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Then I watch as ain and walks away

Maybe for the very last time

I whisper back to her and can only hope that she can still hear me

“Bye, Nikki”

King

“What exactly did the fucking thing say again?” Bear asked

“Here,” I said, flinging the envelope across the room It landed on the floor Bear reached down and unfolded the paper I wish I’d never received He thy letter frouardianship of Max, that they would like to put her up for adoption They’d already had an interested family reach out to her caseworker

They’d already taken her froive the name from her

It was the last fucking thing I needed

Bear and I were delirious and running on only a few hours of sleep in a week We’d spent a shit load of ti for Eli We’d been everywhere frohost Every bit of inforht us somewhere he’d just left

Sometimes we’d missed him by just minutes

“Says here they can’t do shit without you signing off,” Bear concluded, flicking the letter with his index finger, tossing it haphazardly onto the coffee table

“Yeah, but it’s also basically saying that if I don’t sign off she’ll be in fucking foster care until she’s eighteen” I twisted the last piece of un in place “Don’t know if I can do that to her,forjust to knoho my father was”

“But yourcunt,” Bear stated, “and now she’s a dead fucking cunt”

“Her being a dead fucking cunt is the reason I don’t havewith normal people who don’t have to worry about all this bullshit of killin’ or being killed”