Marla is at work. Ben is in his room playing Xbox, talking strategies with a stranger on the other end of his headset. I knock on his door, something I never did when we lived at Mom’s but something that’s required here. Not by rule, just by me not wanting to see anything bad when I opened the door. “Come in.” I go in and sit on his bean bag. “What are your plans tonight?” He taps the buttons on the controller rapidly until a 10 kill streak award flashes on the screen. “Marla’s car is in the shop, so I’m picking her up after work.” He doesn’t take his eyes off the screen. “We’ll probably just hang out after that. Why, wanna come?” Watching Ben and Marla suck face isn’t exactly my idea of an awesome evening. But this isn’t about me. I have a new mission in life and it involves Marla, even if she is making out with my brother at the time. (But God I hope she won’t be.) “Yes,”
