“Please, arrest me. I’d rather go to jail than go back to that house…”

house only ever meant a high-five, or an offer of a hug. In the chaotic, beautiful process of saving him from the monster next door, I realized I was inadvertently, finally healing the deep-seated, ragged wounds of my own past traumas.

Later that same night, long after I had tucked Leo securely under a pile of heavy quilts, I stepped out onto the quiet continue reading …