The apartment is still dark when I return. It’s three o’clock. Amun won’t be awake for another hour. My stomach flips, sick with anxiety. What can I tell him? How can I make him understand why I left, how I could have put myself in that situation?

My hands shake as I set down Selena’s clothes on the countertop. Her red-bottom shoes clatter to the floor, making me jump and stumble into the coat rack near the door. I take deep breaths, trying to calm down, to wash ...