Part VII: Time Warp 2000’s – Now: Special Delivery: #3 (Chapter 100)
000 South Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21230
December 31, 2000
Dear Samantha,
This is probably the most
difficult letter I will ever have to write, but it is most important that I
finally get in touch with you. I tried e-mailing you, but, apparently, you
don’t check your mail too often.
And I want you to know
what I’m about to reveal before the New Year.
I’m not sure why this
feels so important – perhaps it has something to do with the true Millennium
fast approaching – anyway, here goes.
Please make sure you’re
sitting down before you read on. I don’t how to say this without just spelling
it out in bold terms:
I’m your identical twin –
“Whaaa
–???” I couldn’t believe what I had just read.
This must be a practical joke.
I’ll kill the perpetrator –
Shel? Nicole? That little minx
Kaitlyn?
Yes, Kaitlyn. You predicted this,
didn’t you?
I’ll get to the bottom of this...
I
reread the beginning, just to make sure I had read it correctly, and continued:
–and I thought you should know this
information. Whether or not we ever meet is totally up to you. I’d like to meet
you, of course, but I’ve had a little longer to digest this information, so I’m
quite willing to allow this news to settle before discussing possible meeting
times.
Your mother – our mother –
gave me up for adoption when we were two. I don’t fully understand the
circumstances of why our mother gave up one twin and kept the other or how she
decided which twin to keep.
Quite simply, I went, you
stayed. I’m not bitter about this – I’ve had a wonderful upbringing. Nancy and
Tad Halloran adopted me and loved me like their own flesh and blood – I wanted
for nothing; all my physical and psychological needs were met. I grew up in
Fairfax, Virginia, close to D.C. where Dad worked at the Pentagon, doing
God-knows-what (top secret job).
As a youngster, I went to
the best schools, all private. I graduated from M.I.T. with a dual B.S. in Math
and Physics and a Ph.D. in Physics, with emphasis in astrophysics. Recently, I
have become certified in developing and incorporating software for applications
in my field.
I have also earned
certification in Web Page development.
I am at Johns Hopkins; I’m
a Professor in the Physics Department, where I teach advanced courses – such as
“Hot Topics in Astrophysics Seminar” and “Starburst Journal Club” – and I’m
currently involved in research in Electromagnetic Theory. In recent years, I
have become interested in computer art, which has given me the chance to merge science
with creativity, a side of me to yet be developed. I’m not very good yet – my
motor skills aren’t really honed for holding and manipulating a paint brush,
but I’m trying to visualize how fractals might appear on canvas through
computer scanners and imaging programs.
I tell you this because I
know of your background – that’s how I found you. Last year, I had the
privilege of viewing your one-person show, “This is What Happens When the Fat
Lady Sings,” at the Gomez Gallery here in Baltimore. Something drew me to your
work – your computer renditions, extremely adept and accomplished, I might add,
reminded me of what I was trying to accomplish on a lesser scale. And then I
saw your photograph...
I can’t even describe how
I felt – Samantha, we are dead ringers. I have the same bushy red hair,
although I work diligently at keeping my hair in line – I wear it short and
spiky. And those unmistakable slanty eyes! Not too many people have true green
eyes like ours.
And then a curator came up
to me, and said, “Samantha? What have you done with your hair?”
She then realized that I
wasn’t you.
But she wasn’t quite sure
what to do next.
So, I told her that my
name was Candy Halloran.
She shook her head, and
said, “Well, you could be Sam’s identical twin. Are you an artist?”
I told her about my
background, how I’m just beginning to explore my artistic abilities, which is
why I had been drawn to your show in the first place. I had seen the write up
in the Sun about the opening, which I couldn’t make – maybe it’s just as well
that I didn’t throw a curve into your Baltimore debut. Besides, I needed the
time to sort this out, as I’m sure you will need time and space...I think I
knew from the beginning of this strange odyssey that we were twins.
