Chapter 27
I lean on the door not to fall. The hinges squeak, Ronny and Antonio start at the noise.
“Iris”, Antonio tells me, and I don’t reply
There a pause, the silence of the night is covered by my breath resonating in my ears
“You are Laura’s kid, this I know without doubt”, Antonio says, as if this could somehow extinguish the presence of my duplicates
“What is the foundation of your certainty?”, I ask coolly
“I’ve never left you baby”, he says, as my father did – as whoever was playing the part of my father in my dream did – and I freeze
“Your mother never recovered from what happened to you. About one year after you and your sister disappeared she was diagnosed with cancer. I think she could have fought it, had she not been so desperate…”, he starts and his voice breaks
So my mother is dead. I cannot speak, I wait for him to continue.
“Right before she died she made me promise that I would find you and make sure you’d be fine. From that day I’ve had the mission to…”, he starts
“You’ve found me now, but how can you tell that I am Laura’s daughter? Why me and not the other ones?”, I interrupt him
“She gave me plenty of details…very intimate details that only a mother can know, and I’ve managed to match each one with you”, he explains
Which details?, I wonder.
“Ok, what about Veronica? Is she Laura’s daughter also?”, I ask instead
“That I cannot say…I was sure she was, until…until I saw the picture”, he says, glancing at the face on the screen
“Why did you investigate about me and not about Veronica?”, I insist
Whatever he says I know I won’t be able to trust him, but I still need to hear his answer
“Your mother explicitly wanted me to take care of you, not of Veronica”, he says and I ask why
“I asked her the same question, but I never got an answer. She cared about you, not about Veronica, as if you were her only real daughter. It was like that since the very first moment, the reasons for this have always been unknown me. I sensed she was hiding something, but she was too frail, too confused and in pain for me to push her”, he tells me
“Are you still there?”, I hear a voice ask on Ronny’s phone
The phone is on the table, Ronny’s pulls it up faintly and says, “I’ll call you back”
He grasps his face between his hands.
“You look upset buddy, what’s wrong apart from the fact that everything is a total mess?”, I ask ironically
“I already have Veronica’s DNA. What I need now is her DNA”, he says pointing at the screen
“Ok…”, I reply hesitantly, not knowing where this is going
“I think I understand what’s happening…I suspected it and now my suspicion seems to be right. It’s a nightmare”, he says
He stares at the walls as he talks, not at me.
“What’s happening, Ronny?”, I ask
“We’re taking off for NOLA tomorrow. You’re coming with me”, he tells me
“I want to find Veronica”, I object, collapsing myself into a seated position on the cold floor
“Stop considering Veronica your twin. She’s not”, he says
“What do you mean?”, I ask, my blood freezing, but Ronny sweeps the cell off the desk and walks out the room before I can get an answer.