DIRTY DADDIES
I am nineteen and still in my nightshift, with my heart hammering so hard that my tits shake.
I never believed the stories. The old women whisper about him around winter fires—the devil in the pines.
He comes when you have nothing left. He arrives when death scratches at your door and desperation makes you stupid enough to call his name.
The stories say you would give anything. You would offer your soul, your body, or your firstborn. He would take it all with a smile.
I think it is crap. These are fairy tales for scared children.
Then my brother almost stops breathing that afternoon, and I scream a name I do not even believe in. I scream it into the empty cabin while his chest goes increasin