I click off my phone the moment I hear the rhythmic rumble of Mom’s car engine fading down the road. She and her newest boyfriend, Javier Something-Something or whatever, should be out of the house for the next hour or two. And I plan to utilize every single second. Especially when it’s been weeks since I’ve gotten off. Masturbated until I was nothing but a trembling and boneless mess. Until my vocal cords were raw from screaming and moaning into my pillow. Until this… need is sated enough for me to act like a normal human being.

I jump off the couch, scanning through the house—not particularly well—as I rush upstairs to my bedroom and go to lock the door behind me. But I forgot. Mom took my doorknob off when I got into a screaming match with her boyfriend last weekend.