An excerpt from Lily Hoang’s On Rats and Tigers:
My essays all circle around certain characters: my dead sister; my heroin-addict motherless nephew Justin; Brandon, who I met the day my sister died, our love affair, our fun, the way he destroyed me; my parents, whom I destroy. I rarely include: my other nephew, Mason, the one who’s doing well; my brother, who has bought me fashion; I hate Karl but he finds his way into these essays too.
My sister gave me a purple monkey. I can’t remember if this was before or after prison. I treasured it – but I never named it.
Hate: a new emotion for me. I wish I hadn’t learned it.