REVOLUTION

Although they were twins, Jason and Tanya were inseparable in an unnatural way. Jason, the elder of the twins by twenty minutes was ultra-protective towards his sister, and often resorted to outlandish acts pf vengeance, such as letting down the tyres of teachers who had upset his sibling.

The fifteen year olds sat towards the front of the classroom and were immersed in their study of the French Revolution. The twins, though not identical, had large green eyes and blonde hair, features that had been inherited from their mother.

The loud ringing of the bell heralded the end of the school day. After leaving the school, the twins were met by their older brother, Wesley, a gangly, dark-haired boy with a turn in his eye and protruding teeth. Wesley's appearance differed vastly from that of his brother and sister, generating rumours that their mother had not been virtuous in her marriage with their recently deceased father.

Wesley attended a special school; his mentality that of a child several years younger. Although he was seventeen, his handicap deprived him of the gift of friendship; the malicious children often mocking his frailties.

"Ouch!" shrieked Tanya, when Wesley playfully tugged on her pigtails. "Leave it out, will you?"

"Fancy playing on the tarzee in the woods, Jason?" enthused Wesley.

"I don't think so. Me and Tanya have homework to do."

"You mean, like maths and fings?"

"Actually, we're studying the French Revolution."

"Oh yeah? What's that then?"

"Oh, you wouldn't understand... I think we should start our own revolution against Carl," mouthed Jason.

Tanya lowered her head, her sadness apparent.

Jason noticed her uneasiness. "You don't like Carl either, do you sis?"

Wesley skipped ahead of his brother and sister, and practised shadow boxing. "But,
he's our new dad."

Tanya stopped; her fists clenched tightly, her eyes welling up with tears. "New dad? I hate him. He'll never replace our real father."

"Too true," mumbled Jason. “Dad's been dead six months and she moves her lover in."

"I wish he was dead!" snarled Tanya, her bottom lip wavering.

Jason stepped in front of his troubled sister and embraced her. "That's a bit harsh, isn't it, sis? Are you okay?"

She never answered, and walked on, her head bowed, and her older brother still tugging on her pigtails.

******

Tanya showered, and the swirling steam fogged up the closed window. She heard a clicking sound, audible above the music that played on her radio. She reacted swiftly, covering her nakedness with her towel.

A tall, obscured shape appeared to her at the doorway, the stench of alcohol overpowering.

"Who is it? What do you want?"

"Tanya, I'm sorry. I thought the bathroom was empty. You ought to lock it in future," said Carl.

"Are you sure this was an accident, you pervert?"

"What is it?" asked Jason. The loud voices had distracted him from his PC.

"It's him!" Tanya pointed at her stepfather, and held onto her towel with one hand to preserve her modesty.

"No. You're mistaken," insisted Carl, blushing, his embarrassment obvious.

Jason, without warning, threw himself at the bearded man and catapulted his athletic body into the banister. Jason rained blow after blow to the head of his stepfather, until he was eventually overpowered.

Carl pinned the angry boy to the ground. "You selfish little brat! Your father is dead, and the sooner you two realise that, the sooner we can get on with our lives. I love your mother, no matter what you two think, so you'd better get used to it... Tanya, I've apologised for walking in on you, but it was an accident and nothing more."

Carl rose to his feet and offered Jason his hand, only to be rebuffed.

"Why don't you piss off back to where you came from and leave our family in peace? You're not welcome here. You may have fooled our mum, but we now know what sort of a man you are."

Carl conceded and descended the staircase.

"Up the revolution!" laughed Jason.

"Viva la France!" joined in Tanya.

******

Jason opened his weary eyes, the luminous hands of his Incredible Hulk clock-registering three-fifteen am. He propped himself up; rubbing his eyes and cocking his ear like a dog. His bedroom door was slightly ajar, and projected a shaft of light into his bedroom.

A blend of muted grunts and gentle weeping accompanied his footsteps, as he tiptoed towards the landing. The squeaking of the floorboards were unheard by the perpetrators of the strange sounds. Jason clenched his fists, and his fingernails delved deeply into the palms of his hands when he realised the sounds were coming from his sister's bedroom.

The grunts ceased and Jason scampered back to his bedroom, his slender body quaking. He heard footsteps, and then the sound of Tanya's bedroom door closing. Jason melted against his Matrix wallpaper, warm tears running down his face. His inquisitiveness negated his fear, and he once more approached the bedroom of his twin sister. He peeped through the crack in the door to see Tanya's naked body lying on the bed, her white torso convulsing as she sobbed loudly.

Jason edged closer and sat on the edge of her bed, his shame compelling him to look away from her bruised body. The rage built up inside him as he hugged his sister, their weeping as one.

"That bastard's gone too far this time, sis. He'll pay for this; just you wait and see."

"No!" sobbed Tanya, who attempted to prevent her brother from leaving.

Jason marched intently into his bedroom and selected a golf iron from his bag. His mother's bedroom door was almost kicked off its hinges.

The couple lay in bed and his mother was the first to react, her eyes squinting against the radiance of the table lamp. "Jason, what is this?"

"Ask that bastard!"

Carl sat up and held his wife's hand. "Jason, put that bloody thing down and go back to bed. I don't know what I've..."

He was not allowed the privilege of completing his sentence. The iron smashed powerfully against the skull of the shocked man, and droplets of blood splayed into the face of his screaming wife.

Carl slumped forward, his disbelieving eyes rolling in their sockets. Another heavy blow to the back of his head finished him off. The piercing screams of Tanya merged with those of her mother.

Jason turned to face his twin, the horror in her eyes and the shaking of her head suggesting all was not right. He looked past his distraught sister to see Wesley perspiring, stood at the bedroom door, clad in his sister's bra and panties.

Jason's jaw fell open as he dropped the bloody weapon and fell to his knees.