His Life Hung By My Hands

t follow. Not really. He was a man who craved control and public perception. A dramatic chase scene in the middle of the street wouldn't fit

st a teenager, full of awkward angles and burgeoning dreams. She was a little girl, wide-eyed and seem

nd she's living with us now." I had always been protective, a natural instinct to shiel

oftness in his eyes. He' d bring her chocolates when she cried over a scraped knee, patiently explaining algebra when she struggled. I'd watch

ey'd ask, seeing her shadow my every move. I' d correct them, "No, she's my cousin. She ne

me increasingly inseparable from my father. Their whispered conversations, their shared glances, painted a picture of betrayal long before the masterpiece w

the way she mirrored my father's sorrow with a little too much fervor. Cassius, ever the protector,

o composed, had erupted. He' d slammed his hand on the table, silencing everyone. He' d later gone out and bought her a designer

He never fought for me like that. He never chased away my tears with suc

own grief and, I now realize, guilt. Kori and her mother were barely present, their a

irthday, Alana," he'd sung, his baritone voice a little off-key but filled with a warmth I desperately craved.

kling, a wide, innocent smile on her face. "Oh, Cassius! You remembered! I was just about to find her!"

n't just the interruption. It was the easy familiarity, the way Cassius didn

ew what I was doing, I flung it. It hit Kori squarely in the chest

reacted instantly, pulling her behind him, his face cont

reaming down my face. "What's wrong with bot

rstood then. He hesitated for a long moment, then slowly, reluctantly, h

ething else. Something calculating. I didn't know then that his hesitation

ked with tears, clinging to that fragil

de my house again. I blinked, rubbing the

g down the window. His voice was laced with a fa

ts of the city, chosen for its anonymity. A sanctuary after I'd fled the wreckage of my old life

lready running late for my early shift. The

urged. "I'l

icking. "Where's Kori?" I asked,

ing some rest. I needed to grab her some breakfast. She's b

ts. He hadn't stopped at the bakery. He hadn't even gone

as playing a game. And