What’s your favourite and least favourite things about your hometown?
“My favorite thing about Raeford? I guess the sense of community. Everyone knows each other, and there’s always a helping hand everywhere you turn. It is probably the main reason why I never left. That also brings me to my least favorite thing about this place, though. Word travels fast, and while it’s great that we have a tight community, it means that everyone knows everything. You get used to it, I guess. I’m still here, so that has to count for something.”
What’s your relationship like with your family?
“My family is… complicated. As most of the people in town probably know – because like I said, word travels fast – my father got killed in a robbery when I was sixteen. It has put a big, heavy weight on all of our shoulders, if I’m honest. We haven’t been the same since. We tried moving away from Raeford, maybe try and put all of this behind us, but that was just useless. My sister – she’s… different. So is mom. They’re both less trusting, I guess. Me? I just want to make him proud. I’ve tried, to be the man of the family, try to keep us all together, and we’ve been doing okay. But me and my sister moving out a couple of years ago was a tough time for my mom. Luckily, we’re all only five minutes away from each other. I would never abandon her.”
What are your biggest achievements and regrets?
“My biggest achievement is definitely becoming a criminal defense lawyer. It is in honor of my father, trying to get justice for what happened to him. The person who killed him got away with only two years in prison. He deserved… so much more. My biggest regret… It would have to be being so closed off when all of it happened. When my family needed me most, I completely shut down and turned away from them. It was a dark time, I did a lot of things I’m not proud of. For a long time, I didn’t let anyone come close to me and I lost contact with a lot of people for a while. I regret that.”
What is your biggest fear?
“Oh, God. My biggest fear – I mean, I’d like to think that I don’t have any, but then I’d just be straight up lying. I think, my biggest fear is probably not having control over every single thing in my life. I wouldn’t go as far as saying I’m a control freak, but the fear of not knowing how something will go or not being able to make something go the way you want it to… It just scares me, I guess. Then there’s also the fear of losing my family, which I guess isn’t really that weird. Mannequins also creep me out.”
What are your plans for the future?
“The future? Are we talking like a five-year plan here? I’d like to settle down, maybe. Get a family of my own. I don’t know, the usual, traditional things. I’m already thirty-four, and as my mother likes to point out to me – I should hurry up. No pressure, right? No, in all seriousness, I’d like to focus less on work and more on myself. Maybe buy a house, even if I do like my current apartment. Still in Raeford, too, probably. I hope my future doesn’t hold anything too crazy.”
Describe yourself in one sentence.
“Trying to right everybody’s wrongs.”
WHY WOULD I LEAVE? THIS IS HOME. THIS IS WHERE I BELONG.