These Twin Souls: Chapter One

Chapter One

Homecoming

"Why would you even do that???" My voice was shrill, it grated on me nevermind what it was doing to Ben as he stood with his head hung towards the ground. I could hear his little sobs and sniffles and it made disciplining him all the more painful. "Ben you really need to stop this!" I sighed in frustration, his body shook with every sob, his fingers twitched as he wrung his hands.

"They called me a freak again Ry! What am I supposed to do?" His eyes looked up at me, wet and pleading.

"You're going to the big school after the summer! You need to man up!" What was I saying? I wouldn't let Verona go through this crap when she was his age and she wasn't even my flesh and blood! I looked down at my brother for a moment and my heart wanted to break. He was only twelve, he'd lost both his parents and now he was stuck with a jacka$$ like me! I worked twelve hour shifts most days and when I wasn't working I was trying to pay the bills and keep the house clean. Denny wrote regularly and was always nagging me to find myself a wife, I already had found my one and only but she was finishing her first year of university and had forgotten all about me!

"If you'd just give Natalie a chance Ry! I really like her, and she keeps asking you out!" Natalie Carter was the receptionist and secretary at the garage, Ben was right, she did keep asking me out. She was blonde, had legs to die for and she was beautiful but I wasn't interested. All I wanted was my sweet Verona!

Summer passed, without the Marsh kids returning home. One on a trip around Europe before Uni started again and the other in a war zone fighting for our country. Ben seemed to get on better at high school, no more running away when things got tough and me getting phone calls from the school to tell me he'd done a Houdini. He knuckled down and worked hard, he also made some new friends. Ben was a bit of a geek, a misfit, when I was at school I was an enigma! I was a genius but I was also one of the cool kids. I aced every exam, I answered all of the teachers' questions, and I was never lonely. Denny was my best friend all my life but I had many other friends I used to hang around with. I had girlfriends to pass the time while I waited for my Verona to come of age, but I wasn't content. I wasn't a typical teenage boy, I didn't drink or do any drugs or have wild parties. I babysat my brother and looked out for Verona, I read books and went out for long walks, watched the stars at night and camped out in the garden instead of sleeping in my room. Reminiscing about my youth made me think of Denny, a bittersweet feeling of happiness and yearning. I loved that big jerk more than he would ever know, and I loved his sister more than I had any right to!

Three more summers later and Verona returned home briefly after her graduation. I was out of town towing a car back to the garage, she only stayed for a few hours while I drove eighty miles back into town unaware that my twin soul was home...I missed her by fifteen minutes! I asked Denny if she had mentioned me, he patted me on the back and smiled, "Dude, she only came to pick up her birth certificate. She got a job as a teaching assistant in Bridgeport!"

"So she won't be moving back or..." Denny laughed loudly and shook his head.

"No man, she's totally outgrown this place!" Denny was here for a few months, waiting to be called back. He was itching to get into the action again, he really loved being a soldier. He felt he was doing some good, that he was keeping his family safe. I just wanted him to come home for good, I didn't know why but I had a bad feeling about the whole thing. But he returned to his regiment and continued to fight the good fight out in Afghanistan.

I had wished to see my Verona again. I prayed to whatever God was up there to bring her back to me! Every night I asked for her to show up on my doorstep and tell me she realised how much she loved me and wanted me. I worked hard at the garage, spurned Natalie's advances, looked out for Ben who was now ready for leaving school himself and heading for University, anything to keep my mind off of Verona Marsh. Ben wanted a big party for his eighteenth birthday, I could just about afford to hire out the Church hall for it and with the help of Allan and Judith Marsh, he had a great time with his friends. The morning after, as I got ready for work, Ben lay in his bed moaning about his head and how sick he felt. "Never again!" he groaned, but I guess we all said that when we were young and got drunk for the first time. I left some indigestion tablets, paracetamol and a litre bottle of water by his bed and headed out to work. As I closed the front door and walked over to my car, I was aware of a very fancy vehicle outside the Marsh household. Two men in uniform stood at their door as Judith Marsh answered, still in her dressing gown. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but when she let out a painful cry like a wounded animal, I knew! It echoed all around the small cul de sac where we lived. Some other force took control of me and I was running across the street towards their house, I shoved past these very important men to get to Judith as her husband came racing downstairs. I wrapped my arms around her as she wailed, her cries were heartbreaking, "DENNY!" she managed to say as her breath caught in her throat and she screamed in my arms. Allan dropped to his knees and tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Nonononono! Not my boy!" he whimpered and covered his face with his hands, his body wracked with sobs. Denny and five of his men had been killed in action by a roadside bomb, he wasn't coming home this time...

Two days later, a car drew up the drive across the street as I stood by my living room window. I'd taken a couple of weeks off work as a holiday to help the Marsh family arrange Denny's funeral. She stepped out of the car wearing a loose fitting white blouse, skinny jeans and black flat pumps, sunglasses on top of her sandy blonde head. She turned back to look at my house, and our eyes met. I had wished to see my Verona again. I prayed to whatever God was up there to bring her back to me...

...but not like this!

To Be Continued...