In this year of 2020, Amelie walked east, long and long. Her dangerous boyfriend had been knocking at her family's raggedy old suburban door, and her parents wouldn't protect her.
They'd beat down the door screaming crying for forgiveness for whatever they did to make her trans and beautiful. But they wouldn't protect her.
She couldn't walk back to the city where she had left her ex-girlfriend, Hart. So Hart sent Amelie to her sibling, Kerry.
On her long, long walk to their house, the heat haze put things in the corners of Amelie's vision. Her boyfriend's shoes, his hands reaching for a gun.
When she finally reached her ex-girlfriend's sibling's house, she was so scared and tired she just sat on the curb for an hour.
After that, Kerry came out to greet her with a tall glass of water. It took some doing, but eventually, they peeled Amelie's feet off the asphalt and hauled her into their house.
Amelie let Kerry sit her down and press a plate of their dry macaroni into her hand and say whatever about what Hart was doing.
And when it was dark, she let Kerry take her into their bedroom.
"I'll sleep on the floor with my gun", explained Kerry.
"Okay", said Amelie.
"You won't try to stop me...you won't protect him or anything...I'm not just trying to protect you, I've got to protect myself too", explained Kerry.
"Okay", said Amelie, thinking about washing her hands of that man. It was going to be 2021 soon, prime time to move back to the city, get a job. Get a better boyfriend.
Get rid of her old boyfriend.
In 2021, Amelie thought, I'm going to get my own gun.