Chapter 12

It doesn’t stop the heavy thud of regret and heartbreak from hitting me again. I physically sag as I try to stay positive about what I need to do. Obviously, they didn’t want them, so I scoop them out of the box to put in my bag, which is overturned all over the sofa, and start pulling it back together. There are clothes everywhere, some on the floor and some kicked under the couch beside the box which once held my funds, and I notice there is still something in there. I bend to retrieve what they have left behind.

Pulling out the box from under the edge of the couch to see what it is more clearly, I stop when I catch sight of a familiar black card shining back at me in a completely unexpected way. Its high gloss coating catches the light, and my heart and brain stop simultaneously with the familiarity of it as memory floods back to the night Mico handed it to me. It’s a bittersweet reminder of safety and belonging, even while Alexi was making me insane.

I stare at it fo