Post by .PAAK on Sept 25, 2015 19:34:22 GMT -6
Merced, California
772 S. Canal Street
September 25th, 2009
“Congratulations on becoming Employee of the Month, Scarlet,” Donald said. He had been one of Scarlet’s co-workers at the Starbucks. Kind of like her, he looked a bit, “out of place.” He was a tall, African American man, probably around six-foot-seven. Not only was he tall, but his physique rivaled those who were elected to appear on the Men’s Fitness Magazine.
“Thank you,” said Scarlet. She had been a bit distracted. Her backpack had been accidentally been knocked over during the evening clean up. She tried her hardest to stuff her items back into it, so that she could make the trek home.
“That’s like the fourth month in a row that you won it, right?” He smiled. “I’ve worked here two years. I think the record is six months. The way you are going, you are going to lap that.”
Scarlet responded with a sheepish smile. “Oh, I suppose. I’m just trying to do my job and not cause any trouble, you know?”
Ms. Flint hadn’t always been so, “unsavory.” She was quite the opposite back then. Due to all the shenanigans that occurred while she had been in foster care and the orphanage, Scarlet learned to hold her tongue. “Meek” was what many people referred to her as.
“I feel you,” Donald said as he organized some items near the cash register. He watched Scarlet hoist the sack onto her back. He turned and peered out the window. It was 9:30 P.M. In a different part of town, one’s visibility would have been affected, due to the darkness of the sky. However, that particular Starbucks was located in the “Arena District,” a general shopping area; the area was illuminated by beaming street lights. “Hey Scarlet, you sure you don’t need a ride? I know you are independent and all of that. But, it is late.”
“No no,” Scarlet said. “You got things to do.” Donald’s sister worked at a hospital across town. On the nights that he worked, he took food over to her. “I’ll be just fine.”
“Alright,” he said. “Well, you can take off if you want. I’ve got maybe another ten minutes of cleaning to do.”
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye, love.”
. . .
Even back then, Scarlet was a big fan of metal and rap. She had a habit of jamming out on her walks home. Music was her makeshift therapy; it calmed and soothed her. Plus, it extinguished the silence of the twenty minute journey. People at the orphanage had responded to her with silence, the Flint’s had been silent most of the time, and silence encompassed her inside of her apartment.
Music helped take the edge off.
She placed her iPod earbuds in and turned on some Jay Z. She flipped through some songs until she got to the “Dynasty Intro.” It was one of her personal favorites. She mildly rapped along with the song as she walked.
/The theme song to The Sopranos
Plays in the key of life on my mental piano
Got a strange way of seeing life like
I'm Stevie Wonder with beads under the doo-rag
Intuition is there even when my vision's impaired, yeah/
The tiny woman clammed up as she passed a group of young business men and women. There had been a conference going on at nearby hotel. There was no need for her to draw attention to herself.
Scarlet placed her hands into her jean pockets and advanced down the street. After a couple of minutes, her Motorola Droid vibrated. Her and other co-workers had a group-text message chat going, just to keep in touch and what not. Scarlet strolled a bit until she was under a street light. She checked the message; one of her co-workers was asking about a particular pizza place. She returned the phone to her back pocket turned to leave―
“Hey, beautiful.” She didn’t recognize the voice. It was gruff and scraggly, as if the person had gargled with rocks all of his life. The light post was located right next to a dank alley. She turned to her right as a figure emerged from the shadows of darkness. “My my, aren’t you a looker?”
Scarlet jumped back a bit. The man was about six-foot three, with a seemingly fresh buzz-cut. From his appearance, he was a soldier. Or, he attempted to play the part that night. His tan and green Army Combat Uniform was dusty, wrinkled, and disheveled. His coat jacket dangled of his body, held together by one, measly fastener.
“I got a proposition for you. You’re cute, and I’m a looker as well. Why don’t you come back to my apartment. We can get to know each other. How does that sound?”
“No...no thank you,” Scarlet said. She took a step back turned to leave. “I’ve got to get home.”
In a flash, he thrust his hand out and took ahold of Scarlet’s left arm. His grip was tight and restricting. He pulled her close to his body. “Oh come on. Live a little. Don’t be a prude.”
