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cakesunflower · 4 years

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Reach For You [Dad!Calum AU] Ch. 19

Chapter 19

ONCE THE EXCITEMENT of Christmas and New Years passed, it was back to their regular schedules. Luna was back at school, Aspen was working at the clinic, and Calum was in the city making sure his club was up to par and regularly meeting with the staff and vendors and the like. Aspen felt like she hadn’t been to work in so long, easily smiling at the regular patients she often saw, her maternal empathy kicking in every time a kid was trying hard to fight a fever, flu, or the like.

Right when her break was finished, crumbling up the bag she’d brought her sandwich in and throwing it out, her phone began ringing. At the sight of Calum’s name and picture, she instantly picked it up. “What’s up?”

“Sweetheart, hey,” Calum’s breathless voice responded, sounding as though he was either running or panicked. “Listen, shit, is there any way you can pick up Luna? There’s an issue with one of the vendors and I need to sort it out—I don’t think I can make it back to Jersey in time for pick up.”

“Uh—” Aspen’s eyes widened, darting to the clock on the wall. Luna’s school ended in a little less than half an hour, and with her break almost over, she definitely didn��t have the time. Not to mention not a lot of the staff was scheduled for today, and the clinic needed all the help it could get. “No, crap, I can’t,” she stammered, pressing her hand to her hairline in worry.

“Fuck,” Calum cursed, sounding justifiably panicked. Aspen didn’t blame him; things like this happened, neither of them could control life.

She licked her lips. “Hold on, I don’t think Jodie works today. Let me ask if she can pick Luna up.” There was a reason why her best friend was one of her daughter’s emergency contacts.

Calum let out a breath, not entirely relieved until he knew there was something to be relieved about. “Alright, let me know, yeah? I’m sorry, love.”

A soft chuckle escaped Aspen. “It’s okay, Cal. Let me text Jodie.”

He offered a quick goodbye and Aspen immediately went to texting her best friend, chewing on her lower lip and hoping for a miracle. She tapped her foot against the floor impatiently, knowing she had to get back out there in a little bit, watching the three little bubbles appear as Jodie wrote her text.

Yeah, no problem! I gotchu, sis.

A sigh of relief escaped Aspen, hissing out a quiet and victorious, “yes!” before thanking her friend and letting Calum know all was taken care of. He responded asking what Jodie’s favorite wine was as a thank you.

Aspen laughed, pocketing her phone before heading back to the nurse’s station, grabbing the file for the next patient ready to be seen. The next few hours of her shift seemed to fly by, and soon enough she was bidding goodbye to coworkers that still had some hours left and was on her way home. The short drive ended with her pulling into the parking lot of her building, letting out an amused laugh when she glanced to her left and caught sight of Calum’s Range Rover pulling up next to her. He noticed her right away, grinning and throwing up a peace sign from where he sat.

“Hi, baby,” Aspen greeted as they both got out of their cars, her tone a melodic tune as she smiled when he jogged over, arm dropping around her shoulders. “Everything work out with the vendor?”

Calum quickly pecked her lips as they approached the building. “Yeah, ’s all good,” he reassured.

When he opened the door for Aspen, allowing her to walk into the complex, it was then when she saw the bag he was holding and let out a laugh. “You actually got Jodie’s wine?”

Calum scoffed as the elevator opened up immediately, shooting her a bemused look. “Can’t believe you thought I was kidding.”

Reaching the door, Aspen used her keys to unlock it and they stepped inside the apartment as Aspen called out, “We’re home!”

Jodie emerged from the kitchen, smiling at the two as she sipped from a glass of water. “Hey guys; how was work?” Before either of them could answer, her gaze happened to drop, raising her eyebrows as she instinctively asked, “Is that a bottle of red?”

Calum, whose lips were parted to respond to her first question, looked down at the bag before letting out a laugh. “Yeah, it is. For you,” he said, holding it out for a confused Jodie to take. “As a thank you for the last minute baby sitting.”

“Oh, please, anything for my godchild,” Jodie scoffed before holding the bag close to her chest, grinning. “I’ll still take it. Thanks, Calum.” Aspen chuckled as her boyfriend merely grinned, yet Jodie’s smile quickly faltered as she looked at the two parents worriedly. “But, you guys, something’s up with Luna. She’s been kind of down ever since I picked her up.”

Instantly, both Aspen and Calum went into concerned mode. “Did she say why?” Aspen asked as she put her bag down on the couch, eyebrows drawing together as she looked at her best friend.

Jodie gave a shake of her head and pursed her lips. “No; I tried to get it out of her but she wouldn’t budge. She ate some mac and cheese when we got back and did her homework and now she’s coloring in the dining room but, like, not a word.” Running her fingers through her hair, she added with a regretful sigh, “I would’ve texted you guys but I didn’t want you to worry while at work, and I didn’t expect her to keep it in this long.”

Aspen’s eyes dart to where the dining room was, the wall obstructing her view, as Calum sighed. “It’s okay, Jodie, thanks. We’ll see what’s up—you wanna stay for dinner?”

“Thanks, but I gotta get going,” Jodie denied with a smile, moving to grab her bag. “Lemme know how it goes.”

Aspen hugged her best friend. “Thanks, Jodie,” she said gratefully and once Jodie was gone, Aspen was on her way to the dining room, Calum right behind her.

They walked around to see Luna sitting on a chair, the overhead light bright as she colored away in one of her many books. Color pencils were strewn about on the table, and Aspen felt a worried thud in her chest when Luna didn’t even look up as Calum greeted gently, “Hey, bug.”

