Chapter 61

　　She is caring for a fourteen-year-old girl and has just subjected her to the same traumatic sight I saw at ten years of age; a sight which led to my being in a children’s home for almost a year. Child Protective Services invaded our life, taking me from an abusive environment and sending me to one that, in my eyes, was far worse, a children’s home, only to return me when she promised that her life was different. That particular lover was long gone, but we both knew that a new one was around the corner any day. I learned to lie after that, to help cover up who she really was. That year in the home taught me, when it comes to parenting, there are far worse people in the world than my mother.

　　I stare at my suitcase and can’t stop the crushing weight consuming me.

　　I’ll have to go back there. I’ll have to go home to Chicago after being away for almost six years.