Choke back the tears and sip your coffee, black and bitter, and the taste reminds you of when times were worse. When you stayed up crying all night because your mother came home drunk again. You think of the time you only drank black coffee for a week, ignoring the rumbling in your tummy, because your stepdad called you fat again. The hot biting liquid burns your tongue and you remember crying in the bathroom stall because you failed another math test, and why are you so damn stupid. But now you hold the coffee cup in shaking hands and add some sugar, because times are better, and life is sweeter.
