Vidal reaches into a drawer in his desk and pulls out a stack of letters and photographs. He takes one and holds it out to Hammer. “Do you know who this woman is?”
Hammer takes the picture and instantly smiles. He shows it to Tank, who also smiles. “Yeah, this is my mother.”
“Wrong.” Hammer and Tank both look up at Draven, both with their mouths open ready to protest. “That's my mother, Sam.”
“That's not possible; this is Hillary, my mother.”
Draven shakes his head as my father groans and scrubs his hand over his face.
“What's going on, Dad? What do you know?”
All eyes shoot to him. He's looking right at Hammer and Tank. “I didn't know for certain, your mother never said anything, even when Titus and I asked her. However, the likeliness of it not being true was astronomical.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Prez?”
“He's talking about the fact your mother and mine were sisters. Twins. Identical.”
What the actual fuck?
Nah, that's not possible. There's no way Hillary would have kept that to herself. She never spoke about any family members. All anyone knew was that Hillary was an orphan. Now Vidal is here telling us his mother and Tank, and Hammer's were identical twins?
Am I in a parallel universe?
I must be because nothing makes sense all of a sudden.
“Many people pointed out how much Hillary looked like Vidal's wife. Hillary would laugh it off and say, ‘I wish I were that beautiful,’ Even though she was once married to Joseph, she still thought his wife to be beautiful.” Shepard tells us. “Titus asked her again if she could be related to Helen. Hillary just laughed and told him not to be stupid. We even did background checks, but nothing ever came up.”
“This is all bullshit!” Hammer roars.
“It isn’t. Your mother eventually told Titus the truth, he told me, and we did what we could to protect her. There’s a lot you don’t know, Hammer.”
Jesus Christ!
“Sam?” Hammer looks to Draven. He holds another picture out to him. “This is your mother. Look at the names on the back of each picture.”
Hammer takes it, looks at it for a long moment before turning both pictures over and reading them aloud. “Hillary aged eighteen. Helen aged eighteen. How the hell can this be?”
“I didn't know either, Sam, not until I went through my mother's old things last night. I'd never looked through it before because it was too damn hard. I always thought she was an orphan with no family whatsoever. I didn't mean to go behind your back, but I asked Willow to go through the stuff you still have of your parents and bring it to me. She did this morning.”
Hammer's eyes widen, as do Tank's. Hammer has everything belonging to Hillary and Titus. It was all handed to him when they died, a large box with their personal belongings inside. Tank was given his parents wedding rings. Hammer gave them to him so he could remember them by, he never asked for anything else.
“I haven't been disrespectful, I have not gone through their things, but I did remove the small red box marked secret. I've read nothing in the letters that I found, but I have looked at the photographs. Seems we've met before, Sam.”
Hammer sinks down into a chair with his head in his hands. “I don't understand any of this. How did my mother end up married to her own sister's husband?”
“Good fuckin' question. This is all bullshit!”
“Calm down, Tank.”
“Leave me alone, Jett!”
I shake my head. I know he's upset, this is all confusing, but he needs to hear Draven out.
“Let me read you something.”
“Read us what?”
“A letter, Sam, from your mother to mine.”
Hammer nods.
I don't see what this has to do with Draven wanting to kill his father.
My darling Helen, I hope you are well? I hope little Draven is too. I miss you both like you wouldn't believe. I hope we can see each other soon, and I hope more than anything Joseph is treating you well?
I'm writing to tell you that I've met someone, and he's wonderful, Helen! His name is Michael, and he's a biker. I know what you would say. Bikers are bad, but, Helen, he is so different. My God, he's smart and kind, so handsome, and so caring, and he makes my heart beat out of my chest. I mean something to him, and he means everything to me.
I wish you could meet him so you could see for yourself how wonderful he is. I also know you'd pay terribly if Joseph ever found out you'd met with a biker. As much as I want you to meet my Michael, as much as I want him to meet both you and Draven, I would never ask you to put yourself and your son in danger.
I wish I could take you away from that place. I wish I could hide you and Draven away from that man, and then you'd be safe from harm. I know all the times you cancel our meetings is because he's beaten you, I know you take those beatings so you can protect your little boy, and that makes you a wonderful mother. However, I am your sister, your identical in every way twin sister and I feel your pain, Helen. It kills me inside to know what that monster does to you. You are the sweetest, kindest woman in the world and you don't deserve the life you've been handed.
If I could thank Vinny Vidal myself for allowing you to keep Draven with you, for stopping Joseph from handing that little boy over to the elders to raise, I would. I'd hug him hard and tell him how thankful I am. I was so worried when you confided in me that you'd have to hand your little boy over to those people, and how you wouldn't be able to see him again until he was sixteen. Thank you for taking my advice and speaking with Vinny. He's a good man, even if his brother isn't.
Thank you for the photograph. Draven is so beautiful, and he looks just like you. Those big brown eyes might be Joseph's color, but they're all you. That perfect smile, those chubby cheeks. I want to hold him close and tell him how much his aunt Hillary loves him. Kiss his cheek tonight and tell him that for me?
