"COLTON, what have i told you about throwing your basketball around like that?â she sighed, picking up the object, crimson slowly making its way on to her cheeks. the young boy rushed to her side in the process. âthe sidewalk is not your personal basketball court when we have a perfectly good one outside of the apartment complex.â a genuine and apologetic smile formed, angelaâs brown hues fixated on the person before her. âiâm so sorry, he gets a little angsty sometimes, always looking for something to do. hope he didnât create any collateral damage.â
Theo just about managed to jump and catch the offer sign outside Cuppa Joe before it hit the floor. He looked up to see the cause of the sign falling over and smiled as a little kid ran next to his mum as she expressed her disappointment. "I compeltely understand what he means," Teddy announced to the woman with a smile, propping the sign back up, before getting down on the boy's level, "sometimes you gotta' just let out your Inner Lebron, right?" Theo spoke, unsure of whether the kid would know who Lebron was but feeling sure his mother would find it amusing anyway. "No collateral damage here, apart from my glorious artwork now being a little dirty." Theo pointed to his sign, a proud grin on his face despite how terrible his handwriting was, but he'd made an effort to draw some coffee cups so hoped that would be good enough. "I'm new to the artwork...not that you can tell, obviously. New to pretty much everything around here, really."
âOkay, slow down there. Before we make any hasty decisions that can make or break this budding friendship, let me ask you one thingâŠâ Chloe trails, looking up from her meal. âWill you please be my wing person tonight?â
Unsure as to how the conversation had got to where it was, Teddy placed the girl's coffee down on the table next to her food. "Do you ask all your bartenders this?" He chuckled and pulled a chair up to her table to sit down for a minute. "But I guess so. I mean, I wouldn't say I'm the best judge of character though. What are you looking for?â
Derek normally made coffee and breakfast at home, but he hadnât felt like doing either this morning. SO instead he headed over to the cafe, getting inline with the morning rush. When itâs his turn, he flashes a smile at the barista, placing his order. âCan I get an iced vanilla latte, please? And a scone.â
@teddy-king
It was his own fault really. Teddy had been so busy cleaning up some leftover latte that he'd spilt a few seconds before, that he'd literally forgotten what the guy had asked for within seconds. Feeling frustrated with himself as he so often did, Teddy stuck a smile on his face and looked back to the customer. "Sorry, can you just repeat that please? I know you literally just told me but my memory isn't what it used to be now I'm getting close to the big 4," he told the guy with a jokey tone to his voice, hoping he'd think nothing of it. Sure, that wasn't the real reason his memory wasn't what it used to be but it was a believable story. "You know, it's nice to come into a cafe and actually have people say please. A lot of big city people lack basic manners. I've even seen people come round the counter and punch their baristas when they get their order wrong, too. Just for a damn flat white.â
It'd been a long ass day in Cuppa Joe. Teddy had been taking on all of the hours he could get at the place but damn, serving coffee all day wasn't the life he'd wished for himself. But then again, nothing that had happened in the past few years was the life he'd wished for himself. He'd accepted that now, but it didn't mean he didn't still feel a little frustrated at times. But finally, as the seconds hand ticked round the clock at what seemed like a snail's pace, the time hit closing and Teddy began to prepare to close. With someone else on shift with him, he took the cafe area, the one he was more trusted with having only worked there for a for a few days and began to sweep up. "You're less likely to fuck that up," the other guy he was on shift with, compelling a fake laugh out of Teddy before an eye roll took over as he turned to face the other way. "Idiot," he muttered, before looking round the corner of the cafe to see a customer ( @theleona-evans) still sat there. "Er, sorry. I didn't see you there. We're kinda' closing up now. Well, we locked the doors already, actually so." Teddy winced apologetically as he leaned on his mop, pointing to the door with his free hand. "I mean, does this count as kidnap?" He joked, continuing to sweep. "But er, I guess you've got a few minutes while we clean up. Feel free to tell me if I've missed anything. I'm pretty new to...this."
hey everyone! rosie who plays milena here back with my 2nd child!! youâll honestly have to forgive me bc iâve played theo before and his intro is always mega because i get musey af. i hope u can stand to read to the end, lol. boi needs a big hug if ur down :((. heâs just come to crownsville anyway, like legit just turned up so, everything will be p much from scratch i imagine??? idk. feel free to like this if u fancy plotting!
