By K. A. Polzin
In a newspaper article about the robbery-turned-murder: “She bit him, so he stabbed her.”
The “so” is important. The “so” says that the reason he stabbed her was because she bit him. The “so” implies that had she not bit him, he would not have stabbed her. The “so” places responsibility on her, the murder victim, for biting him, causing him to stab her.
As though one must stab anyone who bites them. As though stabbing always follows logically from biting. As though he could not have chosen not to stab her, when he and his two accomplices were each bigger and stronger than her, and she was unarmed. As though he could not have chosen not to carry a knife when robbing young women.
Even though she could not have known he was carrying a knife and would use it. Even though They recommend, when an attacker becomes violent, fighting back. Even though he stabbed her not once but four times, sending feathers from her jacket flying into the air, piercing her heart one single time, killing her.
He carried a knife during robberies so he could stab his victims. He stabbed her four times, so she died. He did not call for help after, so she could not be saved.
K. A. Polzin’s stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Subtropics, swamp pink, Gulf Coast, Wigleaf, and elsewhere, and have been anthologized in Best Small Fictions 2023 and the Fractured Lit Anthology 3. Polzin was a finalist for the 2024 Forge Flash Fiction Competition.
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