When the Lights Go Out, the Vows Get Tested in the Dark

Sometimes her thoughts got stuck behind her teeth like a door that wouldn’t open.

Erin said, “We need to do a welfare check today. It’s routine.”

Routine. That word is a blunt instrument people use to make you stop asking questions.

“What time?” I asked.

“Within the hour.”

I looked down at my arms—those bruises the social worker saw yesterday. The ugly continue reading …