Twin Trinity
an excerpt

TEASER:

Music seemed to pour from every corner of the bar and there was a buzzing sound from all the activity milling around, people laughing, dancing, talking. The cigarette smoke swirled around the room in bright colors, reflected from the lights on the dance floor, yet Brent was oblivious to it all.

The only thing he could see at that moment was his twin brother, Bradey, sitting in the chair across from him at the table in the corner. The only words he could hear were the echoing words his brother had just spoken, repeating in his head.

For what seemed an eternity to Bradey, Brent just sat there, his hand poised above the glass of whiskey on the table in front of him, staring at him and not speaking.

When the intensity of it became too much for Bradey, he spoke. “Brent, man… say something.”

Brent lowered his hand and picked up the drink on the table, downed the harsh brown liquid in one swallow before he stood, took out his wallet and threw a couple of bills on the table. He paused for a moment, looked up at his brother and shook his head slightly.

He turned on his heel and started to walk to the door of the barroom without saying a word. Bradey stood, nearly knocking over the chair he had been sitting in and reached for Brent’s arm.

“Brent, man, wait,” Bradey choked out the words, fighting back tears no man should cry in the middle of a bar.

Brent froze in his tracks and looked down at the hand on his arm. He turned slightly and looked at the ground, not at Bradey, and quietly said through clenched teeth, “Get your fucking hand off of me, now.”

Stung by the icy coldness in Brent’s voice, Bradey withdrew his hand and took an unwilling step back and watched his twin walk out of the bar, without so much as a glance behind him.

For a long moment, Bradey stood in the middle of the crowded jazz club, feeling more alone than he had ever felt in his life.

He finally turned to the table to grab his cell phone and cigarettes when he realized that he and his brother were in a strange city, and Brent had driven them to the bar. He had no way to get back to the hotel, and he had no cash on him for a cab.

Grabbing his things, he took off in a sprint for the front door of the bar, partly hoping his brother had not driven away and partly hoping he had.