"The Knave of Hearts" drabbles by Beck Scassellati

Klepto's Family

The Knave of Hearts #2

My parents liked Jo well enough, until my brother said he wanted to marry her. There they drew the line. No way would they tolerate their eldest son marrying a Jew.

So he converted.

Signed the papers and everything. Said, “Mom, Pop, if you can’t accept her in the family, then you can’t accept me either.” And they weren’t happy about it, but they let him marry her. They wouldn’t disown their golden boy.

I always looked up to him because of that. Even after they disowned me, I still thought about my brother, the only good man I knew.

Klepto's Monologue

The Knave of Hearts #1

When I was a boy I wanted to be a vet. I loved animals, I was fine around blood, and life on the farm taught me to accept that everything eventually dies. Any time one of the dogs, cats, or horses got hurt, I helped them fine.

I guess a couple things stopped me from realizing my dream. One, my grades were bad ‘cuz I couldn’t pay attention in class. Two, I got in too much trouble picking pockets.

Three, when I was thirteen I killed two guys, and after that I gave up on doing anything good at all.