She stared blankly at the polished marble floor, her hands resting limply in her lap, looking as though the suffocating weight of her lifelong, complicit silence had finally crushed her spine.

As they cuffed Arthur, he didn’t beg.

Men of his particular breed never beg at first.

They’re conditioned to threaten, to bully, until the world finally proves it no longer fears them.

As the agents led him toward the exit, they marched him directly past the edge of the stage.

He stopped, straining against the agent’s grip, and looked up at me.