Alex opened the door and wished he hadn’t.
“Hey, bro. Thanks for the ride,” Ross said sourly. “I’m crashing here.”
Alex blocked the door. “No. Out of the question.”
His brother shouldered him aside and stepped in. “I got no place else. I already notified my parole officer.”
Alex shut the door and faced Ross. “You can’t stay here.”
“Can and will.” Ross was already on the stairs. “Look, I’m beat. Long bus ride. We’ll talk in the morning.”
Alex sighed. “Only one night. I just moved here. I want to make a good impression.” He could hear Ross moving in the room overhead. Alex’s own room. Bastard.
The next morning, Alex was washing some Tylenol down with coffee when Ross came downstairs. Alex held up the newspaper. “I already found a couple places that are renting rooms. I’ll front you the deposit.”
His brother shook his head and poured the rest of the coffee into a mug. “Nobody’s gonna rent to me. Not with my record.”
“You can’t stay here, Ross. I’m happy to help you find another place, but you’re not spending another night under this roof.”
Ross slammed the mug onto the counter, spilling coffee everywhere. “Nobody’s renting a room to a registered sex offender, Alex. Deal with it.”
“Can you think about me for a second?”
Ross sneered. “You turned me in, bro. I think about you all the time.”
Alex swallowed. His throat was like sandpaper. “Don’t do this.”
The sneer became an ugly grin. “The notification letters have already gone out to the whole neighborhood. They don’t mention my name or address, just that I’m living in this area, what I did, and my physical description.”
Alex went white. “No. For the love of God.”
Ross looked up at the clock. “Eight-thirty. You’ll have to leave for work soon, won’t you?”
“I’m calling in sick.”
“How many days can you get away with that, bro? You got a mortgage to pay now, don’t you? You need that paycheck. Me, I’ll be sitting here, reminiscing about those little boys.”
“God damn you to hell.”
“Letters might not have reached everybody yet. You should go to work. This could be your last day before they know what I look like.”
Alex looked at his identical twin and started to cry.
Copyright 2004-2006 Amy Frushour Kelly. All rights reserved. Reproduction by any means prohibited without prior written consent.