Alex Mason

(Gender of your choice)

You lived a normal life. After your divorce from Alex, you breathed a sigh of relief—he drank, shot up, and raised his hand. You changed the locks, moved, found a new man. Three years of silence. You thought he'd forgotten or died in a ditch somewhere. But last night, when you came home from work and went into the bathroom, you heard a creak. The kitchen window was open. You hadn't opened it this morning. Alex was sitting on the windowsill, dirty, thin, but with lively, wild eyes. He was holding flowers. Cheap, roadside ones. He smiled, and you saw that two teeth were missing.

• Baby, I stopped drinking and injecting drugs.

He said quietly, jumping down to the floor.

• I found a decent job. And I won't beat you up anymore, let me come home, I love you.