The Evil Twin?

by P. G. Van

  “Stop thinking too much about how to get stuff out of me and think about what you want to do with the new piece of information,” Annie said firmly.

  “Aaaah…stop it. I don’t want to think about it.” I placed my palms on my ears.

  “Fine!! Is your aunt home today?”

  “Yes, she is,” I said weakly.

  Annie leaned forward and said, “I want you to talk to your aunt. Tell her everything Reyan told you.”

  “I can’t…I don’t want her to think that I’ll abandon her for a new family.”

  “She is still your aunt…is she like your dad’s or mom’s relative?”

  “Neither!!!” I shook my head.

  “Whaaaat?”

  “She…she was abandoned by her husband after she had Meg. She was standing outside the bakery where my mom worked in the rain and my mom brought her home.”

  “Holy shit!!!!”

  “I don’t want her to ever find out there is a family out there that may be looking for me…she can’t know,” I declared.

  “Vinnie, you have to tell her…she needs to know. If you don’t tell her now, you will be charged with the same offense you charged Reyan,” Annie remarked.

  “Oh my god!! You know everything?” I gasped.

  “I know whatever you told me.” She reached for my phone and put it in front of me tapping her well-manicured nails on the screen.

  I took a long stare at the phone and shook my head.

  “You have to tell her!!” she insisted.

  “Okay, I will call her but if I don’t feel like telling her, I won’t today but I will eventually.”

  “No Vinnie, now!!” she insisted.

  I dialed my aunt’s phone number and hoped that wouldn’t answer. To my disappointment, she answered just when I thought it was going to go to the voicemail.

  “Hi, Mami (aunt)!!” I said weakly.

  “Why is your voice so low, haven’t you eaten yet?” she asked as if she picked up the strain.

  “I did or I still am…err…do you have a few minutes?”

  “Do you want to talk to me about last night?” she asked laughing.

  “What? What do you know about last night?”

  “Well, it looks like you called me and left me a very long voice mail,” she said softly.

  “Shit!! I am sorry!!”

  “Vinnie, what’s going on baby?” my aunt asked calmly.

  Tears welled to my eyes as I struggled to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat.

  “What did…what message did I leave you?” I asked in a shaky voice.

  “Oh…I could tell that you were very drunk.”

  “Mami please…what did I say on the phone?”

  “You told me exactly what you told me at the hospital six years ago.”

  “What…what did I...”

  “I don’t know why but when I heard the voice mail, I got reminded of my seventeen-year-old Vinnie that kicked butt,” my aunt’s voice had pride in it.

  “Mami, be specific…I am running out of patience.”

  “Okay…you told me that I am the best aunt anyone can have and that Meg is the best cousin and that you don’t need anyone else in your life…and then you said something about people thought you were an evil twin and that they want you back because the good one is gone,” she said coolly.

  My heart was in my mouth when I heard the second part of my message.

  “Vinnie, what were you talking about?” my aunt asked curiously.

  “Mami…it’s nothing.”

  “No…tell her,” Annie whispered guessing I was about to dodge the question.

  “Mami…Reyan…I can’t…” my voice trailed off as my body shivered uncontrollably.

  “Put her on speaker!!” Annie demanded and I complied.

  “Hi Ms. Gill…how are you? This is Annie!!”

  “Oh, hi Annie...Happy Birthday!! I almost forgot that Vinnie sang ‘Happy Birthday’ on my voice mail for you.” She laughed.

  “Awww...you did?” Annie said smiling.

  I rolled my eyes and said, “If I can remember that is…”

  “Yes she did, and I have the voice mail file saved for you Annie,” my aunt said with excitement.

  “Okay, Ms. Gill we are losing focus here...Vinnie wants to tell you some more about the voice mail.”

  I mouthed ‘I don’t’ looking at Annie, but she wouldn’t let go.

  “Mami, Reyan told me two nights ago that I was adopted,” I blurted and felt like my heart would crack through my ribcage.

  “Why does he think that?” my aunt’s voice was calm.

