✦Dolly✦
I left the house before sunrise. This time, I didn’t sneak out. I walked downstairs with my jacket on and stopped in the kitchen, where my parents had no doubt spent the night talking. My father sat at the table, and my mother stood by the counter. He looked up, and I could see how tired he was. I was, too.
“I need air,” I said. His mouth tightened. “I’m not asking,”
“I know,” that surprised me. My mother glanced at me, and she looked just as tired.
“Where will you go?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. My brother appeared in the hallway behind me, and I turned to look at him. He had that determined look in his eyes.
“I will follow,” he said, and I shook my head.
“No,”
“Dolly—”
“No,” I turned back to my father. “I need one moment where no one watches me like I mig
