Chapter 37 - The Easier Twin
Noah believed he had helped.
That was the hardest part.
He sat on the edge of his bed while I put clean clothes into the drawer.
“If he told me the answer, it was still his answer.”
“The ideas were his.”
“So why is it cheating?”
“Because the teacher needed to see what Nico could do himself, including what he found difficult.”
Noah frowned.
“That sounds like helping someone fail.”
I sat beside him.
I understood the objection.
There had been years when I thought protecting someone meant making sure no evidence of weakness reached the outside world.
“I think it means letting the right person see where help is needed.”
He pulled a loose thread from his blanket.
“What if the person isn’t right?”
“Then you tell us.”
“What if you’re busy?”
I looked at him.
He did not look accusing.
That made the question harder.
“Then you tell us again,” I said. “And we need to do better at listening the first time.”
Across the hall, Lena was talking with Nico.
I could hear their voices without making out the words.
Noah glanced toward the door.
“He doesn’t want me to read in front of him anymore.”
“Did he say that?”
“He gets angry when I finish first.”
“Have you asked him why?”
“He says nothing’s wrong.”
I waited.
Finally, Noah whispered, “Am I supposed to finish slower?”
“No.”
“Would that help?”
“Not for long.”
He looked down at his hands.
The next evening, we spoke with Nico alone.
He lasted four minutes before the words came.
“Noah gets everything.”
Lena stayed quiet.
“He reads it once and knows it. I read the same line and lose where I am. Then everybody’s waiting.”
“Who’s everybody?” I asked.
“People.”
“Us?”
He nodded.
It hurt.
I made myself let it.
“When we read at bedtime,” he continued, “you say I can do the next page. And I know you mean the whole page.”
Lena closed her eyes briefly.
“I thought you liked taking turns.”
“I like listening.”
She nodded.
“Thank you for telling me.”
Nico wiped his face impatiently.
“I’m not trying to be difficult.”
“I know.”
“Noah’s already the one who worries. I’m supposed to be the easy one.”
Something in my chest shifted.
We had never given him that job.
We had praised him for doing it anyway.
The helpful twin.
The practical twin.
The one who could wait while somebody else needed more.
I moved closer.
“You don’t have to make things easy for us.”
He looked unconvinced.
“You can need help,” I said. “Even when your brother does too.”
For a moment, he held himself rigid.
Then he leaned into Lena so suddenly that she had to catch him.
May you like
I stayed beside them.
Nobody asked him to be reasonable.
