Listen for the Lie

by Amy Tintera

“Men say shit,” Mom says, and I reel back in surprise at the curse. We’re a bad influence on her. “They talk and talk and sometimes it’s horrible, but that’s the way they are. It doesn’t mean anything.”

I am not responsible for the fake version of me you created in your head.

Who she actually was, and the secrets you two shared, that’s just for you.”