Promise Gid stood in the corner solid and beautiful. Amethyst darkness masked his face. I wanted to run away. I wanted nothing to do with him. But Gid never asked me what I wanted. He took me when he wanted me. He wrote his name on my nerves. He lifted me from the bed. Tayla rolled over and whispered something I couldn’t understand. All I wanted was to lie with her. All I wanted was to sleep without dreams or memories. But no. He lifted me. He opened the skin of my palm and licked the skin. “No,” I said. He made a circle on my forehead with his finger. “This,” he said, “is a promise.” “This,” he said, “makes you mine.” It brought a kind of euphoria. Different from dancing. Different from anything in the world but real and toxic as heroin. The rush of attention turned me soft. I waited. I looked for his face. “Why are you doing this?” I asked. He laughed. “Am I going to Hell?” I asked. “I’ve done nothing wrong.” “People like you need people like me,” he said. His finger wrote something in the center of my chest. “People like me?” “I exist because of you,” he said. “You exist because of me.” “This is nuts.” He kissed my chin. “Yes.” He walked away. The high ended. I jerked awake and stared at the ceiling. A spider made its way among the cracks and creases. Voices and faces leered and screamed. People like me? I asked myself.
Tayla rolled over and looked at me. “You okay?” she asked. I flinched a little. Not sure why. “Yeah,” I lied. “Perfect.”
Shit Follows Voices told me to run.
“You’re dying,” he said. Spot
Emergency Darkness. Thick, vast and
Friends Miss Tris and Tad came with
At the corner, I sat in a hard chai
Awkward Everyone stared at Angie an
The Dead On the edge of sleep, just
Real and Not Real Visiting hours st
I stared at the trees on the other
Home Part of me thought things woul
He was a wall of bone and muscle. H
She came back to the bathroom. “I
Tayla put on Duke Ellington. We hel
gulped down. That was it. This was
Worry Broken leg. Broken ribs. Disl
“She hates me,” I said, soundin
Soon I knew things. I knew someday
Open Communication Pain and oxy str
Tayla gave her the finger. I grinne
“You’ll make it,” Tad said. I
Love Oxy made everything okay. Not
Things Come Out “Sweet Jesus,”
Fight For days, we fought but we fo
“Really?” she asked. The word h
An old man stopped. He looked from
Faith There he was. Gid. In the win
The First Shot Queertopia. Tayla, r
Always and Forever I dreamed of lig
Temptation Last call. The stage emp
Empty Promises It started. But then
Gifts Music lifted into the air, br
Object of Admiration Mr. Skarey cal
Black birds came from the corners.
This Body I dreamed of music, compl
Miracles I was late. I was never la
laughing. I had nothing to laugh ab
“You’re talking religion,” Co
Tayla’s drawn face tore at me.
This Is Love First, I saw his hands
Making Sure Posters of smiling wome
Something Hard and Sad Rain fell li
Looking Forward Dance team girls ga
Closet Water stains made dark masks
“You okay?” he asked. “Fine,
“The baby! Jesus, the baby!” So
“I love you,” Gid said. He went
“You’re not a guy,” he said.
Heavy Music and movement. I spun an
It felt as if my skin were going to
“They did nothing to you,” Gid
I smiled a fake smile. Tayla watche
“Really,” I said. “They can s
I closed my eyes. “Let’s go,”
“What’s up?” she asked. “Te
I smoked and waited. Tayla came and
Waiting I danced. I danced and hope
The Talk “What’s his name?” T
Almost a Victim I sat on the floor
pushing his fingers into my pie and
“She thinks I cheated,” I said.
“You know better.” Suddenly, I
“You know,” she said. “No one
“No,” I said. “Yes. And other
“I know.” Her fingers squeezed
That put an end to it.
“What happens,” I asked, “if
didn’t trust her because they ass
“Have you thought of adoption?”
“I have some newborn clothes here
Safe Dead folks filled the room wit
Consequences Mr. Skarey’s office
A Domestic Moment I lay on the bed
Birth It started with a rush of wat
When they handed me my son, I cried
He fought with me, but there was a
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