Instead, the five year old kept her head down, lazily—sadly—coloring as she responded in the smallest voice, “Hi.”

Aspen looked up at Calum, a silent worry present between them, before the two made their way over to their daughter. She settled to Luna’s right when Calum took the seat on her left, Aspen glancing down to see Duke sitting under the table, before looking at Luna again. Her dark curls sat thickly around her shoulders, not quite allowing Aspen to see the little girl’s face, and so she reached up and gently tucked some of Luna’s curls behind her ears. “Baby.” Her voice was soft, gentle, ducking her head to try and get a look at Luna. “Why are you sad?”

Luna gave a small shake of her head, eyes still on the coloring page. Aspen felt her chest tighten at Luna’s refusal to even look at them, her own eyebrows drawing together in distress. “I’m not sad,” Luna mumbled. Her tone contradicted her words.

Calum rested his left elbow on the table, facing the little girl as he tried gently, “It’s okay if you are. Maybe we can help.”

She was silent for a few moments, continuing her coloring, the worry in both Calum and Aspen increasing by the second. They looked at each other over Luna’s head, both of their gazes nothing but concerned, snapping back to Luna when they heard a sniffle emit from her. They shifted, ducking their heads, and when Aspen pushed some of Luna’s hair out of her face, she felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach when she noticed the pink on Luna’s cheeks and nose, and the wetness from the tears falling from her green eyes.

Aspen’s breath caught in her throat, a panic bubbling in her veins as she softly gasped, “Oh, baby,” before wrapping her arms around Luna. The five year old let go of the coloring pencil, allowing her mother to pull her in with her back pressed against Aspen’s front. She held Luna comfortingly, Calum’s own expression worry and panic stricken as he shuffled forward to sit in Luna’s now vacant chair, facing her as Aspen lowered her head to still take a look at her. “Tell us what’s wrong, bub. Please?”

Luna’s head still hung low and the ache in Aspen’s chest intensified the longer the silence dragged on, especially when it was broken by Luna’s sniffles, and Aspen looked at Calum. He looked just as alarmed, unsettled by the sight of an obviously distressed Luna, and Aspen gently bounced her knee in hopes of calming the little girl.

Luna sucked in a breath before she began speaking, her voice a quiet mumble, too upset to speak up. “B-Brooke gave all the kids cards to her birthday a-and I didn’t get o-one.”

Aspen inhaled sharply at her words, feeling an aggravated fire ignite in her bones, just barely replacing the worry over her daughter. Of fucking course Bailey Clarkson’s daughter would have something to do with Luna’s distressed mood, and despite the anger brimming her veins, Aspen’s heart went out to her daughter. Her jaw clenched, eyes meeting Calum’s, who looked just as indignant as she felt. Though the circumstances were vastly different, Aspen knew what it was like to feel unwanted, and she absolutely despised that her daughter was feeling this way, and that someone had gone out of their way to make her feel so. And while she couldn’t entirely set her anger towards another five year old, she sure as hell could call out her mother.

When it was Luna’s birthday a few months ago, Aspen had made sure to write out invitations to every classmate of Luna’s—including Brooke Clarkson. When Luna had asked her why, Aspen had told her daughter it would be mean to give every kid an invitation and not Brooke, and Luna had understood. She didn’t want the mean girl to feel bad, so she didn’t argue against Aspen. That only left Aspen wondering how she’d gotten such a good little kid. Of course, Brooke didn’t show up to Luna’s party, which was barely noticed given that Luna was surrounded by family and other friends. But at least an invitation had gotten to Brooke; at least she didn’t feel left out when Luna handed hers out to her classmates.

And for it to come around like this pissed Aspen off. She had a good feeling that Luna was probably the only one in their class that Brooke didn’t give an invitation to, and while the little girl probably didn’t know any better, her mother sure as hell did. To go out of their way to make Luna feel like this. . . The rage in Aspen’s veins was unstable.

But she was pulled out of it as Luna cried, and Aspen pushed her anger aside to hug her daughter, pulling Luna’s back into her chest and burying her face in the small crook of Luna’s neck. “Oh, bub, I’m so sorry,” she murmured, one hand coming up to push Luna’s hair out of the way.

Calum leaned forward, his hands grasping Luna’s smaller ones, but before he could offer his own reassurances, Luna hiccuped, “I invi-invited her to my birthday. I was the only one who didn’t get a card for hers.”

Aspen’s jaw clenched. She was about a second away from calling Bailey and cursing that woman out.

“That just means you care more about other people’s feelings, bug,” Calum told her, his voice soft and smooth. It wasn’t his objective, but his tone was calming Aspen down from her rage. She hoped it was helping Luna, too. His dark eyes were warm as he peered at his daughter, and Aspen could see him try to hide his own struggle of pushing aside how upset he was to see Luna so distraught. Bringing Luna’s hands up, he pressed a kiss on her knuckles and said, “Not everyone’s as nice as you are.”

He was good at sugar coating it. Aspen really just wanted to drop the B-word on both Bailey and her snot-nosed brat.

Luna wasn’t shaking as much, her cries dying down as she sniffled through a now stuffy nose, and the tightness in Aspen’s chest had yet to loosen up. The ball in her throat also made it difficult to breathe, her disbelief and indignance over this entire situation wildly unsettling. But appearing calm and comforting for her daughter was her priority.

