Chapter Text
King used his fingers to rake back his hair and took a deep breath. He unlocked the door of the condo and stepped inside. He kicked off his shoes and removed his backpack as he called out for Ram.
“Hey, Cool Boy! I’m home!
Hearing no response, King went into the kitchen to see if Ram was in there. He found the note that Ram had left on the refrigerator for him.
“I’m taking the dogs to stay at Duen’s for the night. I’ll be back before your appointment with P’Thara to get your stitches removed. Don’t leave without me!”
King felt his heart sink a bit. He was not looking forward to getting his stitches out. A part of him was thankful that Ram wanted to go with him, but a bigger part of him wished he wasn’t. He was nervous to face Ram again. What was he going to say to him? “Sorry I attacked you in the tent the other night”? Ugh. How could a person ever apologize for something like that? Frankly he was surprised that Ram hadn’t moved out of the condo while King was at his Grandmother’s house. King had stayed away longer than he had originally planned just to postpone the talk he knew they needed to have. Ram sent him a text the night before reminding him of his appointment or else King probably still wouldn’t have come home. He would have skipped a couple of days of classes. He was the top student so it wouldn’t have affected his grade.
King checked the time and saw that it was still a while before his appointment. He opened the refrigerator, intending to get something to drink, when he heard someone knocking at the front door. He closed the refrigerator door and hurried down the hall to answer. When he opened the door, Ram was standing there. King averted his eyes and headed back into the kitchen.
“Did you forget your key?” he called over his shoulder.
Ram gave a slight grunt of agreement and followed King.
“I’m going to grab a juice to take with me,” King explained with his face inside the refrigerator. He pulled out two and turned to hand one of them to Ram.
He felt all the blood leave his face and his back prickled with sweat. He jerked his hand back. “Who are you?” he managed to squeak out as he fell back against the open refrigerator in his haste to get away from the stranger. A stranger who looked exactly like Ram.
The stranger gave a small frown and answered in a quiet voice, “I’m Ram.”
“No, you’re not!” King slowly sidestepped away to get some distance between himself and the stranger in his kitchen. His mind flashed on a movie he had watched as a kid where pods from outer space came to Earth and made replicas of humans. He tried to push the thought out of his mind, because it was insane, but his logical mind could not come up with a better explanation.
He heard a small sound in the hallway and instinctively began to move slowly in that direction. The Ram-looking-stranger smiled at him and King asked again, this time more firmly, “Who are you?!”
He felt someone come up behind him and grab his wrist. The hand gave him a slight squeeze and King felt relief surge through him. He didn’t even have to look back to know that the hand belonged to the real Ram. “It’s okay,” Ram said quietly from behind him. “That’s my brother, Perth.”
The stranger grinned and reached up to pull his fringe down to sweep across his forehead. King assumed this was his regular hairstyle and had only been copying Ram’s. “Identical twin brother, Perth, you mean.” He walked over to the refrigerator and shut the door that King had left open. He read the note on it that Ram had left for King. “I see that you have somewhere you have to be so I’ll leave now. I’d like to come back later so we can catch up, brother; it’s been a long time.” He walked up to King and took one of the juice bottles out of his hand. “You offered but you didn’t follow through,” he said with a laugh. “By the way, aside from Ram’s pack of smelly hounds, Ruj is the only one who can tell us apart—and he has never done it as quickly as you did!”
“Are you into tattoos now?” Ram asked.
Perth laughed. “No way! I’m still terrified of needles!” He reached up behind his ear and peeled off the dream catcher tattoo. “It’s fake. I dated an aspiring artist for a bit. I showed her a picture of yours and she made me a lifetime supply of them.”
Ram gave a small sigh and King felt it rather than heard it.
Perth grinned at them, “I’ll see myself out. Happy stitch removal!”
Ram looked around the corner of the wall and then turned and nodded to King. King knew that Ram was telling him that Perth had actually left the condo. King let out a shaky breath that he hadn’t realized he had been holding.
Ram pulled out his phone from his pocket and soon had his four closest friends faces appear on his screen. “Perth is back. Code is ‘banana peel’.” His friends all acknowledge it and Ram disconnected.
