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May 25th: Once Upon a Secret. It seems to me that what ever advantage this family finds along the years, it takes, and uses them to the fullest. Only last year had I discover that I had a younger twin, living in my place in Puerto Rico, or should I say- living his own life. Either way, we were unaware of the other's existance until around our 18th birthday, when he came to visit our mother. Today, I get a letter stating for the family to come down to the island and attend services of his family's funeral. From what I can piece together, these are the entries that I can get figure out. May 19th: There were several witnesses to this incident; Jose had gotten to the ambulance that he drives without his partner, and speeds along the coastal highway to help out with a car accident involving several vehicles; 4 to be precise: a horsedrawn fruit cart, a mercedes benz and a couple of fords. Fords being the generic term for a small american made 4-door sedan, usually a family car. The highway runs along a 200ft cliff where the ocean crashes at its base. Police and medical personnel were dispatched to the scene, but an argument between Jose and his partner Luis made Jose leave without him, forcing Luis to join a second ambulance. This is not the first ocassion where Jose left his partner behind during an emergency, in fact, it happenes more often than not. Jose already had a considerable head start over the others and was on the highway, speeding at speeds over 100mph. The closet vehicle was a police chase car heading to the scene, was 150 yards behind Jose; everyone else was a 1/4 mile behind. Something happened about a mile before the scene, Jose's ambulance appears to crash through the guard rail and off the cliff to the ocean below. Witnesses around the area stated that he was coming at a high rate of speed when a loud sound was heard seconds before he crashed through the guard rail. Most describe this sound like either a small explosion or gun fire or possibly a tire blowing out. The ambulance was pulled out late that afternoon from the crashing surf below, but no body was found in it. Another 3 more days of searching, and Jose was labelled as 'Missing, presumed dead.' On the fourth day, his work jacket (torn to shreds in several places) and safety helmet (cracked in several places) was found washed up on a nearby beach, but still no body. The police investigating the case changed it from 'Missing, presumed dead' to 'Dead and still missing' on the basis of the evidence found and the condiction of the ambulance wreackage. The investigation put blame on Jose, on acting alone, and leaving his partner behind during the response of an emergency. It was not secret that his partner and him did not like each other, with reports of complaints being submitted against Luis by Jose. No notes of the ambulance was given in the report except for the substanial damage it was found in: crushed front section, partially crushed medical compartment, but of the 6 tires it rode on (2 in the front and 4 on the rear), only the passenger front tire was ripped in shreds as if it was blown out. Several bullet holes were found on the passenger side of the medical compartment, but it was stated that they were from a previous incident days before and were not yet repaired. The roadbed and guard rail showed no skid marks prior to the point of impact, though at the point of impact, the road was in a wide turing curve to the left, from a series of left and right turns that followed the coast line. May 23rd: The county of Mayaguez give him funeral, where other ambulance drivers from around the island attended, despite a body not being found. Shortly after the funeral, his wife Gabriella and her sister Raphellia committed suicide by poison. Many rumours abounded with speculation, including a lover's triangle between the three of them, and of Gabrella not being able to give Jose a child during the time they were married. Because of their double suicide, it was labelled suspicous. Nothing can be farther than the truth. As I learned who they are during the 6 weeks we switched places, I know that Gabrella was incapable of having a child because of her medical condiction: she was a male born with a female body; having a vagina and partial uterus, but no ovaries. Instead she had testes which were later removed before puberty and put on hormone thearpy for the rest of her life. Her sister on the other hand, was female. Despite this- they loved each other, even though Jose has been known to follow dad's lead of having multiple lovers on the side. One of them being Ralphellia, Gabrella's sister. But the problem arised from our cousins greed of wanting the family plantation that grandfather decreed would go to the grandson of the first daughter who's first child was male born. That child would be me. But since I was not in Puerto Rico at the time, it was given to Jose. With Jose eliminated, they believe that they can take the plantation to themselves, leaving Gabrella and Ralphellia homeless. May 26th: Those of us living in New York City with the exception of Jorge, went down to Puerto Rico. Jorge stayed with an uncle so he can still go to school while we were gone. The three of us: grandma, mother and I; go to Puerto Rico to deal with family matters. Being