So Aspen took another breath, head still next to Luna’s as she tried to get her mind off of this. “Come on, baby, do you want dinner? We can order pizza or McDonalds—whatever you want.”

Luna reached up to rub at her eyes to rid of the tears, and Calum reached up to cup her small face in his large hands to wipe away the wetness on her cheeks with his thumbs, offering a gentle smile. A moment later, Luna answered, “McDonalds.”

“Alright; you finish coloring and we’ll order the food, bug,” Calum said, taking Luna from Aspen’s lap as he stood up, placing the five year old back in her chair and kissing the top of her head.

Aspen got up as well, sucking in a sharp breath and walking into the kitchen as Duke hopped up on her chair. Calum was right behind her, and as soon as she knew they were out of Luna’s range of hearing, Aspen hissed out, “I’m gonna fucking break Bailey Clarkson’s fake nose.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Calum’s calm voice spoke up from behind her, hands on Aspen’s rigid shoulders as he came to appear in front of her. He looked down at his girlfriend, took in her tight features and fiery eyes, and added, “Let’s order dinner before Googling how to get rid of a body.”

Aspen grunted incoherently, pulling out her phone and going on the UberEats app as she muttered, “I went to nursing school; I can figure out how to get rid of a body.” She was halfway through putting in their order when she started waving around her phone, her thoughts raging. “I just—I can’t believe this bullshit,” Aspen ranted, a glare forming on her face as she stared at Calum indignantly. “Her daughter bullied Luna and now she’s just feeding into it!”

“Sweetheart,” Calum spoke up, trying to be the more tranquil one in this situation. Aspen knew he was just as disgruntled, offended, outraged as her, but he was trying to be the voice of reason for their benefit. They couldn’t have two murderous parents in this moment. “Even if Luna got invited, would you have let her gone?”

Aspen scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “That’s not the point, Calum. We still invited that little troll to Luna’s party because, as a mother, I wouldn’t want a kid to feel bad. Apparently Bailey doesn’t have the same consideration for Luna.”

“I—wait,” Calum paused, holding up a finger as he blinked under furrowed eyebrows before a scoff that was all too amused escaped him. “Did you just call a five year old a-a troll?”

Not her finest moment, but Aspen stood by it. “She made Luna cry. She’s a troll,” she deadpanned before grunting in annoyance and completing the order. It’d arrive in half an hour. Putting her phone away, Aspen looked up at Calum once more, her shoulders sinking under his touch as she let out a breath. Her expression fell as well as she rolled her lips into her mouth. “A little girl should never feel so. . . Unwanted.” Aspen’s gaze dropped to her feet, and suddenly there was a burning in her eyes she wasn’t aware she had been holding back. More to herself than Calum, Aspen whispered, “I never wanted Luna to feel that way.”

It’s part of why she ran. She had felt unwanted, her own fear and insecurities playing into it, and she didn’t want her baby to feel that way. Ever. And yet, Aspen hadn’t been able to uphold that responsibility.

Calum was not lost as to what Aspen was alluding to, and now his heart ached not just for his daughter, but for his girlfriend, too. And while he wasn’t a mind reader, he knew Aspen all too well, could read her by her facial expressions, and knew exactly what was running through that brain of hers. “We can’t protect her from everything, doll,” Calum murmured, his hands sliding from her shoulders to cup her cheeks, prompting her to lift her head up. “She’ll get past this, yeah?” He smiled softly, thumbs rubbing at Aspen’s cheeks. “She’s tough, just like her mama.”

Aspen let out a breath, lips quirking at Calum’s words as her green eyes remained on his brown. She gave a subtle nod, telling him she acknowledged and was appreciative of what he said. Then, with all seriousness, she added, “Her mama’s gonna fight a bitch, too.”

Calum smirked. “That’s hot.”

*****

“You didn’t have to come too, ya know.”

“I dunno what you’re talking about; I just wanna see my daughter.”

Aspen rolled her eyes until they landed on Calum, standing next to her, waiting for the final bell of the day to ring to let out all the elementary schoolers. “You can see her at home,” she pointed out matter-of-factly.

Calum made it a point not to look at her, comically so, as he kept his gaze, hidden behind sunglasses, on the building ahead and hushed her. It only served to make Aspen scoff with a shake of her head. She knew he was here to make sure she didn’t completely lose it in the courtyard of the school at Bailey Clarkson. Calum’s concern was justified, Aspen knew, but still. She knew better than to—

“Oh! Aspen! There you are!”

She took a deep breath, long and bracing, feeling Calum tense up next to her as she turned her head, sunglasses protecting her from the rays above. The devil herself, Mrs. Bailey Clarkson, was approaching them in heels Aspen kind of hoped she would slip on against the ice. As if he could feel the blood in Aspen’s veins beginning to boil, Calum took a step closer towards her while murmuring quietly, “Please don’t throw any punches.”

Aspen puckered her lips briefly, indignantly. “No promises.” Calum merely sighed. She didn’t even bother plastering on a fake friendly smile as Bailey approached.

“Gosh, I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever!” she reckoned as she came to a stop in front of them, her laugh couldn’t possibly be sounding more fake if she tried. Her own eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, one arm crossed over her as the strap of her purse hung by the crook of her elbow. Bailey’s eyebrows raised as she continued, “I heard you were in a terrible accident—good to see you back on your feet.”

