Wow, so generous of you.”

Jake didn’t reply. Instead, he opened his drawer, fished out the green boxer briefs I always envied him for and threw them at my face.

“Here, are you happy now?”

Was I happy with his underwear hanging from my face? I won’t lie, this wasn’t bad at all. I took a quick shower and tried them on. I loved them!

“Do you think I could have them, Jakey?” I said when I was back in the room and stood next to him in front of the mirror.

Jake examined our reflections with his trademark judging stare for a few seconds.

“You know they’re my favorite, Sammy, but you are packing them fine. Your briefs for my boxers, how does that sound?”

“Deal!” I agreed eagerly. The sight of Jake’s package in my white briefs was mouth-watering enough and this was a win-win in my book.

Seeing that Jake really put effort into his looks today, I decided to wear my best jeans, a white t-shirt, and a honeycomb hoodie that I wore only on special occasions. Mom said that with my dark eyes and hair, I looked like a cookie with raisins but I didn’t mind. I liked cookies with raisins.

Mom warned us it was cold outside today, so I had to wear my jacket anyway. She insisted I wore a winter cap, too, but I was happy to dig out my dark red winter bobble cap from the depths of my closet. It was a nice, ripe cherry on top of my honey cookie.

“You look good,” I told Jakey when he zipped up his blue navy jacket and put on his red&white, Christmas-themed cap with reindeers and snowflakes.

“You too, little bro. Do you think we’ll get laid today?”

“Maybe,” I smiled.

Jake raised his hands in the air. “Hellzone, here we come!”

A few minutes later, we were sitting in the back seats of the car. It was less than an hour’s drive and we talked all the way. I’d glance at Mom in the rearview mirror from time to time and was relieved to see her smiling. She hadn’t had a day off since forever.

The time passed quickly and in about an hour we were standing before the gate of Hellzone.

“Dude,” Jake mouthed and his chin was shaking. My big bro was on the verge of a meltdown. The place was way bigger than I’d assumed by looking at the photos. It seemed to stretch for miles. I saw at least three roller coasters. They all looked enormous and scary, but each was a different color and I knew the red one was quickly gaining fame as one of the most intense and mind-blowing roller coaster experiences in the world.

“Devil Viper,” Jake said, looking in its direction with excitement. “Prepare for your eyeballs to be sucked out of your skull, little bro.”

“My poor white briefs. Hang on there, little fellas,” I replied and patted Jake on the butt.

“Mom!” Jake yelled when she locked the car and came to us. “Let’s try the Viper first!”

“Count me out, Jake, I’m not getting anywhere near that devilish contraption.”

“Mom! We’re not going without you!”

“Yes, you are. You know I’m afraid of heights. I already decided that all I’m willing to try is the chair swing. This is way outside my comfort zone already and I plan to take the rest of the day recovering and watching TV.”

“What? Aren’t you staying?”

“It’s your party boys, you don’t need your old mother to tag along and complain all day.”

“Come on, Mom!” I whined. “When was the last time you had a day off?”

“Long time ago. That’s why I want to spend it the way I want to - on the couch. You boys are not nine years old anymore, right, Sam?”

“We’re not, Mom,” Jake interrupted. “Come on, Sammy, let’s see that swing and then move on to the real stuff!”

I expected the chair swing to be one of the family-friendly attractions in the park, but even here, Hellzone didn’t disappoint. It was way taller than I expected. When we got on board, the arms started elevating and spreading as they turned faster and faster.

“Woooo!” Jake and I screamed, when after a few minutes we found ourselves over 300 feet off the ground, going at what felt like 40 miles per hour. The view was amazing and the trees, tents, and people were tiny, far away on the ground. I was sitting next to Jake and I turned around to see how Mom was doing. Her face was tense and she was holding on to the railing for dear life. I had no problems with heights but at a peak moment, I felt the adrenaline pumping into my brain. And this was just the start!

“Thank you, Jesus!” Mom uttered as we got down and she sat on a nearby bench.