Please get in touch soon, Helen. I feel so alone in the world without you. I love you so much. Yours always, Hillary.
The room is deathly silent. I don't know how everyone else is feeling, but I'm in shock right now. Total and utter shock.
Draven pushes a small red box over the desk in Hammer's direction. Hammer takes it, opens the lid and removes an envelope. He opens it slowly and takes a deep breath. “Do you want me to read this out?”
Draven nods.
Tank's head is hanging down. Hearing Draven speak his mother's words has gotten to him. I think he's trying not to cry.
My sweet Hillary, I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry. I didn't know he would do what he did. I didn't think me trying to leave him so I could save my little boy from that monster would mean he'd go after you, kidnap you and force you to take my place. I know it's a little late for my apology, but I have to give it, and I will keep giving it until the day I die.
All I wanted was for us to be together again, I thought I could make it happen, and we'd all be safe. I should have known that monster would never let me go. I should have known he'd hurt you to get to me.
I love you more than anything in this world, and I hope more than anything that Titus is taking care of you the way he promised he would. He's a good man, Hillary. You were right about that. Being able to meet him, seeing the way he looked at you, the way he laid his hand on your stomach so protectively, I know he'll love that baby inside of you like his own.
When you were in the bathroom, Titus told me all the ways in which he loves you, Hillary. He told me how the baby inside of you feels like his own, how the moment that baby is born he'll hold him and tell him how much Daddy loves him. The words were so heartfelt and honest, Hillary. I've never known a man to love a woman the way Titus loves you. I fell a little in love with that man right then for the way he loves you and your baby. For the way, I know he'd give his very life for the both of you. His promise to me was that he'd never tell your child about the monster who created him. Because at the end of the day, I fully
believe you are right. Your child deserves a better father than the one my little boy is stuck with.
Joseph will never find out from me about your baby. I'd rather die than let him anywhere near that child. He'd take it from you just because he can. Your child wouldn't be as lucky as mine. I don't want that life for your child. He (or she) deserves a better life than I have no choice but to give my little boy.
I'm trying to protect him from it all. I'm trying to raise him with love in his heart. One day, when I'm able to tell Draven about his little brother, his cousin, I want him to know that he is to protect and love him with all that he is. No matter the man your son turns out to be, a biker no doubt, I want Draven to love him regardless. Because it doesn't matter who we are, nor where we come from, we're all the same deep down.
Draven asks for you still, when Joseph isn't around, of course. I'm hoping to sneak away very soon to bring him to see you. I hate that he already knows not to say anything about visiting you in front of Joseph. He already knows that Joseph with hurt me if he mentions your name. My baby shouldn't know that his father hurts his mother all the time, he shouldn't have to lie about seeing his aunt. However, after you left him, after I made Joseph see that I wanted him back, that Draven and I needed him here, he won't allow me to see you anymore. Even less than he did before I left him. It hurts, Hillary. It hurts so much. I love you more than anything I hope you know that.
I made a copy of the last picture we took together. I slipped it in with this letter. I framed my copy and have it next to my bed. As Joseph doesn't share my bedroom, it's easy for me to keep it there.
Take care, Hillary, I'll be in touch soon with a safe place for us to meet.
I love you, yours always, your sister, Helen.
Hammer sighs while folding the letting and placing it back in the envelope. I watch him smile while looking at the photograph in his hand, which he shows to Tank. My best friend smiles despite himself. “They really were identical.”
“Yeah.” Hammer laughs and hands the photograph to Draven. I haven't seen it, but I don't need to. This part is nothing to do with me.
“They were both so beautiful. My father was a monster to my mother, and from these letters and what our mothers wrote to each other, I can see that he forced your mother to be with him because mine wanted to leave and be with your mother. He couldn't have that, and he needed a way to bring her back under his control. How else could he do that but force your mother to marry him? We'll never really know why any of what happened, happened, but I do know that bastard made both women pay in ways he had no right to.”
“What are you actually getting at, Draven, and what does this have to do with Maria?” They can have a damn family reunion later. I want to know how to help my wife deal with these damn nightmares.
“My mother was forced to have Maria. Joseph thought he could impregnate her with another son, one he could take from her and raise how he saw fit. I was twelve by the time my mother gave birth to her daughter. My father, I remember, dragged her from her bed and beat her senseless because she failed him. It took her three days before she could get out of bed again.
“I told my uncle Vinny what my father had done because my mother had given birth to a daughter. I was worried about her. Uncle Vinny had told me many times that I should go to him if my father ever did anything to hurt my mother or me. He was many things, many evil things, but Vinny never hit his wife, and he didn't understand why his brother would do those things. Vinny wasn't pleased, and he taught my father a lesson.” He shrugs. “Maria was everything to my mother, Joseph wanted nothing much to do with her. Maria was a good child, easy to love and care for.
“I was in my twenties when I noticed a change in my mother. She was so sad about something, and she didn't feel she could talk about it with anyone. I found her sobbing her eyes out in her bathroom more than once. I figure now it was due to your mother's death and how much she missed her.
