Sound of Silence: Secrets

Dallas (edited)

"Two paths intersecting then splitting apart again. But in the end they come back together."

You ever look at life and wish you had control over certain outcomes. That's me. I hate not having control of a situation, and I think it goes back to the night my life changed.

I didn't have control on the outcome, on what my life eventually came. My parents said they were just going to the store that night. Little did I know what they were planning.

I took care of my sister always have. It's a known fact.

Dovie was born a small little thing, and had trouble with her heart. When we were first born she was hooked up to a machine for a while. While I was allowed to go home from the hospital she had to stay behind.

Since the day we were both born I felt it was my responsibility to take care of her. I blame myself that she was a small baby. Doctors say it was something she inherited. I say it's because I took all the nutrients.

The night that changed my life forever I made sure to take care of my sister while our parents were out. We ordered pizza for dinner and watched a horror movie while we waited until they came home.

I didn't think my life was going to be the kind of nightmares you get after watching a scary movie. The kind of scary dream that's in the running with those Halloween movies.

My parents said they were just going to the store, but I couldn't understand why they were gone for so long.  Hours had passed and I was getting worried because my parents were supposed to go to the store to get my sisters medicine. I knew it didn't take over two and a half hours to do that.

The night that changed my life's path, my thirteen year old twin sister Dovie refused to go to sleep without saying goodnight to our parents. My sister was getting tired. Dovie was always tired. She knew she couldn't skip her medicine though.

My parents were always the one to give my sister her medication every night. That night was different though. They weren't there to give it to her like they'd promised. After we watched a scary movie and ate our pizza, we laid on her bed and watched a few of her favorite Disney movies that soon put her to sleep.

Dovie always worried about her prescription and was always wondering if we'd be able to get it to her on time. She kept fighting the fatigue but I told her to shut her eyes and when our mom and dad came back I'd wake her up.

She never said goodnight to them. I remember I stayed up for as long as I could. Any time I caught myself going to sleep I woke up in a panic and checked to make sure Dovie was still breathing.

Every night it was a routine we would go through, eat dinner together and talk about our day. That was when we'd spend time together which most families didn't do.

We were a happy family, well that's what the neighbors said anyway. I believed that once. Maybe it's because I was too caught up in the moment to realize something bigger was going on. I believed we were the perfect family until it was too late.

What they didn't know was that it was all just a facade. A facade that went on for a long time because of a mistake I soon found out the stupid adults that gave birth to me made. I'll get into that part a little later.

I remember falling asleep in my sister's bed that night for good. I remember telling her not to worry because I would protect her no matter what. I lied. I didn't mean to lie. I swear I thought I was going to keep my word.

That was the first and last time I made that mistake. From then on, I promised myself to keep my word. Now if you see me in the streets you'd know I'm a man of my word. It's one of the reasons people fear me.