It made him feel like a baby. Still, he let her do it because he knew it made her happy. And today, especially, after what he did, he wanted to do whatever he could to make her happy. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the blood. Sometimes it was his blood in the boys’ room. Sometimes it was Ray’s blood. Sometimes it was just blood, flowing like a river. What scared Kyle the most was that these constant images of blood didn’t scare him. Going to bed, though, that scared him. Going to bed hadn’t been a good thing in a very long time. Mom looked down at him as she pulled the blanket up to his neck. “I know things have been hard since your father left.” Kyle rolled his eyes. He hated when Mom got like this. “Dad didn’t leave, he died.” As usual when this subject came up, Mom changed it.