[ michael b jordan, thirty two, male, he/him ] â hey, I just saw [ theo king ] walking down the streets of crownsville. theyâve lived in town for [ less than a month ], and you can catch them around town working as a [ barista ]. I hear theyâre known to be [ resilient & charismatic ] and [ doubtful & untrusting ]. if asked, they would say their aesthetic would be [ muddy football boots, strong aftershave, gym gear, early morning runs ]. â [ ooc: rosie, 22, gmt, she/her ]Â
TW: MENTION OF DOMESTIC ABUSE, EMOTIONAL ABUSE, DRUGS & LONG TERM INJURY.
- Theodore âteddyâ King was born in Hunts Point, the Bronx to mother, Kelani and father, Jackson who split up when he was only a few years old. Like many kids growing up in Hunts Point, he saw way too much and often got closer than his parents would like to think to the realities of getting by, by whatever means. But his mother did a good job at keeping him on the straight and narrow, by keeping him in line and making sure he went to school and straight from school, to extra curriculars. When he wasnât in school, Theo went to church with his mother and sang in the church choir, something he didnât particularly enjoy but he knew better than to say no to his mother. Theoâs dad, a man some would say was quite the opposite to his church going ex-wife, was involved in the darker side of the neighbourhood and was a well known drug dealer within the area. Theo didnât know this until he was older, of course, when he started to get to know his dad a little more and began to doubt whether the path his mother had taken him on was the better one.
- His mother would say that Theo managed to stay on her path until he was about 15, when the thrill and egotistical feeling of trying to run the streets just appealed to him too much. He saw friends die, he was part of a gang and well, Theo ended up doing what youâve got to do to stay strong as a gang, things that his mother never knew about, until his parents evening came up at school that year. His mother asked to see his extra curricular teachers (she was extra af â but knew that it was too easy to get dragged up in shit where they lived and so she had to be) and see how he was doing, but only then did she find out that they didnât know, because he hadnât been going. She was LIVID. His mother banned him from leaving the house without her, she escorted him everywhere and things got even worse when she found out that her ex-husband had KNOWN about it. Heâd just chosen not to tell her and hadnât spoken to his son for months.
- This couldâve gone one of two ways, Theo couldâve lost his shit and become completely defiant or, he couldâve sorted out his shit and cut his ties with the streets and his gang where he could. One afternoon after class, his favourite teacher at school had asked him to stay behind. Theo worried that heâd done something wrong, or theyâd found out some of the things that he had done (the teachers werenât naĂŻve to know that even the kids who turned up to school were still out doing dodgy shit when they werenât in class) but he was wrong. His teacher just sat with him, talking to him about his life and where heâd been, something Theo began to relate to the more he told him. Heâd been in a gang, before a youth worker in the area got through to him and convinced him to take a different path â not a boring one, but a better one. Did he want to waste his life on the type of pride that comes from having power as a result of fear?
- And so that was that. Conveniently enough, Theoâs mother ended up marrying this teacher (which they laugh about now), but Theo always said heâd be forever grateful for the two of them for steering him back to the path he was meant to tread. Theo was aiming big, from then on. He already knew he wanted to play football professionally, it was something he adored and could see himself doing forever, but heâd slacked off a little. He needed to get back to where he was and so, he had to study overtime. When his friends wanted him out, doing what they used to do, Theo had to say no, which was hard in itself when he knew what they were capable of. Luckily, there were only a few months left till the end of senior year and Theo knew that if he could get through them, heâd be out of the Bronx for at least 4 years â enough time for them to forget he ever left.
