They Hid Me Behind A Pillar At My Brother’s Wedding

at the burning window.

Then he looked away.

I went back in.

I don’t remember the stairs, only heat with teeth. I remember Ben’s blanket had trucks on it. I remember his fingers locked in my hair so hard I had bald spots later.

My mother said, “If you love your brother, don’t make him grow up knowing that.”

There it was.

The leash.

I was seventeen and dumb continue reading …