The Odd Twins

By Randy Caparco

Life is full of mysteries, and we limit our thoughts to what we believe sounds right and reasonable. Our minds control our lives based on our past experiences, and so our ability to expand is limited. New incoming information is handled based on the past, and so we constantly live in the past.

This writing will take you beyond what you bel

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stratton Press
• Release date: May 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781648954139

Randy Caparco

Randy Caparco, author, holds a master's degree from CW Post College. He has been a law enforcement officer for a period of not less than thirty years. Today, he is retired from his last law enforcement position with the state of New York. He is an enrolled agent, authorized to practice before the IRS, and has an accounting firm located in Suffolk County, New York.

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The Odd Twins

Randy Caparco

THE ODD TWINS

Copyright © 2021 Randy Caparco

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Stratton Press Publishing

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Wilmington, DE 19801

www.stratton-press.com

1-888-323-7009

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in the work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-64895-412-2

ISBN (Ebook): 978-1-64895-413-9

Printed in the United States of America

The Odd Twins is a story that will have you transfixed with wonder and will take you for a ride you will never forget. This story will take you to an area that is truly unchartered. It is a tale that will have you questioning whether or not it is possible for such an event to occur. Most of us have a fixation when it comes to childbirth. We are fascinated by it! This is an unusual story that takes you one step beyond.

An unusual pregnancy, an unexpected childbirth, police work, suspense, boxing, love, and death, all come together to take you for a roller coaster ride. Eventually, this leads to an unbelievable conclusion that will blow your mind.

Take the ride! Enjoy!

Contents

The Agony

The Agony Continued

The Firstborn

The Princess

The Entry

The Panic

The Announcement

The Filly

The Inquest

The Boxer

The First Feeding

The Sacrifice

The Return

The Rage

The Spacemen

The Slaughterhouse Incident

The Investigation

The Autopsy

Armando

The Therapist

Power of the Twins

A Night of Glory

The Quarry

The Confession

The Massacre Finale

What Is to Come

The Agony

A medium-sized farmhouse stands about two hundred feet off a dirt road in a rural part of Italy located in the town of Caserta, which is famous for its Royal Palace. The Palace served as headquarters for the allied armies. Warplanes can be heard flying overhead almost consistently with just minor abbreviation.

The house is located about sixty-five-miles from Naples and not too far from the Royal Palace.

This adorable three-bedroom ranch sits on a three-acre farm that is surrounded by two barns, a horse stable, a chicken coop, a large pig sty, and a short distance away, a large square building that is used for slaughtering and butchering animals.

Roosters, chickens, pigeons, and a variety of small birds run freely, pecking at bits of edible food. A pig or two are also searching for something edible.

In one of the barns, cattle and other animals are kept ready for slaughtering. In the next few days, they will meet their demise—a bitter demise indeed!

Slaughtered would be more appropriate!

A rail surrounds the entire area. It is about three feet and is separated by a string of three—a typical rail one would expect to find on a farm or ranch.

This was the home of the man whose daughter is lying in bed waiting to give birth.

The closest neighbor is approximately a mile away.

The year is 1944, and in this small town, most transportation is accomplished by horse and buggy or just a horse.

Few own vehicles. Vehicles are also a means of transportation, but they are scarce and not suited for this terrain. Only one family member owns a vehicle and oftentimes screeches into the grounds. A donkey would serve a greater purpose than an auto! Besides, who could afford a car?

Food is scarce and not readily available. Most food comes from farming.

World War II was having its impact on the entire world since 1939. It would finally end in 1945.

The older generation (mostly Italian socialists) idolized Mussolini (1883–1945) and frequently commented on his achievements and chanted his name in glory.

Most youngsters, coming of age, question his dictatorship. Some even claim that it was he who made Italy a country of despair. The ruthless fascist! some would say. The killer of many Italians!

The debate goes on.

It was a time just after Hitler (1889–1945) raided Poland.

Poverty was abounding.

The household consists of two children, their parents, and a peculiar woman.

Today is a special day at the home of the Gaetanos. A child is expected sometime today. It was anticipated that the unborn would unite with the world several hours ago, and yet the expectant mother still lies in a bed, in her home, being nursed by her aunt Martha.

