Sofia's Curse

Chris and Victoria

The trailer of the Jenkins family is a humble cozy place to live in. Small windows are decorated with yellow curtains and saffron pots. Beside them, there is an old khaki couch with abrasions and indentations, where Victoria is seated.

Yasmine Jenkins works as a fortune-teller for living. Her customers come to her trailer so she could avoid paying taxes. The little she makes, she is saving up for her children's education. Being a single parent is burdensome, and her measly financials do not make the burden any lighter. However, the taxes are not the only reason she is hiding from the government. Namely, Yasmine is living in the United States as an illegal immigrant.

Her origins date back to Italy. It is all she ever says about her past when asked about it. She doesn't talk much about her younger years, neither about her parents, nor Victoria or Christopher's father. The only thing they know about him is that they're a spitted image of his. Victoria is suspicious of her mother's words, though, since she has never even been given a photo of this alleged father. She is a tough one to please, always asking for evidence.

Although she got used to her mother's introvert nature and stopped asking questions, on the inside, the curiosity is eating her alive. She has always been noisy and persistent. Yasmine found it very difficult to raise her. In spite of all the obstacles, nonetheless, Yasmine made it. And she won't let her kids down.

"Your past life was turbulent," Yasmine whispers. "Your wife died at young age and you never got over it."

Victoria is pretending to be reading a book, but rolling her eyes gives her away. She had to do it, because her mother's pretense psychic abilities always make her want to laugh. At least she is convinced her palm readings are a scam. Yasmine never admitted it, though. She only admitted to not needing a palm or a coffee cup to be able to tell someone's destiny. Mostly, she claims she gets visions of a person's life based on their past lives. She claims she can recognize spirits and match them with their previous lives.

"I was a man?" the woman seated opposite of her mother exclaims.

Yasmine nods with certainty. "You see this line", she runs her finger across the middle of the lady's open palm. "It tells me you were a bulky man two lives ago".

The woman with fine auburn hair and bad tan purses her lips. "I don't know how I feel about that. How many lives did I have?"

Yasmine narrows her eyes. "Four", a curly lock falls down her cheek "This being your fourth one".

"Four?" she almost gets a heart attack. "Good grief! And I was happily married you say? Before my...wife died?"

"You were married all three times. Two of them were happy. And in one, you had seven children".

"Sweet Joseph and Mary", the woman crosses herself. "I cannot believe this... Am I being punished now by not being able to have children?"

Yasmine's light eyebrows come together. "Punished? Why would the forces punish you for having had children?"

Victoria has to contain herself from rolling her eyes again. Hearing her mother use the oh-so-unspecific word 'forces' makes her want to jump through the window. She has to interfere. "Well, mother... Overpopulation is one of today's most preoccupying global problems. Maybe the forces wouldn't like her to make Ethiopia out of Oregon", she shrugs innocently. "Just a thought", she lowers her gaze and continues reading a book, pretending there was no sarcasm in her words. But she can sense Yasmine's wide chocolate eyes piercing her from behind the round glasses. Truth is, Yasmine doesn't need any eyewear. Her eye vision is intact regardless of her age. But she thinks they make her look more professional. As if being a psychic wasn't unprofessional by itself...

"Interesting, Victoria", she manages to utter without any signs of poignancy. "Thank you for your contribution", she gives her an almost unnoticeable smile. Then she addresses the slightly overweight woman, whispering. "Victoria thinks she has psychic abilities, too, but..." she slowly shakes her head keeping her lips pressed in disappointment. "I have to say, I see no talent in her".

Victoria covers her mouth to contain laughter. "I guess the forces didn't like me enough to bestow me with the gift", she adds as she calmed herself down.

Victoria isn't usually this provocative, but for the entire afternoon she has been feeling pain in her gut. She has a bad feeling and it makes her a bit nervous.

The woman has a sad expression. "I understand. I wish I had your mother's talent, too. Sometimes I think it'd be such a relief not to have to think what to wear or where to go. I could analyze the outcomes and decide on the best option".

Yeah, that worked out well for her, Victoria thinks. She hates living in such poverty, lacking everyday necessities. If she had real powers, first thing she would do is create some money. She loves her mother and feels sorry for her, but in a way, she resents her for having her and her brother, since she had known she was in no condition to support herself, let alone her children.