His vice-grip sent an intense, shooting pain up her arm. In an attempt to break free, she grasped at her his hand with her free arm. “Get off of me! Leave me alone!” she shouted. The man threw his hammock sized hands over her mouth.
“A screamer huh? I like that. Oh, I’ve got something that will make you scream. Would you like that?” She furiously shook her head “no.” A smirk came to the man’s face; he appeared amused. “I like my women with a little fight to them.”
Scarlet tried to backpedal and move towards the light; her effort was futile. The man was just too massive for her. He forewent her arm, grabbed her around the waist and yanked her into the alley. While the street may have been illuminated, the alley was nearly black hole.
A few seconds later, Scarlet found herself on the concrete. The soldier pressed his body against her. On instinct, Scarlet threw up her arms to protect her face. The man took ahold of both her arms and slammed them to the concrete as well.
He leaned in and planted a slobbery kiss on her lips. As he pulled away, a look of revolt came to Scarlet’s face. His breath reeked of a familiar concoction―vodka and gin. Mr. Carver, her first foster father, used to drink the same thing before he went on his toxic rampages.
The man leaned in for another kiss, however, Scarlet frantically shook her head. “Help! HELP! Someone plea―”
THUD
His palm connected with the side of her head. The entire left side of her face became numb. The man smiled and held a finger to his lips. “You’ll be screaming in just a moment, I promise you.”
He began to rip and crawl at her white t-shirt, until nothing remained but her cream colored bra. Once again, he placed a hand over her mouth. His free hand moved south and began to clutch and squeeze each mound on her chest.
A small river began to flow from the woman’s eyes. Scarlet tried to squirm, but it was no use.
SMACK
Another opened palm-shot rocked her. “You know something,” said the man. His tone had gotten, stern. “You are beginning to annoy me, truly.” The man reached in his uniform jacket; a second later he revealed a black-handled combat knife. “Oh, I do love a screamer and a fighter. But, another outburst from you, and I’ll have to cut that tongue out. You don’t want that now, do you?" Scarlet’ body stiffened up; he was certain that his threat had been received. The man set the knife nearby, within reaching distance. A small chuckle came from his mouth. “Good. Now, let’s have a little bit of fun.”
She would have fought back if she could have, but she couldn’t. Her attacker was just too large, and the shots to the head she received had disorientated her. She felt weak―helpless.
She had no other options. Therefore, Scarlet shut her eyes, and prepared for the worst.
The soldier’s left hand traveled southward until it reached the base of Scarlet’s jeans. With the flip of his thumb, the metal button popped out. Slowly, he unzipped her pants. When he was finished, a devilish smile appeared on his face. With one tug, he pulled her jeans down to her knees.
That left hand once again began to travel south, towards its ultimate target.
“Get the fuck off of her!”
The soldier turned his head―
CRACK
Donald had driven his knee deep into the man’s skull; the force of the blow lifted him off of Scarlet. Swiftly, Donald kicked the knife away so that the man couldn’t get his hand on it.
Groggily, the soldier made it to his feet. “What’s your fucking problem?”
Donald responded with a left body-blow and right-cross. The soldier dropped to the concrete like sack of onions. He then turned his attention his friend. “Scarlet! Are you ok? Can you hear me? I was driving by when I thought I heard some shit going down in the alley. I was concerned, so I came to help.”
She was unresponsive, however, her entire body began to shiver and shake.
“Scarlet!”
The Psychological Effects of Repression & Suppression
Associated Psychiatrist: Amelia Johnson
I would like to begin this article by accurately stating what exactly suppression and repression are.
Suppression: This occurs when a person intentionally elects not give power to a feeling, an emotion, or an event. It is a psychology coping mechanism; it is often employed after some sort of traumatic experience. This mechanism allows people to carry on with their daily lives, without having to be constantly reminded of their experiences.
Repression: Repression is distinguished from suppression, by the fact that here, the person does not even acknowledge that the feeling, the emotion, or the event is actually in existence.
. . .
