A new song by my 19 year old son. He did every instrument, every note, all vocals and produced it himself. It’s got an alternative, club vibe to it. It starts with a slow build and then gets rolling. Enjoy! [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/330751528" params="visual=true&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"…
Music Monday! Liam Taylor cover of Ain’t It Fun Liam Taylor, formerly of the band Nothing Personal, doing a cover of Paramore's Ain't it Fun. Have a great Monday! ~Phil
Something graphic I had going through my head last night and into this morning.
Christopher Taylor stood on his aunt's doorstep, shifting nervously on his feet. He tried the bell a second time, with the same outcome and had been about to slip a small case into her mail when she answered the door. Taking a shallow breath he looked at her and tried to smile but this whole ordeal had left him feeling hollow.
"Hey Aunt Shannon..." Hearing his own voice in his ears, he realized how rough it sounded. "I...uh...Liam isn't here, is he?"
"No, he's out with some friends. Come in, sweetie." Christopher came inside and shifted again, taking the DVD case and handed it to get. It was a recordable disc, nothing fancy about it save with the title BCD: 2016/Taylor.
"You need to see this." As his aunt took the case and nodded, Christopher pinched his eyes closed with his fingers. "It should help get these guys..."
"You know, if you're on this, there might be repercussions, right?"
"Aunt Shanny...I helped them...I stood there and watched as they almost killed my little brother. I never stopped them, I never helped him...if something comes my way, from this, I deserve it. It's...um...it's really bad so...don't let him see it, okay? I don't think he remembers..."
His aunt stepped forward and hugged him tightly, sweeping her hand over his buzzed head and gave him a comforting smile before she stepped back again and looked down at the label.
"What does BCD mean?"
"Behind closed doors...um...i found this in dad's den...he...well... he was watching it." Christopher looked sick but stepped back when his aunt tried to move for him again. He left in a hurry, getting into his truck and drove away. He had been present when the news reporter had arrived at Theta Kappa's house and heard his chapter president blame Liam, and accuse him of trying to harm the other boys with his "disease."
When Christopher had gone into his father’s den, the man had a sick smile on his face as he’d been sitting in his recliner, watching the video. Christopher hadn’t said anything to give himself away, only waited until after his parents had left with his sister for something to sit and watch it himself.
It had started with Rush week, initiations, meeting the prospective pledges. The video skipped around a lot but as it got to the 20-minute mark, things turned sinister. Christopher remembered that night, it had been the rooftop haze, where Liam had lost consciousness. The boys were in their underwear, hands tied behind their back and they were supposed to be answering history questions. If they got it wrong, they had to drink. The cup was supposed to have beer in it, but as he forced himself to relive this, he started to doubt that. Liam couldn't answer his question and his head was pulled back, the liquid poured down his throat but he had thrown it up. Falling onto his stomach, he lay heaving on the searing concrete.
It was one of the other alums that spoke, and the person with the video zoomed in as he stepped up to where Liam was gasping for breath. "You should lick that up, dog!" The boy's voice was cruel and off to the side of the screen, Christopher had moved to his brother, cutting the tape from his wrists so he could prop himself up. Liam managed to sit back but he only shook his head "no" in response. The other shouted at him again, "Lick it up, DOG!"
Liam had started to cry, and the others laughed at him. The alum walked forward, grabbing him by his hair and hauled him to his feet by it. Liam cried out and the camera panned to Christopher, who stood slowly and took a step towards the one holding his brother. It had never been this bad, they never did this kind of thing to him.
"Awww...the poor little baby....he’s crying!” The boy suddenly shook Liam by his hair and he cried out in pain. “This is fucking pathetic! You're not even worthy of being the dog that licks shit off my boot! You think you're Theta material? You're nothing but a writhing worm!"
The boy threw Liam at another one, pointing at Christopher to get back to his duty, these dogs weren't going to take care of themselves. The other one, holding Liam limp in his arms, awaited orders. Christopher had assumed they had dropped him off somewhere and kick him from the rest of Hell Week. The video stopped and then picked up several hours later.
Liam lay on the floor of a great room, left haphazardly on a large rug. His hair plastered to his forehead from sweat and he was unconscious. Christopher hadn't managed to get much further through the video than that, once he had heard their father's voice on the recording, he had to turn it off. He knew his aunt Shannon would watch the rest of it.
The camera recording the video was on a table or bookshelf and there were two men in the room aside from Liam. Their father was one of them, holding a whiskey in one hand as he spoke to the Chapter President. After a moment, he walked over to the prone image of his frail son and rolled him onto his back. Liam was breathing but not well, his eyes were slits. They had drugged him to keep him still.
"I've been trying to get rid of this little asshole for most of his life."
The other man only laughed. "Some boys just can't handle the initiation, it's not the first time one of them would have died. What's so wrong with him?"
"Just always hated him. He's a weakling. Nothing like his brother" the words trailed off as Liam's father kicked him, hard, in the rib cage. The other man bent down and handed him something unseen and in a few minutes his father stood, the camera caught the image of blood and the man turned his back on the body of his son.
"Get rid of him." The last words before the video ended were of the man and their father chanting the motto for the house.
---
It was early dawn when the hospital cameras caught the drop off. A white van pulled up to the emergency room doors and unceremoniously threw the mangled body of a boy onto the concrete. He was barely breathing and across his chest, was carved the word: Worm. The boy was brought in immediately, severe alcohol poisoning, coupled with high levels of GHB in his blood as well as multiple broken bones, and seeping wounds. He had no ID and was left almost completely exposed. Because of the state of his injuries, he was put into ICU under John Doe.
Liam's eyes fluttered open in the dimly lit room to find a nurse wearing a yellow mesh gown and a face mask looking down at him. He had a tube down his throat and his chest felt heavy due to the large bandage that was wrapped tightly around his chest and stomach. He could only moan before tears welled up in his eyes and darkness got him again.
When he had been able, he had told the nurses his name and information. They had told him about the reason for the biohazard gowns and he had cried, alone save the young nurse who told him. In his file, the doctor who contacted his family had recorded their response. His father had picked up the phone and seemed not to care. It was three days before anyone came to see him and even then, it was only to tell him he couldn't go home.
Christopher prayed his brother didn't remember that their own father had done this to him, wanted the hazing to kill him, wanted him gone forever. For himself, he had walked away from the Fraternity, they weren't a brotherhood, they were monsters. For the first time in the 22 years of his brother's life, Christopher worried about him.
Music Monday! Burn Me Down by Nothing Personal Yes, this is my son's band and you can find their new album, Unforgettable, on iTunes and all the other digital music retailers.
