Two cubs

I dreamed, I dreamed of a land far away, a time long ago, two brothers just like us.

"Where have you been, brother?"

"East Side."

"East Side? Why?"

"What are you, my personal keeper?"

"I like to know where you are."

"Well, twins we may be, but we are not joined at the hip."

I dreamed of two brothers who were wolf cubs... and yet not.

"You've been talking to Mad Frankie, haven't you?"

"What of it?"

"They don't call him Mad Frankie for nothing."

"I know. Which is why he would make an ideal partner. With Frankie and his mob, we could rule East Side and West side, both. Kick out those gobshite Italians."

I dreamed of a great empire built up from the dirt. Built and ruled over by a wise and merciful lord. I tried to see who this emperor was, but his face was hidden from mine eyes. I saw a man, standing behind the emperor, holding something behind his back.

"We belong to West Side."

"You belong to the West Side. I belong to no place."

"We need to sort this, brother. We need to stay together. We are strong together. We are blood. We have always stuck together, ever since Ma took us in. Nobody could stand between us."

"Life moves on, brother."

I dreamed of two babies, two boys, twins, hidden in a basket in the forest. Abandoned to the snow and the cruel winds.

"I'm meeting Mad Frank tonight. At the building site. You need to be there."

"Oh... I'll be there."

"It will just be the three of us. Nobody else. I promised Frankie there would be no heat. Leave the blicky at home."

"I said I'd be there."

"We need to sort this, once and for all."

"Well, at least we can agree on that."

"Just make sure you are there. Alone. With none of your ghetto bitches. No guns."

I dreamed of a line of stones piled up, for to build a wall. At the top of the pile was a stone bearing the legend: "Murus Servii Tullii." I can't read Latin, but I knew what that meant.

O ~ o ~

"Frankie, my friend, you made it."

"Good to see you again, Rom, I wasn't sure we would ever get together like this."

"Frankie, you know I have always respected you. Not like some of the others. They fear you, run from you, but you have my... respect."

"Rom, it warms my heart to hear you say that. I have always looked up to you and your brother."

I dreamed of two wolf cubs rolling in the drifting snow. Scratching, biting, vying to be top dog. Growling, one cub pinned the other to the ground, then released him.

He grabbed a stick, holding it high in his paw. “One day, Remus,” he said, “I would build a city here and give it my name: Romulus. It shall rule the world.”

“Enough of your fantasies, brother,” said the other. “We must return now to our mother. And with a rabbit or other morsel for her to eat, or she will scold us and bite our ears for our impudence.”

"The East side is yours, Frankie, we have no claim. Forget what you heard. Those guys who were trying to muscle in are purely freelance. Nothing to do with us. They use our name without my permission. You have them now, and you may do with them as they deserve. I'm happy to pay an indemnity for anything they said, but otherwise wash my hands of them entirely."

"Oh, don't you worry about them, Rom. We have them, and they are paying the price for their temerity, as... we... speak. And don't you worry about no indemnity, neither. Your apology is payment enough for me."

"Ha, ha, ha, you stitch me up, you really do, Frankie. I don't recall saying sorry to you, and you know I never apologize, but take it as you will. Either way, if you are happy that we are quits, then so am I. Let us embrace as.... Hold on... Ah, Remus, you decided to show up."

"Rom... Frankie..."

The other two men nod their greetings.

"Well, now that we are all here, let's have a toast. Frankie... Remus... this wall here, that I've put the silver tray on... with a bottle of Bollinger and three glasses... this wall is the start of a new complex that will house the City Administration. It is positioned exactly at the midpoint between the East Side of the City and the West side. It will unite East and West, finally bringing the two districts of the city together. An auspicious moment, a historic moment.... Let me pour you each a glass."

"You know I never drink, Rom."

"Yes, I know you don't drink, Frankie, but why don't your just take a glass, and pretend?"

"There's no need for that, Rom, Frankie is a friend, now."

"Oh, Frankie's a friend now, is he Remus?... You're a friend now, are you, Frankie?..."

Before Frank can answer, Romulus grabs the champagne bottle by the neck with one hand, stretching over the top of the brick wall to seize Frankie by the collar with the other. Smashing the bottle on the wall, he lunges at Frankie with the broken end. Jabbing again and again, the jagged glass tears at Frankie's throat, great gouts of blood cascading up into the air, splattering all three men with the warm, sticky ooze.

"Rom! For Christ's sake..."

"Something wrong, brother?"

Remus hurdles the wall to bend over the now convulsing body of his brother's victim, released by Romulus to fall back onto the ground.

"Frankie... no... no... I had no idea he was going to do this...."

"Whatcha doin' brother?"

"What?

"What ya doin' over there?"

"What?"

"You're on the wrong side of the wall, brother."

With that, Romulus leaps over the wall, still clutching the broken and bloody bottle, to bend over his brother and the dying Frank. His eyes are liquid fire. He sees only a pink mist before him, his brother is but a dark shadow crouched on the ground.

"Rom? No... it's not like that! No... No... Rom... Wait!"

"You're on the wrong side, brother."

"No, Rom, no... ah... ahhh... ughhh... aaaauuuuughlglhhggg."

"Wrong... fucking... side."

Romulus continues to thrust, repeatedly, at his brother's throat, until the spout of black stickiness ceases. He drops the broken bottle by the two, now still, bodies.

"Okay boys! You can come out now. Send up the cement truck."

Last night I dreamed of the emperor in his palace. I saw many people kneel before him, but the man behind the Emperor had gone. He left behind a golden dagger. I saw the Emperor's face. It was mine. I picked up the dagger and took it to my throne.

"Goodbye, dear brother. I'm sorry it had to end like this."

~ o ~ O ~ o ~

Image above: (and detail, featured image) Roman stone relief showing the she-wolf suckling the twins Romulus and Remus. From the church, Assumption of Mary, district Klagenfurt Land, Carinthia, Austria.

This story is based on the Roman myth of Romulus and Remus. Abandoned as babies and rescued by a female wolf, the twin brothers are raised by a shepherding family. Romulus kills Remus after an argument and goes on to be the founder of the city state of Rome (giving it his name), which conquers an empire that stretches from Britannia in the north West, Egypt to the south, and Mesopotamia and Armenia in the East.

With thanks to Paul Stewart for the inspiration to write this little fable. Read his breathtaking poem:

Lupa Capitolina

Thanks for reading my take on the fascinating fable of the foundling founders of the fledgling city state of Rome.

Ray