Red Writing Hood -- Barracuda

Like sharks, some species of barracuda are reputed to be 

dangerous to swimmers. Barracudas are scavengers.

Mel wanted a normal life. A husband, a house, children, all kept nice and tidy in an immaculate home. But he kept getting in the way. It wasn’t just him, of course. There were the other memories, but she felt if she could get the grown up part right, then those would just fade away.

Bradley showed up in her life the year she was 15. After school Mel would look for her older sister Cindy, and invariably find her sitting in his 1970 Plymouth Barracuda listening to music she felt sure Cindy didn’t even like.

From the first time Mel laid her eyes on him she hated him. She didn’t know why, but she did. Cindy could do so much better.

He became a fixture in their lives. Eventually, after dating 4 years, Cindy and Bradley married, much to Mel’s chagrin. By then he’d been showing his true reptilian self for quite awhile, but Cindy refused to acknowledge it. Bradley was crude, vulgar, and low class. He cornered Mel in the kitchen making a pass at her. When that didn’t work, he began denigrating her for the clothes she wore and anything else he could come up with as an insult.

Their parents heard his remarks, but never came to her defense. Cindy even told Mel that Bradley had admitted his attraction to Mel. What Mel couldn’t figure out was what Cindy saw in him. She would have cut him loose so fast his head would have been swimming.

He was Mel’s thorn in the flesh. That was until the night she stayed at their house. Bradley and Cindy had been married close to 2 years. Bradley had behaved badly on a few occasions since the wedding, but Mel had kept these episodes to herself. She generally kept her distance from him, but this night she couldn’t bear being alone in her parents’ house. They were out of town, and Mel hated staying in that big house by herself. When Cindy invited her to spend the night, it seemed the perfect solution.

Mel woke in the middle of the night to find Bradley stroking her thigh. He was whispering about wanting her, about knowing it was wrong, but not being able to help himself. Then he was on her and she was frozen in panic. There was something terribly familiar about this scenario, but Mel knew she couldn’t think about that now. Instead she just removed herself from her body until it was over. Later, when she returned, she saw him sitting in a chair across from the sofa she was sleeping on. He just stared at her. No words were ever exchanged.

The next morning she was ready to leave early with Cindy even though Bradley had been planning to take her home.

As Mel stood in the shower, she boxed the incident up, all the while recognizing he was no longer just a thorn.

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