It wasn’t the painful, red inflammation of a cyst, nor the violent urgency of a boil. It was a slow, aqueous blooming. Sweat gland lumps are often filled with a clear, watery fluid, and Marcus’s lump was a hoarder of humidity. Every time he worked out, every time he sat in the summer sun, The Pea drank it in.
: Small, painful lumps that resemble pimples or boils. sweat gland lump
By the fourth week, The Pea was no longer a pea. It was a grape. It sat on his back like a translucent, bluish marble, pressing against the waistband of his underwear. It didn't hurt, exactly, but it had a presence. It felt like a water balloon was perpetually pinched between his skin and the world. It wasn’t the painful, red inflammation of a