Chapter 9: Michael

It was about five o’clock in the afternoon when she told me. I was sitting in my arm chair watching the news while I thumbed through a novel Tonya had given me to read. She was good at convincing me to do things I wouldn’t otherwise have done. She was good at convincing everyone to do things they wouldn’t otherwise have done.

Her stance was plastic, like a store mannequin with its unsettling robotic bearing. Her eyes were fixed in front of her and her hair was piled up on top of her head. It w...