This is my first real memory of James. In every memory before that, he’s just a flash of color, a warm body with a blurred face, a comforting voice begging me not to die. When...

I figured out pretty quick that this is a forever thing for me. I think it has been from the very beginning.

James is why I never left. I should have left.

Two babies in little more than a year and a half. Knockout Jimmy was forced to give up boxing and take a job in the paper mill. It broke him, and in turn, he broke...

for protection.”My brother was born nine months later, fists already swinging.

You said the potholes in Leslie’s driveway suck.

I feel his intense gaze skimming my face and force myself to look him in the eye. This time, when he leans closer, I know what he wants. He traces my jaw with his fingertips,...