Rebuilding A Life, Not A Home

and," I said, the wo

bitter, broken sound

e then? The wh

ncy to look ashamed. He just sh

tic, Ava. It just

chure. It was for a small house upstate, one with a big porch and a yard. A place we had talked about for ye

ast week, tossing it on the table

et myse

was planning his wedding home with another woma

, as if I hadn' t already given them to him. He meant the ones on

me of every last piece of the life

ne for the main door, the silver one for the deadbolt. They clin

s around them, his e

han

g to be discarded now that its purpose was served. My face felt hot, my ski

this. This casual, brutal

out his ph

passcode for t

You know the code.

g on the screen. "I know. I' m changing it. Ju

en packed a single box. Before I had e

door made a series of electronic beeps

successfull

oed in the si

ing shut not just on our home, b

d walked out, closing th

dle of our living room, which was no

Chlo

hot and silent, tracking paths