©2025 SammyC

“All this time, she was just an hour’s drive south of here, in Summit. Her adoptive parents, a couple of French nationals who worked for L’Oreal in Berkeley Heights – real corporate types – liked taking these road trips every summer to see the USA in their Chevrolet. Huh? Oh, yeah, it’s an old commercial. Never mind—”

Regina was holding court, as I was squeezed between her and Billy Bacigalupo in one side of a booth in the Fair Lawn IHOP, where everyone (all 50-odd players, their girlfriends, and cheerleaders) had assembled for the victory party after the game. The din produced by four dozen celebratory teenagers cast a scowl on the manager’s face, but she wasn’t about to turn down capacity business on a late Friday night.

Regina was spinning all the bare-bones facts Uncle Richie had gleaned from news sources and a certain Family Court staffer into an epic of sibling separation, tragedy, and miraculous survival. She even convinced me that the whole tall tale was true. Maybe in this parallel world it really was. I turned to Billy and asked him where his girlfriend was.

“Who me? I’m not too good with girls. I never know what to say to them. Especially the pretty ones like you—”

“Regina’s pretty. Ask her out.”

“Regina?” Seeing that Regina was still in the middle of her soliloquy, he lowered his voice. “Nothing against her but everyone in school would laugh me out of town if I—”

“Why? She’s my identical twin—” Billy shrugged his shoulders.

“—washed up onto the lakeshore. Unscathed! Except for her PTDS. She lost all memory of who she was and, by dint of instinct, made her way back to New Jersey—”

Winnie, sitting with George in the other side of the booth, interrupted. “And you believe this story? This sounds like one of the episodes of that podcast with the Moorefield brothers. Uh...uh…Beyond Bizarre! I bet you they just make up most of the stuff. For gullible types like you, Regina.”

“Are you saying I’m lying!” Regina struggled to stand up and point an accusative finger in Winnie’s face.

Winnie stood up as well. “Look, girly boy, I’m just saying the whole story is unbelievable. The Tolliver family is being scammed. That’s what I think—”

George pulled Winnie back down onto their bench. “It’s obvious Gigi’s Regina’s twin sister. No two people could look so alike without the most extensive plastic surgery imaginable.”

“Well, I hear they’ve got some great surgeons in Beverly Hills.”

“When Gigi regains her memory, we’ll be able to fill in the gaps in the story. And, Winnie, the Tollivers aren’t exactly billionaires. Why would anyone go to such elaborate extremes to scam them?” George gave her an annoyed look.

“Sure, it sounds stupid, but her story is even stupider—”

“No, you’re the one who sounds stupid. Stupid cheerleader!” Regina shouted.

“Ladies! Let’s not fight. We’ve just destroyed Radburn by 40 points!” Billy interceded uncharacteristically. “Anyway, I don’t care how Gigi found her way to town. I’m just glad she’s going to be enrolling in school soon. In fact, I told her she should try out for the cheer squad.” Turning to me, he said, “You’d be our best-looking cheerleader, hands down.”

“Oh, come on, Billy. Next thing, you’ll want Regina to try out too.” Winnie glared at Regina. “But Rossington’s always had nothing but girls as cheerleaders—”

Trying to cut the tension in the air, George asked me, “So, what do you do with your days, Gigi? You’re not enrolled in school yet.”

“I’m Artie’s official escort, to school in the morning and back home every afternoon. And tomorrow I’m taking him to his first roller hockey practice in Petruska Park.”

“That’s all the way across town from your house. How are you getting there? Do you drive?”

“That’s another sign Regina and I are identical twins. Neither of us can drive. At least, I don’t remember knowing how to.”

“I’m free tomorrow all day. I was just going to flake out on the couch. The team doesn’t practice until Tuesday. Right, Billy? So, I can pick you and Artie up and drive you to the rink.”

“That’s really nice of you, George. It beats having to take the bus. Ha ha.”

“It’s no biggie. I’m kind of fond of the little bugger.”

“George!” Winnie punched George in the shoulder. “You promised to take me to the plex to see that Taylor Swift concert movie.”

“That’s it!” Billy shouted. “I knew you resembled someone famous. You look just like Taylor Swift!”

“Hey, I was dressed as Tay Tay last Halloween. Remember?” Regina tried to get at Billy but couldn’t reach him as I turned toward her, startled by the fact that we had both dressed up as Taylor Swift last year. That’s when it happened. It felt like I had pissed my pants. I turned red with embarrassment. Quickly taking Regina’s hand, I stood up at the same time I pulled her up as well.

“Sis, we need to go to the ladies’ room. Now!”

“What? But I don’t need to go—”

Billy courteously left his seat and, seeing the searching look in my eyes, pointed in the direction of the restrooms. I roughly pulled my hoodie down past my crotch and started to run, hitched by one free hand to Regina making like a U-Haul trailer.

