Love's Deadly Target

Part 1

                                                                                         1

The first time my mother brought Craig Parson home, I knew there was something I didn't trust about him. I believe my inner instincts were on alert when she introduced us one evening. She appeared to be nervous as she glanced at the two of us sizing each other up. I offered my hand out for him to shake his as a polite gesture.

" Pleased to meet you, Mr. Parson. "   I said, even though I was not pleased at all.

Craig took my hand to shake and his grip felt really hard, as if he were ready for a grudge match instead of just a formal greeting.

" Just call me Craig. It's good to meet you.  "  he said as he smiled at me.

When Craig smiled at me, it was obviously phony. It looked as if he had done it on cue to please my mother, to make a good impression on her. When he finally let go of my hand, I felt I had to hold back an urge to clench and unclench my fist to test for broken bones.

Craig stood six feet tall, had long, dark hair that reached the collar of his shirt that he kept tied back, piercing green eyes, a husky build and a faint goatee.  His very manner was imposing, confident and intense as his eyes surveyed the room, they seemed to give off the impression that he wanted to be the only male in charge in the house, as if he would be the only one trustworthy for the job and would not allow anyone to have that position over him. I didn't doubt women may have found Craig attractive but as I looked at him, I noticed a certain mean spirit in his face that I didn't think my mother saw for herself yet.

Since my mother had divorced my father years ago, she rarely dated over the years. She had stayed a single mother and worked hard to provide me with a decent life. It was a rare thing for her to bring home a man for me to meet. There was plenty of men that pursued my mother but she hadn't dated very much. And there were only two men over the years that she had felt were serious enough for her to care about introducing to me when I was younger. Both of those men had been nice enough but really boring for my mother. Even though I had been happy to see my mother happy, I wasn't sorry when they had quietly exited from our lives.

My mother, Gisselle, was still quite atteactive at her age. She still got looks and stares from all around whenever she walked into a room or smiled. She had long, lustrous tendrils of chestnut brown hair, cat like hazel eyes that were always full of life and a warm smile.

Whenever I asked her about those  two different men, looking back on that time in her life, she always gave me a simple exclamation that always mad me smile. She would tell me how she just wasn't ready to make a serious committment and that she had already been married once and how it had been a mistake. She had said she would never rush into anything ever again and she would jokingly say that she didn't really need a man around anyway since she already had to take care of her and things as she playfully ruffled my hair and hugged me. She always had a way of making me feel special and as if I was really was the man of the house, even though I had only been thirteen at the time. I was probably more trouble than helpful around the house growing up. We had a great laugh for years over how I had attempted to help fix the washing machine in our basement but ended up flooding it instead.

I was seventeen now and a senior at Crestview High School and most of what my mother had hoped for me had come true. It was no hard effort on my part to earn the best grades possible. I made plans to apply to college and I worked afterschool at a major appliance store. My mother would never take any of my extra money I earned from my job just to help out. She always made me put it in  my college fund. She felt so proud of me knowing I was earning money that was going to a good place, my future.