Brix - Kimberly

“Hey,” Val said softly, sitting beside her. “What’s going on?”

“I think,” Kimberly said slowly, “I want to be loud.” kimberly brix

“Maybe I am,” Kimberly said.

Kimberly had stiffened, ready to deflect. But something in Val’s eyes—not pity, not curiosity, but recognition—made her hold still. “Hey,” Val said softly, sitting beside her

She opened the envelope first. The letter inside was short, written in her mother’s precise block letters. It said: I’m proud of you. I always was. I just forgot how to show it. Don’t make my mistake. Live loud. ” Val said softly

The return address was a women’s correctional facility in upstate New York. Kimberly’s mother.

And for the first time, that didn’t feel like a bad thing.