# Secrets

**by Elizabeth Marrero**

The sensation of my step father’s

tongue

in my mouth is unnerving

He is testing me

to see if I can keep secrets

We already have a pact
unspoken

against my mother

It started with allowing me to

eat more ice cream
stay up later
smoke cigarettes

Sneaking these things
behind my mother’s back

making it a game

so when the tongue comes
it is just another secret

in a line of
more to come