Chapter 38

“I…I broke his finger!” I say, for what feels like the hundredth time.

“And I broke that kid’s arm when we were playing baseball,” Devin says. “Remember? I tripped him up as he was coming into second and he went down hard. That makes me an idiot kid who took winning a game way too far, but it doesn’t make me an asshole.”

“Yeah, but I intended to hurt him,” I say. “Big difference.”

Devin shrugs. “So did I. I didn’t mean to break his arm, though. Are you saying that you meant to break Jimmy’s fucking finger?”

I huff a sigh. “Well, no. But I was being forceful.”

Devin shakes his head. “You were being a stupid ass kid that had no sense of direction and no one there to tell him what he was doing wasn’t okay. We were living with constant guilt and shame and neglect, and that’s the only damn things they took the time to teach us.”