The Scars that made him.
once, there was a poor little boy— not poor in coins, but in comfort. not poor in food, but in love. he had a mother who held a bottle tighter than her children, who traded bedtime stories for silence and babysitters. she didn’t know the sitter wore a smile like a wolf wears fur— pretty, but hiding teeth. the poor little boy was left in that house again and again and again— his body learning what his mind couldn’t name. in school, when the word “sex” was said, he tilted his head like a puppy chasing a sound. “what’s that?” he asked, honest, small. the class laughed. a boy yelled: “when a penis goes in—” and the teacher turned, just in time to hear the poor little boy say, 'oh, I've done that heaps of times at home.' the room froze. the teacher didn’t. she pointed to the corner, not the pain. punished the words, not the wound. he grew into a teenager with shame in his bones. carrying hands taught by trauma, not by consent. he touched someone wrong —because someon...