Reflection

Chapter 15

"I'm sorry, Nick," I murmured, and the streets of D.C. passed outside the car windows.

"Don't be," he soothed. "We're doing this to protect, Ephie," he nodded.

"Yeah, for Ephie," I agreed, but deep inside, I knew I was doing this for myself. Ephie had been tormenting me since our eyes locked outside that bank. I couldn't trust her. "How did Peter and my mom take it?"

"I spoke with my father. It is the best plan, he agreed. He is keeping an eye on Ephie and will bring her in once we have explained the situation. He'll bring your mother then as well."

I sighed with a bit of relief, knowing that Peter had agreed to the plan.

"Ready?" Nick asked as he pulled out in front of the police station.

"As I ever will be," I agreed.

"Don't worry, I'll do the talking," he smiled.

As we walked inside, he extended a hand to me. I needed it for the strength. I had never turned anyone into the police before. Although I was nearly certain most hadn't.

"Hello," Nick's voice was low and mournful. "I am here to turn in my sister for the robbery of First National Bank in New York."

The cop's face snapped up to us in awe. His neck pivoted his view between us for a moment before he picked up a phone. "I need help out front," he stammered.

In an instant, four officers were surrounding us.

"Don't be afraid," Nick began to soothe me in a calm voice, even as he was twisting away from her. Then, in a moment that still scrambles my mind even in a memory, he added, "everything will be okay, Ephie."

"Ephie? What? No!" I screamed as the officers struggled with my arms.

I began to fight back as if by instinct, twisting and snarling my arms away from their grasp.

"Ephie, you are only making it worse. This is the only way," Nick called out to me.

"No, please. You don't understand. I'm not Ephie!" I pleaded with the officers. "I am Antonia Lapu. Ephie is my twin sister. You have the wrong sister."

"Ephie, please don't bring Antonia into this," Nick continued with this sickly sweet pleading that to everyone but me sounded sincere.

"Call my mom. Call Rose Lapu. She will know I am Antonia."

"I'll call them," Nick agreed as the officers began dragging me to a room with nothing more than a table and a couple of tables. "I'll let the whole family know you are here."

In that cold, stark room, it was there that I realized Nick had never lied. This had been the plan the whole time. Nick had never wavered in his commitment to his sister, to Ephie. And Ephie, for her part, had even warned me. She was always three steps ahead. But Peter, had Peter been in on it? Had he blamed me for taking his lover away? Was I unfit for the family name because of my compassion? And my mother, surely when my mom saw me, she would know that I was not Ephie. The thoughts ran through my head like a poison, like Pennyroyal Tea.

"Ms. Pavesi," a gentleman in a grey suit greeted as he entered the room. "I am Detective Anderson," he continued. "I would like to ask you a few questions."

"I'm not Ms, Pavesi. My name is Antonia Lapu from New York City," I argued.

"Okay, Ms. Lapu, you bear a striking resemblance to a woman who was seen robbing the First National Bank on June fifteenth."

"That wasn't me. That was my sister, Ephie Pavesi," I explained, feeling the hope drain from me.

"Is there anyone that can vouch for your whereabouts at 12:46 pm on June fifteenth?" He continued.

I let out a sigh. "No, because I was at the bank," I admitted.

"I'm sorry; what?"

"I had been running errands and was hurrying back to my office when I stumbled upon the robbery."

"Okay, so your story is that you were on your lunch break and happened to stumble upon the exact bank that your twin sister was robbing, but you knew nothing of it?"

"It's not a story. I didn't even know I had a twin sister until a couple of days ago. My parents split when we were young," I continued, not feeling the strength to explain the whole story. "I grew up with my mother; Ephie stayed with my father and brother Nick."

"Nick Pavesi, who just turned you in as Ephie Pavesi, his sister," the detective confirmed as he glanced at his notepad to confirm the names.

"Yes, but he knows I am Antonia. He knows!" My voice rose as I spoke.

"Okay, so it sounds like you have had a busy couple of days," the detective calmly continued.

"I saw my sister as she left the bank, but I didn't know she was my sister. I just knew my face had robbed a bank," I explained.

"So, what did you do?"

"I ran. I trashed my phone in an alleyway and ran. That's how I ended up here."

"Here, with the Pavesi family. The family that happens to be your lost family," he continued.

"Look, I know this sounds crazy, but it's all true. My name is Antonia Lapu. I live in Brooklyn with my boyfriend, Charlie Turner, and work at Brown and Associates in the marketing department."

"Charlie Turner and Brown and Associates. Okay, we will check this out. You hang tight. We will get everything straightened out." His words were empty. I was Ephie. I was the bank robber they had been searching for this whole time.

I was grateful to be alone again. The recount of my story was insane. If I had been an outsider, I would also be laughing at myself. I had been set up so perfectly, but I knew my mother would absolve me. There is no way she wouldn't be able to distinguish me from Ephie.