My Identical Twin Brother
Sunday, October 24, 2021
I often dream of having an identical twin brother. As a child, I used to play in front of a full-length mirror and pretended that the image was my twin. It wasn’t out of loneliness, but more fascinated with my picture being reproduced, and therefore a double portrait of me. And now as an adult, I still have the same fascination with my image - especially when I walk by a mirror or a reflection of a store window. I never told anyone this, because this type of behavior is usually not looked upon as something healthy.
Nevertheless, it is something important to me at the very core of my being. The only twins I have ever met were two beautiful women, who often appear in numerous stage shows in Los Angeles and beyond. I once showed up at a meet-and-greet, at a comic book store, where they were promoting a video they made. I approached one believing it was the one that I knew quite well, but I was wrong, it was her sister. She caught my mistake and told me that "you got the wrong girl here." She was sweet about it, but I was embarrassed about my mistake. For some reason, I wanted to be above of such a common error, but I failed miserably.
I was bullied a lot of times in school, both in elementary and high school, and I try to imagine my twin brother there, fighting off the goons and saving me from disgrace, and knowing that he looked like me, I could feel stronger. This, of course, was a fantasy, but as the punches and hair-pulling happened, I imagine this throughout my beating. It made me feel better, and the thought of that image, I never cried. No matter how hard they hit me or yelled insults. With my imagination, I felt stronger than them. It is probably why I’m a writer. It is perhaps why I’m obsessed with the Kray twins.
Reginald and Ronald were from East London, and they started off as amateur boxers, and I have read that they often boxed against each other. One can wonder if when they threw a punch onto the other, did they think they are brothers or was it a punch toward their self-image. I can imagine throwing a punch at the mirror image of me, but I would just end up with a cut-up bloody hand. But here, you are infecting pain on one another. It must have been an intense boxing moment or two. Later on, they became the twin kings of London’s crime world. It has been reported that they could communicate without speaking to each other. Whatever this is entirely true or not, it seemed to cause fear among their henchmen as well as their enemies.
Around the same time, Paul and Barry Ryan were making an appearance in the music world. Paul wrote the songs and him and Barry performed them. To my ears, they sound like a weaker version of The Walker Brothers, but nevertheless seeing Barry and Paul on the same stage or even in photographs, unnerved me. I think due to the fantasy I had to become a singer. I couldn’t carry a tune if my (or your) life depended on it. But if I were a singer, I, of course, would want to have an identical twin brother on the stage with me. To look at each other while singing appears to be heaven.
Nevertheless, I’m torn between the two twin brothers. I imagine that the Krays met the Barry twins, but I just wonder what their reaction would be like? They could go out socially, with Ronnie ganging up with Barry, and Paul can be with Reg. That, I think, would cause a spontaneous disturbance whenever they enter a nightclub or restaurant. But the truth in the matter is that if I had a choice, I would prefer the Krays.
When I’m alone, I feel powerless. Yet, with an identical image with me, floating around yours truly, can be enticing and I imagine one would feel more powerful. The Krays are all about power. It’s not money or even a life of riches, but more of a show, or a theater performance. The Krays, even though they’re criminals, they are more of a performer than say the Ryan boys. They had a good understanding of “theater, ” and what it means to the people outside and inside their social circle. The fact that both of them were reportedly brutal adds a certain amount of shine to their image. So being alone, bullied, and often feeling stupid. The Krays are immensely important to me. Reg, Tosh, and Ron having a night out.