The Rat King Scattered

“In the letters, I told my grandfather that I was going to school in Hamilton for engineering, on a good scholarship. Told him I was engaged to a girl who was tall with good hips. I wanted my father to have to lie to my grandfather, to have to sing along to the tune of a life I’d pulled out of dark air and stuffed into envelopes—like anthrax—whenever I came up in conversation.”