Page 1 of Tell Me I'm Enough

Prologue

Mason-Age Eight

I might not be that great at math yet, but I know how to count footsteps, and I know how many footsteps it takes my dad to get from his office to the kitchen…where I’m hiding.

The cabinet under the sink smells like cleaning supplies and pennies, and my legs hurt from being pulled so close to my chest. I really want to stretch them out, but I can’t make any noise. I can’t open the doors. I can’t let him find me.

He’s on step seventeen of thirty-four.

I flinch when I hear my name getting louder…getting closer.

“Mason Sinclair!”

A cabinet slams, and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying not to breathe too loudly.

I just wanted to look at the baseball he had in that glass box on his shelf. I just wanted to read what it said. The words were really squiggly and hard to see from so far away.

I didn’t mean to break it.

Thor came running into the room when I was on my tiptoes and bumped my legs, making me drop it, and it shattered everywhere.

I’ve been hiding here ever since.

I knew Dad would be home soon, and I knew he’d be mad.

I hate when he’s mad.

He’salwaysmad.

“Mason!” he yells again, closer now.

The door swings open and light rushes in. He quickly grabs my arm, yanking me out of the cabinet, and I can barely stand up straight because of how rough he’s pulling me.

“Scott! Stop being so rough with him! He’s just a kid!”

“Shut up, Nichole! He’s big enough to mess with things that aren’t his; then he’s big enough to face the consequences.”

“Scott!” Mom yells louder as he drags me into his office.

I’m trying to keep up and not fall over, but the tears make it hard to see where I’m going.

When he pulls me into his office, he slams the door behind us and locks it. My mom bangs on the other side, telling him not to hurt me, that it was just an accident, that I’m just a kid and didn’t mean to.

He doesn’t even respond to her. He’s in my face, grabbing my chin hard and pointing to the broken glass on the floor near his desk.

“Do you know how much that was worth, boy? Do you know how valuable that was? Are you stupid? Is there something off in your head? Youknowyou’re not allowed in this room! You’reneverallowed in this room! Why did you think it was okay to be in here messing with my things?”

“I—I didn’t—”

He pushes my face away so hard that my head snaps sideways.

“You didn’t what?Think?”

I’m trying to stop crying enough to talk. “I didn’t do it!”

He walks closer to me, getting in my face again.

“Then who did it? Casper the damn ghost?”