Why are my shorts wet? Is it gone? Am I bleeding? Shouldn’t I be cramping? I stand. The floor underneath me is dark. China rolls to her feet, her teeth out, and Skeetah grabs her by her scruff as she lunges. He holds her still. He stands, looking calmly about the room. “It’s water. It’s coming in the house,” Skeetah says. “Ain’t no water coming in the house. Wood just getting a little damp from the rain,” Daddy says. “It’s coming up through the floor,” says Skeetah. “Ain’t nowhere for it to come from.” Daddy waves at the room, waves like he’s stopping one of us from giving him something he
...more
