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CHAPTER ONE
BILLY
24 YEARS OLD
“Kid!Hey, kid! Can you hear me?”
Someone is talking, but I’m not sure if they’re talking to me.
The voice is garbled, almost as if I’m under water, and when I lift my head to see where the voice is coming from, a sharp pain has me groaning in agony, and I drop my head again.
“Don’t move! We’re going to get you out! Just lay still.”
What the fuck?
I try to lift my arm this time, telling myself to move, my brain telling me I can do it, but my body won’t respond. I listen to the surrounding movement of people and trucks, and my head throbs, my heart beating fast in my chest, and I begin to panic.
“Wha–”
Lights. Red and blue and white lights blind me, even with my eyes closed, so I lie still, noting that I’m on my side, and I attempt to calm myself before opening my eyes once again. I squint against the lights zapping around me like strobe lights, and the sharp pain becomesmore pronounced. The more aware I become of my surroundings, the worse the pain gets; my shoulder is on fire, my legs are wedged between something, and I can’t move.
“Don’t move him! He could have a broken neck!”
“Cut the passenger side and get in there, but don’t rock the truck!”
“Any ID yet? I want those plates run!”
Memories come flooding back as I remember being at the bar earlier tonight. We were celebrating Adam’s birthday when I got a call from my twin brother, Tom. He enlisted in the Marine Corps out of high school, and I’ll never forgive him for leaving me. I hadn’t spoken to him in months, and tonight I was able to hear about four words from him before we got cut off.
I’m scared to death he’ll never come home.
So, I continued to drown that misery.
Al, the bartender, tried to cut me off, and I got pissed. I remember my older brother was trying to calm me down and kept following me to the bathroom. I just needed a minute alone, just one minute to make it all stop, to silence the chaos around me, but he wouldn’t give me the peace I needed.
It’s no surprise his girlfriend wanted to run. He’s so busy sticking his nose in my business when he should be giving her his full attention. He’s got a good thing and keeps fucking it up, so I’m definitely not taking any advice from him.
“Fuck! It’s Billy!”
“Casanova?”
“I knew this was his truck! Goddamnit! Don’t you dare fuck this up! Is he responsive? Is he breathing?”
That voice. It sounds like Officer Hunter. With how often he has stopped me or escorted me home, I should be able to recognize it by now. He won't leave me alone. He’s constantly ratting on me to my parents.
I’m so fucking over it.
Everyone needs to mind their own damn business. They have no idea how I feel. They can't understand what it's like to have a twin who's alwaysthere, only to suddenly abandon you. I can't navigate life alone. I don’t know how tobealone. I lean on my twin for everything, but since he’s not here, I’ve been finding new ways to cope. Women, alcohol and more.
“Billy? Son? Can you hear me?”
Again, I try to open my eyes, but the lights are so bright. I feel tired. The surrounding noise is like nothing I’ve ever heard. It’s nails on a chalkboard. And sawing through metal. Nothing makes sense right now.
More memories flash through. I was fighting. I remember being so irate I could have killed him.
Who was he?
“Billy. It’s Vince. If you can hear me, open your eyes.”
