⌈ 𝘋𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘴, 𝘛𝘟 ⌉ 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 23, 2020 ⌊ 5:30 𝘗𝘔 ⌋



"Ok ladies, the roster will be up in the main hallway on Monday morning. Keep an eye out and have a great weekend!" the volleyball coach spoke.

Today was day two of try outs and Saris was happy. She was nervous at first but quickly got into a mode during tryouts. She was focused and almost certain she had a high chance of making it on the team.

Saris jogged over to her gym bag and pulled out her water bottle.

"Heyyy I'm glad this shit is over." a girl named Nya sat by Saris.

"Me too." Saris said.

Over the past two days of tryouts they had somewhat bonded. Nya definitely was the opposite of Saris and kept her entertained through the tryouts.

"You're quiet but really pretty, you're gonna be one of my besties, gimme your number." Nya spoke with a huge smile. Saris pulled her phone out her bag and handed it to Nya.

"Ok, I just texted myself. I'll text you tomorrow bye love." she waved and ran off with her bag.

"Bye." Saris said seeing Nya leave the gym doors.

She turned around when she heard basketballs hitting the ground and the boys basketball team entering the gym for their practice. Saris was staying after and waiting for the boys to finish practice like every afternoon.

"Saris, you did not have that on this morning." Nehemiah straight faced Saris. Saris slightly frowned looking down at the shorts. She wore the ones specifically for volleyball which she didn't like but her coach had said they were required.

"Sorry." she mumbled before looking down.

"Don't be sorry Saris." Tylear cut his eyes at Nehemiah, "Leave her alone bitch."

"I ain't mean it like that, but some of these niggas are weird."

"It's ok." she smiled, pulling the sweatpants she had out of her bag and quickly put them on.

"Ty!" Coach yelled, waving Tylear over. He said bye before jogging over to Coach. Nehemiah turned over to Saris rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry lil bit, I really didn't mean to talk to you like that." he nervously said.

"It's ok." she gave him a hug which he returned.

When they pulled away Saris saw Nehemiah look behind her. She couldn't describe the look in her eyes but it was almost as if he was mesmerized.

"Saris!" Saris turned around to see Alyssa waving.

"Hi." Saris waved back before Alyssa walked away.

Saris turned back to Nehemiah and he seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in.

—

"Saris wake up." Saris heard someone speak as they shook her.

Saris and her brothers arrived back home hours ago and it was now a little after 12 AM.

"What's wrong?" she asked, turning to see Tylear.

"C'mon." he said, pulling her covers back. Saris, still half-asleep, got up and slipped on the slides she had near her bed. She followed Tylear out the house and into Nehemiah's car until she was somewhat awake.

"Wait where are we going?"

"Walmart." Tylear spoke as he started the car and music began to flow through the speakers.

It was on the normal 90s early 2000s station that Nehemiah kept on when they were in the car. Saris decided to not question why they were going to Walmart and instead sat back and listened to the music.

When they pulled in front of the brightly lit store, Tylear parked and got out. Saris got out too but paused her movement by the car as she looked down at her clothes. She wore a pair of brown plaid sleep pants with a brown tank top that stopped right above her belly button.

"Ty, I'm in my pajamas." she chewed on her bottom lip.

"Lil bit, everyone is right now. It's ok." Saris nodded and the two walked into the store. Tylear grabbed a buggy and they both walked to the candy and snack aisle. Tylear began to pick things off the shelves and toss them into the basket as Saris awkwardly stood there.

"Get what you want, Saris." he chuckled, nudging her.

Saris slightly chuckled before picking out snacks. Although she never did anything like this, she chose everything she always wanted growing up.

"Are those good?" she pointed toward the Zapps Voodoo chips.

Over the past week of school she saw several people eating them at lunch and was starting to wonder what the hype was. "Hell yeah." Tylear said, grabbing one for himself.

Saris nodded and grabbed a bag before moving on to candy.

After leaving Walmart Tylear and Saris successfully snuck back into the house and into his room.

They sat on his bed eating their snacks as Netflix softly played in the background. After watching several movies they both fell asleep with the events of tomorrow weighing heavy on their minds.

—

"Good morning I'm Dr. Porter." the black woman spoke as she sat on the opposite couch from Saris.

