Page 24 of Pocketful of You

Romi

Nothing in Pocketful is as it seems,Chris had said, and after eighteen years of living a life of lies, I knew that he had been putting it mildly.

He hadn't just meant Pocketful.

He meant our entireworld.

I had a brother I never knew existed until this very night. I'd watched my father shoot the boy I loved. I witnessed a confession that was mind-blowingly painful. Things I could hardly comprehend were coming to life right in front of my very eyes and I was powerless to stop it all. What was I supposed to do now? How did I get out of this?

You can't,a voice hissed in my mind.

"Wh-what?" I breathed, eyes locked on the male version of, well,me. With his back to the wall, he stood proudly, chin up, blond hair cut short, brown eyes staring right back at me.

An eerie shiver rolled down my spine, and I felt my feet take an unplanned step towards him before being quickly dragged back by my father.

"Dad, what's h-happening here –" My words broke off when I locked eyes on the wafer thin, blonde woman. A wave of familiarity swept through me and I winced, brows furrowed in a mixture of shock and confusion, as a tingling warmth spread over me. "Mom?"

Whoa, why the hell was I calling this stranger Mom?

She didn't even look like my mother. Besides,mymom was dead. She died when I was six. I remembered because I attended the funeral. Sketch held my hand when they lowered the casket into the ground.

Sketch.

The boy behind the door.

Jesus Christ, what was happening to me?

"Ramona," she replied, sobbing quietly, as one of the guards stood her against the wall beside my apparenttwin.

"Do not speak to that whore, Romi!" my father commanded, tightening his hold on the back of my neck. "She abandoned you."

"Abandonedme?" Frantic, I looked around, desperate for answers. "I don’t understand what's happening here!" I screamed, taking leave of my senses. "Someone start explaining. Please! Why does he look just like me? Why do I know her –"

"She is your mother and he is your identical twin," Dad seethed. "She left me, Romi. That worthless cunt left us both, and she took my son with her!"

"I must say,traditora, it took me a very long time to recover your little family. I have had men hunting them down since they day you turned my family to ash." Raffaele took a drag of his cigar before adding, "Your pretty wife hid your heir well –almostwell enough."

"She didn't hide him," Dad snarled, visibly shaking. "Shestolehim away from me, right beneath my damn nose."

"Pot, kettle, black," Raffaele mused, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

"No." I shook my head, refuting his words. "My mama died when I was six."

"She was not your mama, fool!" Dad roared, livid. "She was your night-nurse. The woman I hired to give you nourishment when that whore stole my son and left you behind for me to deal with."

"I didn’t leave her. I was trying to save our son from becomingyou.A monster!" the woman screamed back.

"She was eight weeks old, you cunt!" Dad roared, pointing a finger at the woman. "She would have starved to death if Loretta hadn't stepped in."

"Ah, karma is indeed a true bitch, Calisto," Raffaele chuckled. "However, unlike me,youwill have a chance to say goodbye to your beloved family." Raffaele smiled. "Before I turn them into ash."

"No," the woman sobbed, clutching her son – my brother. "Don’t hurt him."

"Oh…so I should hurther?" Raffaele asked sweetly, gesturing to where I was attempting to remain upright.

"No!" the woman screamed, while my father remained rigid.And silent. "Raff, you can't. You loved that little girl like she was your own. She and –"

"If you're really my mother, then why didn't you take me, too?" The words were out of my mouth before I had a chance to register what I was doing. Trembling violently and not one bit sorry for my outburst, I stared at the woman who was supposed to be mymotherand a sob broke through. "Why'd you pick him over me?" Sniffling, I looked to my father. "Why'dyoupick him over me?" Tears trickled down my cheeks as I stared at my so-called twin. "Why didn’t anyone pickme?"

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