Post by Alex Jones on Aug 14, 2010 11:40:43 GMT -6
Here I am. Standing across from Chad Lights, a diminutive man with a look of contempt in his eyes. As If I haven’t had enough of those over the last two months.
“Well Alex, I’m supposed to inte3rview you for Ascension. But before we start I have to ask...will I actually get any straight answers from you?...”
I give Chad a look that if the old adage of a look that could kill was true would have been the equivalent of a direct headshot on call of duty....
“By asking me a question..any question...you’ve started an “interview”. Now I have to ask you something, if you don’t at least TRY and get answers from me what will your superiors do?...”
He stumbles on his words
“Um I expect that I may be reprimanded and docked pay for not doing my job...”
“Oh so that disrespectful remark was for nothing but your own amusement?....”
He swallows hard and takes a step back
“I suppose it was meaningless...yes...I apologise.....”
Looks like I’m getting some headway here.....
“Well?....”
“...?”
He stares back at me, silent, trying to get his head around what I’m trying to get him to do....
“START THE QUESTIONS CLOWN!”
His eyes widen, he just realised what I was hinting at in my so subtle way. He fumbles around and straightens up his cheap, two dollar suit.
“Yes uh...Alex....I-“
“Mr Jones...”
“What?”
“Mister......Jones....we’re not friends idiot....”
He blinks and looks at the cameraman for help....
“Uh yes Mr Jones.....I have to ask, your actions over the last few weeks have been confusing to most. Many believe you’re a sadistic asshole who stole a man’s family just to get inside his head.....others....well others believe you did the right thing rescuing the daughter of your beloved from her mentally unstable father....”
Chad looks at me and hopes I won’t snap. He has nothing to fear from me. It was a fair question and a fair assessment of the two differing opinions of those I work with..and those I’m paid to entertain....
“Chad. I’ve spoken about this..at length, before. But since most of the time people have been sleeping through my thoughts and views let me lay it out for you. Shelly came to me in tears. Angel had changed, he’d become obsessive, dangerous, hurtful. He was always like that, always in his own little world but it had gotten worse. Shelly had feelings for me because I actually treated her like a woman. I loved her and agreed to help, so I started looking after Hayleigh...Angel never paid attention to her....she was becoming disresponsive to the world around her, she craved a real father...not what Angel had become....you remember don’t you?..what he did to Gib?....”
Chad nods slowly, maybe he understands....or maybe he’s a monkey in a suit who is just nodding cause he feels he has to or I’ll rip out his spleen....
“It was during that time I made a promise to Shelly, that I’d love and protect Hayleigh like a father until Angel finally became a man who could be trusted. When Angel went mad and came after Hayleigh I had to stop him. I did it by any means necessary. Maybe I went a little overboard, but I did what I thought was right. This was never about getting back at Angel, atleast, not in the beginning.....”
“But that has changed?”
I laugh to myself and look away
“A little bit yes. But when I saw that he truly wanted his little girl back I agreed to ask Shelly to sign the papers. She agreed that Angel had felt the true suffering of a loving father and now it was the right thing to do. Now, it’s not about protecting Hayleigh. Now it’s about why I hate Angel...”
Chad pauses for a moment...
“And those reasons are?...”
Oh god....
“Haven’t you or anyone else been listening?.....He cost me everything...EVERYTHING.....My X-Division title, My world title, he almost took my career.....”
“Sure but at some point shouldn’t you just...you know..get over it?....”
Chad shrugs his shoulders as I look at him, I shake my head and pat him on the shoulder...
“That’s what this fight is all about Chad...the finality of what Angel and I have gone through. It’s about Angel wanting revenge on me for taking Hayleigh. It’s about Angel wanting to just erase me from his existence. It’s about my fight to make everyone realise that I was right and that Angel has damaged me beyond repair. He took my honor, my confidence..and my life....my fight against him is to get it all back...”
Chad stares at me like a moron, he obviously doesn’t get it. I push past him and walk out.
“This interview is over...”
A short time later I arrive home. I walk inside my house and look around, I find a note on the table.
My love
I have gone to the grocery store to pick up some food for a special dinner tonight. The movers came and got Hayleighs things.......I’ll be home by 7....
I let the note drop back to the table and walk through the large house. Empty, cold. It seems so quiet. Now I’m alone with myself and my own thoughts. They scream so loud sometimes my head feels like it’s going to cave in.
“Alone in my own hell....I hate being here, in this place. By myself.....I suppose it’s my own fault. “
I walk through the darkened hallway. I stop in front of Hayleigh’s room. I reach up and touch the outlines of where he name was once printed in pink blocks on the door. My hand reaches down to the handle, I turn it slowly and stop halfway, I take in a deep breath and push, what am I afraid of?....
“So quiet....”
I mumble to myself as I walk inside, everything is gone. I look about the room and sigh deeply. I do miss her. Her smile, her laugh. I knew what it was to be a father. To care about someone more than you care for a lover or a wife. To care and love a child is to give up everything in search of their happiness and safety....
“Did I do what was right by you?.....”
I talk to no one. I get no answer, not even from myself, this perturbs me....
“Did I make a difference for you?....I wish I had a sign, that what I did was right. If I was wrong..I apologise.....”
I walk into the center of the small room and kneel down. I pick up a picture she drew. Herself, her mother...and...is that me?...no...it’s Angel...no...no it’s not...it’s....both of us....
“Cute...but impossible....”
