Sparring partners

By David Dunkley, Staff Reporter

Twins Jermaine and Jervise Allen - Michael Slolely

BROTHERS are supposed to always look out for one another, be there for each other, and help and protect one another, especially if they are twins, right?

Wrong. That's not exactly how it goes when it comes to twin brothers Jermaine and Jervise Allen.

The boys from Boone Hall in Stony Hill, St. Andrew, though fond of each other, often fight and curse each other and that's just the tip of the iceberg, according to their 14-year-old cousin Brian Allen.

"Jervise is the trouble maker," Brian, a student at Shortwood Primary and Junior High School said. "When Jermaine will behave himself when you talk to him, not Jervise...and him not taking anybody lick."

Brian related several incidents in which the boys, mostly Jervise, give a totally new meaning to the phrase "being your brother's keeper'.

He said one day his mother, the boys' aunt, cooked and called them to eat. Jervise was the first in to the house and he ate his food and left. A few minutes later he returned pretending to be his brother. He calmly sat and ate his brother's dinner and then went outside as if nothing had happened.

Shortly after, their aunt saw Jermaine and asked him why he looked so hungry and he had just eaten. "It was after Jermaine tell her that him never eat when we realise that Jervise eat the two food them," he said, as Jervise erupted in laughter standing beside his brother.

If you think that's bad, then check this out.

One day while the boys were at school, Jermaine left his classroom without permission. His teacher saw him and asked why he had left the classroom. Jermaine could not give a good enough reason and the teacher promised him a beating, asked him his name and sent him back to the classroom.

Jermaine told the teachers that his name was Jervise and when the teacher returned to the classroom she called Jervise before the class and gave him a beating. Can you imagine his surprise?

Despite these and other incidents, the boys say they are glad to be twins as they can trick people wherever they go. They say apart from tricking people they know that they always have each other to play with. Both love playing football, cricket and like athletics and are grade five students of the Stony Hill Primary and Junior High school in St. Andrew. The twins are the only boys out of their parents' six children. Jermaine says that when he grows up he wants to become a policeman while Jervise has dreams of becoming a soldier.

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