PART 3   I stared at the hospital bracelet in the lunchbox until the letters of my own name blurred.

because he thought poverty and disgrace would follow him like smoke. I was young, proud, and hurt. When he finally came back, you were almost two. He looked thin. He looked lost. But he cried when he saw you through the window.

I remember him standing there, one hand on the fence, watching me hold you.

I wanted to open the door.

I wanted to scream at continue reading …