November 9

November 9, 2000

Lucky. Lucky. Lucky. I am a very lucky person. Neil Armstrong became famous as he was the first person to walk on the Moon, Bob Ross for his extraordinarily good artistic skills, The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) for his wrestling guts but I...I became famous for something I never did.

On November 9, 1999 I encountered with the Press for the very first time. It had been around noon, when they arrived. The scorching sun had them sweating as though they had just taken a bath. After asking my whereabouts and my daily routine, they came straight to the point. "North West, how do you feel, now that you are amongst top ten women to become famous overnight, all over the world?" One. Famous? Two. All over the the world? Three. Nothing made quite some sense at that time. Four. Nevertheless, I spoke up. "I'm elated. To say I'm over the moon, would be an understatement." Five. I was unable to keep the joy in me composed. Six. I wanted to appear as the mature, young adult who wasn't being extra on her recent discovery thus, I kept on talking. "I wouldn't have been able to do this without love and support from my family and I am so very thankful for that." Seven. It took me seven exact seconds to take away what was hers. It took me seven exact seconds to take away her dream. It took me seven exact seconds to shatter my sister's dream into a million pieces. My sister is also my twin. We are disbelievingly identical. From our gray eyes, to the square jaws and cheek bones, everything is exactly the same except for the fact that my sister, East West can't speak. I almost died at her hands. It was her who had discovered the new star, Maia. But being the bad girl that I am, I took all the credit on my shoulders.

She tried to hurt me: she threw Mom's favorite vase, a shoe box, her slipper, one after the other at me. All in the presence of the Press. Now that every single one of the Press members had witnessed me being a victim, it was easy to turn the tables, to put forward East as the mad girl. And that is exactly what I did. I took advantage of her disability, and put her behind the bars up until...until everyone had memorized that it was me who had discovered the new star and not her. I still feel bad for it, though.

The next day, was one of the very few happy days of my life. I was there on the front pages of newspapers, on the cover page of magazines, on television screens. I was in paparazzi's spotlights, all for an act I didn’t do. How cool was the fact that I was East’s twin? I never benefited from her but now that I did…the reward was huge. East bore all of it patiently…because she could do nothing except for that, could she?

I became famous. I earned money. I made my parents proud. All for something I never did. Mom was not happy with me. She and Dad, they both knew that it was East’s achievement and I was robbing her off the golden opportunities. She hated me all the times I existed. But back then, I didn’t care. I didn’t care for what Mom thought. I didn’t care for what East, her friends and my entire family thought. All I cared about was the money, the stupid dollars. The dollars that gained me fame overnight, that helped me reach Top 10 women all over the world. I wasn’t myself anymore.

I wasn't myself anymore. All I cared about was how I looked on TV, how I looked on newspapers, magazines and outside. I became one of the wealthiest lady in our area. People were jealous. Jealous of my achievement. Well, I know it wasn’t mine but East couldn’t do anything about it. Could she? I used to travel city to city, country to country, where everyone fought over to get my autographs. They fought with each other to click just one…just one picture with me. With North West. I lost contact: with Mom, with Dad and with East. I used to charge high amounts of money to travel just a few miles. I forgot that all of this would one day end. I used to brag about how much hard work it took for me to reach the space and discover the new star. I used to brag about how much difficult the task had been when in real I didn’t even know anything about it. Not even a bit.

Tables turned. What do they say? Ah yes, history repeated itself. I thought I would never get caught. But I was wrong. As I write this, my hands shake. It is November 9 today. The very same date on which I got famous, last year. The jailer is coming. He hands over the food to me and makes a face on how filthy my wrinkled hands look. Yes, I am in jail. I have been charged for plagiarism. Stealing my sister’s achievement and putting it forward as my own, made me end up in jail. The fame, those stupid dollars came with a price. A huge one. I have been sentenced to an years imprisonment. I will probably die before that long. I wish I do. I really wish I do.

Everyone hates the once-famous, North West now. They hate me for treating my sister unfairly. They hate me for pretending to be a person, I wasn't. They hate me. They hate me. They hate me. People who fought with others to have an autograph from me now shoot looks of disgust at me. They feel pity for me. And they love East. They love her for doing such a good deed, they love her for not standing up against me. East is probably very happy, now.

East is probably very happy now. Very happy in her new life. But, this isn't over. When you've time, I will tell you what happened to East next. I will tell you what happens to everyone who tries to trick me, to make a fool of me. I'll tell you.

-North West.