©2009
The doorknob was clacking in the jamb, clumsy and unfamiliar. The lock turned over, clinking, and a boy stumbled into the room. He balanced a swaying wedding-cake tower of boxes, then thunked them to the ground. He had a key. He was moving in.
I watched him arrange his things on the shelves. Someone plugged in a radio, and tinny cacophony filled the house.
I couldn’t let him stay.
Small things at first—I faced pictures backward, turned off the television. Had hackles-raised standoffs with the dog and creaked the closet door open at night.
I didn’t mean to start the fire.
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