Impact

Every morning, 5:30 am, my brother shakes me awake
We look at each other, four eyes half closed with sleep
As my father picks us up by skinny waists in onesie pajamas
 
Dad curses as he scrapes the ice off the windshield of the frozen car
And lights a cigarette before he gets back in
A sliver of his window is rolled down, but the smoke trickles back

“Does this make me look fat?” Emily questioned as she stared, horrified, at herself in the mirror. She turned this way and that way. She tugged and pulled here and there. She sucked in her breath and let it out.

“Well- ” Nick barely managed a reply. He moved slowly from the room as he attempted to find solace in the large walk-in closet.

Last night I dreamt that my boyfriend and I were looking at waterfalls on our last day at college together. Then my mom showed up to drive me back to Buffalo, accompanied by an annoying boy who has had a crush on me since I was four years old. The thought of three hours in a car with him disturbed me.