I stand up and drop the picture....that part is gone...but soon my son will be born. And what kind of man will he wind his father to be?.....what kind of man am I?.......will I ever know?.....I suppose I’ll find out soon enough....
“Well Alex, I’m supposed to inte3rview you for Ascension. But before we start I have to ask...will I actually get any straight answers from you?...”
I give Chad a look that if the old adage of a look that could kill was true would have been the equivalent of a direct headshot on call of duty....
“By asking me a question..any question...you’ve started an “interview”. Now I have to ask you something, if you don’t at least TRY and get answers from me what will your superiors do?...”
He stumbles on his words
“Um I expect that I may be reprimanded and docked pay for not doing my job...”
“Oh so that disrespectful remark was for nothing but your own amusement?....”
He swallows hard and takes a step back
“I suppose it was meaningless...yes...I apologise.....”
Looks like I’m getting some headway here.....
“Well?....”
“...?”
He stares back at me, silent, trying to get his head around what I’m trying to get him to do....
“START THE QUESTIONS CLOWN!”
His eyes widen, he just realised what I was hinting at in my so subtle way. He fumbles around and straightens up his cheap, two dollar suit.
“Yes uh...Alex....I-“
“Mr Jones...”
“What?”
“Mister......Jones....we’re not friends idiot....”
He blinks and looks at the cameraman for help....
“Uh yes Mr Jones.....I have to ask, your actions over the last few weeks have been confusing to most. Many believe you’re a sadistic asshole who stole a man’s family just to get inside his head.....others....well others believe you did the right thing rescuing the daughter of your beloved from her mentally unstable father....”
Chad looks at me and hopes I won’t snap. He has nothing to fear from me. It was a fair question and a fair assessment of the two differing opinions of those I work with..and those I’m paid to entertain....
“Chad. I’ve spoken about this..at length, before. But since most of the time people have been sleeping through my thoughts and views let me lay it out for you. Shelly came to me in tears. Angel had changed, he’d become obsessive, dangerous, hurtful. He was always like that, always in his own little world but it had gotten worse. Shelly had feelings for me because I actually treated her like a woman. I loved her and agreed to help, so I started looking after Hayleigh...Angel never paid attention to her....she was becoming disresponsive to the world around her, she craved a real father...not what Angel had become....you remember don’t you?..what he did to Gib?....”
Chad nods slowly, maybe he understands....or maybe he’s a monkey in a suit who is just nodding cause he feels he has to or I’ll rip out his spleen....
“It was during that time I made a promise to Shelly, that I’d love and protect Hayleigh like a father until Angel finally became a man who could be trusted. When Angel went mad and came after Hayleigh I had to stop him. I did it by any means necessary. Maybe I went a little overboard, but I did what I thought was right. This was never about getting back at Angel, atleast, not in the beginning.....”
“But that has changed?”
I laugh to myself and look away
“A little bit yes. But when I saw that he truly wanted his little girl back I agreed to ask Shelly to sign the papers. She agreed that Angel had felt the true suffering of a loving father and now it was the right thing to do. Now, it’s not about protecting Hayleigh. Now it’s about why I hate Angel...”
Chad pauses for a moment...
“And those reasons are?...”
Oh god....
“Haven’t you or anyone else been listening?.....He cost me everything...EVERYTHING.....My X-Division title, My world title, he almost took my career.....”
“Sure but at some point shouldn’t you just...you know..get over it?....”
Chad shrugs his shoulders as I look at him, I shake my head and pat him on the shoulder...
“That’s what this fight is all about Chad...the finality of what Angel and I have gone through. It’s about Angel wanting revenge on me for taking Hayleigh. It’s about Angel wanting to just erase me from his existence. It’s about my fight to make everyone realise that I was right and that Angel has damaged me beyond repair. He took my honor, my confidence..and my life....my fight against him is to get it all back...”
Chad stares at me like a moron, he obviously doesn’t get it. I push past him and walk out.
“This interview is over...”
A short time later I arrive home. I walk inside my house and look around, I find a note on the table.
My love
I have gone to the grocery store to pick up some food for a special dinner tonight. The movers came and got Hayleighs things.......I’ll be home by 7....
I let the note drop back to the table and walk through the large house. Empty, cold. It seems so quiet. Now I’m alone with myself and my own thoughts. They scream so loud sometimes my head feels like it’s going to cave in.
“Alone in my own hell....I hate being here, in this place. By myself.....I suppose it’s my own fault. “
I walk through the darkened hallway. I stop in front of Hayleigh’s room. I reach up and touch the outlines of where he name was once printed in pink blocks on the door. My hand reaches down to the handle, I turn it slowly and stop halfway, I take in a deep breath and push, what am I afraid of?....
“So quiet....”
I mumble to myself as I walk inside, everything is gone. I look about the room and sigh deeply. I do miss her. Her smile, her laugh. I knew what it was to be a father. To care about someone more than you care for a lover or a wife. To care and love a child is to give up everything in search of their happiness and safety....
“Did I do what was right by you?.....”
I talk to no one. I get no answer, not even from myself, this perturbs me....
“Did I make a difference for you?....I wish I had a sign, that what I did was right. If I was wrong..I apologise.....”
I walk into the center of the small room and kneel down. I pick up a picture she drew. Herself, her mother...and...is that me?...no...it’s Angel...no...no it’s not...it’s....both of us....
“Cute...but impossible....”
I stand up and drop the picture....that part is gone...but soon my son will be born. And what kind of man will he wind his father to be?.....what kind of man am I?.......will I ever know?.....I suppose I’ll find out soon enough....