Next to her, Aspen felt Calum tense at the mention of one of the scariest moments in both of their lives. Aspen, on the other hand, fought to roll her eyes. Many of the other parents had at least called or texted Aspen, giving her their well wishes, some even so far as bringing over food for their little family. Still, Aspen kept a straight face towards Bailey as she responded, “Better than ever.” Taking a small breath, Aspen began, “Actually, Bailey, I wanted to talk to you about—”

Bailey cut her off with her gaze flickering to the sky as she sounded, “Oh,” with a wave of her hand. “I was going to talk to you about that.” Aspen watched as a sympathetic expression washed over her face, one that she knew to be utterly fake and dismissive. Lacing her fingers together, Bailey continued, “I hope you don’t mind about Brooke not inviting Luna to her birthday. With the girls having trouble with each other in class, I figured you’d appreciate me taking the measures of keeping them out of more of it.”

Oh, of course she thought she was doing everyone a favor by alienating Luna.

“It’s not a matter of attending the party, Mrs. Clarkson—it’s a matter of receiving an invitation at all,” Calum said, his own tone hard and void of much emotion. He lifted his chin, looking down at the woman. “Brooke had gotten an invitation to Luna’s birthday.” With his eyebrows drawing together, he asked, “You don’t think it was unfair that Luna was the only kid in their class to not get an invite?”

“Well, I—” Bailey scoffed out a laugh, gaze darting between Calum and Aspen behind her sunglasses. With a shake of her head and a shrug of one shoulder, she surmised, “I didn’t think it’d be such a big deal.”

Aspen’s jaw tightened, skin warming from the anger she could feel brimming. The rage was barely contained in her voice as she shot back, “You didn’t think it’d be a big deal to purposefully make Luna feel bad by leaving her out?”

Bailey’s lips parted, having the gall to appear incredulous as she eyed Aspen up and down before remarking, “No wonder Luna’s such a sensitive kid.”

Aspen felt Calum’s hand on her lower back, grounding her from the anger quickly rising, but she remained calm. She didn’t want to give Bailey Clarkson the satisfaction of getting under her skin. So she offered a smile, completely fake in its sweetness as she returned, “And it looks the rotten apple didn’t fall far from the tree in your family.” With a tilt of her head and a condescending smile, Aspen added, “God knows what kind of woman your daughter will become with you as a mother.”

That had Bailey’s expression falling from behind the shield of her sunglasses, a tightness in her features as she indignantly stammered out, “I-I beg your pardon?”

The woman was rendered speechless, completely bewildered and outraged by Aspen’s comment, which only granted her tremendous satisfaction just as the final bell rang at 11:45, signalling the end of the school day that was actually cut in half for teachers’ workshop. Next to Aspen, Calum piped up dismissively, “School’s out. Excuse us, Mrs. Clarkson.”

With one last smile at Bailey, Aspen followed Calum to take a few steps closer towards the building, feeling Bailey’s heated glare burning at the backs, as the doors opened and kids began filing out. His arm found Aspen’s shoulders, pulling her into him as he said in a low rasp, “That was way hotter than any ass kicking.”

Aspen let out a short laugh, her right arm going around his waist as they waited for Luna to come out. “I think that was one of the most satisfying moments of my life,” she hummed thoughtfully just as they caught sight of Luna leaving the building, her ponytail bouncing behind her as she approached her parents.

“Hi, bug,” Calum grinned, letting go of Aspen to crouch down and pick up Luna, settling her on his hip. He kissed her cheek, eliciting a smile from the little girl, as he asked, “How was school?”

Luna nodded as Aspen took off her backpack. “Good. We have show and tell next week. Can I bring Duke?”

“Uh,” Calum paused, looking at Aspen for a moment as she raised her eyebrows, and Calum let out a nervous chuckle as he said, “We’ll see, bug. Duke can be a little unfriendly sometimes.”

Lune tilted her head, eyebrows furrowing together in childish confusion. “He’s not unfriendly with me?”

Aspen chuckled as they continued to where the car was parked, looking at Calum as he took this one. He merely grinned, poking Luna’s stomach as he told her truthfully, “That’s ’cause he loves you,” as Luna giggled happily.

They reached the car and Calum opened the backdoor, getting Luna inside and buckling her in before shutting the door. He looked at Aspen over the roof of the Range Rover, raising his eyebrows as he smiled at her. “Ready for today?”

She returned the grin, her excitement bright in her green eyes. “Hell yeah.”

*****

The bumper car collided with Aspen’s, a laughing oof escaping her as the sound of Luna’s giggles reached her ears. “We got you, Mama!” she cheered from where she sat in the yellow bumper car with Calum.

Next to Aspen, Mariam giggled as her aunt huffed, “Traitor!”

They enjoyed themselves, hitting bumper car after bumper car, and Aspen hadn’t really expected herself to have fun in this setting because of what happened. But bumper cars were vastly different than an actual car accident, and Luna’s giggles along with her nieces’, as well as Jodie and the boys’ laughter made for a much lighter experience. Colorful lights surrounded the bumper car arena, as well as the entirety of Bryant Park where Aspen and Calum had decided to bring Luna.

Seeing her so upset the other night had their hearts breaking, so the two of them decided to do something special for her, and since today she had a half day at school and it was the middle of the week, it worked out perfectly. So they called Jodie and the boys, as well as Rich to see if he’d bring the twins, and they all ended up at Bryant Park, which had been transformed into a winter village. Except Rich couldn’t make it, staying back with a pregnant Laila, so Aspen and Calum picked up Nadia and Mariam before taking them to the city.

