A Conversation with Brandon
I worried that my nephew considered it too late for reconnection.
They have the same eyes tooHandsome guyMy nephew is a handsome guy.
Hey, Abby. Guess you know I’m in the clink . . .
For about a year I’ve actually been trying to get into contact with my brother. He’s clean now and out of prison. I’m sober. We could probably have halfway memorable conversations these days. There’s still so much I want to learn about our family, our history, the pasts I was never a part of, but he won’t return my messages. Brandon will though.
exploiting my reunion story as fodder for that degree.
elfare department.
—both of whom had been raised by working-class parents. My biological mother had raised my brother and sister all on her own while holding a day job as a gas station attendant and, later, as a server at a pizza parlor. My older sister had raised Brandon and my niece alongside her husband who subcontracted as a carpet layer.
their
living
Who is this kid?

Abby Higgs is a graduate of the University of Baltimore's MFA in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts program. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming from Marie Claire South Africa, The Guardian, Salon, The Rumpus, Freerange Nonfiction, VICE, and The Barely South Review. More of her words can be found at slowclapabby.com.
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