In West Mills

by De'Shawn Charles Winslow

Try to steer somebody from a harm they love, but seem like the more they get steered away, the more they want the harm.

Otis Lee thought it awfully sad that a fifteen-year-old flirting with a man’s wife, calling that man and his wife niggers, and disturbing their business “came with the territory.”

No more secrets, it said. The longer they’re kept, the more hurt they cause when they’re set free. Fran and Eunice know their truths. Otis Lee should know his, too, and you’re the one holding it.