Girls! I need some help. Hurry!
There is some sort of a muffled crash.
The tension in the room, god-awful
heavy just two seconds ago, falls
away, like shedding a heavy robe.
Eliana and Rosa rush out the door.
I start to follow and suddenly Simone
transmutes, phantom into flesh. Wait.
I can’t tell you, she whispers. Ever.
She is human after all. Real. As real
as the fear alive in her eyes.
I nod my head. “I know.” I know
because I never told either. Her
story is mine, only with a different “he.”
I understand as only someone who
has been there can understand. We
have something in common after all.
APPARENTLY I MADE TANYA FEEL GUILTY
Because by the time
Simone and I
reach the living room,
she and the girls are
elbow deep in red and
green and gold.
Rosa’s eyes are wide.
Ooh. Look. Can
I hang this pretty one?
Lights first, commands Walter,
untangling a long
strand. Then ornaments.