CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
DECEMBER 11, 1960
I don’t know how long it took me to get home from Laura’s that night. I can’t even remember what I’ve done since then. When I’m alone, my mind is so loud I can’t drown it out. But I’m the only one who hears me. The good news is I’ll be eighteen in nine days, and then I can leave all this madness behind me.
After I returned from Laura’s, I couldn’t sleep, so I took some pain pills. I even took a shot of Ollie’s rum hoping it might kill the pain in my leg and knock me out cold. I ended up having a terrible sleep. It was the kind where you feel the crushing weight of sleep as you dream.
I think my dream had something to do with what I did just after I took the pills. I threw my books and my journal and some clothes into a suitcase. Then I took the Dutc