Jake ran to her “That was fun! It’s Devil Viper time now, Mom!”

“I’ll pass,” she said, taking a few sips of her water bottle.

We tried to convince Mom to stay and have some fun but she threatened to take us along with her if we kept insisting, so finally, we gave up.

Jake looked at me after she was gone. “Don’t worry, Sammy. She’s been working all month. She needs some time to recover.”

“That’s the point, Jakey. She’s too tired to have fun anymore. We have to do something about it.”

“You have a heart of gold, Sammy. I promise we’ll find a way. Now let’s try to make as much as we can of her birthday gift!”

I got on board without arguing. I convinced Jake to leave the Devil Viper for later and start with some less extreme rides. And there were lots of them. All were made with a special material that wasn’t changing volume in changing temperatures and so were running all year long. We started with Mastodon, the blue rollercoaster and 0it fucking blew us away.

“Dude!” I said when we hugged each other once on the ground. “I’m shaking! Are you sure this was the chill one?”

“Yes, Sammy. I almost stained your tighty-whities up on that tallest hill. This is going to be awesome! Next up is Fire Dragon!”

I pulled Jake’s hand as he was about to head to the mid-tier roller coaster. “Jakey, could we go on a Ferris wheel first? I think I need to slow down for a second.”

“Ferris wheel is for children,” he said and pulled my hand the other way, “Fire Dragon, Sammy!”

I pulled his hand back. I didn’t know how he could say that. The Hellzone Ferris wheel was towering high above all other attractions and to me looked really intimidating. But this wasn’t why I wanted to go.

“Jakey,” I insisted and he finally looked me in the eyes. “I really, really want to go on a Ferris wheel with you, please,” I said with my best puppy eyes. Finally, Jake clicked.

“Oh, uh, of course, I’m sorry. I’d love to go on a Ferris wheel with you, Sammy.”

I smiled and let go of his hand. A few minutes later, we reached the Ferris wheel entrance. There was a line but it was going pretty quickly and it seemed like we would make the next ride. Before we knew it, we approached the clerk and Jake put his arm over my shoulder.

“Two of your best seats for me and my twin brother, sir,” Jake said with a fake British accent.

The clerk was a guy in his mid-twenties, lazily letting people through the gate. He looked at us and squinted his eyes. Then he opened them wide and raised his eyebrows. Then, he squinted them again.

Jake sighed. “I was joking sir, can we go through there now?”

The clerk sort of looked like a stoner and kept staring at us. Jake and I exchanged confused looks.

“You’re Sammy,” the guy said, pointing at Jakey. “I’m a big fan of your channel. I don’t cook but there’s something about your videos that makes them appeal to… um… a wider audience.”

“I’m Jake,” Jake said. “This is Sammy.”

“Oh, sorry,” he said, turning to me. “It’s not easy to tell you apart in your jackets and hats. Anyway, you’re doing a great job, kid, keep it up.”

“Uh, thanks,” I said, flattered, but not prepared to face the attention.

“I can totally see why you removed the humping video,” the clerk continued. “I’d advise you to do the same if you hadn’t already done it. I saved it on my drive but I’m not showing it to anyone, so no worries.”

Jake must’ve seen I was uncomfortable because he took a step forward and stood between me and the clerk. “This is very nice of you, dude, but we are here incognito if you get my drift. We’d like to have a ride on your impressive-looking Ferris wheel now,” he said and pulled my hand and started walking around him towards the entrance.

“Guys, wait!” he said and blocked our path. “How about a little freebie on the house?”

Jake and I looked at each other and shrugged. “Sure,” we said at the same time.

“It’s advice, to be precise. The Ferris wheel is amazing but don’t ride it now. Come back at precisely 5:30 pm. You’re going to thank me later. Will you still be around?”

Jake took my hand again. “Maybe, but my brother wants to go now, so thank you very much for your advice but…”

“Jakey…” I said.

“Huh?”

“We don’t have to go now. If the man says to come back later, let’s trust him.”

“Are you sure, Sammy?”

