It’s a winter’s night in our 13th floor bedroom. Both windows are wide open. The room smells like urine.
We shiver from the cold. One cot mattress is wet and leans against the wall, so it will dry quicker.
Both sides have been eaten through by too many accidents. We sit on the other cot, under the army blanket.
My pajamas hiss on the radiator. He keeps his on. They aren’t so wet. If dad find our beds wet, we’re going to get it.
The sky gets lighter. The wind rattles the door. We sit and whisper.
him It’s getting light out.
me Tell me. How should we do it?
him Let’s shoot him.
me No. She’d wake up. What about stabbing him?
him Yeah! With the butcher’s knife.
me No! No! I’ve got it. We’ll cut his throat.
him Silent and quick, with just one lick.
You hold him and I’ll do it.
me NO! IT WAS MY IDEA. I’LL DO IT.
him Shhh . . . They’ll wake up. O.K. You do it,
but first we chloroform her.
me Right. Then we sneak around the bed and . . .
him He always sleeps on his back.
me . . . and you throw the pillow over his face.
I’ll open his neck.
him The blades’ got to be super sharp.
me I know.
him I’ll hold the pillow there to keep his blood from squirting all over.
me What if his head comes off?
him What if ma wakes up?
me We do her too.
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