They’d all stopped at one of the holiday shops and bought hot chocolate with marshmallows to top them with before the girls—and Michael—spotted the bumper cars. Aspen shouldn’t have been surprised when Calum pulled her aside and asked if she was okay to go in them; he’d always been one of the most considerate people she’d ever met, so the fact that his concern for Aspen and whatever trauma she may still have from the car accident tied into her getting into a bumper car had both taken her aback and also melted her heart.

Then she’d proceeded to say she was gonna kick his ass at bumper cars, and the challenge had been set.

“Mama, we beat you!” Luna cheered as they all got out of their cars, grinning up at her mother as she bounced on her feet.

“You beat me?” Aspen repeated in a shocked, disbelieving tone for her benefit. She scoffed, picking up Luna and resting her on her hip as they began walking. “No, no, I think I beat you.” Leaning towards her, Aspen’s eyes flickered to Calum, who was giving Mariam a few quarters so she could play with one of the claw machines to win herself a toy. Loud enough for her boyfriend to hear, Aspen added, “Your dad’s a terrible driver.”

Calum’s gaze met hers, jaw dropping in offense as Jodie and Luke snickered at his expense. Michael, Ashton and Nadia were too busy cheering Mariam on. “I’m a terrible driver?” Calum repeated, walking towards them with a challenging raise of his eyebrows. With a smirk, he added, “Sounds like you’re projecting, love.”

Aspen scoffed as Calum dropped his arm around her shoulders, chuckling when she playfully shoved him away. “Shut up.”

Luna’s lips formed an O, wide green eyes on her mother as she cutely chastised, “Shut up is a bad word, Mama.”

Aspen pressed her lips together, her own eyes widening in childish surprise as Calum met her exaggerated gaze with one of his own, and he gave a shake of his head and clicked his tongue. “Mama’s got a potty mouth,” Calum taunted.

Luna then shifted, and Aspen felt her heart swell when her daughter gave her a kiss to her lips, pulling back with a toothy grin as she declared, “All clean!”

She warmed her parents instantly as Calum’s expression softened at the adorable action, and Luna was oblivious to the effect she had on her mom and dad as she asked, “I wanna see Mariam play.”

Aspen let her down as Luna ran over to where everyone else was cheering on Mariam, and she gave a shake of her head as she looked at Calum, who had yet to look away from their daughter. Aspen let out a sigh as she leaned her head against Calum’s shoulder. “Sometimes it fucking hurts how much I love her.”

She felt Calum let out a gentle, short agreeing chuckle, arm still hooked around her shoulders. Then, with a playful lilt, he stated, “You said a bad word again.” Aspen scoffed, lips quirking, as Calum’s free hand reached up and he gently grasped her chin with his fingers, pulling her face towards him. He closed the distance with his lips capturing hers in a slow, sweet kiss that Aspen instinctively melted into, humming approvingly against the softness of Calum’s lips and the warmth of his touch. He pulled away too soon with one last peck and he murmured through a smile, “All clean.”

Aspen laughed, heart fluttering as they pulled away, and with a teasing grin she said, “That’s kind of gross, when you think about it.”

Calum scoffed, rolling his dark eyes as he chastised jokingly, “Don’t ruin an adorable bit our daughter created.”

She giggled once again. “Sorry, sorry.” Her gaze swept over to the claw machine where everyone was gathered around, cheering as Mariam won herself a little purple hippo. Luke put in some quarters and then proceeded to help Nadia try to win a stuffed animal for herself, and Aspen knew it was only a matter of minutes until it was Luna’s turn. She took in the grin of her daughter as Ashton held her in his arms so she could watch the claw, and Aspen relaxed against Calum. Quietly, she said, “She looks happy.”

“Yeah; all thanks to you, love,” Calum said, rubbing her arm soothingly. When he looked down at her, Aspen could see the delight swimming in his dark eyes, the warmth in his smile as he added proudly, “You’re quite the mama bear.” Then, with his lips just barely brushing the shell of her ear, he added in a low rasp, “She’s lucky to have you.”

Aspen’s grin widened, a warmth in her cheeks, the heat of Calum’s body far more comforting than the layers she had on. He kissed her temple, arm around her giving her a squeeze as he finished earnestly, “We both are.”

tags: @irwinkitten @sweetcherrymike @meetashthere @valentinelrh @softforcal @astroashtonio @hereforlukescruff @novacanecalum @captain-what-is-going-on @angelbbycal @singt0mecalum @hopelessxcynic @lfwallscouldtalk @bodhi-black @findingliam-o @softlrh @calntynes @calumsmermaid @erikamarie41 @quintodosuniversos @longlastingdaydream @babylon-corgis @lukehemmingsunflower @imfuckin10plybud @pastelpapermoons @conquerwhatliesahead92 @rotten-kandy @metangi @neigcthood @ohhmuke @old-zeppelin-shirt @5sos-and-hessa @trustmeimawhalebiologist @vxlentinecal @pettybassists @vaporshawn @lu-my-golden-boi @visualm3nte @isabella-mae13 @dontjinx-it @lifeakaharry @neonweeknds @antisocialbandmate @ixcantxdecidexwhosxmyxfave @calpalbby @grreatgooglymoogly @sunnysidesblog @gorgeouslygrace @cocktail-calum @miahelizaaabeth @madelynerin @dramallamawithsparkles @theagenderwhocriedwolf @kaytiebug14 @hoodskillerqueen @bitchinbabylon @empathycth @xhaileyreneex @inlovehoodx @aestheticrelated @bloodlinecal @sublimehood @madbomb @raabiac @britnicole11 @outofmylimitcal @fluffsshawn @bloodmoonashton @vxidhood @tea4sykes @lukeinblue @mysteriouslycali @hoodcentral @rosecoloredash @hearts-to-the-sky

