Nah,' I tell her after a while. 'He is more like a brother, you know?'
The good kind. The kind with the purple teeth.

“If I could be small again, Monique told me at the playground's fence, slurring …”

“I shrug, and then we sit awhile without saying anything. Then he goes, 'Where'd…”

“Secret Saturdays ought to be required reading at middle schools everywhere. Mal…”

“He apologized when I was twelve. He was crying. I don't like to remember that. …”