The Snake

By William Bisbing

We all know people with big egos, who are self-centered and all for themselves--the "me" people. But someone truly evil? That person seldom appears in our lives. However, every now and then, a person will enter our garden of Eden who is truly evil from birth.

Professionals blame their behavior on their upbringing, their home life, their environment--any number of reasons. The real answer is, they really don't know why they're like that. Sigmund Freud categorized everyone into a neat box with his diagnosis. But other than the bad seed theory, no diagnosis exists. Hopefully, you will never have one of these people in your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638817604

Book preview

Life with Eve

Not long after being discharged from the army, James secured a good job in a factory. Eve was now three years old. She was a daddy’s girl. Meanwhile, Sandy made sure that Eve wore pretty dresses, had curls in her hair every day, and had a room full of dolls and toys. James and Sandy saw to it that Eve wanted for nothing.

Everywhere James and Sandy went, people would say, What a pretty little girl. Eve was told to thank them for their observation of her. She soon grew to expect this response from people and was soon given to asking people, especially men, Don’t you think I’m pretty? She was never told otherwise. Later in life, she would change her question to Don’t you think I am beautiful? She would ask this question of men and women for the rest of her life.

It must have been around age five or six that Eve started to discover how strong her relationship with her father was. All she had to do was show her disappointment at being told no or that she couldn’t do what she wanted because of her young age. She would throw a fit and decide what degree of tantrum she would respond with. She always had a plan in mind. Crying real tears was to be used as a last resort. Eve knew James couldn’t stand up to her little-girl tears.

Sandy, however, saw to it that Eve got everything she wanted. Eve soon learned to sometimes pretend not to be satisfied with whatever gift she received from Sandy. On the other hand, any gift that James gave her was always accepted gladly. In this way, Eve would receive a second pretty dress, a new doll, a special toy, candy—whatever she wished.

Most of the time, Eve wasn’t content with run-of-the-mill, second best, or cheaper anything. It had to be the best or better than everybody else’s. If it was new on the market, she had to have it. She did not care about how much it cost or who got it for her, just that she would be the first one of her friends to own it. In this way, she set the standard of It sucks to be you and Don’t you wish you were me? This mindset would set Eve’s pattern of living for the rest of her life; she would pay any price to maintain this style of living or pretend to keep that appearance.

If Sandy bought something for herself and Eve found out about it, Eve would demand something of the same value or greater. Soon Sandy never came home without something for Eve when she would purchase something for herself, oftentimes making sure Eve’s gift was more expensive or bigger in size. This routine was set by a six-year-old girl.

By the time Eve was nine, she had set herself up as the supreme leader in fashion. She decided what was cool and what was not, with the girls in her select group of friends. She seldom followed what the movie stars or ladies of fashion set as the in thing that year; she often criticized their opinion. She would have worn this color with that instead, she would say. She would always improve on the opinions of those people of fashion with her own views, citing how they had lost touch with the younger crowd and their tastes. She thought her own opinion was the only one that counted.

Family Life Changes

James and Sandy had big news. Eve was told, Guess what, Eve! You are going to have a baby sister or brother. Isn’t that great? Eve felt excited and joined in on her parents’ celebration. However, this feeling only lasted a few minutes. Celebration for what? she thought. What is there to celebrate?

Eve then started to ask questions. When was this going to happen? What if it was a boy? Where would it sleep? Each question was answered by her parents with We will have to wait and see. Eve noticed how excited James was. She had never seen that look before; it was strange to her. As she pondered this newfound information, she weighed the advantages and disadvantages of having a sister as opposed to a brother, doing a list of pros and cons in her head. She would have to wait and