“Yes, Jakey. And I think I feel ready for Fire Dragon now,” I said with a smile.

“Woohoo! Fire Dragon! Alright then, thank you, sir, and see you later. You better not try to pull a trick on my brother, or else I’ll have to fight you.”

The clerk chuckled and turned around to serve others in the line.

If Mastodon was mind-blowing, Fire Dragon was soul-crushing. While Mastodon was full of tall hills and long falls, Fire Dragon was fast, quick turning, and relentless. I constantly had the feeling like it was trying to throw us off its back, jerking and twisting us in all directions.

“Oh my god, oh my god!” I moaned and hugged Jake tightly when back on the ground. “We’re alive!”

“Just barely, Sammy. Maybe we should pass on Devil Viper after all.”

“I can’t believe you’re saying that.”

“I just don’t want you to die, Sammy.”

“Worry about yourself, Jakey. Let’s try some other stuff and then see what this Devil Viper is all about. Do you want me to tell Sasha you chickened out when you saw it?”

“We never chicken out, Sammy.”

We spent a few hours wandering around the park, trying almost all rides that looked hardcore enough - sledgehammers, drop towers, and some smaller roller coasters. They were all awesome but nothing in comparison to Fire Dragon. At least we could get lunch and hope to keep it in.

“It’s 4:30,” Jake said. “Should we do Devil Viper now?”

“Yes, Jakey. If I die, I want to die with you.”

“Oh Sammy,” Jakey smiled and hugged me, disregarding heads turning our way. “I’m not letting the viper kill you. I’ll chop its head off if it tries to.”

We sat at the front with freshly gained confidence. I hoped that surviving Mastodon and Fire Dragon would make us prepared for what Devil Viper had to offer but it was a delusion. There was nothing that could prepare us for this ride, including falling off from the top of Mount Everest locked inside a powered-on washing machine. We held our hands and screamed all the way, as Devil Viper seemed determined to twist our insides around and suck our brains out through our ears. Tears were escaping from my eyes and freezing on my cheeks as the cold air smacked my face like an icy whip.

I thought we had made it through the worst part when the ride decided to launch us in the air and crush us into the ground. Or so I thought. I squeezed Jake’s hand as hard as I could to make sure this final grip will defy death and let us reunite in the afterlife. Somehow, Devil Viper managed to achieve zero gravity and I understood it was the end. It lasted for about three seconds and my whole life flashed before my eyes. Then, we started falling. I had no idea we were this high until the Viper made a sudden plunge straight into the ground just to change direction at the last moment and abruptly slow down to a stop.

We didn’t move. We were holding hands and staring at each other with our red, terrified faces, slowly regaining breath. Supporting each other, we stumbled out into the open. There, I just decided to fall to the ground and Jake fell on me.

“I thought I was going to lose you, Sammy,” he said as he gave me small pecks all over my face. “I’m so sorry, Sammy, it was a terrible idea, we could’ve died!”

“We’re alive, Jakey, it’s all over now. It’s all good. It’s all good,” I repeated as we clung to one another. As our breaths slowly calmed, Jake started chuckling. Seeing his happy eyes, I started chuckling, too. Soon, we were laughing like maniacs.

“It was awesome!” we yelled at the same time.

***

It was 5:25 pm when we finally got to the Ferris wheel - just in time. But there was something wrong.

“I’m going to kill that motherfucker,” I heard Jake say when we got near the entrance.

I looked up. The queue was zigzagging and curling for half a mile. There were at least 200 people but there could be even more, it was hard to tell.

“Jake, wait,” I stopped him. “Let’s wait in the line. Maybe it will pass quickly.”

“Are you kidding me? I’m not waiting in that line and that guy is going to pay for it.”

Just when he was about to go and do who knows what, we heard calling from the booth where the line began.

“V.I.P. passes, this way!”

We recognized the clerk from earlier. He was waving at us and smiling. Jake looked at me with confusion and I grabbed his hand.

“Come on!”

We squeezed through the crowd and approached the clerk.

