Charlie and I were orphans. My earliest memory is seeing Charlie pulled from our bunk to be shipped off to another foster home.  We always wound up back at the orphanage though.  We devised a plan to be as crazy as we could with the foster parents.  That way, they would bring us back to the home where we could be together.  We had a pact to not let anything get between us...no matter what.  Charlie and I protected each other from the older kids and the sadistic workers at the orphanage.  It was a tough life, but we adapted.  We even managed to have fun. 

   One night, I awoke to one of the male staff kissing my cheek.  They had some sick fucks in this home.  I played asleep until I could devise a plan of attack.  However, before I could do anything, Charlie hit the pedophile at the base of the skull with a small lead pipe we had found on the playground.  It did no permanent damage to him, but he didn't come around our bunk anymore.  This is the way it went for our younger years.  After we got older, those threats died down.  New threats arose.  Several small cliques always banded together, trying to get control of some small aspect of orphanage life.  Charlie and I stayed out of that as much as possible.  We fought when we had too, but we tried to concentrate on school.  We wanted a better life once we got out of that hell. 

   Near the end of our 17th year, one of the sadistic workers let it slip that Charlie had a younger sister in the orphanage.  The workers were jealous of Charlie and me because we were smarter than they were.  They hated the fact we never lowered ourselves to be apart of their mind games.  So one day while Charlie and I were studying, one of the w orkers was talking to one of the older guys.  He says very loudly, "Yeah, old Charlie there has a sister here...he doesn't even know it.  His whore mom pushed out another rat she couldn't feed and sent her here.  Too bad Charlie's not protecting her.  He just worries about his boyfriend Roman there."  I looked at Charlie and his face was red.  I said, "He's lying, Charlie.  He just wants you to fight so you'll get in trouble."  Charlie calmed down a bit.  That fat fuck kept on, "She is a lot sweeter than old Charlie.  She likes to play at night."  Charlie had enough.  He leapt at the guy and the fight was on.  Of course, I had to back him up.  So we beat the piss out of the guy.  However, we had to go spend the night at juvey and got suspended from school for five days.  Now we were behind in our classes. 

   Charlie became obsessed with finding out if he really had a sister.  They wouldn't tell him anything at the orphanage.  He was crazed.  I finally had enough.  I said, "Charlie, let's just focus on getting out of here. We'll figure out about your sister later.  If she's really here, we can't help her until we get out.  We'll come back for her."  Charlie replied, "Look Roman.  I could have family here.  YOU'RE NOT MY FAMILY.  So leave me alone!"  I was stunned and hurt.  I couldn't believe he said that to me.  We had a pact.  Charlie and I didn't talk for several days.  Charlie finally apologized to me.  I knew he was upset about the situation so I forgave him.  We went on with the plan and finished school. When we graduated, we were released as adults from that hell.

   Charlie immediately set out to find out about his sister.  It was the late seventies, so information was not as readily available as it is now.  He ran into lots of dead ends.  He was frustrated.  We both got shitty jobs and started going to night school.  We could only afford a class or two at a time.  After six years, we both had degrees.  We became social workers and tried to help protect kids like ourselves.  This also offered Charlie access to information about the past.  We both spent free time researching records.  It was painstaking.

   One night, we were both exhausted and fed up with dead ends.  We decided to hit the pub down the street and unwind.  We were sitting at the bar and there was a girl sitting across from us.  She kept glancing our way.  She was young and gorgeous.  Finally she walked over to us.  She said, "You guys look familiar.  Do I know you?"  Charlie said, "I don't think so.  I would remember you."  She smiled and said, "Wait!  Were you at the Hillsdale orphanage?"  We both froze.  Charlie said, "Yes!  I do not remember you.  What is your name?"  She said Lindsay.  Charlie told her about his search for his sister and she froze.  Lindsay said, "The fuck head workers told me I had a brother too.  They said he left and knew who I was, but never came back to get me."  Charlie looked at me and said, "Do you think this could be possible?"  I shrugged and said, "We're closer now than we were before."  We went back to the center and began working.  All of the pieces didn't fit.  However, there was enough evidence to make a pretty clear case.  Charlie decided he had found his sister.  He was a new man.  Life was good.  

   Shortly after, a new girl began working with us at the social service center.  Her name was Jenifer.  Charlie crushed on her hard.  Lindsay and I decided to get them together.  They hit it off immediately.  They did everything together.  Of course, Charlie felt bad for leaving Lindsay out.  So he talked me into taking her out on some dates.  We got along OK, but not like Charlie and Jennifer.  They got married after about a year of dating and moved into a big apartment.  Charlie tried to get Lindsay to move in, but she had started hanging out with new friends.  She was getting a little wild and Charlie worried about her. 

   A few months after they were married, I get a call from one of Lindsay's friends.  He said they got into a fight and she left in the middle of the night.  He hadn't heard from her since.  Now he was scared because there were a bunch of cop cars down the block doing an investigation.  I thought, "Oh shit!"  I rushed down there.  Sure enough, Lindsay had been attacked and killed in an alley.  I was lost for words.  I got back to my office and there was a message to call Charlie.  How was I going to tell him?  I decided to go over to his apartment.

   Charlie answered the door with a smile.  He said, "Jennifer's pregnant!"  I smiled and said, "That's really great Charlie."  He knew something was wrong.  He asked, "Roman, what is it?"  I looked at the floor and whispered, "It's Lindsay.  She was mugged last night and killed.  I just found out a little bit ago."  He collapsed on the couch and began crying.  I kneeled down beside him.  I said, "I have something else to tell you Charlie."  He said, "What?"  I paused and looked at the floor again.  I said, "Lindsay wasn't your sister."  He stopped crying and yelled, "What the hell are you talking about?"  I looked Charlie in the eye, "I paid Lindsay to be your sister.  I gave her all that information to make it look like she was your sister."  Charlie demanded, "Why in the hell would you do that?"  I smiled at Charlie and stood up.  Then I said with a cold, steel voice, "So you would stop looking for your sister and get involved with Jennifer."  He looked confused.  I quipped, "Jennifer's your sister Charlie...you just got your sister pregnant.  Don't fuck with the pact Charlie.  Nothing comes between us."