Yip, Yap, and Yup (Part 1 of a Story in 3 Parts)

Markwildyr.com,Post #237

 Image Courtesy of Freepik:

 

A friend and I weretalking the other day, and he mentioned his cousin who has triplets… two ofwhich are identical and on of which is fraternal. That possibility had neveroccurred to me before, even though I have twin brothers who are fraternal. Thatstarted me thinking….

 

When I start thinking,I sometimes go off the rails. And this is possibly one of those times.Nonetheless, it did start me thinking of three peas in a pod… one of which goesawry. This is the result. We’ll take them one at a time.

                                                                         

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YIP,YAP, AND YUP

YIP

I should tell you right awaythat we’re triplets… or so our parents insist. I think we’re twins with anadd-on. Yap and I are identical, Yup might not even be a member of the family,much less the third triplet. That’s given me some heartburn over the years, Ican tell you.

Our first photograph showedthree peas in a pod. Dressed alike and looking alike... that is to say,wrinkled up little faces without any definition. The second one, a year laterwould get a passing grade. Dressed identically with pretty much the samekisser. By the third one, something was off. The duds were still the same, butone of the faces looked to be taking a different path toward maturity. Not abad path… just a different one.

By the time we enteredkindergarten, the difference was plain. That’s when we picked up our nicknames.Actually, we’re John, James, and Joseph Karlosian, but when Mom’s brother sawus for the first time, he shook his head and pronounced me as Yip, my identicalas Yap, and the other as… well, Yup. Why those monickers? I have no idea, but that’sbeen who we’ve been ever since.

It’s not just the family whogets thrown for a loop by the physical difference. The kids in our group tendto treat me and Yap as a pair and Yup, well, not so much. And maybe that’s thesource of the heartburn I mentioned earlier. I’m a part of a team, whereas Yup’shis own individual. He doesn’t even dress like us. Course, Yap and I havedifferent tastes in clothing styles now that we’re seniors in high school, but,dammit, you know what I mean.

To be honest, it’s gotten tome this year more than earlier because Cynthia Sharpe started seeing both Yupand me. When I tried to put a stop to that, she looked me right in the eye.

“I know it’s weird. Yip. I likeyou and all, but when I’m with you, it’s like I’m dating Yap too. If youcouldn’t make it one night, and Yap stepped in to cover for you, would I evenknow?”

“Course you would. We’re not thatmuch alike.”

She fed me a line I’d come tohate. “Two peas in a pod. When I’m with Joey, I don’t feel like that. I’mseeing one guy, not two.”

Geez! She didn’t even call himYup. He was Joey. But I was still Yip and my identical was still Yap. I triedto salvage things. “Hey, we have a good time when we go out, don’t we?

She nodded. “When I’m notfeeling weird.”

“Come on, Cindy, let’s gosteady. Look at it this way. With me, you get two for the price of one.”

She just glared at me. “That’ssick, Yip.” With that, she walked away, leaving me to watch her graceful gait,a sight that left me hungry for more and totally pissed at my disparatebrother.

It got worse. We all made thebasketball team, but Yap and Yup get playtime while I warm the bench. Once, Yapand I switched uniform tops so I wore his number and played without the coachknowing. Did okay too, until I fowled out. And when “Yip” did a better job,coach tumbled. We never tried that again.

But soccer is what reallyfried my fanny. That one sport I’m pretty good at. I surpass my identical inthat sport. That’s great, right? Would be if Yup didn’t play goalie on theopposite team every time we practice. He really busts his butt blocking myshots, more’n any other player’s. I mean he really goes the extra mile to see Idon’t score. He’ll literally eat dirt, leaping for my ball and taking hardfalls to keep me from scoring. It’s gotten so, half the time I aim for hismidriff hard as I can kick the ball. Giving him a good bruising every once in awhile did wonders for my blood pressure.

Then Yup did the unforgivable.He started getting in between my identical and me. Dunno what Yap’s thinking, buthe’s letting it happen. That was the last straw. I went from neutral tonegative.

“Butt out, asshole,” I startedmy onslaught one day when Yup asked Yap what he was doing that evening. “We’vegot plans. And you’re not included.”

Yup got sort of a hurt look onhis alien face—which sent a thrill up my spine—and stammered, “Why not? We usedto do things together all the time.”

“That was before you left thefamily.”

“What the hell you talkingabout?”

“Before you started lookinglike a frog instead of a human being.”

“Now, Yip—” Yap started.

“Shut up. Don’t encourage him.”

Yup turned red in the face.“If I look like a frog, how come Cindy goes out with me?”

“Figured a kiss would turn youinto a prince, I guess. Didn’t work, did it?”

“What brought this on?” Yupasked. “What’d I ever do to you.”

“Besides Cindy, you mean? Goaway, man, you don’t belong here. You don’t even look like the rest of us.You’re parked in the wrong family.”

It went downhill from there.

 

*.*.*.*.

Well, the dieseems to be cast. Now to see where it ends up, seven or snake eyes? Anyguesses? However it turns out, this seems to be a different kind of story thanI usually write. Stick with me, please.

 

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Website and blog: markwildyr.com

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Twitter: @markwildyr

Now mymantra: Keep on reading. Keep on writing.You have something to say, so say it!

See you later.

 

 

Mark

 

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