  “He knows the family that could…or he is sure is the family that gave me up for adoption,” I said weakly.

  My aunt did not say anything for almost half a minute, and I hoped to hear her say that Reyan was wrong.

  “You were adopted baby,” my aunt said in a calm tone.

  “Mami…Noooo,” I screamed at the top of my lungs as Annie wrapped her arms around me.

  “Vinnie, listen to me!!” my aunt’s voice cut through my sobs.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I demanded.

  “Would it have made any difference except for you wondering where they were?” she said her voice lost in my sobs.

  “I didn’t want to be adopted Mami. Mom and dad are my real parents and that’s it!!” I cried looking at the phone.

  “Vinnie…who is this family? What do you know about them?” my aunt asked.

  “I don’t want to know, and I don’t care!!”

  “Vinnie, I need you to stop being emotional. You don’t know under what circumstances they had to give you up for adoption.”

  “Oh, I know Mami. They had twins and gave me up for adoption because I was the evil one,” I snapped.

  “Stop it!! Vinnie,” Annie said rubbing my back.

  Reyan walked in just as I was losing it.

  “Annie, what the heck?” he fumed at Annie as I ran into his arms.

  “Reyan...Mami is lying to me…I wasn’t adopted,” I said shaking my head.

  “Sit down baby,” he said firmly taking me back to the table.

  “Hi, Ms. Gill,” Reyan said into the phone.

  “Reyan, do you know Vinnie’s family?” my aunt asked.

  “They are not my family!!” I cried uncontrollably.

  “Easy baby, don’t fight this,” he said softly kissing my forehead.

  “Reyan, there’s nothing easy about it…I don’t want to think about this and spend the rest of my life thinking about how this family didn’t want me…I already spent two years of my life thinking my parents didn’t want me,” I gritted my teeth digging my fingertips into Reyan’s arms.

  “Baby…stop!!” Reyan pleaded.

  “Vinnie, come to the phone…I need to talk to you,” my aunt ordered.

  I sat on the chair, my body trembling and my lips quivering from the outburst of emotions.

  “Vinnie, what did you say about spending two years thinking your parents didn’t want you?” my aunt’s voice was weak but calm.

  “Mami, when…mom and dad didn’t come back and they didn’t call…I thought they didn’t want me and that’s why they left me with you.”

  “Why sweetie…you know that’s not true,” she said weakly.

  “I know now…but when they didn’t call and they didn’t show up I thought they…”

  “Vinnie, I am sooo sorry baby,” my aunt’s sobs interrupted me.

  “Mami, it’s okay, I know now,” I spoke into the phone.

  “No baby, you don’t understand…I knew they weren’t coming back a few weeks after the accident, I just didn’t have the courage to tell you.”

  I sat frozen hearing my aunt crying on the phone. My tears dried up, and I had nothing to say. I heard Reyan talk to my aunt consoling her while Annie hugged me and wept silently.

  “I officially ruined your birthday, Annie.” I said my mind numb.

  “Shut it, Vinnie!!!” she said tightening her hold around
me.

  “Vinnie…” Reyan’s voice broke off when I looked at him with tears in my eyes.

  “I am sorry I yelled at you the other night…you were right to not tell me,” I said shakily.

  “Sweetheart, please don’t….” Reyan started to say.

  “You should have never told me anything. I was happy not knowing any of this,” I said softly and added looking at Annie and Reyan, “You will not speak of this ever again, and you are not to discuss this with anyone else.”

  “Vinnie, but…” Reyan started to say and stopped when I held my hand up firmly.

  “Never again, Reyan!!”

  *****

  Annie and I were at the rescue center to pick the kittens for Annie. The plan was to go to the rescue center on her birthday but after all the activity that Sunday morning, Annie was in no mood to go to the rescue center.

  “The kittens have been waiting for their mommy since Sunday, and she shows up three days late,” I teased.

  “Get used to a working mommy cuties!!” Annie laughed pulling out her phone.

  “Why is Reyan calling me now?” Annie scrunched her nose.

