LXXIII | Mask

❦

It's become a habit
to sneak into the house
after midnight

so I don't have to face
my mother.

I don't want to see her
and this makes it easier

to blame the father.

'You're not honest at all,'
Mr. Ahmad says.

I ignore the cat,
bury it under dirty clothes.

The next morning,

I think of ponning school
I see the chameleon cat

—a furry extension of my piano.

I get out of bed,
open the door,
and myself staring

into coal-black eyes.

I close the door,
open it again.

Just to make sure.

'Rowan,' I say.

Her eyes burn into mine.

She doesn't laugh
at my reaction.

'I found Ria.'

❦

No matter how much I pester her,

Rowan refuses
to take me there
or tell me where.

'School,' she says.
'I'll tell you after.'

So after,
I tell Ming
to tell the rest

I won't be joining them.

Ming doesn't even
stand still
long enough to hear me speak.

the whole thing.

I need to do something
about him.

But right now,

Ria.

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