January 28th

The first time I ever did it, I didn’t bleed. I was 17

in my parents’ bed with my sister’s boyfriend.

When he rolled off of me, I pulled up the sheets

between my legs. I must be bloodless. Later that

night he called me and said that he wouldn’t

do it with me again unless I promised him a

blow job. I had picked up the phone in the kitchen.

It was a rotary phone. Baby blue. On the wall

to the left of the stove. My father thought we

could use another extension, and so had called

the phone company the week before to come out

and install it. My sister and I stood in

the dining room to watch. When they drilled

the screws into the kitchen wall, bits of plaster

fell from the ceiling onto our heads like an early snow.