Ram extended his hand and King looked at it with a puzzled frown. “Keys?” Ram asked.
King nodded and fished his keys out of his pocket and handed them to Ram. He didn’t understand why Ram was offering to drive, but he was glad for it. He was worried about getting his stitches out and that encounter with Perth in the kitchen had unnerved him a lot. He looked at Ram, who was putting on his shoes, and realized with a start that Ram had read him. He knew that King was not up to driving. King was taken aback. He had always been able to read Ram but now he wondered how long Ram had been able to read him.
Ram took hold of King’s wrist and gave it a small shake, which brought King out of his musings. Ram gave a nod of his head towards the floor where King’s shoes were placed. King nodded and slipped them on.
Ram didn’t let go of King’s wrist until they reached the car and even then he waited until King was settled in the passenger seat. Ram closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side. King realized he still had the unopened bottle of juice in his hand that he had been clutching tightly since he had pulled it out of the refrigerator and was stunned by his introduction to Perth. He placed it in the cup holder in the console. He had no desire for it now.
After a few moments into their trip, King turned to examine Ram’s profile. “You never mentioned that you had a twin brother.”
Ram gave a small shrug.
“What was that about when you told your friends that the code was ‘banana peel’?”
Ram sighed, “He likes to try to prank people; pretend he is me.”
King nodded, he had witnessed that himself. He understood the need for a code then. It would keep his friends from going though the same treatment.
“He’s not in any of your pictures on FaceBook or Instagram,” King stated, still watching for any reaction from Ram.
“He lives in the UK,” Ram finally answered.
King frowned. It was an answer and a non-answer at the same time. He could understand why being in another country would keep Perth from being in a lot of the pictures, but all? That didn’t make sense. Surely he must come home for vacations and school breaks. It seemed like there would be family pictures of some kind taken then. King concluded that there was, but Ram didn’t post them. The only reason that King could imagine was that Ram wasn’t especially fond of Perth.
By the time King had this sorted out in his mind, Ram was pulling into the outpatient parking lot of the hospital. King felt his anxiety returning in a huge wave as they walked in. King signed in and then sat down in the seat next to Ram.
“I hate the way this place smells,” King grumbled.
“Clean?” Ram asked.
King gave a small chuckle, “Okay, it’s clean, but too clean.”
They sat in silence for a bit and then King turned to look at Ram who was looking at something on the other side of him. “Listen, Cool Boy—you don’t have to go in with me. It’s not the same as when they put the stitches in. No needles this time.”
Ram turned his head and stared at King. King looked down at his hands and sighed. He knew that look. Ram would be going in with him. King still felt guilty about the fingernail marks he had left in Ram’s hand when he got the stitches.
It wasn’t long before King’s name was called to go back to see the doctor. King walked behind the nurse who was showing him the way. Ram was right on his heels like a shadow.
P’Thara was waiting for them in the examination room. “Hello King! I bet you are glad to get those stitches out today!”
“I will be glad once it’s over,” King answered honestly. “And I will be glad to finally be able to wash my hair again.”
P’Thara smiled. “Then let’s get to it, shall we? Hop up on the table and we’ll get started! Ram, I am glad you are here to give him emotional support! I think we all remember how much he disliked getting those stitches put in.”
King did as he was instructed. As he lay down, he placed his hands at his sides; he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. When P’Thara started to cut the first stitch, King squeezed his hand closed tightly. He felt Ram slide his hand near King’s. King was determined to ignore it until he felt P’Thara pulling the stitch out of his scalp. King reached out blindly and grabbed Ram’s hand. Remembering the awful cuts his nails had placed in Ram’s hand before, King was determined not to do that again. Instead he interlaced his fingers with Ram’s and held on tightly.
Ram covered their joined hands with his other hand. King lost all thoughts about his stitches and just focused on the comfort of Ram’s hands on his. P’Thara began to chat to them about the camping trip and how much fun he had had there. King internally squirmed at the topic but remained silent.
