[ WP ] The family that preys together , stays together .

The family reunion should've ended during the day. Even if it could n't stop right then and there, it should've stayed in the park. Uncle Raymond did n't have to announce an after party at the beach, but given how long it's been since I've seen him, I could only expect him to pull some crap like this. 
 
 He knows I saw the way he kept eyeballing my fiancee. He looked me in the eye during the Electric Slide, thrusting behind her without her noticing. That old fool was trying to awaken a drive in me, get the blood boiling. I fought that urge and won without problems. But hell, the whole family was out to get me. Momma and Pops had most of the meat at the buffet delivered to the table I was sitting at, setting up a whole platter of it just for me. 
 
 `` Boy's got ta get his strength up,'' Pops said, giving a wink and smile. `` That vegetarian shit he got goin' on, it's doin' him no favors.'' 
 
 Denise, my fiancee, just laughed it off. She patted me on the chest. `` I got your son covered. He's doing just fine.'' 
 
 Momma leaned down and started wagging her finger. `` You ca n't go the rest of your life on greens alone, baby. You got ta up the protein or else he'll pass out.'' 
 
 `` I'd say we're faring fine as is, Ma,'' I said. Momma just shrugged, but pushed the plate just a little further. 
 
 My parents stayed where they stood, talking amongst the other family at the table. I knew they were n't leaving until I ate what they served, so I gave them what they wanted. It's been a long time since I let soul food down my gullet, and while I never missed it, I did n't mind it. 
 
 Everything else the family did to test me was more subtle, but my parents and Raymond were the most explicit. They were broken up at their little Tony going up to New York from the Virginia backwoods to make a name for himself. They thought I was abandoning them for good, even though I swore I'd come back. 
 
 They just never expected such a change in me, and were trying their damnedest to retreat down Memory Lane with me on their heels if they had to. At the end of the day, that's how it went. 
 
 At the beach, right as the sun was going down, I got the gist of just what they wanted me to do. I knew at first, but putting two and two together kicked in like the kick was aimed at my gut. I pulled Denise out of her chair and rushed off the sand, back to our car in the lot. Almost as if on the worst cue possible, Raymond stopped us in the lot. I did n't even see the man leave the beach after us. 
 
 `` What?'' he asked. `` Y'all goin' already?'' 
 
 `` It's late,'' was all I gave as an answer. Raymond clearly did n't take too kindly to such a half-assed excuse and launched into some tirade about `` respecting the family'' and hospitality, or something. It's all still a blur, but the real catalyst for these events is when he started cursing Denise, taunting me about going home to `` a little piece of meat that you ai n't taking like you should.'' I lunged right at him, at he rebounded at the same time, until we were on the ground, trading holds and blows. 
 
 Denise yelled for help, running back to the beach as Raymond and I tussled on the asphalt. He launched a few good blows into my ribs while on top, but I gained an upper hand from rolling him over and throwing punches of my own, launched a knee downwards into his crotch as well. It felt like forever in that battle when it was just two minutes -- enough time for the sun to set. 
 
 That's when Raymond smiled a wide toothy grin. Clear white teeth as a strong contrast to his dark brown skin and the bruises he sustained in the tussle. He got off of me and stood up, looking up at the sky before offering a hand to pull me up. Naturally, I hesitated before finally accepting it and dusting myself off. 
 
 At this point, Denise started running back with a few cousins in tow before Raymond turned to me and said `` Good to have ya back, Tony.'' He cackled and ran back to the beach, hooting, hollering and howling like the mad beast he is. 
 
 Suddenly, I groaned out and fell to the ground, a sharp and familiar pain rushing down my spine that tingled down to my toes and up to the top of my head. Everything went black for the rest of that period, but I'll never forget the one moment during my haze that will forever haunt me. 
 
 It's the image of Denise frozen with fear. Her floral sundress is ragged, strips of cloth at the bottom with blotches of red from the fabric to her legs. Her face is fixed in an expression of absolute fear and her eyes welling up. She starts crying, out of fright at first, but it grows into the type of wail heard in response to a broken heart. If Ophelia had a voice before tossing herself into the river, it would be only a fraction of the ear-piercing shriek Denise emitted, and it would n't be her own hand she dies from. 
 
 See, there's a reason I went vegetarian. There's a reason I moved out of the sticks. 
 
 Not to abandon my family, but to never see a full moon so clearly again...
