A Tale of Two Hearts

A young boy sat down in the hallway, sitting and watching, occasionally staring at his watch. He glanced around again and again, clearly looking out for someone. “He ought to be at the station now. Ugh, why do I have to be the one to bring him back?” The boy said to himself. Looking around, he saw a boy wearing a hooded top and a pair of cargo pants carrying a bag walking out of the train. The boy turned his gaze towards the boy waiting, and he just walked over. “Hey Jeremy, thanks for coming to pick me up.” The boy wearing the hooded shirt said. Standing close to each other, people noticed the striking resemblance. The only difference was one was less muscular than the other, but they had a fatal attraction anyway. Both of them had dark hair, light skinned, a very athletic build, even the hooded top didn’t do much of hiding it. They stared at each other for a while, the atmosphere was awkward for a while until the one in a hooded top said, “Why don’t we head home? Dad must be waiting.” “Yeah, whatever, give me your bag, I would just be a nice person and act civil.” Jeremy said, clearly his tone was not so excited to see this doppelgänger of his. They both took their stuff to the car parked in the car park outside the station. It was a Mercedes-Benz, actually the latest model. The boys had to come from a wealthy home, an extremely wealthy one, to take a car like this. Picking up his phone, Jeremy dialed and called. After a few seconds, the line connected. “Hey Dad, I just picked James. We will be home in about 20 minutes. Alright, we are on our way now.” Jeremy got into the driver's seat after placing the luggage in the trunk, the other boy got into the passenger seat. Starting the engine, they drove off and headed home. The ride was extremely quiet with an odd atmosphere. There was tension, but the boys did not even know what to do to break the awkward atmosphere. “Hey James, why did mom not come with you?” Jeremy asked. “Mom has not been living with Grandpa and Grandma, she just came in yesterday and told me I’m coming to meet you and Dad.” James replied. “Oh, alright then, Dad was happy when he heard you were coming home.” Jeremy said while staring straight at the road. They got to a large mansion after a 20 minute's drive. The mansion was located in the bigger part of the city. Driving in, they stopped in front of the stairs and went down from the car. James came out staring at the mansion. It looked like a royal house. He was awe-struck, but he quickly maintained his composure. Looking at the people waiting, James saw a man. He had only seen this man in pictures as far as his memory remembered. In real life, the man had a more masculine vibe. The man was 6’5 tall, he had a very athletic build, he had dark hair with some patches of gray on his hair and a beard. Looking at the man was more like looking at himself in a few years. James' eyes got a bit red, but he held them back and opened his mouth, “Hey Dad.” James managed to say in a choked voice. The man walked up to James and gave him a big hug, his eyes were moist, it had been thirteen years since he saw his other son last, he looked a lot like Jeremy but had a frail physique. Clearly, he had been through a lot of hardship all these years. “Come in, Jeremy, come as well, we all have a lot of catching up to do, Mr Cain please, get the luggage to his room.” The man said as he pulled both boys up the entrance while talking to the middle-aged man who stood at the corner with the maids and other men at the corner. “Yes, Mister Alexander, alright you heard master Alex's words, get to work everyone.” Cain said. Jeremy, James and their father walked about the house while Alexander was so happy he was enthusiastic about taking James around. James smiled, seeing his father was one of the things he longed for, but he felt sour still. His twin brother Jeremy was not the slightest bit happy seeing him, he had experienced a lot of things growing up, his mind had grown faster than his age, so he had a good read of people. “Dad, thanks a lot, can I speak to Jeremy for a while?” James asked. It was at this moment Alex noticed that Jeremy had not said a word since they arrived. “Jer, we talked about this yesterday, it is not your brother's fault he did not reach out to us, please do not blame him.” Alex said. “Dad, that is just so wrong! Why should he not call or try to get to us, so we could get to him if he never really wanted to stay with mother, I bet he was just staying, so they could get enough money for child support, and now he has passed the age, he came running home to continue that.” Jeremy was pissed off. “I have nothing to say to him. You might be able to forgive this runt and mother for their actions, but I would not!” Jeremy said. “Jeremy, you would not talk to your brother in such a manner, do you have any idea of what you are saying?” Alex yelled. “Apologize to him, right now young man!” He continued. “I would rather eat mud than apologize to him, I am going to my room.” Jeremy said as he left. At that moment, James's eyes were stained with tears, he did not even know what to say. He was the older twin, from their childhood days he and Jeremy had been the closest buddies until their mom took him away and left the house after divorcing their dad. He just stood rooted watching Jeremy haul hurtful words, but he could not get angry, Jeremy was his younger brother after all, and he never actually reached out to them. James was sorry, but he could not even say the words. Jeremy was extremely pissed and in no state to listen to him. “James, do not cry, come here.” Alex said. He was feeling pain watching James cry. After parting with his son, he heard him cry. When James was just taken away and reached his father, his mom had caught him and beat him. The phone line was connected throughout the process, so he knew his son had been maltreated, but he could not do anything because he did not know where his ex-wife and her parents had moved to. James' current expression reminded him a lot of that terrible incident. “It is alright Dad, I will go and talk to him myself.” James had stopped tearing up. He walked up the stairs and headed to his brother's room. Knock, Knock. “Hey, Jeremy, can I talk to you? I want to explain everything that happened,” James said. “Get lost, I am not speaking to you.” Jeremy’s voice came from the other side of the door. “Jeremy, please, just let me speak. When I am done, you can decide what to think by then.” James pleaded. Ten minutes passed, and no response came from Jeremy. James sighed, “Jeremy, just let me have this conversation with you, I won’t take your time, I promise.” He said again. BAM. The door swung open, Jeremy looked at James without any visible expression on his face. James and Jeremy stared at each other for a few seconds before Jeremy said. “Are you going to come in to talk or are you going to stare at me to hear you from your eyes?” “Thank you.” James said as he walked into Jeremy’s room, The room was wide and had a balcony facing the inner part of the mansion. By the side there was another balcony. “Don’t stare around, start telling me what happened all these years and why you never called.