He looked at Stefan, pleading for understanding. Anna gave Alex the same look.
Alex nodded to let her know it was okay. He knew his mother had wanted to spare him the pain of knowing how his father died. But now the secret was out in the open and it was out for good. He would just have to figure out a way to deal with the pain.
NINE
Alex lay in bed unable to sleep, plagued by the same thoughts that had kept him awake for the past three nights. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop thinking about the horrifying way his father had died.
It seemed like hours before fatigue took over and he was finally able to fall asleep. When he woke up, he rolled onto his side and saw himself sleeping in another bed a few feet away. For a moment he thought he was dreaming.
Sunlight flooded through the bedroom window of the condo in Whistler. It had rained the entire weekend, but today he and Stefan would finally be able to bike to the peak.
Alex logged on to his computer and checked the International War Crimes Tribunal Twitter feed about the case against Zarkov and Koralic.
The two men had gone into hiding the day the new government came into power, and the authorities were determined to prevent them from leaving the island. Security at airports in both Berovia and Maldania had been doubled, and the government in Sarno had obtained the co-operation of all neighbouring countries to ensure that every boat that left the island would be boarded and searched. With the escape routes cut off, the government was confident that it was only a matter of time until the two men were caught.
“Any news?” His brother was sitting on the side of his bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Alex shook his head. “They’ll catch them eventually,” Stefan predicted. “Everybody knows what they look like. They won’t be able to stay in hiding forever.” He got out of bed and went into the washroom.
Alex clicked on a picture of the two men standing beside each other. Stefan was right. These two couldn’t exactly melt into a crowd. Their nicknames had been well chosen. Milos “the Snowman” Koralic was bald, with a huge, round face atop an immense belly perched on a pair of fat legs. He was smoking a big cigar. If you looked quickly you could almost imagine it was a snowman’s carrot nose.
Anton “the Stork” Zarkov towered over him. He was as thin as the Snowman was fat. His narrow chest was supported by two spindly legs. His nose jutted out of his face like a beak. A jagged scar ran down the right side of his face.
The Stork held a gun in his huge left hand and he was laughing, apparently at something the Snowman had said. Something funny, Alex thought bitterly, like burning a couple of hundred people alive.
He was horrified by what they had done, but he wasn’t surprised. He’d taken a course on genocide and crimes against humanity the previous year and he knew that human beings could do the most terrible things to each other. He’d learned about the Holocaust, where the Nazis killed millions of Jews in the gas chambers. He knew about the war in Rwanda, where 800,000 members of one tribe were butchered in only three months by the members of another tribe, many slaughtered by neighbours they had lived beside all their lives.
Those were only two examples. Crimes like those had happened over and over again throughout history. A couple of million deaths here, a few hundred thousand there. The numbers were so overwhelming that it was impossible to connect emotionally to what had happened. The true horror didn’t hit him until the day a woman who had survived the slaughter in Rwanda came to talk to his class. When she told them how she had seen her entire family killed in front of her, when he could put a name and a face to the suffering, what had been an abstract historical event suddenly became very real.
It was the same with San Marco. It was not just an abstract historical event. Not when the name and the face belonged to his father.
“Hungry?” Boris asked when Alex came into the kitchen. “Stupid question. Teenage boys are always hungry. Do you like scrambled eggs?”
“Sure.” Alex walked to the counter. Boris was chopping up some anchovies.
“They’re for Stefan,” Boris said. “I won’t put them in your eggs.”
“That’s okay,” Alex said. “I like anchovies.” The list keeps growing, he thought. He poured himself a glass of juice, then sat down and watched Boris prepare breakfast. It was hard to imagine that this ordinary-looking man was a hero. But that’s what he was. He had risked his life to save Stefan. Alex compared that to what the Stork and the Snowman had done. An image of them laughing as they watched the Church of San Marco go up in flames flashed in front of his eyes. It reminded him of something he’d read during his course. “People will do anything to, or for, each other.” That just about sums up the human race, he thought.
