Tweedledum and Tweedledee (3 page)

"You shouldn't have to worry," the man said. "I'm taking good care of you. I promised I would, remember? I'm going to make everything good again. I won't let you down. I promise."

The man groaned in pain, found a bottle of pills in his pocket and took one, washing it down with wine. He closed his eyes and leaned back. The wine helped take the edge off the pain. Soon, the pills would kick in as well. It was all going to be alright. A good night’s sleep would do the trick. He had an important day ahead of him. He needed all of his strength.

"Don't fail me," Deedee hissed.

"I'm not. I’m just resting. Gathering strength." The man sipped his wine again and ate the rest of his pasta. He was feeling better already. The pasta and wine made him drowsy. It was a good sign. Maybe he would get some sleep tonight?

"I'm sad," Deedee growled.

"I know. I know," the man replied, trying to sound as compassionate as possible. "It won't be much longer now. Soon, it will all be much better. Just wait and see. Now we need to go to sleep."

The man undressed; all the while, his shoulder was throbbing. He turned off the light and, as his head hit the pillow and the darkness surrounded him, he felt the sorrows of his past once again flush in over him. He felt like crying, but didn't. He refused to feel sorry for himself. Instead he let the anger rise in him and fed off of it.

"You're thinking about it again," Deedee said. "I just know you are. It's going to keep you awake all night, and me as well. Stop thinking about it."

"I'm not," the man lied.

"Just go to sleep," Deedee said.

"I will."

The man tried to empty his mind and lie completely still, but still couldn't find rest. The discomfort in his body kept him awake, along with the sounds. There were many sounds on the ship at night. He hated this restlessness that he always felt. The feeling that everything was wrong. He loathed this endless grief that had taken such a stronghold in his mind and saddened his every thought.

"I'm gonna make it right. I promise you that, Deedee," he whispered into the darkness. "I promise it to you."

5

April 1976

N
O ONE EVER STOPPED
reminding the twins that they had been found in a dumpster. At the orphanage where they were taken to after an old lady found them while throwing out her garbage, they reminded them every day.

"Garbage-boys, garbage-boys," the other children yelled after them.

Even the staff working there called them names. Mostly names like
circus freaks
and
monstrosities.
They had given them real names. When the lady had brought them to the home, they hadn't known whether it was one child or two. Should they give them one name or two? Finally, they had decided to name them after the twins from Alice in Wonderland.

Their names were Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Soon reduced to just Deedee and Dumdum.

At six years of age, Tweedledee and Tweedledum started to realize just how different they were from everyone else. Not just because the other children told them, but they noticed how people would gasp or shriek when they saw them in the street. They tried to leave the orphanage as little as possible to avoid the staring eyes, but life inside the orphanage was rough on the boys and often they needed to get out in order to avoid being beaten up constantly. Everyone picked on the freak-brothers and told them they belonged in a circus. And they were easy to beat up, since they still didn't know quite how to control their mutual body enough to be able to hit back. Between them, the boys only had three legs, two heads and four arms. They could stand up, but they couldn't walk and, instead, they would crawl on their hands and feet, making them look like a giant two-headed spider.
They had learned to coordinate their arms enough to be able to eat. They had separate heads and brains, but still thought very alike. They liked the same things and often finished each other's sentences. They had even developed a language of their own between them, one only the two of them could understand. But they weren't allowed to use it, so they only did it when they were alone.

No one told them it was their six-year birthday, but the boys knew what month they had come to the orphanage and, therefore, decided on a date and on that day, they left the orphanage in the morning and didn't come back.

They had planned the trip for months. All of their life they had dreamt of one thing and that was to see the ocean. They had read about it in books and seen pictures in magazines at the orphanage. And they had both agreed. They had to see it. No matter the cost. It was like it was calling to them.

So, Tweedledee and Tweedledum stole a handful of cash from the daily leader of the orphanage, Mrs. Campari's purse when she wasn't in her office and used some to pay the bus to take them there.

The twins hadn't been prepared for the reaction of the other people on the bus. Their deep gasps and small whines surprised the twins as they crawled on their hands through the bus to find a seat. People put their bags and purses on the seats next to them to let them know they wouldn't sit next to a set of freaks like them.

Tweedledee and Tweedledum found a seat in the back and sat down quietly. The bus started up and drove into the street. The bus was quiet. No one uttered a word. A couple of children stared at the twins with open mouth and eyes. Their mother told them not to stare. The twins turned their heads and looked at each other. It was like looking into a mirror, except one was slightly bigger than the other.

"I love you," one brother whispered to the other in the language they only understood.

"I love you more," the other replied.

The bus stopped at the harbor and the twins got out. They could already smell the ocean in the distance and crawled fast across the street towards it, causing the traffic to come to a stop. They were laughing and quickly forgetting everything about staring looks and frowning faces. As their hands hit the sand, they took off their four flip-flops they wore on their hands, rolled up the trousers that had been sewn specially for them by Mrs. Telesca, who cooked for the children in the orphanage, to fit their three legs. Then they looked at each other quickly before storming into the ocean and getting their feet and legs wet.

They loved how the water felt against their skin. They played in it, splashed it at each other, and laughed heartily and happily for the first time in their short life.

The two brothers both looked into the other one's eyes and smiled. "We'll always have each other," they said simultaneously. "It doesn't matter about all these people. Not as long as we are together."

The twins danced on their hands in the water for a long time, getting all of their clothes soaking wet. Then, they crawled back up on the beach and sat down in the sand, staring at the endless ocean where a huge tanker was heading out to sea.

"Where do you think they are?" Tweedledee asked.

