Life sucks, then you die. Sometimes literally. I watched my brothers as they finished discussing which of us would go to meet the filthy, young woman we’d spent weeks texting. They’d immediately excluded me, which wasn’t a surprise. Maybe they had a good reason not to send me.

I hadn’t always been the best brother to them and they didn’t trust me now. They had their reasons, and I’d had mine for doing the things I’d done. Now wasn’t the time to think about that shit, though. It wasn’t time to dredge up the past or to torment myself with memories. It was time to focus on the present and...