“Good morning.” Anna walked over and kissed Alex on the cheek. A few seconds later Stefan came into the kitchen.
“Good morning, sweetie. How did you sleep?” Anna asked gravely, as if a lot was riding on his answer.
“I slept good,” Stefan said.
“I slept well,” Anna corrected. She put her hand to Stefan’s cheek, as if she needed to touch him to prove he was real.
“We’ll meet you at the Brewhouse at one,” Anna said. They were all standing by the gondola in Whistler Village.
“Okay,” Alex answered. It was only nine thirty. That would give them plenty of time to ride to the peak and back down again.
“Stay together so Stefan doesn’t get lost,” Anna instructed.
“You can’t get lost,” Alex said. “You just keep going up.”
“Be careful,” Anna said.
“Have fun,” Boris said.
A group of Japanese tourists, all with cameras around their necks, walked by. One of the women did a double take when she saw Alex and Stefan. After three days of walking around Whistler with Stefan, Alex was used to the reaction. People were fascinated by twins. They thought nothing of approaching them with the stupidest questions. His personal favourite was the turkey who asked him if he felt pain when Stefan got hurt.
The woman motioned to her camera, silently asking for permission to take their picture. “What do you think?” Alex asked Stefan.
“It’s okay with me.” They put their arms around each other’s shoulders and smiled for the camera.
“Say sushi,” Alex said.
The woman politely nodded her thanks and took their picture. The rest of the group immediately pulled out their cameras and snapped away. Then they all bowed and walked off.
“Let’s go,” Alex said. He led the way to the start of the bike path. “There’s the peak,” he said, pointing straight up.
“A mile of vertical,” Stefan said. He was a quick study.
Two hours later Alex sprinted up the last hill and coasted to a stop at the peak. A few seconds later Stefan rode up beside him.
“That was great,” he said, clapping Alex on the back. Anna’s fear that Stefan would be left behind was groundless. He had stayed on Alex’s rear tire the entire way up, even when Alex had put it in top gear. Alex couldn’t have pulled away from him even if he wanted to.
The boys leaned their bikes against a tree. They stared at the mountains that spread out in front of them in all directions as far as they could see. Even though it was late August, snow still capped the distant peaks.
“It’s beautiful,” Stefan said in an awed voice.
“It is,” Alex agreed. He’d been up here countless times over the years, but today, with his brother standing by his side, it felt like he was seeing it for the first time.
Stefan took a camera out of his knapsack. He backed up a few paces, put the camera on a rock, and looked through the viewfinder. “Move a step to the left,” he said. Alex moved. Stefan pushed a button on the camera and sauntered over to Alex. He put his arm around his shoulders. “Say sushi,” he said.
Alex and Stefan got to the Brewhouse a couple of minutes before one o’clock. They locked up their bikes and walked into the restaurant. Boris and Anna were sitting opposite each other a
t a table by the window.
“How was the ride?” Anna asked Stefan. She patted the seat beside her.
“Fantastic.” Stefan slid into the chair. Alex sat down beside Boris. Anna reached over and brushed a lock of hair off Stefan’s forehead. She is really going to miss him when he goes back to Maldania, Alex thought. And so will I. The waitress, young and cute, came over to their table. Her nametag identified her as Kyla from Adelaide, Australia. There were always a lot of Aussies working at Whistler.
She looked at Alex and then at Stefan and then back at Alex.
“That’s why we dress them differently,” Anna joked. Stefan was wearing a red biking shirt. Alex wore a blue one.
Kyla laughed. “What can I get you?” she asked.
“I’ll have the Greek salad,” Anna said. “And a coffee.”
“The chicken sandwich, please,” said Boris. “And another Kokanee,” he added, pointing to his beer.
Kyla looked at Stefan. “The burgers are great here,” Alex said.
“Sounds good. I’ll have a burger,” Stefan said.
“Anything to drink?”
