Her footsteps crunched over the dry leaves and loose gravel, stopping mere inches from where we were hidden. I held my breath. My heart hammered so violently against my ribs I thought it might burst, my cheeks still bulging with my stepdad’s hot, thick release. I peered up at him, my eyes blown wide with a dizzying cocktail of sheer terror and twisted excitement. Beads of sweat stood out on his forehead as his fist remained locked in my hair, his massive body frozen completely solid. 

 

Mom's shadow fell directly across the jagged edge of the boulder, but the sharp angle of the afternoon sun and the dense brush kept...