Unravelling

Chapter 23 - Origin

It has been more than five weeks since Will told me his secret.

Things have been a bit weird between us ever since. Weirder than usual, I mean, because most situations where Will is involved have always been kinda weird. He is, after all, not my average brother. That has been confirmed by his coming clean to me about his past.

I really try hard not to look at him any different than before, but I find that it becomes more difficult as time passes. I have had plenty of time to think about what he confided in me – and what he went through. Having had to spend eight weeks in some kind of correctional facility thousands of miles away from your family surely must have been awful for him. I am glad that I didn't know about this when it actually happened, because I don't think I would have been able to stand knowing that Will is locked up somewhere in a strange place while we are carelessly enjoying our summer break.

I wonder if that is what made him become the kind of person he is today.

Or has he always been like this and having to go to that place was just a result of him being who he is?

Buying, using and selling drugs surely cannot be considered average teenage behaviour. I am aware that lots of teenagers experiment with alcohol and drugs at some point during their growing up process. Why else would teacher and parents alike constantly be on our case about how bad that is, if hardly anybody did it in the first place?

In my case, I might not have parents who are trying to keep me and my siblings on the right path, but six big brothers who cover that just as well. And I think they are pretty successful at it, too.

Obviously, their being quite overbearing a lot of the time could be because they failed with Will. And I am sure they tried just as hard with him as they do with the rest of us. This is why I am convinced that there must have been something in Will's past that happened to him to make him act the way he does. That might also be the reason why he is so completely different from the rest of my family when it comes to his attitude and how he goes about making decisions for his life.

Actually, I guess all of us siblings are quite different from each other, even both sets of twins. That could be because they are all fraternal twins. Noah and Aidan, for example, are polar opposites. But there are certain family traits which are prominently and generously represented in all our gene pool. Will's characteristics and mannerisms, however, seem to be unique. Not necessarily in a good way, either, if you ask Alex. Or the people who are regularly at the receiving end of his bad moods, which also includes me.

Still, I have always felt a strange kind of connection with my so-called most rebellious brother. No matter how much he is acting out, I usually feel the need to defend him when my older brothers berate him. It could be because I seem to be the only person in our family that he is sometimes nice to. And, as our most recent interaction showed, apparently he also trusts me. That makes me feel pretty good about myself and our relationship. That my blackmailing him could have been the reason for his opening up to me is beside the point. Even so, I certainly didn't force him to come clean about his criminal past. That was all him and he decided to tell me, so I assume it happened voluntarily.

Will still owes me his part of our deal, by the way. So far, no opportunity has presented itself where he could have offered to stay home with just Noah and me. I am starting to get a bit impatient, because the longer I think about it, the more convinced I am that there is really something up in that attic that is worth looking into. Not just because Jordan was acting totally weird when I was up there with him, but also because of a combination of things that have recently happened.

I have definitely become more observant since I found proof that my brothers only moved here around the time I was born. The knowledge that my family is deliberately keeping things from me is new to me, so it still bothers me greatly that they have never told me about that.