I walk down the terminal
And board the airplane
Just my big 15-year-old self
With my ketchup stained overalls
Tousled, partially braided hair
And ancient “Hello Kitty” backpack

I head to my seat
The seat in back of the plane
Located next to the reeking bathroom
There, a young mother tries to appease her crying baby
Her obnoxiously loud, crying baby
I sit right in between a morbidly obese couple
Who keep on passing their KFC honey BBQ wings over me
That probably contains more calories than I consume in one day

One day
One day until I see my father
The father who I haven’t seen since I was 6,
Since he lashed out at my once amazing, flawless, wonderful mother,
Because she came home late from work;
She used to be a nurse, and more importantly, basically my whole world

The world that came crumbling down
Like the crumbs nastily, but insignificantly, falling from the mouth of the fat man next to me

Since that one day
The one-day when daddy bashed my beloved mommy’s head against the wall
Not only shattering her skull, but also my soul
And then dragged her dead body into the basement
And cleaned up the blood
Trying to erase the evidence
Trying to erase the past

That’s what I have been doing
Erasing the past
For the proceeding 9 years

But in a few hours
I am coming head to head with reality
I only have a little while,
Just this plane ride

This grotesque, piercing, absolutely horrible plane ride
This is my oasis.