The aching woman chose not to have an entire medical staff observe her as she is fully exposed with her legs splayed wide open while writhing and panting. Besides, she was not exactly feeling as if she looked like Anna Magnani (1908–1973), a famous Italian starlet, a beauty who was known as the Toast of Rome. Thus, she decided to have a natural birth at home.

She had been exposed to this kind of trauma before and was not going to go through it again. What could be more belittling?

Eight hours of expectations have gone by. Not sure she made the right choice. She lies in thought, Perhaps the indignity faced in front of an entire medical staff may have been less painful.

The sky is without moon! The warplanes are making their awful ear-piercing sounds.

There is a cold southeast wind!

The fog is thick, and there is an eeriness emanating from the chill. Star-shaped flakes of white drift in the air, barely reaching the ground.

Several animals make their peculiar sounds, and as if haunted by the expectants’ painful screams and the eeriness of the eve, they make louder sounds than usual.

A large owl, with all its mystique, makes a repeated hooting sound that hauntingly lingers in the air, over and over. The eerie sounds cause the peculiar woman to shiver. She looks out the bedroom window and is mesmerized by the sight of the hooting owl perched on a tree branch.

She does not notice the unusually large black raven flying overhead but is awed by the loud cawing sound from the flying beast. It was almost as if sending out a warning.

Martha is intimidated by the repeated hooting and the repeated cawing. Prior to today, she had never seen an owl this close to the house.

Intimidated, she secures the window and draws the blinds.

Martha has had some experience in child delivery and volunteered to help and play the role of midwife. Though her training was not that of a medical professional, she had observed the delivery of the Gaetano’s other children. She also had assisted with another childbirth.

She is partly grey and stands about five foot four with a small pouch. Her gray eyes surrounded by a brown bead draw attention. The constant comments made about her eyes are annoying, but she hides it well. She has a good sense of humor and frequently talks about the past.

Looking at her, one could immediately assume that there was a time this matriarch had all the makings of a starlet or harlot.

As the woman in bed frowns and lets out an occasional scream, the midwife consoles her and cracks an occasional joke. It is a failed attempt to ease the tension.

Still frowning, the aching woman suddenly releases a great deal of water and calls for her aunt, who had gone into the kitchen, to get fresh water. Reentering the room, with a basin of water, she hears, My water broke. It should be over soon.

The midwife nods. Should be real soon, Maria.

Three hours later, the anxious woman is still waiting for the arrival and has now become almost incorrigible.

Staring at her grey eyes, she hollers, It hurts so bad!

Having had other deliveries, she becomes fretful and even more incorrigible. Her other deliveries were not as painful and were more timely.

Wiping Maria’s forehead, the aunt nodded and spoke of good times they spent together, I recall a time when your dad was going to slaughter your pet hog and serve it for dinner.

Frowning, she says, Could I forget? I had such a tantrum and threw myself on the floor, kicking and screaming, followed by a large puddle of tears…

As Maria gives into a slight smirk, her aunt continued with the distraction.

Yeah! Your mother had to jump on his back and physically stop him from feeding you your best friend. You were only ten at the time, and there was little food.

She is now smiling and yet Martha could tell that her pain is intense.

I remember how the two of you rolled on the floor and laughed. Afterward, your father agreed not to slaughter the pet if you agreed to take care of him.

Pudgy was only twenty pounds then. She gave her pet the name Pudgy because every time the animal ate, it would blow up and appear to be pudgy.

Maria’s attention span was interrupted by a huge spasm, causing her to scream out.

As she did so, the owl yelped a louder-than-usual hoot. It caused Maria to turn toward the window. Unable to see out the window, she turned to Martha and said, Something is wrong! She insisted that the pain was becoming intolerable.

As the infuriated woman attempted to discharge the child and ease the excruciating pain, the midwife, though frightened by the loud hooting, kept encouraging her to push harder.

The child refused the discharge order and clung to the womb, as if defying its inevitable entry into reality.

Maria moaned with pain for what seemed to be an eternity.

Having no choice, both Maria and the expected child were exposed to several more tales.

