Not Everyone Is Made For Honesty

First published in Anti-Heroin Chic in December 2024.

My father used to say he never hit 
his kids like his dad did, but once,
he slapped my teenage thigh so hard 

it left a handprint through the denim.
I lied and said it didn’t hurt. His dad had only 
one war story: he escorted a prisoner

to enemy camp and returned to find 
his entire squad murdered in his absence.
A man told me he killed three people, 

and I moved into his house the very next 
Sunday. I have no idea if this story is true, 
and he’s dead now so I can’t ask him. 

I have no idea if the stories I tell 
about my own life are true. We are all 
trying to make meaning and be believed. 

Not everyone is made for honesty, and sometimes 

the lie makes more sense than the truth. 
I should have believed my ex was violent; asked 
my grandfather for another story. 

I should have told my dad he hurt me.

​

​

By Sarah Hanson