Two Can Play
The men closed around him, and I heard the sound, the wet, rhythmic sound of wood meeting flesh, over and over, and I could not move, could not breathe, could only stand against the wall and watch.
My mother came running, eight months pregnant, her hands flying to her mouth, and one of the men shoved her. She went down hard, her cry cutting through everything, and then there was blood, a dark bloom spreading across the pale fabric of her dress, and I ran for her, I was running, I was going to reach her, and then the boy, Caspian, stepped into my path and pushed me. I went down on the tiles, my palms scraping raw, and before I could get up Sharon was standing over me, younger than me, her fac