The Negative Effects of Suppression and Repression
The generally accepted opinion is that repression is a lot more harmful than suppression; this is due to the fact that repression denies the existence of the events as a whole. However, both conditions can be accompanied by the negative effects. The negative effects may be most severe when a person re-realizes or rediscovers the suppressed or repressed memories.
Additionally, a subsequent severe trauma may trigger the release of said suppressed and repressed emotions. This is very dangerous, due to the fact that it may alter a person’s mind. There is a chance he or she could become a danger to themselves, or to others. Listed below are some of the effects that a person may exhibit:
- Matters remain unsolved
- Difficulty expressing emotions effectively
- Physical and mental breakdowns
- Irrationality
- Erratic behavior
- Numbing of emotions
- Fits of extreme violence
New York City, NY
“A Big Ass Backyard”
September 9th, 2015
It was just past 7:40 P.M. The sun had set; the sky was a canvas of violet and black tones. Although it was not officially “Fall” yet, Mother Nature must have missed the memo. The days of sporting form-fitting shorts and tank tops had passed. On this particular evening, the weather was brisk and chilly. A huge gust of wind blew by. The trees in Ielahiah’s backyard shook violently; their branched swayed to and fro. Said gust also sent various objects and debris flying all over the place. Bits of fawn and foliage reeled across the lawn like tumbleweeds.
Amidst the chilly, windy chaos, a figure stood off far in the distance. The camera’s lens could not pick up who the figure was. However, the image did cast off a reddish hue.
The camera fixated on the image and zoomed in just a little bit. While the figure was not crystal clear, it was apparent by it appendages that it was a person. Slowly, the person meandered towards the backyard.
As the person drew closer, the camera was able to focus on the face―it was Scarlet Flint.
However, Scarlet was, not herself.
Normally, her hair was sculpted into a nice Mohawk. That night, it was scraggly, matted, and damp due to some type of unknown matter. She was not wearing any clothes. A deep crimson substance, the color of blood, masked her erogenous zones. It appeared to be body paint, but there was also red liquid dripping down her legs.
She walked closer, ever so slowly. In her red-stained right hand rested a yam shaped hunk of flesh.
Scarlet inched closer and closer. After about a minute or so, she finally stood before the camera. The look plastered upon her face was, odd. It was a look of bewilderment, almost as if she unaware of her current state.
She stopped a few feet away from the camera; it lingered upon her body for a few moments. Scarlet stared at the camera lens with innocent looking eyes.
“Life is strange, isn’t it?” Her voice was soft and higher pitched than normal, as if she were a young girl. “People have different motivations in life, different desires in life. Do, do you want to know what I wished for?
“All I ever desired was to be loved. I would have given the world for a nice, reassuring hug. I would have killed for some caring person to kiss me on the cheek and tell me that everything was going to be fine―
“But, I never got that.”
She paused and composed herself a bit. “You see, my father and mother, well, they didn’t love me. I was an inconvenience to them, and instead of finding me a nice, safe place to live, they abandoned me. They left me to suffer―they left me for dead!” Scarlet let out a tiny sigh. “Most of the workers at the orphanage, and the group home, they were no different than my parents. They saw me as another mouth to feed, a helpless wench to no one wanted.” Scarlet eyes dropped to the ground. “A select few were sympathetic, however, no one genuinely cared about me; if they did, they would have rescued me.”
She timidly lifted her head and glanced back at the camera.
“All I ever desired was to be to be happy. I didn’t want to be rich or surrounded by material things; that doesn’t equate to joy. I didn’t want to be a famous person; I never wanted to have my face in the spotlight.
“I just wanted to be able to live in peace―however, that wasn’t in the cards for me either.”
Scarlet stood there, unmoving, for a few moments. Perhaps she was letting her words sink in, or maybe she needed to catch her breath. It was hard to tell. However, when she was ready, she began again.
“All I ever wanted was joy. Nevertheless, Life seemed content with dealing me suffering.
“Suffering, and pain. So much pain!”
She sheepishly scratched the back of her calf with the heel of her left foot. “Mr. Storm, you and I will never see eye to eye. There’s just no way that we ever could. I know you’ve tried to reach out in the past; you’ve made attempts to try and bridge the gap: You tried to placate me when I was inexcusably omitted from that initial I4NI Championship bout. On multiple occasions, you’ve attempted understand and justify my actions. Additionally, you have heard also heard stories of my, troubled past, yes? Perhaps you researched me, or, maybe, just maybe you were able to piece together every nugget that I dropped in each video.