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seriouslyhooked · 4 years

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Feels Like This (Part 5)

Emma Swan is a once lost girl who is now making good. She has made a way in the world for her and her young son, Henry, and after years of hard work, Emma is in her last stretch of schooling for the career she’s always wanted. Unexpectedly, she finds herself in a tiny nation no one’s ever heard of for her last year of study. She knows nothing about the place except that it’s beautiful, has a world-renowned child life program, and is filled with possibility. Meanwhile, Prince Killian is hardly happy with the title he received at birth. As the second in line for the crown, Killian has long tried shaking his royal duties. He built a career in the royal navy, and has stayed out of the limelight, but his ship has been called to port indefinitely at the request of his brother, the King. Fate (in her many forms) brings Emma and Killian together and the resulting fic is a cute, fluffy, trope filled romp featuring heart felt moments, a healthy dose of insta-love and an assured happily ever after. Story rated M and will have 12 parts. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Available on FF Here and AO3 Here.

A/N: Hey everyone! So let me start by saying how happy I am that you’re all still with me in this story and enjoying the fluff and cuteness. I had such fun with the meet cute, and as you no doubt have gathered this is a story all about instant connection. Emma and Killian are dancing around the inevitable, and this chapter finds that dance still happening a few weeks later. However, we’re greeted with some big steps in the right direction this week, and I *hope* you’ll all enjoy exactly where it heads. So, without further delay, here is the next chapter of ‘Feels Like This.’

“Okay wait for it, wait for it…”

The cautionary words came from a young girl named Eloise, a fiery haired ten-year-old here at the center who was determined to finish her self-assigned mission of the morning. For over an hour Eloise and her band of merry workers had created flower crowns, bestowing them on every girl (and most of the boys) who were out here playing in the back garden. This included almost all of the staff, and finally, after working hard to wrangle her from where she was playing soccer with some of the older teens, Eloise had Emma in her grasp. This meant Emma was being fitted with a crown of her own, and not just any crown, a fairy princess crown that Eloise and the others were imagining specifically for her.

The crowns, to be honest, were beautifully made. Fastened from a mix of summer blooms, ranging in color and size and shape, they all held tremendous detail and design. Right now was the perfect time to make them too, since there was an endless supply of flowers all over the grounds of the institute. The garden was in full bloom, but was mostly off limits for tampering with. Luckily there were thousands of wildflowers in the meadows and all of them were free game for the kids to enjoy. Currently, most of the little girls were on a hunt for the best flowers to impress the older kids, and Emma was amazed at how diligent they all were in participating in this task. Emma assumed they’d all have grown tired with this little game of theirs, but they weren’t. If anything, they were gaining steam and growing bolder and more creative.

Emma looked over to Elsa and Anna who were sitting nearby, quietly allowing the other kids to place random flowers in their hair as well. The three of them shared a look of understanding – this was a super cute activity, but it really shouldn’t be this intense. Flower crowns were meant to feel rushed and free, but Eloise and her ‘assistants’ acted like world renowned stylists prepping for fashion week. Still it was sweet to see them all bonding over a shared goal, and on this easy going, picturesque summer day, none of them wanted to deny the kids anything. The mood all through the institute was positive and the stressors were low. It felt like a real gift, and Emma was happy for herself and for the kids that they could all be a part of it.

“What are we waiting for?” another girl asked, growing frustrated with Eloise’s fastidiousness. “It’s perfect. She looks like the queen of the pixies, just like we wanted.”

“I know that,” Eloise replied, annunciating in a way that was dripping in the authority only a child at play could muster. “It just needs one more flower right here in the center, but I don’t know what kind. It has to be just right.”

“Maybe a bluebell?”

“Too small.”

“How about a violet?”

“Not rare enough.”

“Maybe one of the roses?”

“Uh, uh, uh,” Anna cautioned, nodding towards the larger group across the ways. “If Marie sees any of you going for her roses, there’s no telling what kind of trouble we’ll get into.”

“Right, no roses,” Eloise agreed before groaning and throwing her hands up in frustration. “I just don’t know which to pick.”

“This one,” Cecelia offered, bravely approaching the older girls with a precious blossom hidden in her hand. When she revealed the flower, it was bold and beautiful, and she must have looked long and hard for such a gem out in the meadow. It was similar to a rose, but looked more wild, and the gradation of the petals from a deeper pink to a pretty pastel felt distinctly European. Emma had never seen a flower like that back home. But then again, she’d never in her life had the chance to make flower crowns in the first place.

“Oh my God it’s perfect!” Eloise said happily. She moved so quickly as to snatch it from Cecelia, but the little girl was quick, pulling back and guarding the flower close.

“It’s pink, like for a princess,” Cecelia declared, eying Eloise with some traces of doubt.

“It’s really beautiful,” Eloise agreed. “Can we use it for the crown?”

“For Emma’s crown,” Cecelia emphasized and Eloise nodded.

“Yes, Emma’s. Here you can help me put it on.” Together the two of them worked to attach the captivating flower, fastening it to Emma’s crown with careful attention. Then Eloise even went so far as to fix Emma’s wayward waves, which the girls begged her to set free from her hair tie when she sat down here.

