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I
work. If I wasn't so sick of hearing my own voice, I'd laugh. Or maniacally ca
flash of lightning? The patter of raindrops turning into a steady downpour? Sur
. I'm not sure what I expect to see. Maybe a countdown clock in the cloud
othing, o
rvices office is still burnt out, so it's eerily dark. I registered a complaint with the city f
at means it is d
," I quip qui
n all of my wonderful qualities. My self-d
today wouldn't find my joke especially funn
re like a sto
you're the face people associate with th
e child in question is filthy, scrawn
the parent in question are studded
hink you're
a bear trap for a coochie." As far as things go, that one was pretty good. I rated it a te
ating profile," my boss, James, res
d. But at some point, the self-deprecat
them post-break up. Hence why I am standing on the doorstep of work tryi
e is no one
compact of compacts. She went on a "save the world" kick last year when she got out of rehab and bought a used Sm
phobia starts, it
o psych myself up. "Here we go. Make it home and you can take a shower and
die
shoulders. "It's just a ten-minute ride. Then th
brain, I skip "go" and
the bottom drawer of my desk for occasions like this. Because this is a soaking
protection
puddle. Looking around is pointless, anyway-no one is out in this deluge. Even if they were, I wouldn't be able
ange security light attached halfway up the brick facade, but it doesn't o
n orange puddle t
to rain, I would have carri
e with the lock chain in the dark. My fingers are slippery from all the water, and when they slip and I a
Pajama
pop the lock free, loop it around the base of the s
world tip
meone tips my
verloaded with things to notice, so when I'm yanked to my left and thrown unceremonious
at
cunt," a deep
tely not the wi
me to my feet like I'm a sack of potatoes. I look back over my shoulder, but r
safety-I can
me against the brick wall. The ai
ns me in, crowding so close t
ime, I get a good l
u," I whee
h. Then he lets out a deep, bitter laugh that isn't mi
ase reports. The faces that stand out are few and far between. The woman wh
make an impression. He was just another in a line of parents too deep in the
ddenly, he's
ce breaks. An unspoken plea wedged between the
draws closer. The alcohol o
takes me r
being young and helpless. Back to making myself
his teeth. "You wrote in your fuc
d and tiptoed around adults like he was walking through
it too m
d it too
isn't blood pumping through my veins. It's panic. Fe
self. Push him
is front teeth is brown and the other is broken in h
t. Fight
on't fight back, it will be over sooner. The man will tire himself out hi
he hard way. There's
ty hand around my nec
all be o
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