The Hit List - The monster next door

I’ve always had an affinity with monsters. Many Saturday evenings were spent with my siblings crouched around the television for “Shock Theatre,” a syndicated series with classic horror films. No matter how terrifying the monsters were, I rooted for them. They were the underdogs.

As I got older, I learned that real-life monsters exist. But unlike the ones in those old movies, these creatures do not elicit much sympathy from me. Evil is a whole different thing when it’s sitting in your living room. It’s never entertaining and looks nothing like sexy vampires or scaly lizard people.

In fact, the boogeyman often looks normal. This past year, we had to eject a villain in nerd’s clothing from our orbit.

They seemed meek, intellectual, and anxious when they first entered our lives. Even so, there was something “off,” yet I kept that to myself. I prefer to mind my own business about who someone decides to love.

Behind the scenes, this person quickly morphed into a 300-pound abusive, entitled version of The Blob. They stopped visiting, drew the shades, and barred us from dropping by unannounced. No one could see what was happening inside the home. Not us, not the neighbors.

But the dam burst one day, the truth came out, and we went into rescue mode. Days before we executed our plan, I watched this dangerous predator hovering over its prey, not allowing me to get too close. They were listening to every conversation to ensure there would be no interference or revelations. Little did they know, we knew.

A few days later, we made our move, filed the police report, and sent him packing.

Judging by his family’s response, we understood how this monster came to be. Excuses were quickly made for his behavior, and the narrative was changed to him as the victim. Despite his fists on her head, hands around her throat, the refusal to work, and the kicked-in cabinet. Blind eyes were turned as they circled around him and doubled down.

Since the day he was extricated, he has not apologized or acknowledged anything. Instead, he is busy creating a redemption arc with religion in the backdrop. (I’m sure his new interest in church is more about prey than praying.)

This is how monsters stay monsters. They can only change if they are held accountable and take responsibility. Until that happens, they’ll simply look for new victims. Unlike the movies, we cannot use wooden stakes or holy water to make them disappear. All we can do is move on, protect the real victims, warn others, and hope he gets real help.

When the mask is ripped off, people often say, “But he seemed like such a nice guy.” Nice guys are not always nice, and people are not always what they seem. Unlike the movies, the real-life monsters live amongst us and look “normal.” And that’s really scary.

xo
Theresa

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