“Thank you, Princess Cecelia,” Emma offered, reaching for the little crown on Cecelia’s head. It was made of yellow and white flowers, for that was all the little girl wanted, and it made Emma so glad to see Cecelia respond to the endearment with pride and joy.

“I like being a princess,” she chirped happily, and Emma’s heart lurched in her chest.

“Well you always are, honey. In here,” Emma said, placing her hand over her own heart. Cecelia followed the action and nodded.

“Right, in my heart.” Her little accent was so cute, and coupled with the stumbling she still made over certain words and sounds, Cecelia was a heartbreaker for sure.

The cuteness of her display made Emma’s eyes mist over. She rarely had this happen in the past, despite all her work with kids, but with Cecelia she was admittedly attached. This little girl was working so hard to come out of her shell, and over the past three weeks she’d bonded to Emma more and more. She was precious, but she needed the space and the confidence to see and to feel that. Every day she made progress in socializing, and the fear she once carried was beginning to slip away. Someday, Emma knew, Cecelia would be past that fear, and she’d be what she was supposed to be – a child – once more. Emma wanted to be the one to help her get there, to help her make friends and make peace with herself too. She felt tied up with this child especially, though she cared for every kid here at the institute. But Cecelia was special, a favorite for sure, and any time Emma saw her making progress she found herself getting weepy, as she only ever had with her own son.

“Hey, Emma?” Elsa asked, calling her attention. Immediately Emma knew that her knew friend was reading her emotions. Elsa was almost witchlike in that way. She picked up on energy and emotion faster than anyone Emma had ever met. It made her a wonderful counselor, and so far a good and honest friend. “I think Killian and Max might have forgotten about the picnic. They’re not here yet and were over at the barn. Would you mind grabbing them?”

Emma was so grateful for the out and she said she would, promising all the girls she’d be back soon, but appreciating the chance to get herself together. No matter where the tears came from, be they happiness or pride, these kids didn’t need to see them from adults, not when their lives were already fragile enough. She could give them all the wrong idea and ruin what was otherwise shaping up to be a lovely afternoon. Getting some distance from them all for a moment would help her collect herself, and if she was honest, it definitely didn’t hurt that the errand she was being sent on involved finding Killian, a man who also made her feel so much but in a completely different way.

As Emma made her way to the barn, she wiped away the tears that had started to form in her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling it harshly as her hand came over her throat. She wanted to knock away that warbly voice that always came when she was emotional before it had a chance to appear. If she’d learned anything over the last three weeks, it was that Killian was observant, and if she gave any indication she was feeling something the least bit negative, he would know. She didn’t hate the idea of him comforting her or sharing the cute new memory of Cecelia with him, but with Max there too, it just wouldn’t be the right time.

The further away from the garden she trekked, the quieter things became. The constant squeals of excitement and enthusiastic chatter from the kids ebbed away and in its place were the sounds of bees buzzing and birds singing their songs. The leaves moved gently on the wind, and the trickle of the brook came from the tree line. It was like a whole different world out here, so removed from the chaos of the kids, but as she rounded the back corner of the greenery building, Emma stopped in her tracks at the sight before her. If she had any less control, her jaw would have dropped straight down.

Good Lord in Heaven, that right there, was a sight for sore eyes.

Since getting here bright and early, Killian and Max had both been working hard out on the barn, but Emma didn’t realize that their work would be so physical. It was warm out in the summer sun, and they were lugging big beams from one end of the yard to the other. She managed to catch them through one full motion of it, and her eyes were locked on Killian, from the way his muscles bulged at the exertion, to the way he led the situation with such ease. When they tossed the beam down twenty feet across the field, Emma got a full look at his biceps, and then he pulled the bottom of his shirt up to wipe away his face and… God Damn, was that his body? Seriously?! How was that even real?

“Emma!” Max greeted her amiably when he realized she was here. Then his brow furrowed in concern. “You all right?”

Uh oh. Busted. Emma was caught and she knew she had to be bright red at this point as she stumbled over her words. “Uh yeah, I’m fine. Great actually. But um. You know. The uh. Picnic?”

“It’s started already?” Max asked, but Emma’s eyes stayed on Killian who was looking at her with a grin too wicked handsome to turn away from. He knew she’d been looking at him and now she couldn’t tear her gaze away. “Well I’m heading over there. Cook’s making pecan biscuits today, and they never last long.”

Without waiting for them, Max booked it out of there, leaving Emma and Killian alone. Her mind was on overdrive, racing a million miles a minute, and as he walked towards her, she felt lost and found all at once. It was disorienting and exhilarating, and she was caught, like a moth drawn to a flame.

“So, you missed me, Swan?” he asked, grabbing his canteen from the ground and taking a long drink after what must have been hours of hard work.

“I - what?” she asked, distracted by the way his Adam’s apple moved up and down as he swallowed. Damn, did it somehow get hotter out here? It took everything in her not to fan herself.

“You risked leaving the picnic and forsaking Cook’s sweet treats to see that we joined you. Call it wishful thinking, but it makes me hope that perhaps you missed me.”

“Elsa sent me,” Emma clarified, clearing her throat as she shifted her stance, shaking away the distractedness he’d inspired in her. “The food’s not even out yet.”

“That may be true, but it’s not a denial. Maybe you did miss me. God knows I missed you.” The words were bold – bolder than any he’d said to her so far and his eyes raked over her before coming back up to the flowers in her hair.

