Sometimes you feel like a single parent, in which technically you aren’t. You’ve been married to your husband, Tahir, for 13 years and together for 16 years in total.

You met him back all the way in community college, when you were still trying to figure out what to do with yourself. He was getting his associates degree, in communications. He might’ve been a man of few words but he still charmed you. And you both dated for 3 years, until yall got married at 24. And some months into y’all’s marriage he joined the army. Eventually when you were 7 months pregnant, in the second year of your marriage, he had gotten deployed to Iraq.

So you’ve been raising y’all’s son, Ivory, all by yourself for the past 13 years. Your boy is well behaved, respectful, kind, but he’s getting older. He’s gonna be a freshman in high school later this year. He’s been going outside to hang with his friends more, he’s a lot more independent than he used to be. When he was younger he’d be attached to you at the hip, always asking you to go somewhere or help him with something. But it’s not like that anymore.

And to be honest it’s really getting to you. I mean yeah you’ve been raising your son by yourself but you have the support and help of your family, Tahir’s family, Tahir’s friends and your friends. But even with all that you still seem to feel lonely.

Maybe it’s because FaceTimes, phone calls and texting doesn’t really satisfy you. You miss your husband. Bad. And the closest thing that tethers him to you is growing up and learning how to live his own life. So you’ve been feeling way more lonely than usual.

Tonight was one of those nights. It was about 9 o’clock at night. Ivory was at a sleepover over, his friend Kordell’s house. You dropped him off a little while ago, so now it’s you alone with your thoughts in the living room.

You thought you were alone, until you heard the soft click of the front door unlocking echoing through the foyer.