Narrative The Fairy Tale would have been jealous of her, if she wasn't my best friend. We all were all jealous of the two of them in high school. They were perfect teenage lovers, like Romeo and Juliet minus the heartbreak. Even when they got married right out of high school and everyone said it was too soon "they are too young," they seemed to make it work. Even when she got pregnant so soon, they scrimped and saved and got by. The two little girls were never wanting.

See what I'd brought you," Teddy would say when he came home on Friday nights, his hands filled with fruit and chocolate purchased on the way home.

A called the girls my nieces when I came to visit. The eldest girl had light hazel eyes piercingly resembling the actress, Vanessa Williams. Her daddy always joked that we was already jotting down the rules of "no dating unless I'm in the back seat with y'all, and no losers at my door," for both of the girls. The youngest girl was still an infant,...

"Going to get me a Rottweiler," Teddy said, "to fend off prey." Danger, he said, could lurk even in the most tender of male hearts.
I was visiting their home, on one of those Friday nights of Teddy's treats. I had suffered a typical hectic Friday at work, so I was grateful for the relative peace and calm of preparing dinner for my best friend and Teddy. I knew my friend was working late. She'd be home soon. As I idly nibbled as I sliced and diced, the girls would eat nothing, because they were waiting for daddy, waiting for daddy and his treats.

A made a plate to go from my fixings. I was just on my way out. My best friend was a little bit late, but she'd be home soon. I heard someone knocking on the door. Why knocking? Why didn't she just come in and use her key? Oh, it must Teddy. He loved playing tricks on me. I braced myself for one of Teddy's tricks.

A opened the door,…