The Difference Between Us
Laura Wilkinson
Cortado
How stupid to carry the shoes: guilt overriding common sense.
Nestled under my arm the box digs into my ribs, and I wonder how I’ll manage my
suitcases. Swollen soles throb; my feet look like trotters, my legs like
skittles – I am a mess. Pushing aside an unread book and wash bag I scrabble in
my handbag for nicotine gum. I am trying to give up – smoking dulls my
complexion, yellows my teeth. Eva doesn’t smoke. The flight number flashes on
the screen, the belt groans into action and people surge to claim their
luggage, knocking me off my fashionable, unforgiving heels. I hobble forward.
As I push my trolley through the arrivals
lounge I see her. She looks preternaturally beautiful, and my heart sinks then
swells with pride in such rapid succession I feel faint. Or is it the heat? She
glows like a nymph in a river of sweaty faces. She is daydreaming, not
watchful, so I watch her, unobserved, and realise, with dismay, that she’s lost
weight.
‘Not that
she needed to,’ I snipe, penitent immediately. Eva’s been ill; there’s been a
traumatic break-up. Correction: she was dumped. But Eva is never dumped; she is
the one who grows tired and moves on. Until David. I note that other than
weight loss Eva looks in rude health.
****
The last time I saw my twin was a
few hours before my departure. She was getting ready for an evening out and the
house shook with excitement. Her date was a local celebrity, an ex-footballer
whose career had been cut short, purportedly, by a knee injury. He spotted her at
a beauty contest. Eva was not a contestant, much to the relief of the other
girls; she worked as a stylist and make-up artist. Our mother described David as
‘a good catch’.
So all eyes were on Eva the night I left.
She wore a turquoise dress, emphasising her green eyes, and her blonde hair had
been curled and piled high on her head, accentuating her height and leanness.
‘Where are my yellow shoes?’ she
bellowed from the landing as I dragged my bags across the hall. ‘I can’t find
the bloody things anywhere.’
From the
bedroom our mother cooed, ‘Eva darling, why don’t we look in your wardrobe. I’m
sure they’ll be there. We’re not looking hard enough.’
‘We’d better be bloody fast about it. The car will be here in a minute.’
‘Why don’t you wear the red ones, Eva?
They’re gorgeous,’ I offered picking fluff from my jumper and hoping my tone
didn’t betray me.
‘Because red is tarty, Monica.’
Outside a horn tooted and Mum emerged
from the bedroom, pink faced and flustered, holding a pair of silver courts.
‘They’ll have to do.’ Eva snatched the
shoes, slipped them on and waltzed down the stairs. We scurried after her as
she whirled through the porch door.
‘Give me a hug, sweetie. Sorry I can’t
come to the airport. You understand. I’ll come and visit when I’m a happily
married woman!’
And with that she was gone.
Mum touched
my shoulder and said, ‘Plenty of time. Study, work, live, love. That order.’
****
‘Monica!’
Pushing her way through the
crowds she flings her arms around me. I could snap her in two if I squeeze hard
enough.
‘You look well,’ she says.
‘Fat.’
I force myself to laugh. ‘I’ve puffed up like pastry.’
‘You look amazing. Come on.’
Driving home Eva talks
incessantly. Familiar scenery flashes before my eyes. This is home, where my
heart is, I think.
‘How does it feel to be back?’ Eva interrupts
my thoughts.
‘Good. I miss this place.’
‘I’d so love to get out of here.’
‘Then you should. Why not?’
She looks at me and I’m worried that
we’ll crash. ‘Because I’m not as brave as you. Or as clever. People know me here.
And there’s Mum.’
‘She’d cope. If you really want something,
then go get it. It needn’t be forever.’
‘Sound words, Egg. Perhaps I’ll
travel when you’re done.’ The nickname – short for Egg-head – comforts me; she
has not used it for years.
I wonder if there’s anything for
me here anymore. Anyone. I try to be casual. ‘Have you seen Tony? He know I’m visiting?’ I hope he’s forgiven me.
‘Saw him the other day. He asked after
you. “How’s your sis, Eva? Haven’t seen her in an age, must be twelve months.”’
Eva’s impersonation is good. Too good. The cadence is spot on and goose-pimples
rise on my arm.
Tony.
It’s been thirteen months – I last saw
him four weeks before I left.
****
Tony was the kind of guy everyone liked. Nice-looking,
affable, flawed. Ever so slightly
boss-eyed, a bit like Benito Del Toro. I’d been in love with him since high
school.
Eva teased me mercilessly. ‘Monica
loves Toneeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,’ she’d say, fake-fainting on the sofa.
But he didn’t go for girls like
me. Or so I thought. I figured he liked Eva – most of the guys we knew did.
One evening, at a bar on the
harbour with friends, Tony mooched over. He invited us all to the launch of a new
club he was managing, but no one could make it. No one except me. I had nothing
on that night, other than studying for my exams; I rarely did.