“Anyway, Maria was twelve when my mother died. Doctors said it was a heart attack. That day was the worst I have ever felt. That woman meant everything to me, and I wasn't ready to lose her.” I notice a look exchange between Draven and Hammer. They've both been there.
“After that, Maria wouldn't leave my side. When I had to leave for work, or meet up with my men, she'd sob, and I mean, cry in fear. I wasn't the boss then, of course, my uncle was. My uncle never had a son of his own, so it was written that I'd take over from him one day, not my father. He hated that. Everyone knew it.
“Anyway, my then girlfriend pulled me to one side and told me that I needed to take Maria to see someone. That when she was asleep, she'd talk, and what Maria said seemed to suggest that she'd seen something happen to my mother.
“My uncle ordered me to bring Maria to him, wanted to talk to her himself. My father may have been his brother, but there was no love-loss between them, and even that makes sense now after reading these letters. He was a good man who tried to help my mother when and where he could. However, Maria wouldn't talk to him, she hid behind me, scared of everyone, paranoid they were going to hurt her.”
“And were they?” I ask.
“We don't hurt our own unless we have to, and we most certainly don't hurt children. She was a frightened little girl who'd just lost her mother.” He almost said that too defensively.
“Somehow, my uncle persuaded her to talk to him, but she'd only whisper in his ear. Once she had, his eyes widened, and he sent for my father. I took Maria into my office, Vinny wanted to speak about what she'd told him, and what he knew without her in the room.”
“What had she told him?”
Draven scrubs his hands over his face. “Something I never wanted to be true, little brother.”
“Tell me, Draven. Tell me what she told him!”
“My uncle told me that he'd known how sad my mother had been for too long. My father saw her one day on the street and had to have her, she was just sixteen. She didn't have a choice but to be with him. You knew your mother was an orphan?" Hammer nods. "My father killed her parents in order to keep her with him.” Jesus! This just gets worse. “I'm guessing that he did the same thing with your mother, threatened to kill mine if she didn't marry him. They loved each other and would have done and did do anything and everything they could to protect each other. The proof of that is right here.”
My gut churns. Can't even imagine forcing a woman to be with me. How fucking scared must their mothers have been because of that man? And doesn't Draven realize he could have ended up just like his father if he'd forced Maria to marry Jovanni?
Thank God he came to his senses.
“Apparently, after your mother died, mine called Joseph out on it.”
“What the hell are you talkin' about?”
“I'm getting to it, Tank.” Draven's tone is a warning. He's annoyed at being interrupted again. Won't get much else from Tank and Hammer, they're as impatient as they come.
“My mother believed Joseph was the cause of your parent's deaths.” The room suddenly feels small, and the tension coming off my men is like fire in a confined space before it eats everything around it up. “Of course, I knew back then that Hilary had two sons. I did not know one of them was my brother, definitely not that the other would turn out to be my cousin. I had no idea my father would be capable of...”
“Are you sayin' that he killed our parents?” Hammer snaps.
“I'm saying that's what Maria thought they were arguing about, but he never actually admitted to it. In fact, he yelled about how dumb my mother was right before he injected her with something. She died minutes later.”
“What the fuck? He killed your mother, too?”
Draven shrugs at me.
“With what I know now, I think my mother confronted him through her grief at losing her twin sister. I can't imagine the hole that left in her heart. It's easy to see how much they loved each other from the photographs in this box, and the many letters they sent each other. However, there was no evidence of either
thing being true. Trust me; we investigated for months. Your club was already taking care of the MC who took credit for Hillary and Michael's deaths. The autopsy came back that my mother had a heart attack.” He shrugs again.
“There was nothing to say Joseph had anything to do with any of it. However, what Maria said stuck in my head, and the fact she was so fuckin' afraid to be in the same room as him, bothered me. I kept her with me at all times, until those times I couldn’t, much to my father's annoyance. He couldn't understand why he couldn't care for his own daughter. He'd never really given a shit when my mother was alive, so why would I think for a second he'd give a damn now? On my request, my uncle gave me custody of my sister.”
How these people work is mental. The head of the family taking a child from its father and giving custody to the brother. I've never heard of it, but whatever. Every family is different.
“I took good care of her. I always did, never loved anyone the way I love that girl. I even threw her a huge party for her thirteenth birthday. Invited all her little friends from school. She refused to attend. I dragged her there because I didn't know what else to do to snap her out of it. She ran from me and straight into Joseph. She screamed in absolute terror. She pulled away from him and ran three flights of stairs. As she looked back to see if he was chasing her, she lost her footing and tripped over the banister. She fell almost forty-foot.”
Each one of us sucks in a deep breath. Jesus Christ, how is she still alive?
“She was on life support for days. Broken bones, cracked skull, a bleed on the brain. I told my father the moment he turned up at that hospital that if he ever came near Maria again, I'd kill him. He wasn't even surprised, but I had to put her first. Something in my gut was telling me that there had to be something in what she told us. Hell, Maria loved Joseph. Her being afraid of him the way she was...” He shakes his head in disbelief.
Never Give You Up (Snakes Henchmen Book 3) Page 16