“You―pitied me, Mr. Storm.”
There was slight three second pause. “But now, hopefully you realize that your efforts were made in vain. You and I are simply cut from two very different cloths.” Scarlet let out another sigh. “You can see that now, can’t you, Mr. Storm?
“All of your life, you’ve experienced the luxury and pleasures of having joy. You had food to eat, a suitable house to reside in. And, from everything that I’ve read and been told, growing up you had a loving relationship with your father.
“Even after he passed away, you were still surrounded and showered with affection. People flocked to you, they cuddled and comforted you.
“Thus far, you've lived this grand, wonderful life. Yes, your father was snatched from you; however, by now, he’s probably an after thought, isn’t he?
“I mean, look at all the good fortunate that has been bestowed upon you! You’ve had a long, successful career. You’ve won championship after championship, accolade after accolade. People would kill to accomplish a third of what you have. However, your good graces don’t end there, do they? No no, you’ve got wonderful people around like Owen Gonsalves―you’ve got friends who will risk life and limb, just to see you safe.
“And, of course, we can’t forget about dearest Zelda. The apple of your eye, the love of your life, the mother of your supposed child―it’s almost as if the death of your father is now a meaningless afterthought, isn’t it?”
A brisk, forceful wind rolled in. Again, the trees and shrubs shook, nonetheless, Scarlet remained still as she gawked directly ahead. “Mr. Storm, everything in my being tells me that you are a good person. Or, at least you think you are a good person. Time and time again you tried to empathize with my, conditions.
“But, you could never empathize with me. However, the fact of the matter is, you don’t truly know what it means to suffer.
“Maybe you know a bit about physical pain; you used to be an ultra-violent wrestler. The thing about physical pain though, is that it’s often short and very temporary.” Scarlet nodded her head a bit. “What I’m talking about, however, is real pain―the type that burrows itself deep into your heart and lingers.”
The camera focused in on her eyes for a moment. Water began to form around the edges of her ducts. “Let me tell you about real pain, Mr. Storm.
“Real pain occurs when your stomach slowly starts to eat away at itself, because you haven’t had enough funds to buy food in four or five days. Real pain is having to endure relentless physical and medical torment, because your no good, dead-beat parents were strung out on narcotics during your inception.
“Real pain occurs when your clothes are forcibly ripped off, you are slammed to the concrete, and some brute of a man mounts you, in attempts insert his disease-ridden penis into you!
“That’s pain! That’s fear!”
Scarlet took a couple of deep breaths. Afterwards, her gazed shifted down to the object in her right hand. She nodded her head and lifted up her arm, so that the camera could finally get a clear shot of the red and maroon chuck of flesh.
“Do, do you know what this is, Mr. Storm? Or, to be more accurate, do you know what it is supposed to represent?” The camera loitered on the shot of meat. “It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. Do you see its curvature? Do you see it’s oval, bean-like shape?”
The camera zoomed out a bit as Scarlet looked deeply into the camera. “A couple of weeks ago, you proudly announced that you and your wife had conceived a child. I can imagine that both you and your wife were elated―another hearty deposit in your Joy Bank.”
Her lip quivered slightly after that last comment. “This chunk of flesh is supposed to represent the fetus of your unborn child.” A small, sheepish smile appeared on her face. “Mr. Storm, I’m sure you want an explanation. You want to know why I attacked your wife at Breakthrough. I will tell you why I did it...
“I pitied you! I wanted to help you!
“All my life I chased love and affection. But, during the course of that chase, I learned something very valuable―love, affection, and joy ultimately make you weak! Those emotions cloud and muddle a person’s judgment; those emotions make a person, complacent.” Scarlet feverously shook her head back and forth. “Armed and Dangerous is the wrong time to have weakness in your system, Mr. Storm. If you had walked into this Pay-Per-View with the same mental state you had at Heatstroke, then your demise would have been certain.
“But now, now you’ve got just a sliver of hope! Just a sliver.”
