Rose Hackman was just 14 when she started seeing 22-year-old Fred. In this powerful piece, she impressively shows the relationship through her eyes now, and those of her younger, more naive, self. As an adult, it is easy to see coercion. As a vulnerable child, it is not.
Fred became a part of my adolescent routine, and a respectable-presenting one at that. He stayed up to date on the news and routinely impressed people with facts of the day. After finishing his thesis and graduating college, he got his first job in finance. He always showed up to the front door impeccably dressed – more often than not in a piece of clothing featuring the print of a polo player. He helped improve my basketball shot and eventually took over coaching my team. His close friends accepted me – some of them I truly adored.
His carefully maintained facade did little to quell regular, private sadistic outbursts. He had a love for fast, drunk driving that ramped up the more frightened I became. I can still hear him laughing as he swerved the corner, descending the hill towards the square I lived off, me begging him to slow down. “Is this better?” he would inquire, foot pressing on the accelerator pedal.
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