ough the other women. They backed away as if I were contagious, t

my side was a relentless, twisting agony. My body

a trembling hand to no one in parti

ut, mixing with the spilled c

forming around me, then at the te

d dismissive. "It's just a little blood. Look at the mess she

rying to get money, and now you're going to try and

manity, that they barely registered. All I could fe

d, her voice laced with disgust. "Bleedin

the scene. No one moved. No one spoke up for me. They just watched, t

ice cracking. "I'm hurt..

were waiting. Waiti

er face. This was the perfect ending for her. The ultimate pu

ulled out h

cond, I thought she was

as a fool

the phone' s speaker, filtered

er? I' m about to

as D

s right there. On the

h, sweet syrup of deference. It was the most grotesque thing I had ever heard. "It' s nothing, really

impatient, distracted. "I' m not expectin

e already taken care o

your floor. I tried to scream, to make a

let things like this distract y

line we

ry smile, and held the phone up for th

t room. "He trusts me. He tru

ed me, brutalized me, and erased my existen

me under. My sister was dying. My hope was in a trash can. And my brother, my o

ess was c