the matriarch of the family, no one dares opposes grandma. We arrive at the house around 6pm, with grandma complaining that Jose had changed the house around, adding sections to it and another floor. As I remember it, the house had a partial second floor, used for storage, but these are memories going back to when I was a little kid living here in 1967. Our cousins were there to greet us, thinking that it was only mom and grandmom to be there. They were horrified to find that I was there. With me being there, it throws their whole taking over the plantation scheme awry. They knew that I existed, but since I knew nothing of what was going on in Puerto Rico that I would not give a damn about a house and farm land that the family had under my name. In short, they believed that the house and farm land would be theirs. I did not stayed behind to listen to the legal proceedings that was going on inside, knowning that this would start another family fued. Here I was out of my element; English was the secondary language, Spanish the primary language. There were no friends to call, no one to talk to or understand my predicument. In short, I was alone. I stand on the rear porch, wondering how or what is going to happen, watching the sun go down. With nothing to see on TV, I retire to an early bed. May 27th: I wake up to Grandma's loud church singing and the smell of breakfast she was making. I was given Jose's room where the three of them slept in a king size bed. Least to say, for what ever reason, I did not sleep well that night. Waiting for me to wake up was my cousin Evelyn, who was 2 years older than I am. She sat by in one of the two chairs that were by the corners of the room, in a see through pink negligee, the robe piece openned to reveal even more of her figure and womanhood, though I had long suspected that this would happen. Trying to ignore her, I turned under the covers and threw a pillow over my head. Grandma bangs on the door and yells for me to wake up, scaring Evelyn to hide. With grandma's wake up call, I reach for my clothes that I sloppily put near the foot of the bed, I put them on under the covers and get out of the room. Evelyn soon leaves the room and changes into something more approprieate in attire. The family is soon seated to a big breakfast, where all were served by grandma. The cousins tried to bring up matters of the family business to the table, all in Spanish. Carlos, Evelyn's one of 2 younger brothers, opens his mouth (translated from Spanish), "Why should this fuck-head mal contempt come here and take over what is rightfully ours? The damn bastard does not even know of our language, culture or history!" Both mom and grandma turned to him and were about to speak, but I beat them to it, "What did you just say about me? Consider yourself lucky that I don't kill you right here and throw your dead ass to the sugar cane that I will later burn tonight. Don't you dare think that I don't know anything, especially when it comes to the family business and of our history, for I can be worse than grandfather ever was when he was alive- at least he was willing to killed people outside of the family, I'm willing to kill you." "Fernando!", mom yells at me. "No- he's right. Anyone who dare makes a move against him will face my wrath as well.", Grandma tells the family, trailing away with, "Be glad I did not poisoned breakfast. Now what you idiots want for lunch?" "I'll just make a sandwhich", I said to grandma. She just pays attention to the stove in the kitchen, making a comment about how unclean and messy it was and blaming it on Jose's wife and sister-in-law, though the cousins moved in as soon as the young women were buried. I remember that during the switch, Gabrella kept a neat kitchen. I leave the dining area, back into my room to get dressed to leave the place. The problem is, where to go? Out of respect and showing that I am not some city slob, I make the bed and the room to make it as neat as possible. Evelyn, having choosen the room next to mine, where Raphellia was supposed to sleep when she was not in Jose's bedroom, walks in on me as I fixed the bed's covering. She was dressed as if she was going to go to some bar party or disco, in a one piece button down demin mini-dress with short sleeves, buttoned to show off her cleaveage and a bit of panty crotch. Not caring as to where she sat, she walks to besides me and sits on the bed by jumping on it like some little girl, with her legs openned wide to show me what she had to offer. "What do you want, Evelyn?", I asked her sternly in English. "Well, Fernando- I just want you to know that I'm here for you in this time of need.", she saids in her best English, "And to offer you what Jose and I used have." "You mean, you and Jose used to... uhm...", I started to say "You mean, sex?", Evelyn asks, then answers, "Your brother was an excellent lover." "I see. So how long as this been goin on?", I asked. "Many years now. I hope being his twin, that you'd be just as good as he was.", Evelyn stated. "Hmm... even around February to March of last year?", I ask. "We did it all the time, Fernando.", Evelyn said as she put her hand onto her panty crotch and pulled it to the side to show me her pussy. "You know, there is a problem with that...", I tell her as I pointed to her pussy. "Uhm, what do you