“I don’t think they have unisex bathrooms in this place…” Winnie protested.

Miraculously, there was no one in the ladies’ room. I looked down at the front of my jeans and immediately realized I hadn’t pissed myself as I thought. There was a small but growing red-brown stain in the crotch of my pants.

“You’re having your… period!” Regina exclaimed.

“My what, period? What’s with the punctuation?”

“It’s menstrual blood. It’s your time of the month.”

“Oh my God!” I rushed into one of the stalls, followed by Regina. With the door locked, I shucked my jeans and panties. There was still blood dribbling out. We each took wads of toilet paper and tried to wipe it away like one would stanch a wound.

“How could you not know when your period is?”

“I wasn’t a girl until last week, Regina!”

“I really envy you, Gigi. Only women bleed. Real women. You know, this means you can have babies! Just think of that.”

“This isn’t stopping, Regina.”

“I’ll get some paper towels and we can use them as a pad to absorb the blood.” She ran out and came back seconds later, just as I was preparing to pull up my panties. “Come out to the sink after you’ve pulled up your jeans. I’ll wet some more of these paper towels and wipe off those stains.”

A couple of minutes later.

“Now look what you’ve done, Regina! You’ve made the stains bigger. The whole front of my jeans is one wet splotch now.”

“I’m trying to help you, sis!”

“I’ll have to tie my hoodie around my waist like this. It’s better than having everyone think I’ve pissed myself like a whale.”

“I’ll call mom and have her pick us up.” She punched in mom’s number and then reconsidered. “I’ll text her.”

Seconds later, mom texted her back. “She’ll be here in 10 minutes.”

“What did you tell her?”

“You puked yourself and your clothes are a smelly mess—”

“What? You—”

“Just kidding. I just asked her to come pick us up. She’ll interrogate us when she gets here.”

George caught up to us as we stepped out of the IHOP to wait for mom to pick us up.

“Gigi, what time is Artie’s roller hockey practice tomorrow?”

“Oh, George, I forgot to tell you—”

He handed me an 8-pack roll of Tums antacid tablets.

“They’re in assorted berry flavors.”

“Thank you, George.”

“Don’t thank me. Winnie had it in her purse. She was rather concerned about you. Must have been the dipping sauce for the chicken fingers. That’s why I strictly order the burgers here.”

“Come by around 3. Practice starts at 3:30.”

“Gotcha. Well, see you tomorrow. Night, Gigi, Regina. Look, that’s your mom’s car turning the corner now.”

George waved to us as we drove off. Regina, sitting in the back seat, kept waving back at George through the rear window. I turned toward mom.

“You don’t have to ask. I had my period and made a mess of my pants.”

“Weren’t you expecting your period? I’m afraid to ask but…have you had sex recently? Did someone force themselves on you? Did you think you might be pregnant?”

Regina jumped in to save me. “Uh, mom, Gigi got caught by surprise. She wasn’t expecting her period for another…um…week or so.”

“Well, do you use pads or tampons?”

Regina jumped in again. “Pads!”

“I have a box of pads that I haven’t opened. Usually, Aunt Flo’s pretty light for me and I prefer using tampons. You’re welcome to use my pads. Maybe Regina can go with you tomorrow morning to Target and get you your own supply. They have a nice selection.”

“Sounds like a plan, mom.”

“I was afraid it was going to hurt like hell—”

“Not if you put it in the right way, silly. And stop pulling on the string. It’ll pop out.”

I was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, naked from the waist down, legs splayed in front of my twin from another universe. Regina and I had gone to Target right after breakfast to pick up a 96-count box of Tampax. While everyone was downstairs, doing what they usually do on a Saturday morning, we sequestered ourselves in the upstairs bathroom and Regina put me through the paces.

“So how is it I’m being taught how to insert a tampon—”

“And having your menstrual cycle explained to you.”

“By my sister, who doesn’t even have a vagina—”

“Yet! Yet! You said Uncle Richie will pay for my GAS…”

“And who, unless medical science advances several decades sooner than we expect, won’t be having any periods herself—”

“You can learn a lot by watching YouTube videos. And Emily Donner lent me the hygiene textbook she used in middle school.”

“She did that as a mean prank! She waited outside the gym for PE class to end and handed it to me in front of all the other boys. The whole school taunted me about that for weeks. It only stopped when George spoke up against it.”

“George did that for you?”

“In my world, yeah. He didn’t in yours?”

“No. He turned the page on us when I told him I was starting to transition.”

I placed a hand on Regina’s shoulder. “Forget him. He’s not worth it. What did Aunt Mae always say? Plenty of fish in the sea. You’re smart, funny, and beautiful. After all, you look exactly like me!”

“No, you look exactly like me, blondie.” She peeled off the pale green disposable nitrile gloves from her hands and tossed them into the waste basket. “Put your pants back on. We’re done here. Just remember to change tampons every 6 to 8 hours, if not sooner.”

