They Threw Me Out on Graduation Night and Did Not Expect to See Me Again

and walked toward the car. I stood a moment longer, rain tapping against my face, the diploma going soft at the edges in my hands. Then I followed them home, because that too was habit, and habits are the last thing to go.

The house was exactly as it had always been: ordered, controlled, everything in its carefully assigned position. The framed degrees continue reading …