I don’t usually remember my dreams—if I have any at all. I think my mind keeps working, sorting through theorized matter and experienced truths. I woke mid-gasp from another dream I couldn’t remember. I stretched, and the dried crusts of Sander tugged between skin and cloth. I felt satisfied—as if hunger and thirst had been quenched—but it didn’t last. The house felt different. Like pressure simmering under the lid of a p...

As Christmas Eve dawned, I stayed at the house. The pool was covered and drained, and I was waiting for rain and water restrictions to come to an end. It was just too chilly to lounge and too hot not to. I feasted on Aunt's cooking and pigged out until I was full and disgusted by myself. I lingered around Sander and he around me. Stole touches and kisses. Temptations. I watched Mom around Aunt. Dad around Thomas. Unspoken...

Thanksgiving stretched long into the early hours of Friday. I slept in—wrecked, spent, aching in places I hadn’t even thought to stretch—and didn’t wake up until Lisa’s name lit up my phone. I stretched for it and cursed how my body seemed pulled and twisted in all the wrong and right places at the same time. I pushed the button and forced a pained “Yeah?” “Babe!” she screamed. “Ough.” That was all I had. “Oh… that kind o...

Two days before Thanksgiving, the campus had already started emptying. The Daddy-boys either drove, cars from dad’s everlasting funds, or flew first class. Kelly wasn’t flying. Greyhound into small-town anonymity. I caught her just before she entered her bus. I felt like a girl, so I did something girly. I bought her a card, wrote “Proud of you,” and signed with my name and a heart. I don’t do girly, just with Kelly. Her...

I saw the flare of a cigar in the darkness behind Mom and Beth's seats. Dad's face glowed red as he took a long draw from his cigar. An ear-to-ear smile was visible on his face. He had been peeing in the bushes and heard what Beth had said. The ladies had joined me on the outdoor sofa. It wasn't much bigger than a loveseat, so Beth threw her arm around my shoulder, and she squeezed in. When the men returned, Dad started p...

My younger sister and I hated each other growing up. She was a year younger than me and was always telling on me for anything that I did wrong, as well as blaming me for stuff when she got caught. We pretty much ignored one another when we hit our teen years, and I bided my time until I went to college or moved out. All of this changed when Dad suddenly left home. Mom found out that he had a side chick when she showed up,...