Sublime

The paper came loose, opening like a flower to reveal—something.

Maybe I’m a little like the grown-ups. I must have got older.

There’s a small crowd forming at the very center of the layered rugs and in the middle, of course, is Charlie Milford. Stella’s half brother. Party boy. Serial charmer. I don’t think there’s a good time that Charlie hasn’t organized, signed up for, or crashed without explanation.

Hank talks to me the same way Jenny talks to her dog.

“He’s a sweet guy,” Charlie says quietly. “Anyway, he let the car stuff go and started picking up paperbacks for me every time he stopped by a garage sale, or a new donation box came into Mom’s shop. He has no idea how much erotica he’s given me.”

Already, he could feel the words pent up inside him, the pressure building, expanding toward an explosion.

My uncle’s what I have instead of a mom and dad.