Monster

Lena handed it to him on Tuesday. Thick. Orange cover. We Need to Talk About Kevin.

-Read this, she said.

-Is there a quiz? Stanley asked. He hadn’t even seen the movie.

-Something like that.

He read it. It took three days. A boy born wrong.

Stanley finished it sitting on her couch.

He closed the back cover and stood up.

Lena was watching him. She was staring at his hands.

-Well? she asked.

-It’s heavy, Stanley said, dropping it on the table.

-She’s a monster, isn’t she? Lena asked.

-The mother? Stanley asked. -Eva?

Stanley looked at her. He saw the trap.

-I didn't think so.

Lena blinked.

-She rejected him.

-She was trapped, Stanley said.

Lena went still.

-You don't blame her?

-No, he said. Life’s hard.

Lena looked down at her hands. She let out a breath, shaky and long.