Victoria has been working at a school library for three years now, but the pays of all three of them are barely enough to cover their expenses. Also, having been fired from her hostess position at Lagoon Night Club a couple of months ago certainly didn't help. But Victoria wouldn't allow anyone get away without a slap after having grabbed her deriere in a vulgar way. She is impulsive and sometimes acts rash, but this is not one of the things she regrets. Plus, the expression the bold man gave her after having received a nice firm slap across the face was priceless.

Good thing Chris wasn't present to see it because who knows what he would've done. He is extremely protective when it comes to family.

A knock on the door makes the middle-aged lady flinch. Yasmine couldn't blame her – it's dark outside and the rain has just started falling. The snow is thawing and the scary sounds of the wind don't make the atmosphere any more pleasant.

"That's just my brother. Don't fret, he hasn't killed anyone in years", she grins and stuffs her head back into the book.

The lady's eyes pop open.

"Excuse her, Deborah. My daughter reads too much crime novels", she gives her a pleasant smile and stands up to get the door.

I'd watch TV if it functioned, Victoria thinks. This way, reading books are the only thing she can do for leisure. She doesn't have many friends. Her brother is her best friend and she spends most of her time with him.

"Goodness!" she hears Yasmine's voice from the foyer. "What happened?"

Victoria jumps up off the couch and runs to the door. She knew something was wrong with Christopher. They are linked in a way all identical twins are. Her hand runs to her mouth as soon as she sees him. He has a black eye and a cut lip, his clothes are ripped, and there's so much blood on his shirt that she can't tell where it's coming from. "Who did this to you?" she snarls when she was finally able to speak, gently putting her shoulder beneath his armpit to lead him to the couch.

Deborah jumps up as they entered the room. "Heilige Maria Mutter Gottes!" she exclaims in German, her mother tongue, crossing herself. "What evils have befallen this boy?"

Yasmine makes a disgusted face - something she always does at the mention of God – as she pulls out a pillow for Christopher to lie down. "I'll make you some tea," she rushes to the kitchen.

Victoria sits down beside him, waiting for an explanation. Instead, she notices he is watching her intensely. "Amazing... Exactly alike", he whispers.

"What?" she frowns scrutinizing him. "Are you okay, Chris?" she touches his forehead to check his temperature thinking he is ranting, but he grabs her hand. "Where were you tonight?"

She tries to break loose. "What is the matter with you? You're hurting me!" she jerks off his hand and stands up, squinting. "Have you been drinking?"

Yasmine returns with a cup of tea. "Here you go, love. Drink up", she caresses his hand. "You'll feel better".

"Do you have any intentions of telling us what the heck you've been doing?"

Christopher licks his lips in annoyance and directs his gaze towards Deborah, implying he will not talk in front of her.

Yasmine takes the hint and starts fidgeting. She has to get rid of the nosy lady. "Hey, Deborah", she approaches her with a smile. "I think tonight's been overwhelming for all of us. Could we reschedule your appointment for tomorrow?" she lowers her voice when she sees her displeased expression. "I've noticed you have a dark zit below your lip. It's a warning sign for a hex".

Deborah freezes. "I do? I haven't noticed", she urges, petrified.

Yasmine turns blocking her children's view and then runs her hand over Deborah's skin. The zit suddenly appears. "Yes, you should go check at home. But I promise I'll give you a hex-removal for free next time you come", she winks.

That seems to have made Deborah blissful because she beams and greets all three of them in a hurry as she grabs her blue raincoat of the wooden little chair she had been seated on and rushes to the door.

Yasmine sighs out watching her leave and once the door shut, she abruptly turns to face Christopher. "Now", she puts her hands on the hips. "Would you be so kind?"

Christopher props himself up on the elbow and slowly puts the tea cup on the table next to the couch. "I started a fight with these boys... It was over a girl I liked. It was stupid, really. It won't happen again, mom. I promise".

Yasmine isn't that certain in his honesty, but decides not to push him today. "Take a rest, son. We can talk later." She caresses his cheek and goes for the kitchen.

