It’s nice to be back here in West Texas. If there were a place I could call as my hometown, it would be Midland, having spent my childhood here. I lived here until I was 12; my parents having left me here to live with my grandmother when I was 5, seeing them only during Christmas and summer vacations during those years.

Midland Texas skyline

I grew up with my twin cousins, Bradley and Charles; and there is Charles now, waving at me, making sure that I do not miss him. Yet, it’s hard to miss Charles actually. Studying at the University of Texas in Austin on a football scholarship, he has the build of a running back, which in actuality he is one.

‘I’m glad I’m home this weekend,’ Charles said conversationally as I was picking my luggage. “I seldom see you, bro. Come to think of it, I don’t see much of Bradley either.”

Both of us laughed. Bradley is Charles’ identical twin, but the exact opposite in temperament. While Charles was fun, sportive and knows his way around girls, Bradley was serious, highly opinionated and truth be told, somewhat pompous. He is currently in Yale, studying to be a lawyer.

“I live in New York and I only saw him twice, actually,” I told Charles.

“Really? I thought the two of you would get together more often.”

“Well, maybe we would now. He is madly in love with one of my roommates.”

“You have girls as roommates?” Charles said raising his eyebrows, the unasked question, how was I able to swing that.

“It’s a long story, but to make it short, rent is so high in New York, you need a roommate to be able to afford an apartment. I saw the listing on Craigslist, I answered the posting, got an email from Imadge, she interviewed me and now, I live in one of the rooms in this three-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. But, I did not come here to talk about my roommates. I came here to talk to Grandma and Uncle Woody. I’m going to Australia to see my parents.”

“You need some dough bro? I have some you can use. That way you don’t have to talk to Grandma or ask the old man,” Charles offered.

“Thanks for the offer, but I really don’t need money for the trip. My parents sent me a round trip first class tickets plus $1000 spending money, and my hotel in Sydney is prepaid, can you believe that?” I said laughing.

“Woow… Aunt Sheridan and Uncle James are not stingy. Well, come to think of it, no one in our family is,” Charles joined my laughter. “So what gives bro? What’s the mystery?”

“No mystery. My mom wants me to bring the medallion I was wearing when I first came here when I was 5. Grandma had to hide it because it was giving me nightmares. I kept on dreaming I was riding in this horse dressed like a knight. Remember that?”

“Yeah, how can I forget; you gave me this scar on my shoulder because you hit me with your Star Wars lightsaber. Dad said it should have not made a cut because it was made of plastic, but you did it. Well, as far as I know it’s in the safety deposit box. Dad & I were there yesterday.”

It was my turn to raise my eyebrows with the unasked question of why.

“Dad is giving me a lot of the family secrets and telling me so much about the business. He says that since all three of us are turning 21 next year, it’s time we take up some responsibilities. He says he is starting with me because I’m nearest geographically.”

This time, we both laughed. But, it made me wonder why both sets of our parents are behaving oddly.

[NAPSTER]