She nodded her head up and down, as an eager child would. “You see Mr. Storm, you needed a real taste of tragedy, a real taste of pain. I did that for you, yes I did. Now, at first, I was only going to scratch Zelda up a bit.
“But, in the blink of an eye, I remembered the baby! Nothing is more, agonizing than the loss of a child, trust me.
“And so, with each and every kick, each and every punch, I was aiming for Little Storm.” She shrugged a bit. “It turns out that I only broke a few of Zelda’s ribs. How unfortunate, I wanted to do so much more damage.; however, my time was limited.
“Nonetheless, I know I caused a great deal of trauma―to all three of you. Perhaps that trauma will be enough to get your mind to where you need to be.
“I truly hope so.”
Her grip around the chunk of flesh began to tighten. After a few moments, the meat burst into various tiny chunks; those chunks plummeted to the green. Scarlet lowered her head and closed her eyes. As she did, the wind kicked up one last time, which caused her loose hair cover her face.
The small woman continued to peer at the ground for another thirty seconds or so. After that period had elapsed, she gently pushed the hair out of her face. Scarlet gradually lifted her head. Her wicked smirk graced her lips for the first time that evening.
“Tyler, I must say, I’m very proud of my handiwork.” There was a shift in her tone. So no longer sounded like a small child; her normal, sinister tone returned. “It’s not everyday that I get to bore into someone’s brain and cause them so much turmoil. It’s been a fucking blast!” She let out a small laugh. “By now, you are probably starting to piece everything together. Since our very first interaction, I’ve been playing you like a damn fiddle.
“Men like you Tyler, they are so easily manipulated. All I had to do is throw some well-placed insults your way. You felt emasculated, you felt you humiliated, you felt the need to validate yourself, and so you wanted to lash out!” Scarlet nodded. “I’ve had you wrapped around my lil’ fingers―I was the quintessential puppet-master.
“And you were too dumb and filled with senseless rage to untie your arms and feet!” Scarlet paused for a moment. She figured now, everything would be coming back to Tyler. He needed a moment to realize his stupidity. “However, I’m sure there is one last question on your mind Tyler. Hell, I’m sure everyone in VoW is pondering that question...
“Why?
“Why did Scarlet Flint go through the trouble of picking you? There are numerous people on the roster, what attracted the Lil’ Demon to the Hybrid?” She let out a smile. “Why do you think I targeted you, Tyler? You appear to be a smart guy. Well, at times; I kind of question that after I saw the way you talked Sky Sangue. You gonna’ end up in the unemployment line if you keep talking that good-good. You can’t afford to fuck up Tyler, because while you are distinguished, I’m willing to bet there aint a gaggle of promotions bagging on your door.
“Ha, look at me getting side-tracked though; I digress.
“Again, Tyler, the question on the table is why do you believe I came after you? Surely, you didn’t think it was solely because you are holding some fucking belt. Sure, after your massacre at Armed and Dangerous, that I4NI title is going to look right nice sitting on my throne, right next to the UWF Ultimate Championship.
“But I aint a fucking insect that’s chasing something shiny, Tyler.”
Scarlet held up her right index finger. “I came after you, I targeted you―because you are fragile. Tyler, you don’t fool me for a fucking second. You may have the wool pulled over Zelda’s eyes, you may be able to deceive all your friends, and you may be to trick all these dumb ass fans―but, you will never out-smart me homie. Tyler, you’ve got perception problem. You see, you think because you’ve had your fair share of hardcore matches, that you are strong. You think that just because you’ve had a long career that you can bulldoze anything in your path. And lastly, you think that your lil’ pseudo badass persona is going to intimidate someone.
“Cute, Tyler, cute.” She rolled her eyes. “Ha, ‘The Hybrid.’ Get the fuck outta’ here!”
She sighed again. “But the fact of the matter is this Tyler, when the chips have been down, you’ve bitched out. On Breakthrough Thirty-One, instead of standing on your own two feet and fighting back, you needed ya’ ‘best bro’ to come bale your punk ass out. And, on Breakthrough Thirty-Three, when you found out that your precious wife had been assaulted, what did you do?
