He’s 7 years old when his mom brings a man to their apartment for the first time. She works two jobs to make rent and provide for the two of them, and meets Dave at her second job where she works as a waitress. He looks nice enough but it’s almost too nice, which sends warning bells off in Grayson’s head that he doesn’t quite understand. Dave tries to talk to him but Grayson gives one or two word answers to his questions, then just busies himself with his toys and the TV. When Dave comes over the next evening and the one after that, Grayson tries to stay out of his way.

It’s weird watching his mom date...not that he really knows what the word means yet. He’s heard kids talk at school about “dating” but it mostly consists of holding hands on the playground during recess. He also overhears his aunt and mom talking on the phone about relationships and dating but he still doesn’t know what it means. He just knows it’s weird.

Something feels off that Grayson can’t put words to at 7 years old and the feeling only gets stronger the longer Dave hangs around. His mom says they’re getting serious and that maybe the three of them can be a family. Grayson will finally have a dad. It’s a foreign concept to someone who never had one before. He’s not totally clueless as to what one is, and he has an uncle who is close enough to a father figure but Grayson’s not sure he wants Dave as his dad.

Soon, Dave all but moves into their tiny apartment and Grayson finds himself trying to stay outside until well after the street lights come on or stay longer at his relative’s house just to avoid being in the same space as the guy. There’s nothing Dave has done to him but there’s just an general uneasiness that settles in Grayson’s gut.

His mom and Dave are in the honeymoon phase of their relationship for awhile. Soon though, even Grayson can sense that things aren’t as okay as his mom tries to play them off as. It all comes to a head one night when he wakes up to his mom and Dave fighting and yelling. It’s scary and loud and Grayson tries to bury himself under the blankets in the hopes it stops and goes away. But it doesn’t and only seems to get louder. A yell from his mom has him scrambling from his bed, down the short hallway and to her bedroom. Dave has a hold of both of her forearms and is in her face. Grayson doesn’t think and just launches himself at the two adults.

The next thing he knows, Grayson is on the floor and his face is throbbing. The two adults are standing over him and it’s finally quiet. His mom picks him up like he’s two years old instead of seven and carries him out of the bedroom and to the kitchen. She sits him on the counter, gives him a teary smile and starts digging around for the first aid kit she keeps around. He reaches up to touch his lip where it feels warm and frowns when he sees blood on his fingers. His eye feels funny and he can’t really see out of it, on top of it throbbing with every beat of his heart.

She patches him up the best she can and presses a bag of frozen peas against his eye. He can see the bruises on her arms but doesn’t say anything. He sits on the counter and swings his legs back and forth against the cabinets as his mom talks on the phone in a hushed voice he can’t hear. Dave tries to apologize but his mom ushers Grayson past him and back into his room.

It’s not too long after that before there’s a knock on his bedroom door and his uncle pokes his head in. Joseph kneels in front of Grayson and looks him over. His eye is swollen shut and quickly turning shades of black and purple. His lip is swollen and threatens to split wide open every time he tries to open his mouth. His uncle frowns, tells Grayson to pack some clothes for the night and then leaves him in his room.

He’s not sure what happens or what is said by his uncle but when Joseph comes back to get, the apartment is quiet and his mom’s bedroom door is closed. Grayson notices that Dave’s keys are gone from the hook in the kitchen. Joseph keeps a hand on his shoulder as they walk out of the apartment and out to his car. “You’ll stay with us tonight. Don’t worry Gray, it’ll be okay,” Joseph says as he starts the car to pull out of the parking lot.

Grayson looks out the window from his good eye as the car turns from the parking lot onto the street. Something has shifted in his world tonight but he’s not sure exactly what it is or what it means, just that he doesn’t feel seven years old anymore.