But it’s been building up for so long, ever since Kenny left her, and the words just fall out of her mouth. “We were happy.” He says, “We were happy?” It hits her—they weren’t. She was. But he never seemed to be. “We hit a few bumps.” He says, “Those weren’t bumps, Mary Pat. They were our fucking lives shriveling. From the time I could walk, all I ever saw was hate and rage and people pounding booze so they wouldn’t feel it. Then they’d get up the next day and do the same fucking thing all over again. For fucking decades. I spent my whole life dying. Whatever time I got left, I’m living it.
...more
