The Chihuahua was harmless, all bark and no bite
that was the general consensus, widely accepted, not very much because
for so long that was all he did, bark, bark, bark, and no bite. Never a bite.
Until one lackluster afternoon when clouds converged
onto the house so thickly, the kids were forced to play inside
and Molly decided to push the little dog a few steps too far that day
That’s how she walked away with a bite mark the size of a melon
wrapped around her abdomen, with orders of bed rest and taking
it easy. Molly learned that even the harmless little dog with no bite
had a bite. And it stung. The quiet girl sitting at the table by herself, mousy and boring
with a thick wool sweater, that smelled of mothballs and corduroy pants
thrifted from the Salvation Army down the road. Harmless, seemingly innocent
With her brown hair splayed over her shoulders, the Fuchsia streak at
the nape of her neck was hardly ever noticed, and the fire behind her eyes often dulled
by the black orbs in front of them. A normal teenager from the outside but
the smallest glance within shows more, shows the hardness that comes with
clawing out a life for yourself. Shows how very different her path could have been
had she been the slightest bit less voracious in her pursuit of a more decent life.
Nedessa was her name, and by day she was the timid girl shuffling through the
hallways with her head tucked and her shoulders hunched. By night she was Amethyst
of the local Gentlemen’s Club and her head was held high, shoulders back.
A confidence that completely rivaled that of day. A confidence most women sought
their whole lives, some successful in their pursuit and others not so much. Her hair pulled
up, the Fuchsia streak on display for the world to see.
Why this path, “It was the only way out I knew” but how do you get out of
this? Could you do this forever? “I could, I don’t know that I would, but I could”
Because the now is always more important than the eventually. The now always
takes precedent. We always have the ‘for now’ job until we find the ‘forever job’ but
remaining stagnant is the easy part, we love to stay within what we know, we prefer the
problems we know, they’re always more manageable because fear is the unknown.
An older man drives to the local Kwik go, down the street from his home,
leaving his Camry running while he steps inside the storefront to purchase a box of Newport's
and two long packs of Mamba candies from the counter. He pays for his items and idles
back to his car where he feels the hard barrel of a 9mm pressed against the side of his skull
and the jumbled demand to give up his wallet, and his keys. Did he seem like an easy target?
Was it because of his old age? Here’s an old man who won’t be able to defend himself
Maybe it was because of the way he favored his left side when he walked.
Oh, he’s hurt, he wouldn’t want to risk fighting back. Or the fact that he left his car running.
He’ll be in a rush he won’t notice me; I could sneak up really easy. No. Maybe it was because
he bought Newport's and candy. He must have health problems, that’s an easy target. Or
possibly the way he greeted the cashier? Oh, he’s so nice he wouldn’t dare make a fuss.
Or maybe he just picked the first target he laid his eyes on
None of those trains of thought could have prepared for the reality
For the fact that the old man was a veteran trained and not nearly as old as first
glance let on, aged from the years of chain-smoking and heavy drinking, to help
drown out some of the vices of his past. Not much could have prepared for the quick and violent reaction that led to the death of a twenty-two-year-old man trying to get money
for his next fix. For the wolf hiding, behind the face of a sweet old man
