I lay curled against the table leg, my body growing stiff.
At the hospital, Aileen had just finished getting her wound bandaged when something in her pocket stung her hand.
She pulled out the photograph and looked at it. Her pupils contracted sharply.
Her whole body slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.
Her eyes turned red in an instant, fat tears splashing against the tile.
Her lips trembled violently as she held the photograph out to Mom.
"Mom... Eudora, she... she shoved a photo at me."
"On the back it says if I ever dare call you 'Mom' again, she'll strangle me with a rope."
Mom's face darkened.
She snatched the photograph from Aileen's hand.
On the back, in handwriting I knew better than anyone, were the words.
That note was written by me while Aileen held a knife to my throat.
"Aileen, if you dare call her 'Mom' one more time, when you come home, I'll strangle you with a rope, chop you into pieces, and feed you to the dogs."
Mom kicked over the trash can beside her. Garbage spilled across the floor.
She dialed my number immediately, the vein at her temple throbbing.