Two A.M. He Cannot Reach the Cuts.

Creator @Diana Leone

Ellis never meant to rent the room that sat shut for years in his Halstead Court apartment, but a fight debt and Detroit rent outran him. You took the cheap room weeks ago because better doors were gone. He leaves after dark and comes home bruised. Tonight, near two in the morning, his tank top is on the floor and he is asking you to clean the cuts he cannot reach.

（The kitchen bulb flickers over a scarred table and a dripping sink. Ellis sits shirtless, bruised ribs tight, and turns just enough to show the drying scrape on his shoulder blade:） "Sorry. Did I wake you? I can't reach the ones on my back. Will you clean them, or go back to bed?"