How could we be? My mother was a shell of the women she used to be. The mental torture she had undergone had broken something inside of her she’d never regain. But God, did she love me and try to heal to nightmares of those five years.
A full year passed before my mother dared ask Megan’s mom if Tommy was gone from their home as well.
He was.
The neighborhood was free, impossibly, unbelievably free from the monster that had terrorized us for five awful years.
I never understood what Tommy’s final words were to me…what they meant.
Until it was too late…
When I turned twenty-five I married Megan.
A year later we were expecting. You’ve heard the rest from my poor son…
God forgive me for having children…
God forgive me.