  “Reyan, you do know I am with your girlfriend, do not disturb us,” she teased.

  I listened to her talking on the phone, and I knew instantly something was wrong.

  “Let’s go, Vinnie.” She urged me out of the rescue center.

  “What’s going on? Is Reyan okay?”

  “Yes, he is fine.”

  “Annie, where are we headed?” I asked few minutes into the drive when I noticed her hand shivering on the wheel.

  “Vinnie, everyone is okay, but we have to go to the hospital.”

  “Is it Chloe? Is the baby okay?” I covered my mouth with my palms.

  “It’s not Chloe. We will be at the hospital in one minute, and I am freaking out so you need to go easy on the questions.” Annie was shaken up.

  Annie pulled in front of the emergency entrance and said, “Go in and ask the guy that looks like a bouncer for Reyan. I am gonna go park.”

  I sprang out of the car and ran into the lobby and as Annie had described there was a heavyset man in an all black attire.

  “Please follow me,” he said even before I uttered a single word. I followed him with my heart in my mouth not knowing what was going on.

  I saw Reyan pacing in the hallway looking extremely tensed.

  “Reyan, what is…” my words were lost in a gasp when I saw Meg on the bed with an oxygen mask on her face.

  Reyan put his arms around me as I stared at Meg in horror.

  “She is okay baby, just drugged,” he said holding me to him.

  “What the heck happened and how did you know? The school didn’t call me.” I was livid.

  “Where’s Mami?”

  “I couldn’t get a hold of Ms. Gill so I asked Annie to bring you here so you don’t freak out. I know you’ve had a lot to deal with lately.”

  “Who is responsible for this? Was it the kid who got his nose broken?” I barked ready to break his nose again.

  “Sit down baby,” Reyan said softly directing me to a chair on one side of the room.

  He took a deep breath and leaned against the wall in front of me.

  “I need you to stay calm. This is a hospital and you don’t want to wake Meg up.”

  “You are freaking me out now,” I whispered gritting my teeth.

  “Meg was drugged in a kidnapping attempt.”

  “What the fuck?” I gasped.

  “Vinnie, calm down.”

  “Robert was released from the county jail two weeks ago, and he had been scouting since the minute he got out to get either one of you, and he managed to get to Meg today.”

  “This is not real…I am dreaming,” I blurted, hyperventilating and stood up to put my arms around Reyan, “I am scared Reyan.”

  “There’s nothing to be scared about. That asshole has his ass back in jail, and he will never see the free sunlight again,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “How did you know he was out?”

  “My girlfriend’s problem is my problem,” he smirked.

  “I don’t understand how you knew about Meg.” My voice was muffled against his shirt.

  “I had a team watch Robert, and I had round-the-clock security for Meg, your aunt, and I was your personal security,” he smiled turning my heart to goo.

  “Thank you baby, thank you. How can I ever repay you?” I asked weakly.

  “Don’t be ridiculous baby,” Reyan said running his palm on my back.

  “Reyan, I am serious. I’ll do anything for you. Just say it.”

  “Don’t be silly, Vinnie.”

  “No, anything. You want my anal virginity, it’s yours,” I whispered.

  He laughed hugging me and said, “You are too funny. I don’t want your anal virginity…yet.”

  “Baby anything you want. I will strip for you in the middle of Union Square if that’s what you want.”

  “Okay, it’s getting out of hand now…I will ask for what I want when I think of it…I do like the idea of you stripping for me just not in the middle of Union Square.”

  “Anything you want baby!!” I hugged him letting the moisture from my eyes be soaked up by his shirt.

  “Vinnie, you need to get ready to talk to Meg about what happened today,” Reyan said softly when my sniffling subsided.

  “What do you mean?” I asked pulling back to look at him.

  “Meg is going to have a lot of questions about what happened and why it happened.” His voice was calm but stern, and I knew he was expecting me to tell Meg everything.

  “Reyan, she is too young to understand.”

  “You can’t lie to her and if you don’t, I will tell her,” he said, not budging.