P’Thara continued on, speaking about the trip as he worked. He raved about the great photographs he had gotten of the scenery there. Especially when he used his lizard, Cupcake, as a model. Somehow, King wasn’t exactly sure how though, P’Thara changed subjects in mid-sentence and began speaking about the new flower shop near the campus.
Realizing that he hadn’t said anything for a while, and knowing that Ram wouldn’t, King thought it only polite to say something in response. “I’ve seen roses from there. They were beautiful. I went in once and…uh, they had nice plants for sale, too.” King felt Ram give his hand a small squeeze. King wondered if his face turned red because it suddenly felt very hot to him.
P’Thara continued chatting about the flower shop for a few more minutes and then he laid his scissors down on a metal tray beside the bed. “There now! All done!” He said. “It looks like it has healed very nicely.”
Ram leaned forward and looked at it. He met King’s searching eyes and smiled. He gave a small nod.
King gave a massive exhale of relief and then sat up. He was thankful that it was over and he didn’t have to have anything more done.
“Before you leave,” P’Thara said, “I want to caution you about washing your hair! Make sure you massage your scalp gently. Don’t go in there with your fingernails or else you could rip the new skin open and we will have to put more stitches in!”
King promised he wouldn’t. And then P’Thara pulled out his phone.
“Mostly I used my digital camera to take pictures of the trip. But I want to show you a few pictures I took with my phone,” he said. “Here’s my little Cupcake sunning himself on a rock.” King and Ram shared the phone and looked at the picture. King looked away from the ugly lizard and saw the waterfall in the background. He remembered Ram placing the flower crown on his head there.
The next picture was Cupcake, again sunning himself on a rock, in the area where they had taken the group picture. King remembered how Ram had looked at him during it and how King had turned away. King swallowed hard and looked away from the picture.
“And here is the best one of all!” P’Thara announced proudly. “Cupcake caught his own dinner!” King looked at the picture and saw a massive, winged insect in Cupcake’s mouth. He suppressed a shudder and quickly looked away from Cupcake and observed the background. He could see the tents. His mouth went dry and his heart began to race. “Those are lovely pictures,” he said quickly. “I can see why you are so proud of him!” He handed P’Thara back his phone and moved toward the door. “Thanks so much for everything,” he said and then darted into the hall. He walked quickly and didn’t look back to see if Ram was following. King knew that he would be.
He reached the car which Ram had locked when they arrived. Luckily, he had been correct about Ram following close behind. Ram unlocked the doors.
King was fastening his seat belt when Ram said, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
King laughed and felt some of the tension leaving his body. “He really doesn’t see that the rest of us find Cupcake to be…well, not a pet that any of us would want, does he?”
Ram smiled and shook his head ‘no’. He backed out of the parking space and they rode for a while in silence. King flipped down the visor and opened the mirror on it. He could get a pretty good view of the new scar on his head once he pulled some of the hair to the side. It was bigger than he thought it would be, but he could see for himself that it was healed. He shook his hair back down and then ran his fingers in it to flip it back.
Ram pulled into a parking spot of the restaurant where they usually ate. King’s stomach gave a slight rumble. He hadn’t realized he was hungry until that moment.
King followed Ram inside. Ram walked to their usual table and sat down in his usual spot. King sat down across from him, in his usual spot. On the surface, everything was normal. But it wasn’t. It was as if the world had tilted on its axis and everything was different and odd.
The server came to the table and took their order. King was glad it wasn’t the girl from the first time they had been there. He was afraid that she would mess up their order on purpose since Ram had refused to give her his LINE number. King looked at the serving station and saw that she was working. He idly wondered if she had traded tables so she wouldn’t have to wait on them.
He turned his attention to the large windows that faced the parking lot, and beyond the lot, the main road. He watched cars passing by for a while. Finally he turned his attention to Ram and saw that Ram was watching him.
King took a deep breath and let it out. He cleared his throat. “I think we need to talk about that night in the tent.”
Ram studied King’s face for a moment and then shook his head ‘no’. The server arrived at that moment with their food. After she delivered their order and left the table, Ram said, “You’re not ready yet,” and then he began eating.
King sighed as he looked down at his plate. Ram wasn’t wrong; King wasn’t ready. But until they talked it out, King knew things weren’t going to go back to normal. He acknowledged to himself that even if they did discuss it, things might not ever go back to normal. He sighed again and picked up his chopsticks.
