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Chapter 5:

The Long Lost Sister


“So, how was your performance?” AJ asked the girls, as the ten of them enjoyed a late McDonald’s dinner.

“It was, like, awesome!” Praline exclaimed. “We got, like, so many Beanie Babies!”

“Yeah, and we got, like, free soda too!” Nikki added. “Only, like, some people didn’t realize that, like, some of the bottles were, like, empty. But, like, that’s okay.”

“Yeah, like, maybe I should start a Beanie Babies collection now,” said Ali. “I, like, never had an Beanie Babies when I was, like, growing up, cause, like, I grew up in, like, foster care, and like, all my foster parents, like, abused me.”

“Damn, that sucks,” said AJ. Then, staring at Ali, he noticed something. “Yo, Ali, did you ever notice that you look almost exactly like me, but with longer hair?”

”Like, huh?”

“Hey!” said Howie, now staring at his girlfriend, too. “You’re right, AJ! I never realized it before, but she does look a lot like you!”

“Like, ohmygod, AJ, I think I’m, like, your long lost twin sister!” Ali cried. “Cause, like, we look alike, and, like, our names both start with, like, A, and, like, I never knew my parents or anything. We must have been, like, separated at, like, birth!”

“Whoa, freaky!” said AJ. “Good thing I didn’t try to bone you; that would have been some sick-ass sh-“ He was interrupted by the ring of his cell phone. “Hello?” he answered it.

“Hi, Alex,” came his mother’s voice.

“Mom!” exclaimed AJ, glancing at Ali, who was gazing blankly into space. “Mom, uh, why did you never tell me I had a twin sister?”

There was a pause – a long one.

“Mom?”

“Alex, how did you find out about Alexandra?”

“Alexandra? Oh, so that’s Ali’s real name?”

“Like, huh?” Ali jumped at the sound of her name.

AJ put his hand over the phone. “I’m talking to Mom,” he told her.

“Oh, like, cool. Like, tell your mom hi for me, kay?”

AJ stared at her. “My mom? She’s your mom too, you know.”

“Like, huh?”

“We’re twins, remember? Separated at birth? Remember?”

“Oh… like, yeah!”

“Yeah… so my mom is your mom too.”

“Whoa, like, really?”

“Uh… yeah.”

“Like, whoa, cool! I’ve, like, never had a mom before! Well, like, I did have that one, like, foster mom, but she, like, abused me, and my foster dad, like, raped me and stuff.”

“Well, this is your real mom,” AJ told her, realizing he had obviously inherited the brains in the family – or maybe Ali had just suffered brain damage during her years of abuse…

“Alex? Are you still there?” came Denise McLean’s voice, reminding AJ he was still on the phone with her.

“Oh, yeah, I’m here,” he said.

“How did you find out about Alexandra?” she repeated.

“Well, she-“ AJ suddenly stopped. “Wait a minute… you actually named your twins Alexander and Alexandra?” he asked in a mix of disgust and disbelief.

Another long pause.

Finally, Denise answered, “I was heavily medicated at the time. It was a rough delivery.”

“Oh,” said AJ. “Well, anyway, Ali’s here, Mom. She’s Howie’s new girlfriend, and she’s part of our new opening act.”

“What?! She’s… she’s alive?!” Denise sputtered.

“Yeah… why? What happened to her?”

“AJ… I never told you this, but… your sister was kidnapped when you were both babies.”

“Kidnapped? How?”

“I’m not exactly sure. The kidnapper broke through your bedroom window, I suppose. No one knows exactly how; all I know is that I came in one morning, and Alexandra was gone. The police looked for months and finally told me that she was probably dead or gone forever.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” AJ cried.

“I just… couldn’t. I had such a hard time dealing with it myself, I just couldn’t put you through that as well. I thought you were better off not knowing.”

“What else have you lied to me about, mother?” AJ demanded. “Has my whole life been a lie?”

“Alex, stop being so melodramatic! Now where’s your sister? I want to talk to her.”

“Fine,” AJ muttered. “Here, Ali,” he said, holding the phone out to Ali. “Mom wants to talk to you.”

“Whoa, like, cool!” Ali squealed, taking the phone out of his hand. “Like, hello? Mom? Guess what? Did you know that, like, AJ and I are, like twins? Isn’t that just, like, the coolest thing?!”

If only they knew what was to come…

***