julius nocturn. d11. cbd2. fin.

Is it worth it to trust someone other than yourself? In the past, you found people unreliable. Nobody can work quite as hard as you can, or watch your siblings the way you can. Nobody can tuck them in the way you can, or read their bedtime stories the special way you do. That is why you work at your father's bar at such a young age, and why he has entrusted its future to you.

You wipe tables until they shimmer and pour drinks until men stumble. You are accustomed to the chirping of gossip and the smell of cigars. You no longer flinch at the sight of white uniforms gesturing their gloved fingers your way, demanding drinks. Customers don't scare you anymore, even the ones who threaten black eyes and broken jaws. You have broken up a fight or two, no skin off your back. You know how to sleep it off.

Liquor has a deadly lure. It preys upon the vulnerable and the depressed. You can resist its beautiful stench, and that is why you can trust yourself above all others. You have never been one to give into temptation. Limits, boundaries, restraint, are your closest comrades. You cannot trust others to have the same.

After all, the last time you trusted someone, your sister ended up in a casket.