The Game of Atonement
"Don't worry, Tom. I won't let anyone who bullies you get away with it."
However, when she turned her gaze back toward me, it was like she was looking at a piece of dead meat.
"Lock him in the basement. Let him think over what he’s done."
A crowd of people dragged me away like a tattered rag, throwing me into the basement and leaving a long smear of blood across the floor.
The dust rushed into my face, making it hard to breathe.
I clutched my stomach from years of severe malnutrition, which had triggered acute gastric issues, and the twisting pain was unbearable.