Poetry

10 things they never tell you about the mistresses children,

1. She has two sons, ages 14 and 18, and they are inseparable, nothing has or ever will come between them

2. The youngest boy has a bright future ahead of him. He likes building computers and fixing cars. No one doubts he’s going to be someone one day. 

3. The older boy is a bit softer, he likes all things creative. He hopes to be a graphic designer if he can make it but he has learned from experience not to ever want anything too much. The let down is simply more than he can handle. 

4. They have both learned a specific set of skills over the years. The youngest has the power of invisibility. He's learned how to slip away into the safety of his bedroom when things begin to escalate. The oldest has learned to become the parent. When fights break out it's the oldest who's takes care of his brother. When mom isn't there it's the oldest who helps his brother to do his homework.

5. Their world is split into so many pieces it can be hard to pick apart the lies and the truth. They have a world at school, a world at home, a world with family, and a world with friends. Every day they can feel the gravity from each world trying to pull them apart but as long as they have each other things will be ok. Right?

6. They never approved of the lifestyle they live. They never wanted to feel their mother's shame. They never wanted to listen to her scream his name into the phone as he drives home to his wife. Sometimes the homewrecker isn't just the mistress.

7. They recognize why their mother keeps that man around. They know that she truly does care about him. They just wish they could believe he felt the same way. In the meantime, they will let him pay the bills in exchange for their silence. They will let him buy the best of the two worlds he wishes to live in. Like an unspoken contract, they abide by his rules, so long as he abides by theirs. 

8. They imagine what his family is like. They hear the stories of his own sons. They hear about their perfect lives with their perfect wives and their perfect jobs. He's proud of them and they know this. 

9. One day the oldest will watch his mother get hit. Apparently, it's OK to hit a woman but then again she's only your mistress isn't she. The boys will watch their mother run back into his arms before the bruises have even healed. They will look on as she lets him tear her down. They will see him takes every oz of sanity she had. They will watch as he expertly extracts every tear from behind her eyes as if he were a surgeon. And they will hate every second. 

10. We, the mistresses children, pray that the next time we hear your name, it is in the obituaries, because we would rather hear our mother cry over your dead body then watch her shed another tear for you alive. My mother once said The boys who make you cry are never worth your tears and the boys who are worth your tears will never make you cry. If only she could take her own advice.

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