“I’ll have one of those,” Stefan said, pointing to Boris’s beer.
“No you won’t,” Anna and Boris said at the same time.
“Chocolate milkshake,” Stefan said.
“I’ll have the burger, too,” Alex said. “And a vanilla milkshake.”
“Excellent,” Kyla said, slipping her order pad into a pocket of her uniform.
“For the first few months we actually did dress you in different colours,” Anna said after Kyla walked away. “It was the only way we could tell you apart, except for the mole Stefan has at the base of his spine.” Boris nodded. He was familiar with the mole. “It was either dress you differently or pull your pants down every time we wanted to know who was who,” she joked. “After a few months we didn’t need to do it anymore. The differences between you started to come out.”
“Like what?” Stefan asked.
“Facial gestures. The way you moved. Things only a parent would notice.”
“You and Alex could be wearing masks and I’d still know which one was you,” Boris said to Stefan.
“Your personalities were different, too,” Anna went on. “Alex was more cautious than Stefan. Stefan would always be the first to try something new. Once he did it, Alex would do it too.”
“That’s what a big brother is for,” Stefan joked.
“You two should go wash up,” Anna said.
“I left my computer on my bike,” Alex said to Stefan as they left the table. “The washroom’s there.” He pointed and went outside.
When he returned, Kyla was clearing off a table near the entrance. “Hey,” she said with a friendly smile. Alex frantically tried to think of something to say, but all he could come up with was “Hey.” He gave her a weak smile and headed to the washroom. You’ve got all the moves, the Voice said.
Stefan was drying his hands with a paper towel. Alex went to the sink and washed his hands. “Let’s change shirts,” Stefan said. “See if they notice.” They swapped shirts and walked out of the washroom.
Kyla smiled at Alex again. “Hope you can make it tonight,” she said. “Bring your brother.”
“Uh, okay,” Alex said in a puzzled voice. Kyla looked at him as if he was slightly deranged. “What was that all about?” Alex asked Stefan as they walked toward the table. “Make it where?”
“Kyla and her roommates are having a party,” Stefan said nonchalantly. “We’ve been invited.”
It took Alex a moment to put it together. Kyla thought he was Stefan because he was wearing the blue shirt. In the two minutes Alex had been outside collecting his bike computer, his brother had managed to get a beautiful girl to invite him to a party. And all he’d been able to do was say “Hey.”
Stefan, wearing Alex’s red shirt, sat down in the chair beside his father. Alex took Stefan’s chair beside his mother.
“Hungry?” his mother asked. Alex just nodded, knowing his voice would give the game away. “How about you?” she asked Stefan. He nodded too.
Boris’s cellphone rang. He flipped it open. “Hello … Roman,” he said in a surprised voice. “How are you? … It can’t hurt to talk … We’re leaving here first thing in the morning … I’ll see you at one o’clock … Vo dinya.” He hung up and turned to the others. “Roman wants to talk about going into business together. He thinks some of his clients would be interested in doing the tour of Maldania and Berovia.”
“He didn’t seem very interested when you mentioned it at the house,” Anna said.
“Apparently his marketing manager, Tomas …” Boris couldn’t come up with his last name.
“Tomas Radich,” Anna said.
Boris nodded. “Tomas convinced him it was a good idea. He thinks the press will eat it up. Berovians and Maldans working together for peace.”
What a load of crap, Alex thought. All Tomas cares about is earning a big fat commission so he can send Lina to private school and get Maria off his case.
“Wonders will never cease,” Anna said. “Roman going into business with a Maldan. He must be mellowing. Or desperate.”
“At this point we’re just going to talk,” Boris said. “Who knows if anything is going to happen.”
Kyla arrived with their drinks. She gave Boris his beer, Anna her coffee, and, thinking Alex was Stefan, gave him the chocolate milkshake and Stefan the vanilla. After Kyla walked away, Stefan and Alex traded shakes.
