Somethings Never Fade Away

Here goes. 16, babysitting my little brother. The knock on the kitchen door. It's the guy who works at the gas station. I'm on the floor next to the stove. My shirt is torn, my bare bottom for everyone to see. The police throws his jacket over me. I see my baby brother in the arms of a woman. I get counseling. A year goes by, no one talking about that afternoon, one more year and I graduate.

Fast forward to my 37th birthday. I go out to lunch with the other women in the department. The topic of why I never married comes up. One of the women offers me to meet her brother. It's the guy who came to my house that afternoon.

No, I didn't end up with him. Twenty years is past the statute of limitations.