lding a mug of tea I didn't even want. I let the phone ring. I let the quiet sta

ot because of some grand awakening. Not because I su

needed

ttle disappear beneath last night's takeout and unopened

n a week. Maybe in three days. I knew

ithout them-if I could let the grief stay, just long eno

ed once more and letting the qu

-one bag, no explanation. Just this gut-deep pull,

ou ignore the speed limit, forty-five if you're fee

cause I pulled myself out of their orbit

onger than I should have, engine off, radio dead. My hands stayed on the wheel l

I d

opened before

said Supermom, the letters nearly peeled off. Her eyes went soft th

ho'd been lost and fi

abb

t tight but smil

d aside. "Y

ecture. Just warmth-like bre

amon smell. The fridge is humming low. Dad's old

m sadness, but because i

ghing at something dumb on TV. Nadia-thir

nked, mouth half-full

urprise. Just that unreadable look only a sixteen-

's short.. I love it!" Nadia

sed. "That's how you gre

ever been gone. Like two missed birthdays hadn't happened. I let h

. Legs tucked in, hand on her chin. She look

w you were com

d to surp

ou

e remote and turned the volume down lik

said. "It's your house too. Whe

inch. I didn

ears' worth of silence sitting in her chest. Sixteen with a

ou, Maya," I

lling the blanket off

ng past me on the way to the

osing wasn't loud. But it

oom for a second too lon

l come around," she said, li

l Maya she was r

t just left-I

ill show up in a room while your mind is curl

ming home because

ing because I

hat I became when I cou

know about

of my bathroom with my back against the

ecause I didn't want

he dinner table and pret

h on Nadia

on Chris

ause I didn't care, but because I couldn't trus

ying away woul

was leave them wonderi

t, I could

Dad came through the front door. He fro

seen him i

d after a pause, like he w

r eyes... they still lo

undi

peeches. No blame. Just the quiet collapse of

rry," I

you every d

peak. Just he

p, my sisters we

hand to her mouth. But Maya-Maya

ocked

and unsure. For a second, I

she d

e and lay her hea

she cr

ud. Not

the kind that say I missed

her. One around Nadia, who'd crept o

one

dn't h

me in a long time

given. N

st

for now, tha