One more hour,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and this week should end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s late, I\u2019m cold,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and no one\u2019s around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brim says that Tuesdays<\/p>\n\n\n\n
are great for business\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
something about how Johns<\/p>\n\n\n\n
have more time to spare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it\u2019s a bunch of horseshit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He just wants to see me out here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He wants to keep control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He won\u2019t\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
not for much longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thirty more minutes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and I\u2019ll be home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alysha is waiting for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She hates when I work this late;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
she needs me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ll be honest,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sometimes I hate to go home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The older she gets,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the more she looks like him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I couldn\u2019t bring myself to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
keep another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It kills me inside\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
but without her I\u2019m nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally I see her face,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and wipe her tears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Forty more minutes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and our new lives will begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve always been so scared<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to meet a man,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
especially one on the internet,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
but Chris is different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He knows what I do;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
says it doesn\u2019t bother him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve spoken on the phone a few times,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and I can see myself getting attached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His voice is careful\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know he\u2019s listening to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haven\u2019t told him about Alysha\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
or Brim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019ll find out someday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019ll take care of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just know it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s just outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can barely see him, the cold<\/p>\n\n\n\n
has frosted the windows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He looks a little different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He wants me to come to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the car. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m nervous,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
but trusting my gut. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She couldn\u2019t stop crying,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
but I eventually put<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alysha to bed;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
she still sleeps in a crib.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last four years<\/p>\n\n\n\n
have been hard on her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m barely home,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
can\u2019t put her in school yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Get us out of this apartment\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chris will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She never returned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In that crib<\/p>\n\n\n\n
is where Alysha spent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the last days<\/p>\n\n\n\n
of her life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One more hour, and this week should end. It\u2019s late, I\u2019m cold, and no one\u2019s around. Brim says that Tuesdays are great for business\u2014 something about how Johns have more time to spare. I think it\u2019s a bunch of horseshit. He just wants to see me out here. He wants to keep control. He won\u2019t\u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/evanehrenberg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/evanehrenberg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/evanehrenberg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evanehrenberg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evanehrenberg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=134"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/evanehrenberg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135,"href":"https:\/\/evanehrenberg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions\/135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/evanehrenberg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evanehrenberg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evanehrenberg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}