Eva shrugged, pouted and said, ’You
win some, you lose some, huh, Tony?’
Ignoring her, Tony turned to me and said,
‘It’s you and me, kid. I’ll pick you up at eight.’
He winked as he walked away. The ‘picking
up’ made it feel like a date.
‘Monica and Tony Sanchez, eh? Who’d have
thought it?’ Eva said. She was laughing, but I didn’t care.
I couldn’t decide what to wear. My
black dress was flattering but too frumpy. I needed something to transform the
look – statement shoes perhaps – but I didn’t have any. Eva did. Spiky-heeled
yellow shoes with outsize bows. They weren’t her favourites, but I knew she would
not lend them to me.
As I crept out, a tote held fast under my arm, Eva said, ‘You look nice. Very,
err,’ she struggled for a quietly insulting remark, ‘refined.’ A heel jabbed at
my ribs as I quickened my pace.
The club was packed and no one
could see my feet anyway. But Tony was attentive; we sat on bar stools and
talked and talked and talked. We made each other laugh.
Later, as we walked to the taxi
rank, Tony took hold of my hand. My palms were sweaty, the soles of my feet ached.
The yellow shoes click-clacked.
‘They Eva’s shoes?’
I shrugged and looked at the
pavement.
‘She wasn’t worried you’d look
better in them?’
‘No
danger of that,’ I mumbled, twirling strands of hair round a finger.
‘She is lovely, that twin of yours.’ He
emphasized ‘twin’ and his tone was jocular, but I didn’t understand.
‘Non-identical
twin.’ I cursed the shoes; they reminded him of Eva. My confidence evaporated.
Without replying he steered me into a
doorway. The wood felt cool against my back. Eyes closed he leant in, kissing
my neck and ears. The scent of sandalwood engulfed me; his touch was passionate
and tender. He inched towards my face. Images of Eva looming in my mind, my
mouth dried up and despite my desire I was unable to return his kiss.
Ashamed I pushed him off and ran;
his confused words couldn’t keep pace, I was fast – even in those heels.
In the taxi I tore off the shoes.
I wanted rid of them. My feet were blistered and bleeding, unused to the
stringencies of such footwear, and as we crawled along the harbour seafront I hurled
them through the open window. The tide was in. I heard a faint splash and
imagined them sinking to the sea bed; the ribbons unravelling, soaring like a
mermaid’s hair, Eva’s yellow shoes drifting with rusty cans, old trainers and
fishermen’s abandoned weights.
I left a
month later. Deferring my university place, I travelled, and forged a life
independent of Eva.
Before I left, Tony called a couple
of times and though I wanted to, I couldn’t pick up. On my voicemail he asked
what he’d done wrong. ‘Call me,’ he said. But I was too embarrassed. I wanted
to tell Eva about the shoes, but never found the right time.
****
As Eva watches me drag my bags from the boot of her car she
says, ‘This is going to sound weird, but did you take my yellow shoes with you?’
My stomach
turns over.
‘Tony said
something.’
‘What?’
‘He saw you
in them.’
Memories return.
Of how messed up I was. How jealousy convinced me he couldn’t possibly like me,
that I was a poor substitute for Eva. How
months later, in a foreign city, I realised the twin reference was meant as a
compliment; bitter tears of regret mingling with the wails of car alarms and
sirens. I hope he’ll give me a second chance.
‘Where did you see Tony?’ I say.
‘In his bar.’
I want to confess, it has weighed
on me too long.
‘I’m sorry.’
It pours out: my confession. ‘I brought you something. To make up.’ And I pull
out the box. A pair of shoes: Manolo Blahnik’s. A month’s salary.
‘I would
have lent them to you,’ she says.
‘You wouldn’t.’ I smile.
‘You’re right. I wouldn’t. It
served me right. Thank you for these. They are truly gorgeous, much lovelier
than the others.’
Clutching the shoes Eva grins. ‘I
have a confession to make too.’ Python sly smile. ‘You stepped into my shoes...’
I wonder what on earth I have, or
had, that Eva covets. And then I know: Tony. I cannot move.
Leaning forward, she grabs my suitcase
handle and wheels it to the front door.
‘Come on, slow coach.’
I kick off my shoes and stand
still, watching her step into the house, watching the difference between us
increase, the slate flagstones on the drive cool against my aching soles.
About the Author
Laura
Wilkinson grew up in a Welsh market town and now lives in a never-to-be chic
area of Brighton. As well as mothering two ginger boys, she works as an editor for
literary consultancy, Cornerstones, and in education. She has published short
stories in magazines, digital media and anthologies. Her debut novel, BloodMining, is published by Bridge
House Publishing. Her current work-in-progress is a novel set against the
backdrop of the 1984/85 miners’ strike. Find out more here: http://laura-wilkinson.co.uk. Or
follow her on Twitter: @ScorpioScribble. She loves to hear from readers.