“Stop using it as a permission slip,” said my aunt.

“It’s a chin, sweetheart.

It’s not a character reference.”

The Offer

Chelsea came over on a Saturday with Micah, who is eight months younger than June and roughly twice as loud, and the two of them conducted business on the living room rug while my sister and I sat on the floor with our backs against the couch like teenagers.

Round five had held.