“Can I see your V.I.P. passes?” the guy winked at us. “Very well, all seems to be in order, step right in!”

I looked at Jakey with a poker face but a smile was crawling onto it. Before anyone could protest or change their minds, we slipped past the gate and took our places in the cabin. The wheel turned as the clerk let a few more people in and then it was full.

Jake looked around as we were slowly getting higher. “Did that dude make us wait for hours just to see the same thing but in the dark?”

“It does look very nice with all the lights,” I said calmly and found Jake’s hand. On second thought, I took off my glove and when Jakey saw it, he did the same. I missed his touch.

The view was very nice. Mastodon, Fire Dragon, Devil Viper, and all other rides were impressively illuminated and I looked around in amazement.

We were more than half the way up when I looked to the side at Jake.

“The best day ever, Jakey.”

“The best day ever, Sammy, and with you,” he said and squeezed my hand.

I felt so cozy sitting next to him in the cold air. The excitement of all the crazy rides was slowly wearing off and I was beginning to appreciate that I could spend this day with Jakey. Our friendship is intact, I realized. We had fun like on any other day. I was so afraid sex would take it away from us. I was so relieved!

I blinked when something cold landed on the tip of my nose. Jake smiled adorably and touched it with his finger.

“Sammy! I think it’s snowing!”

He was right. Right after he said it, I started seeing single snowflakes, landing on Jake’s clothes and face. The first snow of the year. Right at this very moment. I turned my whole body to face my brother and grabbed his other hand.

“Do you think that this guy knew it was going to snow, Jakey?”

“Probably, Sammy. Maybe he’s an angel.”

Jake looked so sweet and cute in his winter cap, his eyes wide open, looking at the snow and the world around us in amazement. Suddenly, his lack of inhibitions and confidence bloomed inside me. Finally, I could show him how I feel without any boundaries. My fears were all left down below, where they seemed tiny and insignificant. We didn’t have to speak. I knew that he knew that I knew.

I spoke anyway. “I love you very much, Jakey.”

“I love you too, Sammy. Every day spent with you is a gift.”

We reached the top of the wheel when it suddenly stopped. I gave Jake a concerned look and then we looked down. Whoa. At almost 600 feet, the world seemed like a house for toys. I squeezed Jakey’s hand and even though people looked like ants from up here, I could swear I could see the clerk smiling at us and showing us thumbs up.

“Do you see it too, Jakey?”

“Yes, Sammy, I see it too.”

And then it started.

A flaming rocket flew into the sky from the ground next to the main tent and a moment later, the sky exploded with thousands of bright colors and dancing flames. Soon, others joined it and for a while, the night turned into a day as the night sky became a living canvas for the most beautiful fireworks show I’ve ever seen in my life. It lasted forever. It was beautiful.

Jake tightened his grip on my hands again and turned to me. I looked him deep in the eyes.

“He was an angel, Jakey,” I whispered.

Then Jake kissed me, and the sky exploded once again.

***

We were driving home in silence. Mom asked a few questions and we answered truthfully, but somewhat absentmindedly. If not for our hands pressed together, we looked like a pair of zombies.

“Are you boys sure everything is okay? You look like that Satan Viper really got you.”

“It’s Devil Viper, Mom,” we said in unison but our voices were mechanical and lacking enthusiasm. I didn’t feel empty. I was just floating on a fluffy, light cloud, high above the ground, senseless and painless.

“At least your collective mind is still intact,” she chuckled and we spent the rest of the road in silence.”

***

Much, much later we were in our separate beds again. We were facing each other, having yet another one of our wordless conversations. Our hands bridged together again but this time it had a different meaning.

“Do you know what I’m thinking, Sammy?” Jake murmured, looking me in the eyes.

“I do, Jakey.”

He smiled. “But I still want to say it out loud, can I?”

“Yes, Jakey.”

“The world is not ready for us.”

“It’s not, Jakey.”

“But ready or not, here we come, right Sammy?”

“That’s right, Jakey. Here we come.”