no one knows everything. compartments where we lock things up but cannot forget. cannot forgive. it’s all a stutter. i ghost from room to room. she tells me how her aunts told her to keep an eye on me, to keep me happy. what the fuck do they see. what the fuck do they think i am. brutal monster, i’ve forgotten how to read to my child. device failure. human failure. stain. swath of sweat across the chest, and the stench. this is what i am. not what i’ve become, this is what i’ve always been. i’m only normal in the sun, where the light blinds everyone.