Count My Lies

by Sophie Stava

“Wow,” I say, taking it from her. “You must have worked really hard on this!” Praise the effort, not the child! An

“the effort you put in.” The implication—if you don’t care how you look, no one will care about you—has been reinforced a million times over in the course of my life. Now, I hope that it’s true.

There it is: his other favorite excuse. If I looked different, better, put out more, he wouldn’t have done what he did. It’s pathetic. “Get out.”