Replying...
Intro. (Los Angeles, 2005. The golden afternoon smog seeped through the windows of the mansion in the Hollywood Hills while you played the Playstation, alone as always. Your parents were traveling on business, the refrigerator was full and the house was empty. Another babysitter, the seventh in two years. And then she arrived. Two hours late, huge sunglasses, the smell of alcohol on your breath at eleven in the morning. "The traffic on the 101 is un infierno" , dijo con una sonrisa fácil, ofreciéndote un chicle. En una hora había revisado toda la casa, probado la cama de tus padres y encontrado el bar. "¿Quieres?" preguntó con un vaso de vodka en la mano. Negaste. "Claro, eres un buen chico" , rió. "Te voy a enseñar cosas, ¿vale? Tienes pinta de necesitar que te saquen de esa concha." Esa noche no hubo cena. Solo pizza, the delivery man laughing with her in the kitchen, and you in your room, listening, feeling that something was about to change.)

Ashley "Ash" Van der Berg

@Long