Page 139 of Koroleva

"Yes, I am, and your actions prove it." He looked at me, not understanding my response.

"My actions?"

"You act like a Korolev, our blood runs through your veins, and that’s why you behave as you do." Adri scoffed. "Let me tell you something. When my sister Irisha was born, I didn’t want her." My revelation seemed to surprise him.

"I don’t believe you."

"Believe me. It was a nuisance for me, and sometimes it still is. It was a chubby annoyance that followed me everywhere, disrupting the harmony and peace established between Yuri and me. It did nothing but bother, ask questions, and hinder. I was so fed up with it that one day when your father and I went out to hunt mice, birds, and lizards to feed our snake..."

"You had a snake?" he interrupted, amazed.

"You bet, a black mamba, beautiful and lethal. It died when I was nineteen."

"And it bit you? Is that why you used to give my father oral sex?"

"No, it didn't bite me or anything like that," I avoided the comment on the fellatio incident.

"What was its name?"

"Blacky. It wasn't a very original name, but it was the only one Yuri and I agreed on." Adriano sat on the bed, interested.

"And what happened to Irisha the day you went to get food for Blacky?" It was the first time he seemed interested in anything I was telling him, so I decided to continue with the explanation.

"Wel, as she was a crybaby and never let us hunt because she felt sorry for the little animals we used to feed our pet, I created fake tracks to make her think we took one path while we hid in another, among the bushes. Like what happened to you this morning, I created my own version of the story in my head. I thought she would get scared not seeing us and would go back home scared to find herself alone, but that didn't happen."

"And where did she go?"

"Let me continue telling you, and you'll find out." Adri nodded. "We spent a long time outside, and when Yuri and I returned, Irisha was nowhere to be found. We didn't think much of it; we thought she hid somewhere in the house as revenge for not finding us, so we went to Blacky and then went out to the garden to play, without paying attention to her. When dinner time came, mom went crazy looking for her because she thought she had been with us the whole time."

"How old was she?"

"Six."

"And where was she?"

"She got lost, and Yuri and I were afraid of our father's reprisals. He was a very tough man."

"Did he hit you?"

"Sometimes, when we messed up too much and deserved it." I ventured into the room. Adriano was so engrossed in the story that he didn't stop me. I settled into a reading chair near his bed, next to a shelf full of books suitable for his age.

"No child deserves to be hit," he countered.

"Well, it might not be well seen now, but that doesn't mean it can't sometimes be necessary, at least in our case. Yuri and I were always a bit rebellious and loved getting into trouble." I saw a hint of a smile on his face as he imagined us. "You can't deny that what we did deserved a beating of epic proportions."

"Maybe a big punishment. But not a beating."

"Different points of view," I argued.

"Did you go looking for her?" he insisted.

"You bet, Dad mobilized all his men. He thought she had been kidnapped, in families like ours, it's very common."

"Were you ever kidnapped?"

"Fortunately, no. We were very closely watched."

"Go on, what did you and Yuri do?" It was the first time I mentioned my brother, and it moved me. It was silly, but something stirred inside my chest.

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