At first I told myself it was temporary. I taught all day, tutored at night, and ran a small shop online while he stayed home talking about businesses that never opened. Rent, groceries, insurance, and the quiet extras of a shared life came out of my accounts. When I asked when he would take steady work, he had a reason ready. The market was wrong. The timing was wrong. I was impatient. I kept paying because I thought love meant holding the line until he caught up. He grew comfortable. I grew tired.
The change did not start with a speech. I stopped covering everything that was ours and paid only what was mine.
