Et tu?
I: Sunday, June 26,
2005: Trump
International Hotel and Tower, New York City, NY
"Robert, I am NOT LYING."
"YOU'RE FULL OF SHIT!! YOU'RE LYING."
She's crying now.
"I'm...NOT lying. I'm just trying to..."
"ENOUGH," I yell. "This ends in weeks. You and that Irish asshole will BOTH be FINISHED and out of my goddamn life FOREVER. And if you keep this up, I'm going to take fucking custody of Edward out of your hands. Now PISS OFF."
What she says. Cannot be true.
Cannot have any validation.
It is mere lies, fantasy, a contortion of reality spun by a witch to suit her own evil ends.
I sit in bed shirtless, my single Egyptian cotton bed sheet pulled up to my waist. I toss my mobile phone to the side table where it lands with a thud.
That bitch really knows how to ruin my evening.
I am alone tonight. Marissah is out of town for a few days. I know she is. I am not her ex-husband. She will be home tomorrow. For my birthday.
Thirty-five years old.
I know she has something planned for me, she's gone on and on about it for days on end. I can't even speculate as to what she has planned.
I have tried to keep this MSWA show out of conversation since it was initially brought up so as to not dampen her enthusiasm for my celebration. It only represents a total waste of time to her and is located in one of the most godforsaken states in the American Union. I cannot argue terribly about the latter, but the former I am in total opposition.
The last of my port calls to me as I reach over and drain my glass. It is now my book's turn to go thud as I toss it to the side table also. I flick off the light and settle into my bed.
Sleep will not come easily tonight.
........................I open my eyes.
I am in a large gallery, white marble columns, with etched in images of gods, goddesses, nymphs, satyrs, monsters and beasts abounding. I see Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.
The round Capitol is full of elderly men in white tunics and robes, wearing purple sashes, the emblems of Roman nobility. They are Senators. They are silent save for a few who mumble things to each other, inaudible to me. I am in a large marble chair, with a banner that reads "SPQR" behind me.
What to do? What to say. Their eyes are all transfixed on me.
Minutes pass. Their eyes narrow and faces frown. Say something you bloody idiot.
"Has the Almighty Lancaster nay anything to say to the people then?"
I look to my side. It's Seamus.
"What's wrong then eh? Ye doin' ok up there Robbie?"
I don't know.
"Auch let's ask someone else then. What do ye think?"
"I think there's more things wrong with him than he can even count. And he doesn't even know it."
Stephanie. She walks forward out of seeming nothingness.
"The bastard was clueless during our marriage. Didn't know how to handle me. Our child. He couldn't even handle a decrepit old butler."
The Senate laughs. I am enraged.
I stand up to take control.
"Sit down child."
I turn around and see Simkins, who frowns with disdain and pierces me yet again with his eyes. I immediately sit.
"This man. This CHILD. He is a disgrace to the Senate. To the people of Wessex. And I submit to you all, an abomination of SIN and an ABOMINATION to the HOUSE of Lancaster. And to his profession."
He spits on the floor before me and turns his back on me.
"Here here yes yes FIE for shame."
The Senate shouts its approval.
I have had enough. I stand from my throne again and yell.
"I AM THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS."
My voice echoes to utter silence.
"STRIP HIM OF HIS HONOURS!" a voice cries out.
I look around in confusion as the applause and cheers to the sentiment expressed by that lone Senator grow louder and louder.
A table to my left materializes with every championship I ever held on it.
I try to leave my chair to grasp them and hold them to my chest, but I cannot even descend the first step. I physically cannot move.
Ten soldiers walk into the Capitol and approach the table. Slowly one by one each title disappears, and are carried out to the loud cheers of all assembled.
"You...you...YOU WILL PAY. YOU WILL ALL PAY."
"Shut yer mouth and just think on this: I may be older, aye, I may have suffered countless cuts n wounds, but I got feckin heart...ye hear me ye bloody bastard? Ye wanna bring the fight to ME? Yer worthless. Yer doomed. Yer...past yer time?"
I lift my eyes beyond him and I see my...my allies. My friends!
Thane Kushner...Chris Wright and the Scythe Meister, my Jacobin brethren!
"HELP ME!" I cry to them.
They stand and shake their heads. They too turn their backs and exit the Capitol.
The Senators begin clamouring again in hatred and spite.
I am in danger. I must leave. I must leave.
I stand and clear my throat.
"I WILL not TOLERATE any more of this!"
I am finally allowed to descend from the throne. I walk past Seamus, Stephanie and Simkins.
"Auch is blood the only language ye understand?"
"It would certainly seem like it."
"So be it."
I feel a sharp pain enter my back as I cry out. And twice more. I fall to my knees and onto my back, writhing in pain. My eyes begin to blur but I see the three of them holding now bloody daggers.
My...energy...begins to fade...
I roll slowly onto my chest and haul myself up. I feel a dagger enter the base of my spine.
I collapse and fall to my back again.
Marissah Whitely-Lancaster, Duchess of Wessex, stands above me holding a bloodied dagger. She laughs. She bends down and removes the Chain of Nobility from around my neck and places it on herself. She smears my blood across it and walks out of sight, laughing.
"...et tu?"
