Siblings

I always thought I knew my brother. Then I went into his room, saw what he was hiding on his screen, and realized nothing between us would ever be the same.

I found an old photo tucked away in a drawer, and all at once I knew exactly what I wanted to ask each of them for that vacation.

I woke up not knowing how I would ever justify what they forced me to do that night, or how I could look the man I still loved in the eyes.

Every Sunday, when she left, I opened her wardrobe and became someone else in front of the mirror. That afternoon she forgot her keys and came back early.

Everyone in the neighborhood wanted her, but that birthday afternoon she discovered just how far she was willing to go to be the center of her own family again.

I saw him in briefs only once and since then I can’t sleep without thinking about him. The fact that he’s my half-brother should be enough to stop me, but it isn’t.

My sister’s friends kept coming to my door with one excuse or another. What I never imagined was who would end up in front of me at three in the morning.

I needed company. Without thinking, I asked him if he wanted to get in with me. What happened next changed everything I thought I knew about myself and my friends.

Catalina came out onto the terrace in a white nightgown, sat beside me without a word, and that night we stopped being just siblings in the house by the sea.

That first night, Vega crossed the hall barefoot, entered the master bedroom, and sat on the king-size bed. What they did in the neighborhood cot no longer had to be hidden.

When I saw them come out of the elevator together, I knew that afternoon was going to be very different from all the others I’d had with him.

When she called me from her room that afternoon, I still didn’t know the exam she was about to ask for would change what we felt for each other forever.

For two weeks, I'd been reliving that threesome with my sister and my husband. That morning I called her out, never imagining how the day would end.

I went downstairs for ice and he shut the door behind me. With the party going on outside, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop him even if I wanted to.

Diego was asleep when he felt the mattress dip beside him. It was her, barefoot, whispering that she’d only come down to get her pajamas. His brother was snoring next door.

The door had been left ajar. When I sat up on the table, I saw my little brother staring from the hallway. He didn’t dare come in.

I told her she could bathe on her own now. She lowered her head and whispered she was still scared. I never imagined how far that shower would go.

When I came out of the bathroom that afternoon, I saw him pull his hand out from between his pants. And the TV was lower than usual. It wasn’t a coincidence.

The bed creaked to the rhythm of restrained moans. I walked barefoot to the crack in Camila’s door, and what I saw left me frozen in place for an hour.