Born a Crime

being nine years younger than me,
Andrew was really the eldest son in
that house, Abel’s firstborn, and
that accorded him a respect that I
and even my mother never enjoyed.
And Andrew had nothing but love
for that man, despite his
shortcomings. Because of that love,
I think, out of all of us, Andrew was
the only one who wasn’t afraid. He
was the lion tamer, only he’d been
raised by the lion—he couldn’t love
the beast any less despite knowing
what it was capable of. For me, the
first glint of anger or madness from
Abel and I was gone. Andrew would
stay and try to talk Abel down. He’d