The only person who’s got your back is you.

“Salem Rose, you can’t trust any motherfucker. You can talk with people, and be cool with them, but don’t break bread with them. People are ruthless and disgusting, and the only person who’s got your back is you. Nobody got you like you got yourself, Salem Rose. You have to take care of yourself and tell everyone to go fuck themselves.” “I know dad,” I would always tell him, giggling because I knew he would get mad at me if I swore.

FROM HUMBLE EYES BY SALEM ROSE 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 94

“Granny, this isn’t my house,” I told my grandmother, a wonderfully kind woman who I loved spending time with when I was younger.

“Yes it is, honey,” she said in her calming tone that would always put me at ease.

My family didn’t move around much when my brother and I were children. The first one was the move from the run-down trailer park in Winslow, Maine, where we could see the neighbors from our kitchen table. We went to an equally run-down duplex in Waterville, Maine.

This apartment used to …