"Adrian, I'm not a woman. I understand if you resent me for that. But I really don't want to leave you." Her voice cracked, and she buried her face against me, sobbing.
In that moment, I seemed to see the Vivienne from ten years ago.
Back then, she followed me everywhere, calling me her big brother, pressing the best pastries into my hands.
She even carried me on her back when we went hiking, all the way to the summit.
Under a sky blazing with stars, the girl's eyes shone brighter than any of them. She gripped my hand tight. "Big brother, I never want to leave you. Not in this lifetime. Can we stay together forever?"
Back then, I believed we would.
That changed the day Vivienne and I took a trip to the mountains and came across a fourteen-year-old boy named Caleb Fox.
Several men had him pinned to the ground, trying to haul him onto a flatbed truck. He was on his knees, thrashing, begging.
"Dad, please don't sell me. I can chop firewood. I can work the fields. I can earn money."
Tears cut streaks through the dirt caked on his dark face. His hair was a matted, brittle mess.