“Very funny,” Anna said, as she realized what had happened.
“What’s going on?” Boris asked.
“You two could be wearing masks and I’d still know which one was you,” Stefan said, repeating his father’s words. Alex and Anna laughed.
“I knew it was you,” Boris said. Everyone laughed again. “What?” he protested. “You think I don’t know my own son? I was just waiting to see how long it would take Anna to figure it out.”
“These two were so cute when they were little,” Anna said to Boris. Alex and Stefan both made a gagging motion. “You should have seen them in their crib. They slept holding on to each other. I remember once,” she said, chuckling at the memory, “Stefan had a cold and the doctor said he should sleep by himself so Alex wouldn’t get sick. They both cried bloody murder for hours until we gave in and put them back together. The next day Alex came down with a cold. It was a bad one, but anything was better than listening to the two of them cry. They couldn’t stand to be separated from each other.”
Alex looked at Stefan. He knew his brother was thinking the same thing he was. They couldn’t stand to be separated, and yet the day after tomorrow that was exactly what was going to happen.
TEN
Alex sat on a chair in Stefan’s room, watching his brother finish packing. Neither of them had uttered more than a couple of words in the past hour. There was nothing to say. Alex looked at his watch for the umpteenth time. Fifteen minutes until they had to leave for the airport.
It was hard to believe it had only been seven days since he and Stefan had stood at centre ice, staring at each other in disbelief. Seven days that had passed in a blur, but had changed his life forever. The feeling he had carried with him as far back as he could remember, the feeling that a part of him was missing, was gone. Gone for good.
Alex looked at his watch again. Twelve minutes. He tried to console himself with the thought that Stefan was coming back for the Christmas holidays, but that was more than five months from now.
Stefan zipped his suitcase shut. “I got this for you,” he said, handing Alex a gift-wrapped package about the size of a book.
“I have something for you, too,” Alex said. He had bought Stefan Pro Hockey 13, the latest version of the video game. It cost more than he wanted to spend, but what the heck, he only had one brother. “You first,” Alex said.
Stefan unwrapped his present. As soon as he saw what it was, he started laughing. Alex was about to ask Stefan what was up w
hen he realized why he was laughing. “You’re kidding?” he said. Stefan shook his head. Alex started laughing, too. By the time he unwrapped his copy of Pro Hockey 13, both boys were laughing so hard that tears were streaming down their faces.
Just as they were starting to settle down, Anna popped her head into the office. “What’s with you two?” she asked, setting them off again. “We have to leave in five minutes,” she added. That sobered them up in a hurry.
“We’ll be right down,” Alex said. His mom nodded and walked away.
“This sucks,” Stefan said. “This really sucks.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m really going to miss you, man,” Alex said.
“Me, too.”
“Christmas will be here before we know it,” Alex said.
“For sure.” Stefan grabbed his suitcase. As they headed for the door, the phone on their mom’s desk rang. Alex picked it up.
“Hello.”
“Is this Alex?” The voice was familiar, but Alex couldn’t place it.
“Yes.”
“It’s Coach McAndrew.”
“Coach,” Alex said in a surprised voice. “Hi …”
“I want to get in touch with your brother. Do you have his email address? Or a phone number where I can reach him?”
“He’s right here,” Alex said. He passed the phone to Stefan. “It’s Coach McAndrew,” he whispered. “From Team B.C.”
Stefan took the phone. “Hello … Thank you … Are you serious? … Of course I’d be interested.” A stunned look crossed his face. “My father is here. I’ll go get him.” Stefan put the phone down and looked at Alex.
“What is it?” Alex asked.
“He wants me to play for his team in West Vancouver.”
“That’s unbelievable. Unfreakingbelievable.”
“Yeah,” Stefan said. “Unfreakingbelievable.”
The mood at the airport was the complete opposite of what Alex had imagined only an hour earlier. Joy instead of gloom. Excited chatter instead of subdued conversation. Anticipation instead of regret.
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