Tweedledum didn't have to get more details to understand that his brother meant their parents. They had been wondering all of their lives where they were.

"I think they're looking for us somewhere out there."

They both looked out at the ocean and simultaneously decided they didn't want to go back to the orphanage again. They barely finished the shared thought before they heard steps coming up behind them.

6

April 2014

W
E ARRIVED AT
S
ORRENTO
at eight in the morning. It was the first stop on our cruise. All night we had been sailing down the coast of Italy, but it was the first time I actually saw the magnificent coast. It was truly breathtaking.

I, for one, had slept excellently. When I woke up, I found Victor sitting in the living room reading a book.

"What are you reading?" I asked and looked at the cover. "Lewis Carroll's
Through the Looking-Glass?
You're reading Christoffer's book?" I shrugged. "Guess there’s no harm in that."

I walked to the balcony and saw the city of Sorrento in front of me. The town was situated on a cliff overlooking the Bay of Naples. I had ordered breakfast in the room and ate it on the balcony with Victor and Christoffer, while studying the city online. Christoffer ate eagerly, while Victor, as usual, was more reluctant.

"Better eat some more, buddy," I said, when he was about to leave the table. "We have a long and busy day ahead of us. We're going to see Mount Vesuvius and the city of Pompeii. You remember what happened to it, right? We talked about it at home. They were all buried in ashes when the volcano erupted. It’s still active, you know. I saw it ten years ago on a trip here. Smoke was coming out of the side of the volcano while I was walking on it."

"Wow," Christoffer said.

"I know. It's been like this for many years. But I want you both to remember that we have to walk all the way up there. It's a long walk and I want you to have the energy for it, okay? I think this will be something you'll enjoy, Victor."

"I’d like to see the dead people," Victor suddenly said. "The ones that show the positions they were in when they died."

I chuckled. "I bet you would. There are a few of them. You'll see them when we come to the city. Some look like they're screaming. They're not real bodies, you know."

"What are they then?" Christoffer asked.

I scrolled the text on my iPad. "It says here that
the objects that lay beneath the city were well preserved for centuries because of the lack of air and moisture. These artifacts provide an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city during the
Pax Romana
. During the excavation, plaster was used to fill in the voids between the ash layers that once held human bodies. This allowed one to see the exact position the person was in when he or she died.
So it's more like a print of someone dying."

"Nasty," Christoffer exclaimed.

"I want to see it," Victor said and took another bite of the buttered bread I had made for him.

"I know you do."

I sipped my coffee, thinking any other mother might be concerned about her son's fascination with violent deaths, but not me. I was just happy that Victor was talking to me and that he had an interest to keep him in the same world as me. It was one of the few things we could actually talk about. So I let him have it. It was his thing.

"We might take a trip to the island of Capri if we have the time," I said. "There’s a blue grotto there that I'd like to see. But it depends on how long the trip to Pompeii takes. I don't want to wear you out. We could do it tomorrow. The ship stays in this harbor until five o'clock tomorrow afternoon. So we have plenty of time."

A little later, there was a knock on my door and I went to open it. Outside stood my mom and dad. They were dressed like tourists with money belts and everything. They were both smiling widely while holding hands. Even my mother was smiling. I couldn't remember when I last saw her this happy.

"Are you guys ready?" My dad asked.

"Almost there," I said. "Come in."

"So how are you liking your suite?" my dad asked as they walked inside.

Victor was sitting on the bed. He had been ready to go for a long time. Christoffer was in the bathroom.

"I love it, Dad," I yelled while brushing my hair and putting on mascara at the same time. "But wasn't it kind of expensive?"

"It was. But you're worth it," my dad replied.

"You're so sweet Bengt," my mom said and kissed him.

I looked at myself in the mirror, then decided it had to be enough. I grabbed my purse and walked towards them. They were still kissing and rubbing their noses. Christoffer came out of the bathroom.

"You're the sweet one here," my dad said.

I cleared my throat. "We're ready."

7

April 2014

A
LBERTO
C
OLOMBO HAD BEEN
awake all night. He had been playing in the casino onboard the ship and lost track of time. He hadn't noticed that it was morning already, since there were no windows or clocks in the casino to warn him to get back to the suite. His parents had planned a trip and told him they were leaving the ship early in the morning. But Alberto didn't want to go. He didn't care about seeing all those things. He had just turned fourteen, but had a fake ID to let anyone who cared enough to ask know that he was old enough.

He had snuck out of the suite the night before when his parents fell asleep. He had taken his mom's wallet and first he had won in blackjack, but then lost it all again after hours at the roulette wheel. It didn't matter. He had more money in his trust fund than he would ever be able to spend in his lifetime. He just wished he could get ahold of that money now and not have to wait till he turned eighteen.

Until then, he had to live with what his parents gave him. It was humiliating, he thought. To have to ask for money. Alberto sipped his cocktail that he had been served by one of the gorgeous waitress. He’d had a few too many of those during the night and had been drunk for the last couple of hours.

"Place your bets please," the dealer said.

Alberto placed the last of his money on red fifteen. A few seconds later, it landed on black twenty-two. Alberto laughed. How ridiculous. He had spent ten thousand Euros of his mother's money in just a few hours and she would never even notice. Juts like she never noticed anything else Alberto did.

"Are you playing, sir?" The dealer asked.

Alberto shook his head. "No. Better get going."

Alberto walked slowly towards the exit. He was swaying and accidentally stumbled into some guy who grabbed him by the arm to make sure he didn't fall. Alberto laughed. "Wow, the ship is rocking huh?" he said and regained his balance.

"The ship docked half an hour ago," the man said.

Alberto's smile froze. "What did you say?"