Word: Coriaceous

coriaceous

[kawr-ee-ey-shuh s, kohr-, kor-]

adjective

1. of or like leather.

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“You bought what?”  Cindy asked.

                “A leather jacket.”  Sid answered with a wide grin on his face.

                Cindy groaned and held her head.  She desperately wished she had either misheard or he was joking with her.  Either way, she wasn’t that lucky.

                “Why?  Just…just why?”  She asked.

                “I think the real question is, why not?”

                “No. No, not really, no.”

                “Aw come on, it’s totally awesome.”

                “No, it isn’t.”

                “You haven’t even seen it yet.  Trust me, it’s great.”

                “I don’t need to see it.  Nobody wears leather jackets except people in biker gangs.”

                “Not true.  I see people wearing them all the time.”

                “And I bet every single one of them has a motorcycle.”

                “You say that like it’s a bad thing.  I mean, come on, motorcycles are cool, so why aren’t leather jackets cool?”

                “They…they just aren’t okay.”  She hated when he had a point.  It wasn’t a very good one, but it held some truth none the less.  “Look, leather jackets aren’t in anymore, okay?”

                “Well then, I’ll bring them back in style.”

                Cindy resumed holding her head.  She desperately wished she could trade genes with someone else so she could stop being Sid’s sister.

                “No, you won’t.  Famous people bring things like leather jackets back in style.  You just look dumb in them.”

                “Not this one.  Trust me, it’s awesome.  Wait here, I’ll get it.”

                Cindy was about to object, but Sid was already dashing off to get the jacket in question.  She seriously considered going somewhere else in the hopes of not having to deal with seeing Sid’s questionable fashion sense.  But the fact that they lived in the same house meant that would only be delaying the inevitable. 

                “Okay, here it is.”  Sid said as he reentered the room a few minutes later.

                Cindy cringed.  It was worse than she thought.  It was a black leather jacket with nothing redeemable about it.  Although it was mainly black, it had large, thick white trim that called attention to how bulky and poorly fit it was.  On the back of each sleeve was a row of long leather strips that stood up like electrified hair.  She could have maybe dealt with it if it had been sleeker or at least tried to pay attention to style, but this was beyond any remedy .

                “See?  Pretty cool, right?”  Sid said, modeling the jacket proudly.  Cindy let out a meek whimper as her eyes were subjected to the travesty of fashion.

                “Oh god, it’s horrible.”  She managed to say.  “It’s…it’s just..oh god, why?   I thought my own flesh and blood brother would have some kind of sense about him, and yet this?  Why does that…that thing even exist?”

                “Oh come on.”  Sid said.  “You know this thing’s cool.  And I look damn good in it, if I do say so myself.”

                “Sid, nobody could look good in that thing.  I’d suggest burning it, but then I’d be afraid the fumes might infect everything.”

                “You’re just jealous.”  Sid said, tugging on the front of the jacket.

                “The only thing I feel right now is shame.  Seriously, the only way it could be worse is if you got matching pants.”

                “Oh really?”

                “Oh.  Oh god, don’t tell me…”

                “I’ll be right back.”   

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Let it be known that I am not up on current fashion trends.  In fact, I know very little about what styles are in at any given time.  As such, I have NO idea if leather jackets are actually out of style or not.  If they are still "in" then just, you know, pretend this story takes place in a time when they aren't.