My parents had told me
that I was adopted and that I had a twin somewhere, but I had no idea how to
find you, and then, deus ex machina!
But I wanted to make sure
that we weren’t just doppelgangers, always a possibility, so I hired a
detective (sorry, but I had to be certain).
He dug into your birth
records and background. When he reported that we were both born on the same day
and year, I was 99.9% certain.
What else to say? Perhaps
some personal information. I have a 30-year-old daughter, Nicoletta – we call
her “Lettie” – Halloran, who was born during my sophomore year at M.I.T. I
wasn’t married – I have never married, in fact.
At the time, I thought my
pregnancy was the biggest mistake of my life, but I soon changed my mind. My
daughter is a delightful person, the absolute center of my life. I was lucky – my
parents supported me completely throughout the pregnancy and my college career,
both financially and spiritually.
I thoroughly subscribe to
that old feminist saying: “A woman without a man is like a fish without a
bicycle.”
I must admit, though, that
my positive attitude toward the circumstances of my daughter’s birth has much
to do with the fact that I have wanted for nothing in life. I suppose if I had
been destitute and trying to get through college on a shoestring, my path in
life might have been different, perhaps similar to yours – though I know very
little about your family life with our parents.
The detective did find Sal
Millhouse, but when I called her, she was extremely closed mouth about you and
the entire Mallory family, so I just backed off and dismissed the detective.
By now, I had enough
information. Maybe you can fill me in...
Unhappily, my parents died
years ago, Dad while I was in graduate school, and Mom two years ago. It was
difficult losing them, these people who had treated me as their own.
What else to tell? Oh,
yes, Lettie is married to a fantastic man, Aaron Nickels, who works as a city
beat reporter for the Sun. He’s quite a handsome man, dark eyes, black hair,
tall, muscular – all the physical attributes one would desire in a man, and
more. The best part: he’s not at all conceited.
If I were younger, I could
give my daughter a run for her money...
Aaron and Lettie have one
child, a nine-year-old daughter, Nanette, who is too gorgeous and spunky for
her own good. Nan looks like us, Samantha. She has the same untamed red hair – everything.
It’s almost as if Aaron had nothing to do with her conception.
Come to think of it,
Lettie also resembles us – it’s almost eerie...
Just one more thing, and I
hope this isn’t too much of a bombshell in a letter that has already exploded
the parameters of your life:
I’m a lesbian.
Precisely, I’m bisexual – I
have been in relationships with men – but, at the moment, I’m in a committed
relationship with a woman. Sapphira Allegra – that’s her real name – and I have
been together for five years now, so I don’t think that this is a passing
fancy. I don’t know your views on homosexuality, but I hope that my sexual
orientation would not be an impediment to our eventually meeting.
Finally, Sapph and I live
in the city, on Montgomery Square, in the heart of Federal Hill, near the
waterfront. I bought my townhouse 10 years ago, and we love it here. We have
one dog, Quark; a tabby cat, Tachyon; and a parrot, Neutrino.
What else can I say? This
is my life encapsulated. When you are ready to communicate with me, you may
write to me at the return address, or via e-mail at CH@Vipst.com.
I really want to meet you;
I would hope that you would not hold the actions of our mother against me.
Please believe me when I
say that despite my idyllic upbringing I would have rather been raised with
you, for good or ill.
Affectionately, your twin,
Candy Halloran
P.S. Do I have your
correct e-mail address? sam@Artworky.com.
I
had no choice but to believe Candy Halloran’s letter, because I knew, deep
down, as I must have always known, that what she said was true.
A
bomb, after all.
Later that night, Nicole and Ariana announced
their engagement at their annual New Year’s party, a total surprise.
Like
so many other events of my life, two momentous turning points converging on
December 31, 2000, a wickedly cold New Year’s Eve.
I
celebrated by getting totally blasted.
Not
my best moment.
But
this New Year’s Eve will be different…
The end of 2001.