- And there it was. Laying on the doormat. A letter from Notre Dame, a scholarship to play football for them for a whole 4 years. So off he went. After a tearful goodbye from his mother and new step-dad, a non-existent goodbye to his father, Theo landed in Notre Dame and well, a new adventure began. He formed friendships, he drank, he danced, he did everything youâre supposed to do at college, like meeting a girl and falling in love during the last and arguably most important year of your college education.
- His best friend and room-mate, saw it all happen. He saw (and instigated) the two meeting and watched everything progress from then on. He was relegated from their room, went on double dates and well, pretty much fell in love alongside Theo. But what his best friend didnât see, because Theo was so good at hiding it, was when things went wrong. He didnât notice the girl becoming possessive, controlling, emotionally manipulative and then, physically violent. He didnât notice that Theo had began to lie about where he was, what he was doing. He didnât notice the bruises when Theo got changed before and after practice and if he did, Theo already had his lie made up â heâd gotten into a fight on a night out. His best friend didnât see any of that, yet perhaps that wouldâve saved Theo from the worst years of his life.
- Straight out of college, Theo moved in with this girl. He didnât go back to the Bronx, he went to her hometown in Texas and there he was, alone. Heâd isolated all of his friends, like his best friend from college and team mates from the football team and eventually, much to the girlâs satisfaction, heâd cut off his mother (this one took a while). He was completely and utterly alone with her, and his feelings. He took assault after assault after assault, emotional attack after emotional attack and became a shell of himself. Anxious, on edge⊠Theo wasnât the charismatic guy he used to be. He was completely under control, accused of everything despite doing nothing and utterly depressed, unable to bring himself to do anything about his situation because he felt so worthless.
- This carried on for 2 years after Theo left college, until one day, his mother couldnât take it any longer. She found his address and she turned up to their house and thankfully, the girl wasnât home. But Theo was, and he was in one of the worst states heâd ever been in. He wouldnât even answer the door at first, so his mother (being who she was) allowed herself in through the back door and well, she couldnât believe what she had seen. Theo would tell you now, that he was shocked that a murder didnât take place that night, but back then, he didnât even know his mother had arrived. Theoâs mother hauled her son into her car with barely any of his belongings and drove as fast as she could back to their home, feeling furious, devastated and completely heartbroken.
- The next few months were a blur for Theo. Heâd still tell you to this day that until he managed to see a tiny speck of light in his dark tunnel, everything that happened before is in pieces in his head. Of course, the girl still tried to contact him, as well as trying to turn up at his house, yet Theoâs dad came to the rescue with that when necessary. Not that Theo remembered that. Of course, his mother began to pursue a court case and after a rough year, mostly managed to get the result that theyâd hoped for. Aggravated assault in the second degree, 10 years in prison. Sure, theyâd hoped for more but with Theoâs being unable to recall a lot of the events that occurred due to a permanent brain injury that the girl had left him with, that was the best that they could get.
- Now, Theo lives in Crownsville and managed to get a job at a coffee shop called Cuppa Joe. His memory is not what it used to be after his brain injury and he often suffers with headaches and dizziness. Not to mention, his levels of frustration with himself and with others. He is never violent, as he knows the long lasting effects that violence can have, but people who are unaware of his past can often take his frustration the wrong way. His mother would say that you can see the old Theo in him occasionally, but she fears that the fully old Theo has been lost forever. He can still think for himself, he can still do the things an average person can, but heâs not the same as he used to be and as for football, the risk to his head is just too great. Nobody in Crownsville knows about Theoâs past and thatâs the way Theo intends to keep it. He feels a lot of shame in relation to what happened to him and fears that men in particular, especially his old football team, would see him as weak and frail if they knew. He fears that women will see him as pathetic, especially people he is romantically involved with given the long term effects he has suffered in terms of his fertility.
- Basically, Theo has been on a hell of a ride. A ride he did not expect nor know how to get off. His life started off pretty alright and then went a little pear shaped and sadly now, he is paying the price of someone elseâs actions, no matter how much jail time she has got. Not to mention the fact that he keeps receiving letters and phone calls from Texas County Jail. Theo knows that one day, he will be able to move on from what happened to him but he also knows that it wonât be a quick fix.