“I’m really looking forward to having to do this five days a month for several decades.”

“I’d swap places with you if I could.”

“I know, sis. I know.”

“You didn’t have to sit through this, George. I could’ve texted you when practice was finished.”

After George drove Artie and me to the Petruska Park roller hockey rink, he unexpectedly stayed to sit with me on the single row of benches behind the sideboards, along with the other parents and adults. Artie was one of a gaggle of five- and six-year-old boys and girls, occasionally prat-falling as they did laps around the rink, warming up before practicing with sticks and pucks. It’s a good thing they were all outfitted with elbow and knee pads as well as helmets. One time, Artie had a particularly nasty fall and I jumped off the bench, ready to leap over the sideboard. George gently pulled me back, assuring me that Artie wasn’t hurt.

“I’m having a blast, watching the little ankle-biters falling on their ass all over the rink.”

“You don’t like little kids, do you?”

“With the right dipping sauce, they’re delicious.” I punched his shoulder as he laughed. “What are you doing tonight?”

“Nothing much. Why?”

“You wanted to see that Magnus, Robot Fighter movie last week.”

“You’ve already seen it. With Winnie.”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing it again…with you. There’s a 7PM showing at the plex.”

“Won’t Winnie be upset when she finds out?”

“We’re not going steady or anything. It’s not serious, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Tell me something, George. If you and Winnie aren’t serious, why don’t you ask Regina to go out? You know she really likes you. And you’ve known each other for years. She’s your best friend!”

“We…we used to be best buds. But that was before…you know. I mean, you must know what I’m talking about. She used to be a boy.”

“As I understand it, she always felt she was a girl. It’s just an accident of birth that she has the wrong body parts. And she’s well on the way to affirming her true gender. Didn’t you recognize that she was always trapped in the wrong body?”

“No way. I never saw that. We were both boys. You know, we’d ride our bikes together, play basketball, street football, skateboarding, shit like that. We even talked about which girls in school were the prettiest.”

“You treated her different from other boys you played with, didn’t you. You protected her from the mean boys and being pushed around playing sports. You wouldn’t let other kids laugh at her high voice and the way she walked sometimes…”

“Is that what Regina told you? She’s got a different interpretation of some pretty standard things buddies do for each other. She was always smaller and weaker than most of the other boys, that’s all.”

A stray puck smashed against the sideboard right in front of us, making a loud, explosive sound, hard plastic against metal. I was startled and fell sideways into George, who reflexively put his arms around me to keep me from falling off the bench. I looked up at him and he smiled.

“Regina didn’t like loud noises either. You really are twins.” He laughed and placed me back on the bench, his hands lingering on my arms.

“You must have held Regina like this when Mr. Tubbs got run over by that car—”

“How do you know about that?”

“We’re sisters. We tell each other things. She told me about her dog, Mr. Tubbs.”

“That mutt? Stupid dog. Ran right out into the street after that frisbee we were tossing around on the front lawn of my house. Never even saw the car that crashed into him. Poor, dumb thing. It happened when we were in middle school.”

“She cried and cried and cried. She wanted to keep holding onto Mr. Tubbs even after the emergency vets came to take him away. He died in her arms, and they pried him away.”

“Yeah, it was sad.”

“You held Regina in your arms and comforted her—”

“She wouldn’t stop crying. She was hysterical. I tried to calm her down.”

“You kissed her.”

“She…told you…that?”

“Yes. She never forgot that kiss. She dreamed of more kisses…”

“I don’t know why I did that. It’s just I couldn’t bear seeing how hurt she was. She loved that stupid dog—”

I turned away from George and said sotto voce, “She loved you.” After I tried to collect myself, George could see my eyes were still red and moist.

“You’re crying.”

“It’s…I’m…her sister. Twin sister. I feel her pain like it’s my own. You wouldn’t understand. She was crying when she told me about how she lost Mr. Tubbs. Years later. Years later.”

“I didn’t know she was still grieving over that dog.”

“Yes.”

“Yes? Yes, what?”

“The movie. I’ll go with you.”

“Great! I’ll come by around 6. We’ll have plenty of time to get something to eat before the movie starts. I’d stay away from the chicken fingers if I were you.” He smiled as another puck smashed against the sideboard. It produced a loud bang a few feet away from us. I didn’t jump this time.

George came by at five minutes before six to pick up his date. He held out a hand-picked bouquet of wildflowers. Pink milkweed. Probably from his neighbor’s curb. I remember those wildflowers from so many summers past.

Mom closed the door and turned to see me slowly descending the stairs.

“Regina! There you are. I know why you didn’t want to see George pick up Gigi just now. Stop pining for that boy. There’s—”

“Plenty fish in the sea? Mom, I’m not Regina. I’m Gigi. George just picked up Regina, not me.”

“Does he know that?”

“We’re twins, mom. We’re identical twins.”