7/21/2001

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"That's about the time I felt The Stranger kick me right between the eyes"
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Wrapped in a wool blanket and staring at the picture that warped his attention to a small singular spot. He held it to his chest, hugging it like he would his mother had she accepted him back that fatefull night when he came home. How he wanted to hate her after that. How we wanted to lash out at her, to call and harass her. Instead, he tried to forget, and the person that he was died and he was born a new person. Or so he thought.

But inside there were two, the Old and the New.

The Old was back.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?"

Tommy whirled around at the voice, his eyes wide, black hair standing on end. Still clutched in his hands was his makeshift picture.

There before him was the New. Before him was Tommy F'n Levi.

"Are you just going to sit there and rock back and forth like some retarded child who lost his puppy? You aren't the same person as me..you CAN'T be. Your nothing but a childish little prick who dosn't deserve to live. You should just do yourself a favor and jump off a fuckin cliff you big-ass crybaby."

Thomas Aaron Levi, The Old, just sat, staring at the bars of the hotel bed. Next door an older buisness man was doing a bit of 'buisness' with a woman who seemed to do 'buisness' quite often. They shook the old gold colored bars of Thomas' room. It reminded him of a few nights he had had back before The Big Night. Sometimes Mommy and Daddy made up and made the bars shake just like that.

"Yeah, Thomas, they fucked like rabbits."

Thomas, The Old, whirled to the New, Tommy, at the nearly saccriligious was he spoke.

"Yeah, that's right, Thomas" he continued, "they fucked each others brains out. No matter how much dad beat the SHIT out of her AND you, every night they would go in that room at go at it like a badly made porn flick. Didn't even matter if you were up, or hell, even in the same frickin ROOM to dad, did it. And did Mom ever say 'stop'. Sure as hell NO, Thomas. Mom let him back EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TIME. Didn't you ever think, Tommy? Didn't you just think? 'Gee golly, if Dad beats the ever loving hell out of us so much, and mom is SUCH A GOOD WOMAN, then why the hell didn't she leave him?"

"Stop it."

"She didn't Thomas. She stayed, and do you know why?"

"Stop it!"

"Because she was just as bad as he was."

"STOP IT! Please.."

The 'please' came out so weak, he could hardly even hear it himself. He was crying, tears staining the picture and its pictures pasted on top of it. His eyes were flowing and his nose burned. His mouth was fixed in a mournfull gesture that hurt to perform but he couldn't stop it non the less.

"She was nothing more than a WHORE and a BITCH who wanted dick as much as she could get it, and you know it! She cared for you as little as she could and for you to sit here and hold that picture and rock back and forth like that, it is SICK!! Your a fucking IDIOT! Taylor Dawkin's did you a FUCKING FAVOR and got that SLUT away from you!"

"I SAID STOP IIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!!"

Thomas lept at Levi and flew right into the mirror and landed on the dresser that contained nothing new since Levi arrived. The TV, though bolted in place, shook and reeled backwards breaking the remaining glass.

"Stop doing what, jackass? Stop telling you the TRUTH?!"

"STOP IT YOU SONOFABITCH! STOP OR I WILL KILL YOU I SWEAR TO GOD!!!!!"

The 'buisness' abruptly stopped in the room next door. He heard whispering from the room he was closest to now. Thomas bled from his face and fingers as the peices of glass were strewn across the cheap motel room. He suddenly became aware of his surroundings. How loudly he breathed. How small the room was. How hot the air was.

He needed out. And now, he understood. He had to get those ashes back now. Not to appease his parents. No, he had to get them back to shut them up. For once his head was clear. He felt like the New Tommy. But for how long?

He grabbed his wallet and threw 300 dollars on the nightstand, enough to cover the room and the damage, probobly alot more too, but hed rather them not report him. Not now. He had too much to do. San Fransico is a big city, but Taylor Dawkins only lives in one part of it. One part he was very familiar with.

Levi grabbed his things and wrapped a towel over his head, blocking his face from the looks of the strangers around him. He passed by the room with the 'buisness' do-ers and got in his rental car, an older 90 Plymoth. Really a generic tank, one of a billion. Exactly what he wanted tonight.

As he drove away his tape deck played a song about strangers and Levi replayed it all the way to his destination.

"We all have a face that we hide away forever
And we take them out and show ourselves when everyone has gone.
Some are satin some are steel,
some are silk and some are leather
theyre the faces of The Stranger
And we love to try them on."

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