My dad is away on his weekly sales route,
screwing married women,
and sometimes sneaking out the window
when the husbands pull into the driveway.
My dad can be a badass.
I’m at home with my older sister
and her fucked-up crazy boyfriend.
I turn down their blaring music
so that I can concentrate on my homework.
And the fucked-up crazy boyfriend
bounds down the stairs,
grabs me by the throat,
and pushes me up against the wall.
He whispers, “I will fucking kill you
if you touch that fucking volume again.”
My last words to him
before he bashes my skull through the drywall:
My dad will kill you when he gets home.
I never tell my dad,
though he asks about the hole in the wall,
but the fucked-up crazy boyfriend
never shows up again anyway.
I start to do my homework and my sister
winks at me as she turns down the music.