"Good morning." Saris softly spoke looking down at her fingers.

"So to get right to the point your parents somewhat filled me in about what's led up to y'all getting here, but I want to hear your side." The therapist got comfortable and clicked her pen.

"Ok."

"Alright so I'm going to ask you questions to ensure we make it through everything." Saris nodded and looked up, "So first walk me through the day you found the balloon."

"I was in my room just sitting there since I got my phone taken away."

"Did you get your phone taken a lot and why?"

"I did, but I don't know why. She just did it a lot." Saris spoke and Dr. Porter nodded, "I decided to do homework like always and a friend invited me over to study."

"And after that is when you found the note from your brother."

"Yes ma'am." Saris nodded.

"Ok, continue." Dr. Porter motioned.

As Saris went through every detail of that day Dr. Porter scribbled in her notepad. As time passed, the amount of sympathy she had for Saris went farther than just feeling bad for someone who was kidnapped.

"So why did you ask Tylear to come with you today?"

Saris shrugged as she chewed her bottom lip, "I just wanted to."

"Why not your other brothers?"

"I think I have more of a connection with Tylear."

"Ok, I'm going to call him in, wait here." A few moments passed before Tylear walked into the office and took a seat next to Saris.

"Thank you for joining us Tylear. What were your thoughts when Saris asked you to be here?"

"Nervous and confused. Nervous because she asked me and confused for the same reason. Why not mom, dad, or our other siblings?" Tylear expressed.

Dr. Porter turned towards Saris, "Would you like to answer that for us?"

"Um, I feel like we're closer and have a bond even though we met a couple weeks ago."

"Do you feel this bond too? Like you guys have known each other longer than you actually have?" Dr. Porter asked Tylear.

"Yes, when she was gone I felt like I had a connection to someone who didn't exist."

"There was a study that showed that twins who are split after birth can experience sadness, depression, and loneliness as they grow up." Dr. Porter spoke.

"Wow." Saris and Tylear both said at the same time feeling some kind of fulfillment as their question was answered.

"Tylear I see you brought a box with you, care to share what it is?"

"A shoe box." he mumbled opening it. He was nervously fidgeting as he never felt this time would come.

"What's in it?" Saris asked.

Instead of answering Tylear turned the box upside down and dumped out everything in it making multiple folded pieces of paper fall out.

Saris reached out for a piece of paper and slowly opened it.

Dear Saris,

It's been 16 years. Today was a hard birthday. I've been through this 16 times and fully aware of this for probably 11. I hate to sound like a pussy but I cried today. I usually don't because mom will bother me about speaking about it, but who truly understands? I've met twins before and they're always close. I can't help thinking about what ifs? I've had "homeboys", "friends", "acquaintances", damn near everything but none of it feels the same as it does with my brothers. Having siblings is different from any type of relationship. I have 3 brothers but this shit still doesn't feel complete. I have a whole sister somewhere. A twin. No one understands that. You probably do. I'm really starting to have doubts. Are you alive? Never meeting you would probably kill me so I'll hold on to my faith. Some niggas don't tell their siblings they love them cause they think it makes them soft, but they aren't me. They have chances to say anything they want and they choose not to. I wish I had just 2 seconds to tell you I love you.

Love Tylear

Saris's eyes watered up as she looked over the note again. She reached out and grabbed more notes as some were king and others were short.

I made the basketball team today. I miss you. I mayd u a turky han 2day.

Saris chuckled at the misspelled note and went to give Saris a hug. Dr. Porter sat with a satisfied smile on her face as the twins both bonded.

After things had settled down Tylear stepped out once again and Serena and Jayceon came in.

"To keep this short Saris has been both emotionally and physically abused. The confusion, hopelessness, shame, and fear are all aspects of the denial she is experiencing. The random racing heartbeat and headaches are the anxiety she is experiencing. Talking to Saris the woman would yell, name call, gaslight, invade her privacy, punish her for going against her word, control her life, and threaten her."

Serena and Jayceon nodded as Saris sat there feeling many emotions at once.

"Good news is this will not be long term. She may always experience anxiety but there are ways for her to be her true self. I recommend exercise, socializing, and more sleep. Try to build up endorphins in the body to release stress to reduce anxiety. She can also see me on whatever schedule y'all want her to. How does that sound?"

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