Ram reached over with his chopsticks and grabbed a piece of roasted pork from King’s plate. King raised his shocked eyes to meet Ram’s smiling ones. Ram popped the roast pork into his mouth and chewed it in an exaggerated fashion and peeked out of the side of his eye at King.
King knew that Ram was trying to make him feel better by reminding him of the time he had done the same thing to Ram. Ram’s kindness actually made King feel worse, but he pushed that feeling down and grinned at Ram. “Next time I will put lots of ginger on my food as soon as I get it!”
They ate in silence for a while. It started to get on King’s nerves. He hadn’t planned to tell anyone about the test he had done on himself, but the silence got to be too much for him.
“A while back I read an article about facing your fears and how to defeat them,” he began. Ram looked up and King knew that he was interested in hearing more. “I decided to try it when I was visiting my granny. Yesterday, she took a rest in the afternoon so I took a walk to the house where the dog that bit me lived.”
King could read the shock and compassion on Ram’s face. “No, it was okay. I guess they moved away. Besides, it’s possible that the dog would be dead by now anyway. It happened when I was really young.” He paused to take a drink, he noticed that his hand was a bit shaky and hoped Ram didn’t notice it, too. “After I saw that the dog was gone,” King continued, “I went back to Granny’s house. The day that it happened, I had been sitting under a tree, playing with little cars,” he held up his hand with his fingers a few inches apart. Ram nodded to show that he understood what King meant.
King paused and used his chopsticks to rearrange the food on his plate for a moment. He took a deep breath and then looked up at Ram. “I went to the tree and sat down under it. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to remember all of it. It was…well, it was pretty intense. I ended up running inside Granny’s house.” He finished and went back to eating. From his peripheral vision, he saw Ram watching him for a moment before also going back to his dinner.
King was finishing the last bit of his food when he began to speak again. “After my failed experiment, I was still curious about the steps I read about in that article. Obviously I can’t test it for myself so I decided we should do it for you. I called my sister and she is going to drop off the twins everyday for us to watch for a few hours. And probably by the end of the week, I will leave you alone to watch them by yourself. That way we can see if it really works.”
Ram looked at King with shock and horror on his face. King had been pretending to take a drink from his juice in an attempt to appear nonchalant, but when he saw the look on Ram’s face, he laughed. “I’m kidding! I wouldn’t do that!”
The shock and horror eased from Ram’s face, but left behind a trace of suspicion, evidenced by the lowered eyelids and the side-eye he was giving King. This made King laugh harder, “I swear! I didn’t even call her!”
Ram gave a small nod and a ghost of a smile played across his lips as he reached for his juice. Before he could get to it, however, his phone sounded an alert that he had an incoming message. He fished his phone out of his pant’s pocket and read the message. He frowned as he passed the phone to King. “Perth,” he announced.
“Speaking of twins,” King said as he accepted Ram’s phone and read the message. Perth wanted to come by the condo later. King shrugged and said, “That’s up to you,” as he handed the phone back.
Ram sighed and tapped in a message. He looked at King and nodded.
“I still can’t get over it. Your having an identical twin, I mean. It seems like at some point, you would have mentioned him. I have been wondering—don’t you like him?”
Ram shrugged, “He’s my brother.”
King leaned back in his chair and studied Ram. Another answer/non-answer regarding Perth. Just because someone was related to you, it didn’t necessarily mean that you liked them, did it?
Ram again reached for his juice. Just as the rim of the glass touched his lips, he mumbled, “My Dostoevsky ‘Double’.”
“What?” King asked, leaning forward again. He didn’t understand what Ram had said.
Ram finished his juice and then shook his head to show that it hadn’t been important. He glanced at King’s empty plate and glass and then up at King.
“No, I don’t want anything else,” King replied, still puzzling over what Ram had mumbled.
On the ride back to the condo, King watched Ram’s hand on the steering wheel. He was gripping it much tighter than was necessary. King gave a little nod to himself for determining the answer. It was obvious—Ram did not like his twin.