console and squeezed my hand.
“You’ve treated me better than I deserve.”
I hated when she spoke like that.
Like she was already preparing to disappear.
“Stop making everything sound like goodbye.”
Valerie stared through the window.
“Sometimes people need to practice saying goodbye.”
I changed the subject because I couldn’t bear hearing more.
At home, Zion constantly thanked me for caring for his mother.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he would say.
Sometimes he looked guilty when he said it.
I assumed he felt ashamed that