Believe or Not Believe

Javier and Pablo were brothers living in Twin Falls, Idaho, who decided to go on a hike because they had nothing better to do. It was midday, and while walking along a dusty trail, a twinkle from something on the ground caught Javier’s eye.

Without saying a word, Javier ran towards something, and Pablo, watching his brother take off for no apparent reason, shouted, “Hey, what’s going on?” His question was answered, seeing his brother bend down and pick up what appeared to be a coin. Catching up to Javier, Pablo saw his brother examining the item and said, “Let me see.”

Javier handed over the coin to his brother and said, “It’s a magic Mormon coin from the treasure of Joseph Smith. You can tell by the tree of life on one side and the iron rod on the other.”

Pablo looked at both sides of the coin and saw some odd symbols he had never seen before, but to him, they just seemed like random squiggles. “Magic my ass,” said Pablo. “Anyway, what do you know about Mormons?”

“I read about it,” replied Javier. “These coins were brought across the country by Mormon settlers. They bring the holder good luck.”

“Bullshit,” said Pablo, and he threw the coin on the ground, leaving his brother to pick it up. Later, when the boys were walking down the street in sight of their home, they came across a large moving truck that took up the sidewalk, forcing the boys to walk around it. “Do these assholes really need to take up the whole sidewalk?” said Pablo.

“It looks like the family is unloading all by themselves,” said Javier. “We should help them. It will get that truck out of here faster.”

“Fuck that,” replied Pablo. “This street has enough people living here as it is.” Pablo continued home while his brother helped the family move in. Once he was inside his house, Pablo wasn’t sure of what to do, so he sat on the couch and flipped through the channels on the TV until he reached an okay movie he had seen on TV 10 times before.

Javier arrived home a few hours later and saw his brother sleeping on the couch. He turned off the TV and shook his brother while saying, “Hey. Check it out.”

Pablo, dazed and confused, sat up and said to his brother, “What do you want?” His brother presented him with a sandwich bag filled with brownies, Pablo’s favorite snack. “Where did you get this?” asked Pablo.

“The new neighbors wanted me to give them to you,” said Javier. “You really should’ve stayed; they gave me $200 for helping them.”

“$200!” said Pablo as he shot up from the couch. “That’s bullshit! It’s… It’s because of that magic coin. Give it to me.”

“No,” said Javier. “You said the coin was bullshit.”

“Give me the coin or half of the money. You choose.”

“What? No way,” replied Javier. His brother grabbed him and started digging in his left pocket, but Javier had the coin in his right. He pushed his brother off of him and tried to run away but his brother got ahold of him before he got too far. The two of them flung around in a wrestle until they ended up in the kitchen. Javier felt his brother throw him hard, a sharp pain, and then everything cut to black.

Pablo stood over his brother, watching him bleed profusely from a gash in the head caused by a corner of the kitchen counter. He was not happy about what had happened, but Pablo regained his senses and accepted the situation for what it was. Being careful not to get any blood on himself, Pablo dug through his brother’s pockets until he found the coin. He knew things weren’t looking good for him at that moment, but he felt confident that with the coin in his possession, everything would work out fine.

After an hour spent cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, Pablo had his brother’s body stuffed in the trash can and rolled it out to the curb for pickup the next morning. He felt that he felt the magic of the coin coursing through his veins, and he wanted to try out his new powers.

Mr. Bernstein was eating Chinese takeout with his family when he heard a knock at the front door. The family rambled about who it might be as he approached the door to see who it was. When Mr. Bernstein opened the door, he recognize the teenage boy standing there on his doormat. “Hey, you’re Javier’s brother. Pablo, right?” said Mr. Bernstein.

“Give me some money,” said Pablo, as he rubbed the coin between his fingers.

“What? Why?” replied Mr. Bernstein in his confusion.

“Give me some damn money,” repeated Pablo, rubbing the coin harder.

“Uh… no,” said Mr. Bernstein, hearing his wife and kids whispering in curiosity behind him. He peered around outside to see if anyone else was there, and said to the neighbor boy, “I’m not sure what this is, but my family and I are having dinner. You’re welcome to come in and join us if you’d like. We have plenty of Chinese food.”

Pablo threw the coin to the ground and said under his breath, as he began to walk away, “I knew it was bullshit.” He went home and acted clueless when his parents asked where Javier was. Then Pablo sat on the couch and flipped through the channels on the TV until he reached an okay movie he had seen on TV 11 times before.