Yeah! Whoever thought he would grow to be two hundred pounds and act as if he were your child. I remember how you jumped on his back and rode him as if he were a horse—

As if not wanting to hear any more stories about the past, the expected child loosened its grip and began to ease out.

As the head appeared, the midwife screamed with joy, I can see the head! Push hard now!

The Agony Continued

Fear has entered Ricardo’s mind as he waits and paces silently.

Eight hours late is not normal. A couple of hours maybe, but eight hours is ridiculous! So he tells himself.

The goose bumps running up and down his spine are taking their toll.

He is not an oversensitive man and does not despair at the slightest of dramas; however, there is something haunting that he is unable to explain.

His physique, while not up to par with his brother, is above that of the normal person.

He does not lift weights and yet he is muscular. Perhaps this is due to all the heavy work involved in being the son of a farmer and a slaughterer.

Having served in the military, under the regime of the fascists, he, too, at some level, idolizes Mussolini. He frequently insists that he hates him and says, Ruthless! Yet he saved Italy.

The close to three-year stint which began near his eighteenth birthday made him rugged, to say the least.

His gut is wrenching and the air is inexplicable.

The aura of something, a spirit of some sort, is tugging and causing his heart to beat rapidly beyond the normal beat of sixty to a hundred per minute.

His heart has never troubled him nor given him any concern. Now he hears the loud and rapid beat, and it makes him wonder about mortality—even if it’s only for a minute.

Ricky tells himself that all is well and the child will be fine, and yet he questions the validity of his thought.

The desire to barge in and help his wife is tugging at him, but he knows that he is not going to accomplish anything.

After all, what does he know about childbirth?

He grabs at his forehead and forces his hair back with both hands—almost in disgust. Pacing! Pacing! Pacing!

He too hears the animals howling and making their birthright sounds. Only louder!

The sounds are abnormal and the chill in the air makes for a spine-tingling creepiness.

He regards the eerie sounds due to the chill in the air and perhaps because he had not fed the animals as he normally would. The wait was as long for the animals as it was for the family.

They too would like the child to arrive so they could get fed, so he tells himself. Putting aside such a ridiculous thought, he did his best to push the animal sounds out of his tormented mind and glanced toward his children.

The two children, Carmine and Cristina, believed to be born of this unity, have waited patiently but now have come to the point of intolerance.

After all, they are only five and seven. How much tolerance can children have? They have been waiting for what seemed forever and finally fell into darkness.

Ricardo also nods but is unable to stay detached and frantically continues to pace as if in a state of conscious REM. This is known as the state one is in when awake and unsure that is the case.

Unable to pace any longer, he falls to a high-cushioned chair, his favorite, and falls into a semi-coma. Though not sound asleep, he experiences this state of confusion. He wonders how it is possible to be awake and feel as if he were in a dream state. It was as if he were awake and asleep at the same time.

While in this paradoxical state, he envisions or dreams that the child has arrived and is calling out for his help. He could hear the child say, Dad, help me! Help me! I want to be alive! I want to be me! Don’t let it take me over!

Who is it that wants to take over? Dad asks himself.

Finding himself even deeper into REM, he has a vision of a child coming into the world with an extremely large head and rather unexplainable large eyes. They are slanted and difficult to look at. The center has a red core surrounded by black. There are no lashes and the top lip seems to be much larger than the lower one.

The bottom lip appears to be split in the center. The child appeared to be very long and on the heavy side.

He could not distinguish the sex of the child. Bald and shiny was the head!

The only thing missing was the horns. If these were in place, it would appear that the devil himself had arrived.

The beast is staring at him and rapidly moving its arms as if to say, What have you done to me?

Ricardo finds that he is helpless and unable to move toward the child. Something is holding him in place. He can’t move a muscle, only stare in helplessness.

Though this thing lacked beauty, there was something perplexing.

Ricardo found this grotesque being to be beautiful.

The inner beauty was not a figure like the one before him, but he sensed that there was another communicating with him.

He could see a large bird above the child’s head but was unable to distinguish if the bird was just a mirage or had physical form. The bird is not recognizable. It could have been an owl, a raven, or an eagle. Suddenly, the bird disappears