mean, problem?", Evelyn asked. "You see, Jose and I switched places on our 18th birthday, and I stayed here for a while, and nothing happened between us two. In fact, I remember correctly that you used to argue all the time with me about the littlest things. So as far sa to going into bed with Jose, as far as I can tell, you're lying.", I tell her. "Its your word against mine.", Evelyn says, "Now we can make this so its benefical to the both of us and have a little fun out of it too. If not, I can make it very uncomfortable here for you, you know." "Oh, so sex for this place is what you're trying to say?", I asked, "But, I have to say, on one condiction." "What would that be?", Evelyn asks. I reach into the back of the head of the bed and pull out my portable recorder, which was recording the events of the morning as I set it there. I reach out to her to show that it was on, recording everything in the room and then point the microphone part to her face, "Can you repeat everythng that you just said...?" Evelyn just froze there, like a deer in a beam of a set of headlights, staring into them like she stared at the recorder. "Before I leave, I'm giving this to mom and grandma to listen too. Now if you don't mind, you're messing up my bed.", I tell her. I walk to my bag and collect my glasses and cane along with other items that I put into a smaller duffle bag, putting them on for a moment and trace out the room before stepping out of the it and into the hallways, down the stairs and out the back way where the farm was at. Evelyn remained in my room, still silenced and awed as to what I did to her. Grandma was attending to the chickens and small garden, and mom was looking at the sugar cane field. I yell out in Spanish, "I'm leaving!" They both yell back, "Don't come back late!" I walk up to the driveway, looking at the several cars that were there, I look at the keys that I had picked up from the bedroom and matched the set to blue Toyota, Gabrella's car as I remembered it. I open the door and sit in it, putting the key in the ignition but not turning it on. I unluck the steering wheel and make adjustements to the driving compartment before closing the door and turning on the car. I then drive it out of the drive way and into town. First stop, Mayaguez Ambulance Corps. I dirve right up to the garage and block it with the car. Several men get out yelling to move the car and about to start a fight if I didn't, until I open the door and stand outside of the car. They all freeze in place. "Where's Luis.", I tell them all in Spanish. "Luis is not here right now.", one of them say. "This is not his shift...", another says cautiously. "Tell him to be at my grave at 9 o'clock tonight or else I'll will be back looking for him to join me.", I tell them, before getting into the car, and spinning it around in a doughnut manuver, leaving a circular tire mark in the ground with a long curved tail, resembling the lower case 'g'. Next stop, a local bar that I know Jose frequented. Parking the car near by, I gather by belongings from the duffle bag, taking my greek fisherman's hat onto my head and line it up with my glasses before getting out of the car. I walk into the place with my glasses and cane, tapping my way in to show off my handicap. "The place is closed...", the barkeep says out loudly, though I approached the bar and sit down right in front of him and put the cane on the bar to show it. I look right at him through the glasses. I give him my repsonse, "Tell me, what do you know about the dead?" He just stands behind the bar frozen by my words, becoming part of the fixtures. I put my thumb under the leg of the glasses and my index finger along the brim of the hat and remove them in one piece. I put them by the cane and then take the cane, rising the tip of the cane to under his chin. "I just asked you- what do you know about the dead?", I asked of him again. "I know nothing of the dead, except I was at your funeral last week.", he says nervously as he stepped backwards away from me. "Tonight, I don't care how you do it, I want you by the grave. 9pm- be there", I tell him before I put on my hat and glasses, and start stepping backwards after retrieving the cane. Carefully counted the step when I first walked in, I managed to walk out backwards without needing to turn around. Once outside, I make a hasty retreat to the car, and get quickly inside it. Looking at bar's entrance through the car's rear view mirrors, I can see the bar tender look around the the block as he steps out the door. After several seconds, I put the key to the ignition and drive away. The rest of the day, I spend going around town, getting reaquainted of the area that I once learned more than a year ago, passing people by that I have not seen in a long time. Many give me an odd look as I walk by them, for in this tiny town where everyone knows everyone else, there are not that many blind people. In fact, I just might be the only one. With the glasses and hat, I was barely recognizable. Going through several convient stores, I find the few items I wanted before I make my final stops of the day. The first of the three, is to the police station, where I demanded a copy of the accident report, though the family already has one. Unfortunately, most of the police officers knew who Jose was. That does not stop me from going to the commanding officer's desk and make a request. "Good afternoon.", I started to say in Spanish, "I would like a copy of an accident report." Without looking at me, he tosses an application on the desk towards me, "Fill that out and we'll get back to you in a couple of days." "*AHEM!