We were best friends, my twin brother and I. He and I were as close to each other as you could possibly imagine, and I couldn't have asked for anything better. We'd do everything together. We'd go to school together, study together, hang out with each other...We'd even raise mischievous hell together whenever we got the chance. Devin and I were inseparable...
...and then, the world dropped a ton of bricks onto me.
Just after we graduated college much earlier than expected, we were taking a break from the chaos of life. I was in the process of finding a job and hoping I'd get an easy pass into the Secret Service, while Devin stayed active and waited for the perfect opportunity to get a job as a primary care sports medicine doctor. He wanted to help athletes recuperate and recover from their sports injuries. That's why he was so drawn to the job.
...Then, my whole world came crashing down.
It came crashing down when I went to investigate what was going on in a nearby alleyway after hearing an ear-piercing scream and a car speeding away. I thought that it was just another case of someone getting robbed at gunpoint, since that tends to happen a lot in my hometown of Chattanooga.
Turns out, I was wrong. Dead wrong.
When I looked into a random dumpster to find the source of a God-awful smell, I was horrified to find my brother's lifeless, bloodied corpse jammed inside. I was heartbroken. My twin brother, my best friend...he was dead.
And he certainly wasn't coming back.
But there is good that comes out of this tragedy. With all the time I spent with Devin, I was able to create fond memories of him that I'll treasure for the rest of my life...
...I remember one time when we were young. Eight years old, I think. We were old enough to voice our own opinions, but not old enough to get a full idea about how the world really works.
We were at our uncle Kingston's wedding to a lovely lady named Emilia. Kingston was one of my father's many brothers, and he worked in Memphis. I'm not sure what he did for a living at the time, but I did know that he was getting paid a shit ton of money, which was why he and Emilia were able to afford their extravagant wedding.
Emilia, as I've come to find out when uncle Kingston introduced us to her, was a school teacher. If I'm correct, she taught either kindergarten or first grade. One of those two levels. She loved her job and the kids. The kids were why she got into teaching in the first place. I know she was deathly nice and caring. So much that she'd get us gifts and lots of money for our birthdays and each holiday, and now...I was glad Devin and I could call her our aunt.
Devin and I were taking a break from the dancing, resorting to going over to a separate table and playing Monopoly with a couple cousins of ours. Of course, they were our first cousins, being the offspring of my father's oldest brother Derrick, a family man who worked as the athletic director for the Tennessee Titans organization.
That happened to be one of the reasons why my family and I can get free VIP season passes to every single Tennessee game. Anything we wanted regarding the Titans and their games, my uncle would most likely make it happen.
Whilst my other cousins were in the bathroom, I decided to take my turn, using it to enact my go-to strategy and buying Boardwalk. That's when Devin decided to ask me about something I never thought of before. Well, only privately I thought about it.
"Hey, Rocky," he said. "Can I ask you a question?"
I gave him a stupid look. "Devin, you know you can ask me anything. I'm your twin. You should be able to ask me anything without being judged. Now, what is it?"
"Do you ever want to get married?" he asked.
Well, that wasn't at all what I was expecting. I was expecting something that was completely one of his completely out-of-the-blue shower thoughts he always has.
Why do you bake cookies and cook bacon?
Taxes are like a subscription to your country that you can't cancel, no matter how bad the service gets.
You know, thoughts like that.
"What?" I asked in disbelief.
"Do you ever wanna get married one day?" he asked again.
I had to think about it for a while. Surely, I do want to get married one day, but on the other hand...I was only eight! I didn't know shit about the world. All I knew was that the world was dangerous, and if I did something that caused me to get thrown into jail, I better hope to God the cops found me before my daddy did.
He would've buried me alive and danced on my grave.
"Of course I do, Devin," I said. "I'd love to do that one day. But who would I marry? That's the real question."
"You'll find someone one day. Trust me," Devin reassured. "There's a guy out there that'll one day look at you and want to marry you. You'll get there someday. Trust me."
I smiled, mainly because my twin brother made me feel better about the future. He was my best friend who always made sure that I was happy no matter what. And I'm forever grateful that he has been an essential part of my life...