Long Cons and Big Fish

She didn’t take anything from me — I gave it to her

Photo by Philippe Bout on Unsplash

During the winter of my last year of school, my mother began playing a long con on me. Like most con artists, she wanted money — but she was playing for far more than that. I’d had to leave home in the fall, to get away from my creepy stepfather. He wouldn’t stop coming to my room at night, and when he said he was in love with me, I got…