*", I cleared my my throat to get his attention, which it does. "Oh.", as he looks straight at me and yet he does not recognize me as Jose. While I was here, this officer was always at the scene of every emergency 'Jose' answered and they knew each other by name. He then takes a pen and the application, starts to write on it. "Name?" "Gutierrez.", I tell him. He looks up at me confused and scared as he recognzied the sound of my voice, make that that of my dead twin, "...Your name?" I take off my glasses and lean down towards him, staring right into his eyes, "Jose." He drops the pen and application onto the desk, making a stray mark on the paper, "It cant be." "I want my a copy of that report, 9pm, at my tombstone. Be there, if you know what is good for you.", I tell him. "But you're dead.", he said to me. "Maybe I am. But I'm going to tell you now that you are going to help solve my murder, because of what it says on that report is all false, and until that is repaired, I will haunt you and the rest of this snot nose town forever.", I tell him. Other officers start to sliently look in our direction as we talked. "Is there a problem, Suarez?", one of the other officers stated. "No... there is no problem...", the desk officer says to the others. "Remember, 9pm, you know where and with what.", I tell him before putting on my glasses and start to walk away from him. Once out of the station house, I hurried walked to the car and got inside. Within a few seconds, I was driving away to the next destination. I drive out of town and spend a couple of hours on the road, travelling to the larger cities in search of a decent electronic store. Eventually I find a Radio Shack and buy a few items: a CB radio, small magnet mount antenna, connection hardware, frequency crystals, batteries, a pair child's walkie talkie set that operates on the cb frequencies and some tools. Along the way back I pick up some dry ice. I drive back to town and hide at the family plantation, assembling the items together. With a few tests done, things work OK and then I leave again. Driving around, I end up at the site where the accident happened. The guardrail has been repaired, and almost little evidence remained as to what happened here. I lean over the guardrail and look down the long drop to the ocean and rocks below, thinking that no one, not even I could survive such a fall; and also imaging how the events could have unfolded if I were in his place. The place reeks of a lasting psychic scream which I try to ignore. How long I stayed there, I lost track of time as I noticed that the sun was approaching the horizon. I start to walk to the car to drive to the next and last destiantion when I noticed something on the roadway. The accident report claims that there was no skid marks, but there it was, just behind the car: some kind of trailing drag mark, starting off as a grey star pattern, then followed by a black streak with a parallel silver one curing towards the guard rail- in all, less than 12 ft in length. The grey star pattern I recognize as a mark one would make a gunpowder charge, like that from a cherry bomb or M80. Wishing for a camera, I go down to touch it, finding it too embedded on the road to pick up any residue. I reach the grave yard at 7:30, hiding the car in the nearby parking lot not too far from Jose's grave. Needing to climb a fence is no problem for me to choose this location. I take some of the electronic gear with me and hide it behind Jose's tombstone, leaving one of the children's cb walkie talkies on at full volume and the squelch to medium high to cancel all the static and stray signals. In front of the tombstone of Jose's, I leave a bucket of water and a shovel, to make it look like the gardner was there. With a few tests done and passed, I go back to the car and wait. The first to arrive was officer Suarez at 8:50pm. I can see him looking around to see if me could find anyone around. I pick up the mic from the cb and talk Spanish into it, sending my voice to come from the tombstone, "Stay where you are and don't move." He turns around, scared and unsure of what to do. "Listen to me really carefully. Others will be coming and I will be there too.", I tell him as he looks down at the grave. Soon Luis shows up at the grave with a couple of buddies from the ambulance corp, all decked out in their work jackets, puzzled at officer Suarez being there with a folder. I can see that Luis tried to start a conversation, but I take the microphone and say aloud, "SILENCE YOU TRAITOR!" He looks at the tombstone with a lot more than just concern. Less than a minute later, the bar tender shows up with a female friend. They all stand around looking at each other confused. I key up the microphone one last time, "Now wait for me- Look over by the gate, near the trees.", I tell them, a direction opposite to where I will be approaching. I keep an eager eye on them as I silently lock up the car and climb the fence, running silently through the night past the aisles of grave markers an headstones until I was just behind them. Before I say anything, I quielty drop some of the dry ice into the bucket of water. "Now what are you assholes looking at?", I tell them in Spanish. They all turn around slowly to face me as I stood there. The errie whisps of fog near by me adds to the effect. I first reach to officer Suarez and take the folder he was carrying with the accident report inside, and tell him, "You are going to find my murderer, for this report says that it was my fault that I drove off the cliff? No, I was murdered. 