Two Of A Kind

//Gryffin//

I don't remember when it all began, it just did. I don't remember when dad left, he just did. And I don't remember when mom started dealing, but she definitely did. There are things I do remember; like when Cate and I were removed from our mother's house. Cate clung to the officer's neck whilst our mom ran after us screaming in a meth fueled rage. I remember our grandmother, how she would smell of cigarettes and sugar. I'm not sure where she went, but eventually she just stopped coming around. I remember our first foster home, our second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and now Cate and I are staying in our ninth.

My mom named my twin Catherine because it means 'pure', I was named Gryffin because it means 'dangerous'. I guess she thought we would balance each other out. However, Cate is far from pure, and I'm the exact opposite of dangerous. The moment we turned thirteen, something in Cate changed. I guess she lost any hope she had at finding a forever home, but I don't blame her, seven years in the system and you start to lose a lot of feelings.

We just celebrated our sixteenth birthday on November seventh, no cake, no presents, just Cate and sharing a look and saying 'happy birthday". We always had a special bond, from the moment we were conceived all we had was each other.

"Gryff!" Cate peaked her head into the bedroom I shared with two other boys.

"Yeah?"

"Kendra still isn't home, so do you want to start dinner?" Kendra is our current foster mom, and being late is one of her specialties.

"Sure." I got up from the bed and went to help my sister.

"We had hamburger helper for the past week, I don't think I can handle one more bite of it." She pushed her long blonde hair out of the way. "I guess we could make some chicken up. Check the freezer!" She walked over and turned on the oven. I pulled out a package of frozen chicken strips. "Perfect!" She exclaimed.

"Catherine.."

"Gryff, don't call me that." She looked at me with her dark grey eyes, identical to mine.

"Catherine Skye."

"Gryffin Samuel." She deepened her voice jokingly before she realized I was being serious. "Okay, what?" She placed the chicken on a pan.

"How long before Kendra and Micheal give us back?" I asked, Cate stopped what she was doing.

"They don't like us, I know that, you know that. I think we have another week at least, maybe two. But if I have to spend any more time with Claire and Cassidy, I may just blow up." Claire and Cassidy were the eleven and twelve year old 'princesses' who had there parents wrapped around their fingers.

"You don't have to stay in a room with Aiden and Axel, so you're lucky." I sat down at on the counter. Kendra's young sons are Satan's spawns, at least that's what Cate and I think. The door unlocked and the sound if screaming children filled the air.

"They're here." We said in unison, looking at each other. Kendra flopped her bag on the table and brushed her obviously bleached hair with her fingers.

"I got them McDonalds, I hope you don't mind that I didn't bring you anything."

"That's fine, we are making chicken anyways." Cate tried to act polite.

"Make some for me, I didn't eat. Thanks, Catherine." Kendra pursed her lips.

"It's Cate." My twin said, trying to keep calm.

"That's not what your birth certificate says." Kendra retorted. "Oh, and you'll both need to pack up because you'll be a ward of the state tomorrow." She almost laughed as she walked away.

"Man, I really thought we would have more time." Cate joked because it really had become a joke, the whole foster care system was a joke.

"No more devil children." I grinned.

"No more devil children." She smiled back.