The bat came down like a verdict, slicing the afternoon into before and after, and in the stunned quiet that followed I understood, with a clarity that felt like nausea, that my family would always choose the one who swung first. My nephew’s grin, my sister’s bright, careless laugh, the glittering rain of safety glass on the driveway—they all rearranged themselves into a map of every time I’d been the designated target. I watched Kelsey toast the chaos with a beer, watched Jeremy puff up with the pride of obedience, and I felt something old and obedient in me crack along the same lines as the windshield, an invisible fracture that would not be repair… Continues…
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