Victoria leers at her mother leaving. As soon as she is out of sight, she turns to Chris. "Okay. What in the world happened, Chris? I know there's something you're not telling us."

Chris props himself up against the elbow, pinching his lips to contain a sigh of pain. "You're right," he whispers. "Something happened," he pierces Victoria with his eyes. "But you can't tell mom," he lifts his eyebrows in sign of warning.

"Yes, okay, whatever," she is irritated, too eager to hear his story.

"At first I thought it was you..." he mumbles to himself. "Yes, her hair was longer...her clothes were...rich," he pauses to check Yasmine was out of sight. "But besides that... She looked exactly like you. She was you."

Victoria's eyebrows furrow. "What are you talking about? Who is she?"

Chris sighs loudly and lets himself fall back to the pillow. "I don't know," he runs fingers nervously through his hair. "I don't know. But," he gazes at her. "We need to find out."

Victoria bites her lower lip. "What are you saying, Chris? That a girl who looks just like me beat you up like this?" she almost chuckles.

"Not exactly. She was the one to get me in the fight, though."

Victoria rolls her eyes. "Please talk humanly, Martian. I can't keep up with your crazy talk!" Victoria is always impatient.

Chris bites his lip. "Not here," he straightens. "Help me up."

Victoria jumps to her feet and helps her brother up. Then she puts her hand under his armpits and guides him toward the twin-bed bedroom they share. Their modest lifestyle can't afford separate bedrooms. But none of them mind. They are too close to be apart, anyway. There are no secrets between them.

"Okay," Victoria says as he sat on the edge of his bed. "Now we're alone. Talk," she kneels in front of him.

"I was at a gas station when some rich kids arrived. And one of them made a nasty remark and I...well, you know me."

"Yeah," she sighs. "You flipped out, I suppose."

"Anyway, that's when I saw you. Her, I mean," he corrects himself quickly. "And I wanted to get you out of there, but you kept, she just kept staring at me."

Victoria frowns. The conversation makes her shudder. A girl that looks just like me? How is that possible, she thinks.

He continues. "That's when I started a fight. With one of the guys she was with. All of them, actually and...the weirdest thing happened. She walked out...to protect me. I mean, I'm not sure what she was doing, but...it seemed like she wanted to protect me. That's why I was still convinced it was you-"

A knock on the door interrupts him. Yasmine peeks in, smiling sadly. "Feeling better?"

Chris nods. "Yeah, Mom. Don't fret, please. I'm going to be alright."

Yasmine pinches her lips. "I know, I know. You're a big boy now. I'll leave you two talk," she says, but there is worry in her expression. She's uneager to leave them. Nonetheless, she shuts the door and Victoria rolls her eyes.

"God, we can't even have a minute of peace," she says. "Continue."

Chris lets a loud sigh out. "Anyway, she made them stop and...she kneeled down next to me. Watching me intensely. I still thought it was you. Until someone called out 'Sophie'. And she stood up. That's when I realized it couldn't be you. She turned and her hair was longer. Come to think of it, I believe she was slimmer, too," he smirks.

Victoria purses her lips in annoyance. "Ha-ha. I wouldn't joke if I were you. God knows you couldn't stand another beating."

"Don't you mean...the forces?" he chuckles.

Victoria doesn't laugh. Something else crosses her mind. She turns her head to check the air is clean. Then she comes closer to Chris. "Did you talk to her? How did she sound?"

Chris licks his lips, shaking his head. "She didn't talk to me. But I heard her voice, yes."

"And?" Victoria lifts her eyebrows, expecting.

"Her voice was your voice."

She freezes. "Chris... How's that even possible?"

He shakes his head. "I don't get it, Vic. I swear... I thought it was you. She was this close to me," he gestures with his hands, "and I thought it was you."

Victoria keeps silent for a moment. Then she shakes her head. "This isn't good, Chris. This can't be good. I don't like the sound of it at all. If she... If she has both my looks and my voice, Chris...she can't be just a look alike. Those..." she checks if they are alone before she speaks, "are genetic, Chris."

He clenches his teeth, deep in thought. "You're right. I don't know what to make of this." He narrows his eyes. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Victoria sighs. "There's only one way to find out."

Chris nods. "We need to find her."