2 Car lengths from where I hit the guard rail, embedded into the ground, you will find the evidence: burnt gunpowder residue, followed by a short skidmark before it goes off the road. Reopen the investigation and clear my name, or else." I then point to the tombstone. The fog from the dry ice seemed to cover the ground just a bare inch, but enough to add tot he scene. "I don't believe you're Jose.", Luis started to say, "I think you're somebody else trying to be like him." "Ever the non-believer, hey Luis?", I ask him. "You might be right, but Jose had no brothers and none of his relatives look like him. So, I'm either a ghost or I am Jose and have survived the the accident somehow.", as I stepped to him. "But let me tell you this much. You and I have never been friends, even on the professional level. In fact, there was some hatred between us two. Now, tell me, who can sabotosh an ambulance? The mechanic? I remember that we fixed them ourselves. So, that limits it to you and a few others." "Fuck you!", Luis says before trying to take a swing on me. I dodge it easily and grab his arm as he passes by, twisting it behind his back and then grabbing a fist ful of hair with my other hand. I push forward on his back and pull back on his head. "It would be too easy to kill you here in front of all these people, Luis. How about admitting to the crime?", I tell him before throwing him onto the grave, having him land in front of the tombstone. His two friends help him up. I can hear him cursing as I turn to the bartender and his friend, "I know you serve the drinks to the boys, and I know that you hear things, so you know something. Cooperate with Officer Suarez, or else I will not let you rest a single night and day until the day you die. Understand where I'm coming from?" He just looks at me, and nods. "Now leave, before I forget who I am and bring down revenge on all of you.", I tell them. Luis and his friends were all too glad to leave. The bartender then leaves with this friend, but Officer Suarez stay behind. "What? You're waiting for me to leave into the ether like some ghost in a story?", I tell him. "Who are you?", he asks. "Like I said, I could have survived the accident. But I'm dead- on paper, and my family killed themselves because of this report that says that is was my fault. So I got nothing to return too, and you got a murder case to investigate. I suggest starting with the skid mark, then with the ambulance. If there is any trace of spent gunpowder anywhere the tire housing, then it was murder. And like I said- I suspect it to be Luis or somebody else in the ambulance corp.", I explain to him. "You could not have survived that fall.", he tells me. "But yet, my body was never found. Now, if within a few days, my body is found, you got a murder case to solve. Even if you don't find a body, there should be enough evidence for equipment tampering that lead to the accdient, making it a deliberate act instead of an accident. And as a deliberate act, its now becomes murder.", I tell him. "We don't have those resources to spend on one case.", he says to me. "I don't care if you have to do the case single handedly. I want you to solve it, and when you do, there will be rewards waiting for you.", I tell him, "But don't do it because of the rewards, do it for me." "I'll see what I can do then.", he stated. "No, dont try to see, just do. And make sure that any of them don't leave town.", I tell him, "Now leave. I know there are people waiting for you." He just nods at me and then leaves. I wait for a while, until he disappeared into the darkness, and the went back to the car, taking the walkie talkie behind the tomstone and dumping out the carbonated water into the soil to retrieve the empty bucket with me. I then drive home. The next couple of days was met with lawyers, setting up the paper work for transfering the plantation to the next in line. But I added a clause to the agreement, that it would be a temporary arrangement until I decide to return because this plantation is mine by birth rite but my living in New York City keeps me away from it and members of the family fighting for it, some even claiming owner ship. With that done, we return home. A few days later, a letter arrives to our home in NYC, stating that the case to Jose's accident has been reopened and found to be sabotoge leading to murder that cause the accident. This was followed by another letter from the insurance company, reinstating their zero-claims for a suicide to a full settlement of $500,000 casulty check. The money was put into a family fund. A couple of more days later, several members of the ambulance corp being arrested for conspiracy to murder. As for me, I continue on with my life, back at school, just a little sadder for what had happened. # |