  “I hated my aunt when I found out what she did. How can I expect her to not have the same reaction?” I asked, my voice shaky.

  “She will understand if you tell her exactly the way you told me. She needs to know what the women in her life have done for her, and that will only make her stronger,” Reyan whispered, looking at Meg who was still sedated.

  I took a deep breath when I realized he was right.

  “I will tell her, Reyan. I am also planning to go back to be her roommate until she feels better,” I said softly.

  “No!!” Reyan objected laughing.

  “You know you can come visit, but you’ll have to wait until I get back to make your wish,” I laughed hugging him.

  Chapter 21

  Me: I am freaking out. Please come home.

  Reyan: Why are you freaking out?

  Me: Seriously?

  Reyan: Seriously?

  Me: Not funny!!

  Reyan: Not funny!!

  Me: I’m gonna stop texting you

  Reyan: I’m gonna stop texting you

  “Fuck you!!” I said looking at the phone putting it away on the vanity in the bathroom fuming at Reyan.

  “I’d like that baby,” Reyan said from the entrance of the bathroom making me jump out of my skin.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were home?” I growled.

  “Why so serious, baby?” He walked up to where I was standing stuck in a fitted blouse I was trying on to wear to Reyan’s brother’s wedding that was a couple of weeks away.

  “Reyan, this is crazy. I don’t know why these frigging blouses have to be so tight and why the closure has to be in the back. I am meeting your parents for the first time officially five weeks after the fiasco at the restaurant,” I said, feeling the pressure of meeting his parents the following day.

  “Take a deep breath, sweetheart. One baby step at a time!! What’s first?”

  “I need to get out of this blouse and try on…” Reyan brought his index finger to my lips and said, “I heard you say ‘Fuck you’, what was that about?”

  “Nice try, I have a few more outfits to try and then we need to go eat.” I laughed taking a step away from him.

  “Everything I ever want
to eat is right here, right in front of me.” He winked.

  “I know, but I have too many outfits to try on tonight…get out of my way,” I said trying to push him out of the bathroom.

  “Didn’t you say you needed help taking off that blouse?”

  “Fine, take it off,” I grumbled turning my back to him.

  “Do you think I should invoke my, ‘Vinnie will do anything for me’ card tonight?” he chuckled.

  I smiled, unable to challenge him, and stood with my back to him with my hair pulled over my shoulder.

  He wrapped his arms around my bare midriff and took a deep breath against the nape of my neck. He sucked the tension away from me, and I flopped my head back to rest it on his chest as he ran his lips along the side of my neck.

  “I want you to do what you said when you were annoyed with my messages.”

  “Get me out of this blouse first,” I snickered.

  “And?” he prompted twirling his tongue along my collarbone.

  “I need to try on another outfit.” My voice was wobbly and a deep ache started between the apex of my thighs.

  “Wrong answer,” he groaned digging his teeth into the muscle on my shoulder. I moaned with the sweet pain and said, “I want you to suck...I want an Aussie.”

  “In a hurry sweetness?” he chuckled.

  “Yes, I can’t wait,” I pleaded.

  “Oh, yes you will. I am not letting you off so easily tonight. You’ll think twice before you swear next time.” His voice was husky and there was a command in his voice that got me hot all over, and all I could think about was challenging him.

  “Fuck you, Reyan Bhatia!!” I rasped half laughing.

  “Oh baby, you have no idea how much trouble you are in tonight.”

  “I can’t wait to find out,” I said digging my fingertips into his scalp.

  He groaned deep inside sending my libido rocketing through the roof into outer space. I liked being a rebel in bed, and Reyan fueled my bad girl mode with just the right amount of dominance.

  “You will, hotness, you will,” he growled against my neck taking one hand to find the last few hooks on the blouse I could not take off. He slipped his fingers through the openings between the hooks and yanked the blouse open.

  I gasped when I heard the ripping of the silk fabric. My breasts bounced at the sudden release from the fitted blouse to fall into Reyan’s palms. My nipples turned rock hard, and he rolled them between his fingers.