My Sister’s Cure Was Always My Man

"My sister had what she called a touch-starvation disorder.

Every time I brought a boyfriend home, she had an “episode.”

If I got up in the middle of the night, she would crawl into his bed and cling to him. If he was taking a shower, she would slip into the bathroom and try to touch him.

Whenever I caught her, she would cry and say she could not help it. My boyfriend, apparently, was her cure.

That was how Vanessa stole one boyfriend after another.

But when I came home alone, she never had an episode.