34. 34 – Aiden
34 – Aiden
M y stomach flips, even as I run my fingers through Alyss’s hair. She curls up against me, and Kayden tugs his blanket over, making sure that it’s covering her.
“Once upon a time, there was a little boy and his brother. They lived in a tiny apartment with their mom, and you never saw one without the other. Their mom was…,”
I sigh. “Not a good person. She liked to go out a lot, and a lot of the time, she’d forget to leave food. So the little boy and his brother got really good at making do. The oldest twin – by three minutes – wanted to learn to cook, so he started to climb up and learned how to use the cooker.”
She tenses beneath me. I keep stroking her hair until her muscles relax.
“Who is the oldest?” Her voice is soft.
“Kayden.” I half-smile. “Obviously. Can’t you tell?”
He snorts.
“Their mom would often have friends come over. They were loud, and they’d shout a lot, and they liked to smoke funny cigarettes that made the brother’s head hurt, so they always slept next to an open window, even when it was raining.
“Sometimes they were nice friends, and they’d bring food in brown bags and ask the brothers questions about school, but they didn’t know what school was. And sometimes they’d only bring shouting, and fists. And those days were bad, because their mom would lock them in the bedroom, and they’d climb into the closet and hold onto each other tightly until the shouting stopped. Sometimes they’d stay in there for a really long time.”
Long enough to go past the point of needing the bathroom.
I feel Kayden’s eyes on my face.
“One day,” I force out. “When they were… nine, maybe. Or ten. Their mom wasn’t great at remembering – the oldest was trying to cook this small bag of food he’d found on the table, and their mom walked in. She had a friend with her, and he got really angry. He started hitting the younger twin, and the older twin took the pan off the cooker and hit him with it. It burned all of the friend’s arm.”
She stirs. “Good.”
“But,” I say softly. “He was only a kid, and the friend was bigger.”
My throat burns.
“The friend pushed him down on the floor. And it hurt, and his knee was breaking , and their mother held the younger twin down and made him watch.”
My voice cracks.
“Their mother took the twins into the bedroom, and she locked the door.” Kayden’s voice is deep, deep with remembered pain as he picks the story up, as my voice fails. His hand drifts down to his knee, rubbing it. “She left them there for a long time. The oldest twin – he was in a lot of pain, and the younger twin knew that he wouldn’t get any help. So he climbed out of the window – on the second floor – and found someone on the street.”
Alyss shifts. One hand slips into mine.
The other slips into Kayden’s.
I pick back up. “A lot of people came to the house, and they took the twins away. They put them in a hospital with really nice food, and gave them new clothes, and they tried to fix the older twin’s knee.”
“Not a bad job,” Kayden says quietly. “Considering. But it still hurts.”
“Then they took the twins to a new house. There was a couple there, and they stayed for a while. But then they were taken to another house. Lots of houses, one after the other after the other until they lost count.”
Kayden coughs. “A nice lady came to the final house. She sat the twins down and told them that they would have a new family. Both of them.”
“But not together.” My heart still ices over at the memory of that day. “They would be split up. New names. New families. And no longer together.”
Alyss twists to look up at me. She looks horrified. “That’s… barbaric.”
I shrug. “Happens more often than you might think.”
“The twins wouldn’t do it,” Kayden says quietly. “The oldest told the youngest to take the family, scared about what would happen, but he wouldn’t. So they climbed out of the window again, that night, and they ran away. They found a place to sleep, and streets where the shops would fill up the trash at the end of the day, and they… they survived.”
Barely. By the skin of our teeth, sometimes.
“They grew older, and they started trying to make enough money for an apartment. The youngest twin was very sweet, and he’d stand on corners and sing.” I hum a few bars, and Alyss half-smiles, watching me with lidded eyes. “One day, someone came up to him, and they handed him a card. A job opportunity, they said. With lots of money.”
“We went together,” Kayden says quietly. “Always. And they let me in, even though I didn’t have a ticket.”
I follow his lead, switching out of story mode. “Red liked the idea of twins. She used me on the floor, entertaining people, keeping their eyes from drifting toward the door. And she used Kayden for the fighting ring. Both of us, each keeping the other in line.”
“But we were fed,” Kayden says shortly. “And warm. And together. So we stayed.”
Alyss sighs. “Did you ever find out what happened to your mom?”
I shake my head. “Don’t know.”
Kayden. “Don’t care.”
She nods. “I’m sorry you went through all that.”
“People go through worse.” I pick up her hair again, playing with it. “But now… we like the idea of being part of your group, Alyss.”
“Because you can stay together.” There’s understanding there. Understanding of the subconscious fear that drives our decisions, pushed along by a healthy dose of childhood trauma.
“Exactly.” I tap her nose lightly. “But we wouldn’t want to be part of just anyone’s group.”
“Absolutely not.” Kayden sounds vaguely disgusted at the thought of it. “Only yours.”
When I look down again, she’s smiling to herself. “I feel honored.”
I search for the words to explain. “During the first game – when I shouted for Kayden. You… you understood. You didn’t need an explanation, or an excuse. You just saw us .”
“Nobody has ever seen us before,” Kayden murmurs. “Not like that.”
Her eyes look suspiciously bright. I clear my throat. “You should get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.”
When her eyes slide closed, I feel Kayden’s eyes on my face. “Don’t.”
We can’t change whatever will come tomorrow. We’ll meet it, whatever it is.
“We’ve survived worse, Kayd. We’ll survive this too. Whatever comes.”
He doesn’t say anything. But I listen to his breathing, listen to the way it mingles with Alyss’s as he eventually drifts into sleep and my own eyes start to close too, my fingers still curled around Alyss’s hair.
Whatever comes.