SOLO
He is an electric blue Jack Dempsey cichlid, a fighting fish, and he’s a birthday gift I got for myself. When I was walking down the aisle of well-populated aquariums, Solo was the first to stop me because it was all alone in its tank.
“This one can’t share a tank with another fish. These Dempsey’s are aggressive,” the store owner said.
I looked at the fish. He wasn’t pretty, but something about him was so unnerving, yet satisfying.
I got him a big tank to compensate for not having a friend, but now I think this might make him feel even more alone. But he’s meant to be alone.
My father once threw a wooden block at my mother’s head with all of his strength. That thing went flying right at her. She’s said that she was supposed to die that day, but God didn’t want her to. My father’s temper is fast, and anything can set it off. And when it comes, we all immediately leave him to be alone in his tank as maybe he should have always been.
