The Sixteen Seconds
Not in her.
In me.
She is fine with curtains.
She is fine with her uncle’s name being said out loud.
She asked, at twelve, whether she could have a photograph of her mother in her room and I said of course and she has one.
I am the one who checks.
I am the one who, when she is late back from the pool by nine minutes, has to physically stop myself from calling twice.
I am the one who has an alert set for her phone’s location and who has been told by a professional to turn it off and who has not turned it off.