Chapter 3

 

Brian was staring at a mirror image of himself.    The man that stood before him was an exact replica of Brian, with the same wavy, sandy blonde hair, the same bright blue eyes, the same facial structure, everything.   They were identical.

 

“Wh-who are you?” Brian gasped.

 

The look-alike laughed evilly.   “There’s a lot of things you don’t know about, isn’t there, Brian?” he asked, smirking.   “A lot of family secrets.”

 

Brian stared at him with wide eyes.  “What do you mean?”

 

 “I’m your twin brother, Brian.   Your own blood,” the man replied.

 

Brian’s mouth dropped open.   “No way!  I don’t have a twin!” he protested, but his voice was tinged with uncertainty. 

 

“Oh yes, you do,” the man insisted, nodding.   “My name is Brendan.   Brendan Graves.   My father was Don Graves.   Has your mother mentioned him?”

 

Brian stared at him in shock, trying to comprehend.   “No…” he said dumbly.   “I-I don’t understand.”

 

“Well, it’s a long, long story, bro.”  Brendan sneered.  “But since it’s obviously been kept from you, I guess I should fill you in.”

 

Brian nodded, anxiously awaiting an explanation.  

 

“You see, a long time ago, before we were born, your mother… our mother, that is, had a torrid affair with another man, our father, Don Graves,” Brendan started.

 

“No!” Brian screamed in protest.   “You’re lying!   My mother would never do that!”

 

“Oh, but she did,” Brendan replied matter-of-factly.   “She did, and she got pregnant.   By that time, she and Don had already broken up, and her husband, your so-called father Harold, didn’t know about the affair.   She didn’t want to hurt him, I guess, so she kept it from him.   She tried to keep the pregnancy from Don, but it didn’t work.   It just so happened that Don was good friends with her obstetrician, and he knew of the affair.  

 

“When he told Don that she was pregnant, Don confronted Jackie, wanting to know if the baby was his.   Jackie secretly had Dr. Walters run a paternity test, and sure enough, Don was the father, not Harold.  

 

“And then it was found out during a sonogram that Jackie was pregnant with not just one baby, but two.   When Don found out this, that he had twin sons coming, he told Jackie he wanted one of them.   She protested, of course, but he blackmailed her.  He threatened to tell Harold the whole story if she didn’t give him one of the twins once they were born.   And so, she agreed.   She made a deal with Dr. Walters, and her whole pregnancy, they never told Harold that she was expecting twins. 

 

“Then at 1:37, on February 20, 1975, you were born, the first of the two of us.   Dr. Walters made a big show of giving you to Harold and escorting him out to let him show you off to the family.   And then he delivered the second baby, me.  A nurse took me out through another entrance to the delivery room so that no one would see, and I was taken to Don.   And when we both left the hospital, you went with Jackie and Harold, and I went with Don.   And that, my brother, is what really happened.”

 

Brian shook his head in shock.   “No,” he murmured.  “No way.”

 

“Yes way, I’m afraid,” Brendan leered.   “And look who got the bad end of the deal.   You grew up in a nice family.   You got the big break.   You’re the rich and famous one.   And look at me.   I grew up with just a father, who worked all the time and never spent any time with me.   I dropped out of school when I was sixteen and got a job.   I’ve spent the past ten years working at greasy, crummy, fast-food places.  While you’re making millions, I’m making minimum wage, barely enough to live on.   You’ve got a mansion, and I’ve got a roach-infested apartment.   That’s fair, huh?”

 

“Is that why you’re doing this to me?   You’re jealous?” Brian asked in disbelief.

 

“Jealous?   Yeah, I guess that word describes it.   It’s not fair.   We’re blood… womb-mates, actually.   What right do you have to get all this success when I work hard and get nothing?”

 

“Hey, I’ve worked hard too,” Brian protested.

 

Brendan snorted.  “Oh yeah, you’ve worked so hard.   Like singing and dancing and traveling all over the world is ‘hard’.”   He rolled his eyes. 

 

“You have no idea how stressful it can be!” Brian argued.

 

“Oh, I’m sure.   Just like you have no idea how stressful it is to worry constantly about not being able to pay your bills, to buy food for yourself, to do anything!  You wouldn’t have a clue about that, would you?   Of course not,” Brendan said dryly, his voice filled with sarcasm and resentment.


Brian didn’t respond.   He felt overwhelmed with this flood of information he had learned, which went against everything he had grown up believing.   He couldn’t believe that his mother had had an affair, had cheated on his father, who was not even his real father, as it turned out.   And most of all, he couldn’t believe he had an identical twin brother, who he had never seen or even known of. 

 

“Look… Brendan…” Brian started, hoping to reason with this man.   “You said yourself that I’m your flesh and blood… your ‘womb-mate’.   So how could you do this to me?  I’m your brother!   I’m your family!”   He paused, glancing at Brendan’s face, and added, desperately, “Please, let me go, and everything will be okay.   I can loan you some money to help you pay your bills and everything if that’s what you want.   In fact, I don’t even have to loan it to you.  I’ll give it to you!”

 

Brian looked at Brendan hopefully, praying his bribe would work.   Unfortunately, Brendan could not be reasoned with.

 

“No way.   I don’t want your money,” Brendan replied, glaring at Brian.

 

“What do you want then?” Brian asked.   “Whatever it is, I’ll give it to you if you let me go.”

 

Brendan snickered.   “I don’t think so, Brian.   You see, what I want is… your life.”

 

***

 

 

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