a's
at it. Each night, the fan generated random sound patterns which never synced with my excessive thinking processes as
the store's desperation. Nighttime wind entered through the faulty window opening, further exposing my inadequate blanket cover
velope sitting on the counter. The final notice stared at me through b
ime we had. After that, the hospital bills came. Then the landlord's warnings. Then the realization that the
n I found
her, young and laughing, in the arms of a man I'd never seen before. But the way he looked at h
ver so many times tha
efore redirecting the conversation. She would conceal knowledge about my father because she wanted to protect me from
wers. And I
id when we were running out of option
equirements were odd. Discretion. Live-in preferred. No questions. No vis
envelope. It was scrawled in ink on th
be. But it didn'
myself. I used my real name. My real address. For the first time, I wanted to be f
sleep t
d at my mother like she was the entire room. If he really was who I suspected-if he was my fathe
ked into his world, and he d
ng, the agency
oice clipped and cold. "Report to the
o paperwork. Ju
mach t
almost professional. I couldn't afford luggage, so I packed my things into an old duffel bag, z
she liked-one with forbidden love and powerful men who thought money could buy everything. "Life doesn't w
he meant then. I'm n
pressed the photo between my fingers
him. And I'm going