I once knew this remarkable boy, and his name was Cameron.
Everyone who came within a five-mile radius of him was instantly reduced to swooning, blathering idiots. I knew not of a single person who didn't adore Cameron. When we were younger, he was known as the darling of the neighbourhood, renounced for his boyish charm and shy, slightly hesitant smile. He was the sweetest kid ever, devilishly handsome yet innocently unaware of all the girls lined up at his feet. In spite of all the female attention, he always preferred kicking back and relaxing on the couch with me, watching late night movies and stuffing our faces with popcorn. We would do virtually everything together, so there were few secrets unshared between us. Cameron and I loved each other above all else, and it is possible to say that I would have pledged my life for him.
Puberty struck quite late with him, only when he reached the age of sweet sixteen. Everything changed that fateful year, when he fell in love. With a girl named Melissa.
You could say that Melissa was from the wrong side of the tracks, the kind of person parents kept their children away from at all costs. She was famous for vandalising school property, never showing up in class and, worst of all, abusing her poor, single mother. Word had spread around that it was she who caused her father's suicide. But the rumour was never cleared up, and it only enhanced her badass reputation.
Yet all these flaws never deterred Cameron. He was hopelessly in love with her, and blind to all her faults. She brought out the bad side in him, the side I never knew existed. He started smoking, doing drugs, playing hooky and sneaking out to nightclubs with Melissa. One would call him a juvenile delinquent. His whole life revolved around Melissa, as he seemingly blocked out the rest of his loved ones, including me.
One incident will forever stand out clearly in my mind. I recall the time I found out about his late-night habits, and I remember how distraught and devastated I was. Bleary-eyed and standing in the doorway of his room wearing my pyjamas, I caught him fully dressed, smoking a cigarette. The tell tale vial of cocaine lying on his mantelpiece instantly sent a jolt of shock through me. He gave a brusque half-smile, bade me to go back to bed in a rough voice, and proceeded to drape his knotted bed sheets down the window.
"Where are you going?" I pleaded him to tell me.
A sigh of impatience escaped his throat. "If you want to know what's good for you, go mind your own freaking business."
That stung. Hurt and indignity seized me. "It's Melissa isn't it?" I shouted. "I knew she wasn't good for you. God, you've changed so much Cameron, I hardly even know you anymore. Are you going to throw away your entire life for that good for nothing b-?"
A violent, terrifying expression distorted his features as my accusation was cut short. He shoved me against the wall, his hands around my throat. I whimpered, horrified by the mad, savage glint in his eyes. "Stay out of my life, Cheryn," he snarled menacingly. Tears filled my eyes, but he displayed no trace of regret. I knew then as I helplessly watched him climb out the window, that there was no turning back. The Cameron I used to know and love was officially dead.
Looking back, I chastise myself for not seeing it sooner. The giveaway signs were all there-moodiness, never bothering to inform anyone of what he did and irresponsibility, which was completely against his nature. I am ashamed to say that I had dismissed them as raging teenage hormones, and I did not pay much attention to his personality changes, as I had been preoccupied by my own troubled, hectic life. But I admit that was not an acceptable excuse.
Nobody could get through to Cameron, there seemed to be this invisible wall around him, blocking out everyone else but opening a tiny crack to let Melissa in. he would turn a deaf ear to others' admonishing, or "preaching" as he called it. All he would do was crack an amused smile whenever he was scolded, and even when his poor mother was driven to the point of tears, he would remain oblivious. He couldn't care less when he was grounded, and refused to sit through the counselling sessions he was signed up for. Melissa's notorious love of rebelling against anything "good" was clearly affecting him. He sank deeper and deeper into the world of self-destruction.
The 13th of January 2000 will forever be a day to remember. I had lain awake on my bed with a sense of dread that something awful had happened. For no reason at all my heart was pounding like crazy and cold sweat was pouring down my back, drenching the bed sheets. At exactly 1 am, the doorbell rang. In an inexplicable way, my subconscious had already prepared me for what was coming, but the news still came as a shock and knocked all wind out of my sails. The police officer standing at the door was looking at my parents and I with an expression of great sorrow as he told us that Cameron, along with Melissa, had been found dead at the scene of a car accident. Later we found out that the two of them had been drunk when the car skidded off the road, overturned and crushed the life out of its two passengers.
What I could never understand was how someone of Cameron's integrity and worldly knowledge could have been lured to commit such acts of stupidity and foolishness. Such is the price of love, so I am told.
The funeral for Cameron was a solemn yet simple affair. My parents were crying, desperately wishing that this was a nightmare they could just wake up from. Many of Cameron's friends were still in denial. They couldn't believe that one of them had just died, at the tender age of 17. As for me, I had no more tears left to shed. I have probably wept enough to last me a lifetime. Despite the way I was treated by Cameron after his downward spiral, images of our blissful days together keep gushing back like a tidal wave, engulfing me in sweet, happy memories. I found solace in the fact that Cameron had been well loved in his life, judging by the amount of people who had turned up to pay respects to him. He will be forever missed.
May you rest in peace, my beloved twin brother.