Give Me Peace

by M.K. Harper

It wasn’t the physical beatings he loved to hand out that fucked me up, though. I could take his fists any day. For me, it was the near constant lash of his words. He loved reminding me, every chance he got, that I was nothing but a waste of space. A failure and fuck-up of the highest degree.

but all I’m thinking is there’s no chance in hell she’s changing her mind. I’ll buy her a dozen puppies if I have to. Whatever it takes to keep her happy and makes her stay.

I stare at the full racks, thinking our definition of the word ‘few’ is not the same.

“That’s okay. I can squash your spiders. And snakes? Never heard of ‘em. Folklore, I’m sure. As for the bugs, we’ll get a zapper, and if that doesn’t work, you can hold the hairspray while I strike the match.”

“Here, let me fix it.” He takes the sleeve of his sweater and wipes my forehead, dropping his own kiss in place of Havok’s. “There. Much better.” Kash boops my nose,

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. When you’ve been burned as badly as I have, your defenses start to mount, and all those people who thought you easy prey become the ones being hunted. We learn and adapt, so we’re never again forced into the sort of situation that caused such a fundamental change to begin with.