........................I open my eyes this time to reality in cold sweat. I lay motionless until sunrise. Happy Birthday.
"Robert, I am NOT LYING."
"YOU'RE FULL OF SHIT!! YOU'RE LYING."
She's crying now.
"I'm...NOT lying. I'm just trying to..."
"ENOUGH," I yell. "This ends in weeks. You and that Irish asshole will BOTH be FINISHED and out of my goddamn life FOREVER. And if you keep this up, I'm going to take fucking custody of Edward out of your hands. Now PISS OFF."
What she says. Cannot be true.
Cannot have any validation.
It is mere lies, fantasy, a contortion of reality spun by a witch to suit her own evil ends.
I sit in bed shirtless, my single Egyptian cotton bed sheet pulled up to my waist. I toss my mobile phone to the side table where it lands with a thud.
That bitch really knows how to ruin my evening.
I am alone tonight. Marissah is out of town for a few days. I know she is. I am not her ex-husband. She will be home tomorrow. For my birthday.
Thirty-five years old.
I know she has something planned for me, she's gone on and on about it for days on end. I can't even speculate as to what she has planned.
I have tried to keep this MSWA show out of conversation since it was initially brought up so as to not dampen her enthusiasm for my celebration. It only represents a total waste of time to her and is located in one of the most godforsaken states in the American Union. I cannot argue terribly about the latter, but the former I am in total opposition.
The last of my port calls to me as I reach over and drain my glass. It is now my book's turn to go thud as I toss it to the side table also. I flick off the light and settle into my bed.
Sleep will not come easily tonight.
........................I open my eyes.
I am in a large gallery, white marble columns, with etched in images of gods, goddesses, nymphs, satyrs, monsters and beasts abounding. I see Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.
The round Capitol is full of elderly men in white tunics and robes, wearing purple sashes, the emblems of Roman nobility. They are Senators. They are silent save for a few who mumble things to each other, inaudible to me. I am in a large marble chair, with a banner that reads "SPQR" behind me.
What to do? What to say. Their eyes are all transfixed on me.
Minutes pass. Their eyes narrow and faces frown. Say something you bloody idiot.
"Has the Almighty Lancaster nay anything to say to the people then?"
I look to my side. It's Seamus.
"What's wrong then eh? Ye doin' ok up there Robbie?"
I don't know.
"Auch let's ask someone else then. What do ye think?"
"I think there's more things wrong with him than he can even count. And he doesn't even know it."
Stephanie. She walks forward out of seeming nothingness.
"The bastard was clueless during our marriage. Didn't know how to handle me. Our child. He couldn't even handle a decrepit old butler."
The Senate laughs. I am enraged.
I stand up to take control.
"Sit down child."
I turn around and see Simkins, who frowns with disdain and pierces me yet again with his eyes. I immediately sit.
"This man. This CHILD. He is a disgrace to the Senate. To the people of Wessex. And I submit to you all, an abomination of SIN and an ABOMINATION to the HOUSE of Lancaster. And to his profession."
He spits on the floor before me and turns his back on me.
"Here here yes yes FIE for shame."
The Senate shouts its approval.
I have had enough. I stand from my throne again and yell.
"I AM THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS."
My voice echoes to utter silence.
"STRIP HIM OF HIS HONOURS!" a voice cries out.
I look around in confusion as the applause and cheers to the sentiment expressed by that lone Senator grow louder and louder.
A table to my left materializes with every championship I ever held on it.
I try to leave my chair to grasp them and hold them to my chest, but I cannot even descend the first step. I physically cannot move.
Ten soldiers walk into the Capitol and approach the table. Slowly one by one each title disappears, and are carried out to the loud cheers of all assembled.
"You...you...YOU WILL PAY. YOU WILL ALL PAY."
"Shut yer mouth and just think on this: I may be older, aye, I may have suffered countless cuts n wounds, but I got feckin heart...ye hear me ye bloody bastard? Ye wanna bring the fight to ME? Yer worthless. Yer doomed. Yer...past yer time?"
I lift my eyes beyond him and I see my...my allies. My friends!
Thane Kushner...Chris Wright and the Scythe Meister, my Jacobin brethren!
"HELP ME!" I cry to them.
They stand and shake their heads. They too turn their backs and exit the Capitol.
The Senators begin clamouring again in hatred and spite.
I am in danger. I must leave. I must leave.
I stand and clear my throat.
"I WILL not TOLERATE any more of this!"
I am finally allowed to descend from the throne. I walk past Seamus, Stephanie and Simkins.
"Auch is blood the only language ye understand?"
"It would certainly seem like it."
"So be it."
I feel a sharp pain enter my back as I cry out. And twice more. I fall to my knees and onto my back, writhing in pain. My eyes begin to blur but I see the three of them holding now bloody daggers.
My...energy...begins to fade...
I roll slowly onto my chest and haul myself up. I feel a dagger enter the base of my spine.
I collapse and fall to my back again.
Marissah Whitely-Lancaster, Duchess of Wessex, stands above me holding a bloodied dagger. She laughs. She bends down and removes the Chain of Nobility from around my neck and places it on herself. She smears my blood across it and walks out of sight, laughing.
"...et tu?"
........................I open my eyes this time to reality in cold sweat. I lay motionless until sunrise. Happy Birthday.