Over in the dark corner

“Mr. Talley, I can always tell when Daddy is drunk because he starts callin’ Momma names instead of fussin’ at me or my sister. But last night him and Momma didn’t scream at each other like they usually do, because Momma was asleep on the floor and Daddy couldn’t wake her up. Daddy said somethin’ about too many pills. I tried to sleep on the floor over in the dark corner where me and my dog like to hide when things get bad. But my dog gots fleas really bad, so every time I fell asleep they would bite me back awake. And I was too worried about Momma. I stayed awake until I was sure she was okay. I don’t know what time it was. After a while I snuck out into the light to hug Momma, but she was too tired to hug me back. I could tell she was breathin’ when I hugged her, though. I’m not sure where Daddy went when he slammed the front door mad. I wanted him to play with me like he did one night when I was little. Me and him played all night with some Legos he’d stolen from a store. It seemed like all night. I know he stole them, and some other stuff, because the po po came to take him to jail the next mornin’. I didn’t get to tell him bye.