It Starts With Us(Paperback)

The way ass whole is misspelled in red spray paint across the back door of Bib's makes me think of my mother. She would always insert a brief pause between syllables, making it sound like two separate words. I wanted to laugh every time I heard it, but it was hard to find the humor in it as a child when I was always the recipient of the hurled insult.
"Ass.. whole," Darin mutters. "Had to be a kid. Most ... adults know how to spell that word."
"You'd be surprised." I touch the paint, but it doesn't stick to my fingers. Whoever did this must have done it right after we closed last night.