Maria Luis

“Life isn’t always about doing what you want.”

“Bark another order at me and I’ll finish off what I started. My knife, your neck, one happily-ever-after.”

His fingers apply more pressure until I’m so fired up, so strung tight, that I have no choice but to do what he says.

This is a conversation we’ve hashed out hundreds of times before. Back when I had to stay home to babysit instead of joining sports teams or drama clubs or anything besides sit in this damn house all day long until my father came home from work and my mom decided to leave whatever friend she hung out with that day.

It wasn’t that I was good at nothing, it was that between her and my dad, they trained me to only be good at one thing: being a parent.

watching us.”

My head jerks up, and sure enough, Pablo is staring