“The first thing you did was cry, scream, and bitch like a blubbering child. However, more importantly, Tyler, you were racked and crippled with fear!
“Even when you had the chance to confront me, what did you do? You picked up a microphone. You should have punched me in my jaw; that’s a what a real badass would do. But in that moment, you choose to use your ‘big boy’ words instead.
“So fucking pathetic!”
A look of disgust washed over her. Scarlet then folded her arms over her paint-covered chest. “Success in life has corrupted you, Tyler. It was apparent the first time I laid eyes on you. And so, I made it my mission to extinguish you. But, I needed to build you up, just a little. Helpless slaughter is no fun―it’s always better with a lil’ fight.
“The culmination of everything will happen at Armed and Dangerous. Let’s just call a spade a spade―the ‘Wall of Woe’ will the most gruesome match that VoW has ever witnessed.
“And that’s not a hollow statement, that’s fucking promise!”
She nodded her head in affirmation. VoW was used to hard-hitting matches, however, it wasn’t used to pure bloodbaths. Scarlet knew that. She intended for this match to be absolute chaos. She wouldn’t be satisfied in her mind if the ring didn’t resemble a crime scene.
“For those who have been living under rock, let me give a Cliff Notes version of how this match works.
“On one side of the ring, a cage wall will stand erect. That cage wall will be plastered with a bunch of nasty ‘toys’ for Tyler and I to play with. Affixed to that cage will be a small platform, which I will use to shimmy up and capture my belt.
“Tyler, what you need to get through your thick skull, is that this is my match. This is my playground. I don’t care that you are a so-called ‘veteran.’ Zelda and Owen will have filled your head with lies; they will have told you that you have the advantage. However―
“Crassness, cruelty, carnage―those are my realms!”
She took a couple of steps towards the camera. “I’ve got huge plans for you Tyler. And, since you won’t be able to stop me out there, I’m going to tell you my game plan, right here, right now.
“This will not be a technical showcase sir. Fuck all of that. The first thing I’m going to do is stroll over and grab me a nice weapon. Oh, I pray to God that there is a lead pipe resting on that cage; nothing would make me more happy. But hell, any blunt object would do: a lead pipe, a tire iron, crowbar, etc. Whatever it is, I’m going to take that object and thrust it into your stomach―gotta’ make up for that height discrepancy, ya’ dig? Then, I will proceed to smash that blunt object into your dome!
“Tyler, your eye ducts will begin to water, and your vision will start to become blurry. Your brain will rattle and swell inside your skull. The fans will observe in panic stricken horror.
“The suddenly, I will flip the script. I will then drive that blunt object into your arm. Oh yeah, I know it won’t be one hundred percent. The pain will shoot throughout your entire body. And, before you can react, you’ll find yourself in a nifty armbar.
“I’m going to gripe, and twist, and wrench, until―” Scarlet swiftly snapped her fingers, indicating the snapping of his arm. “I plan to damage that arm so badly, that you will sincerely consider amputating it.
“You’ll be begging and pleading for me to put you out of your misery. And, for once in my life, I will oblige. That is when I will wrap my hands around your neck. I’ll press down and squeeze. The air will escape your, you will flail your arms in desperation.
“And then, things will go quiet; everything will be still. I’ll feel your life force leaving your body, and then I’ll release my hold. After that, the only thing I’ll have to do is climb. Oh, that last few moments will be so glorious!”
Once again, Scarlet took a couple more steps towards the camera. Her stride was slow and deliberate.
“This has gone on long enough, this video and this lil’ feud.
“Tyler, let me make something very clear to you. I know you are gonna’ come out blazing. You’ll be trying to defend and avenge your girl’s honor and all that chivalry shit. I dig it. What you need to realize tho’, is that there’s nothing you can do to hurt me.
“You can punch me…
“You can kick me…
“You can even put a fucking bullet in my head…
“It won’t mean a damn thing to me―I’ll keep coming for you! My mental roadblocks have been demolished; and, there is no weakness in my body. That weakness was purged from my body when my niece or nephew was stolen from me―
“I don’t feel the pain anymore, Tyler!” She walked forward, until her face was inches away from the camera lens. “But you will!”
The feed abruptly cuts out.
END
