Drowned in a Box for Saving My Brother

Summary

To punish me for losing my autistic younger brother, Ezra Clement, Mom locks me inside a custom-made steel box.

The box is about 20 inches wide and is welded in place in the deepest corner in our basement.

"There's a walkie-talkie inside. You'll stay in there until you admit that you deliberately left Ezra beside the human traffickers' van."

She locks the lid, plunging me into darkness.

For the first three days, I cry and beg through the walkie-talkie, trying to tell Mom that I only let go of Ezra's hand to lure the traffickers away from him.