“The kids were making these in the meadow. I know it’s not my usual style, but… what do you think?” she asked, and she felt the charge of Killian’s blue eyes as they took her in.

There was so much swirling around in his expression. The hunger was still there, flaring and real, and so was the affection that had grown the past three weeks of their getting to know each other. But there was something more too, as if her simply teasing query prompted big feelings for him. Whatever it was made her breath catch. Maybe she came across as silly like this, playing with the kids and letting them put flowers in her hair. She looked away, back across the meadow to where the kids were by the center way out yonder. She tried to hide her insecurity and then felt his presence as he closed the space between them. One hand came to her hip while the other reached up to tilt her face back his way. She felt the brush of his fingers as he sought to bring her attention back to him. She followed his lead, and when she looked at him there was so much written on his face. If she didn’t know better, she would say that was love in his eyes. But that was crazy. They barely knew each other.

You know him. He’s the one you’ve been waiting for, her gut said and her heart clenched at that.

It was such a ridiculous notion, but it felt right to her. They may not know every detail of each other’s lives, but she’d seen the shape of who he was over these past few weeks. He was good and kind, strong and determined, and smart too. He tried not to over-insert himself in things, but when he spoke up his ideas were always great and his instincts with kids were spot on. He impressed her each and every day, but more than that he made her feel desirable. It was practically Victorian, the way they were stealing glances and quiet moments, with all of it coming to no real head. At least a dozen times over the last few week’s there’d be this window of possibility, a glimpse of ‘what-if’ where the rest of the world faded away. Every time she thought something might happen, but it never did. Instead it was like they were waiting, luxuriating in the anticipation of it all, and pushing off the pay off just a little bit more. It was the opposite of what she was used to in her romantic life (not that there had been much of one to speak of), but Emma loved it, and her gut told her that Killian was different for a reason, and that he was right for her. She felt like he’d always been a part of her life, and she wasn’t nearly as scared about that as she should have been.

“I think you’ve never looked more beautiful, Emma, and believe me, with you being who you are, that is saying something.”

Her heart hammered in her chest as her eyes flicked down to his lips. It was hardly the first time she’d wondered what he’d taste like. This energy that surrounded them told her that one touch of his lips would start an inferno, and she was terrified of unleashing that, but also desperate not to let it pass her by. She wanted him – no, she craved him - and every day it was getting worse. The more she saw him here with these kids and with her collogues, the more layers she peeled away of this thoughtful, handsome, curious man, the more she wanted to see and to share of herself. No one had ever prompted a reaction like this from her. It was reckless, and driven by emotion, but her intuition wasn’t telling her to run for the hills or protect herself. It was daring her to jump, and to see if what she thought might be here could really exist.

Fuck it, just go for it, Emma. You know you want to. And she did, God did she want to. So she moved forward, closing the distance while he did the same and –

“Miss Emma!” One of the kids hollered from the other side of the meadow, but Emma and Killian jumped apart at the interruption, realizing this definitely wasn’t the time or place to be doing this, heart wrenching as that was. “You promised us a rematch!”

“Be right there!” she yelled back, relieved when the boy grinned and sprinted back towards the group. She let out a sigh, and though part of it was based on gratefulness that they hadn’t really been caught, there was also disappointment that the moment had to end this way. “Sorry about that.”

“Not nearly as sorry as I am, love,” Killian said, and Emma’s brow furrowed. She was confused at his meaning until he explained. “I shouldn’t have hesitated. I should have kissed you when I had the chance. Won’t make that mistake again.”

“Oh,” she said, surprised but excited at the prospect. She liked that he made his intentions far clearer than men usually did. “Good.”

“Good?” he asked, his voice holding a bit of amusement, but there was a genuine curiosity there too, as if it wasn’t totally obvious that she was interested.

“Yeah, good,” she quipped, and with a final smirk over her shoulder she turned back. She headed through the meadow to the picnic once more, all the while feeling Killian’s eyes on her, hinting at the promise he’d just made that she was desperate for him to make good on.

…………….

Gods above he’d wanted that kiss. More than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.

Despite the general merriment of the picnic today, Killian couldn’t help wishing that he could go about an hour back in the past and live every beat of that interlude all over again. If he’d had any sense, he’d have kissed Emma Swan the moment they were alone together, even though that moment had been fleeting.

Perhaps some might think that he should ask her first. Etiquette and politeness would suggest that a prince should never kiss a lady on a whim, but fuck politeness. He and Emma had been caught in this net of mutual interest for three weeks, and every day his want to have her grew. He knew from all the moments that they’d spoken, and even more from the moments where they’d been with each other, working side by side to make the lives of the children here better, that Emma was interested in him too. He couldn’t fathom how that could be, how a woman as remarkable as her could be attracted to him in return, but he couldn’t deny it was the case. Especially during moments like earlier, where he caught her watching him. In those windows of time, she had none of her usual walls erected, and he could read her plain as day. She wanted him, more than a passing fancy, and he had every intention of giving himself to her for whatever role she saw fit.

She may not still want you when she learns the truth.

The thought charged into the forefront of his mind like a rhino on a rampage, and the impact of it pained him more than he cared to admit. The reason for the fear behind that thinking was obvious – three weeks in and Emma still hadn’t realized he was a prince. He had no clue how it had gone this long, but every day was another day where she didn’t realize who he was. A part of him was addicted to that feeling. Those looks she was sending him, the trust she was building with him, that was forged in an interest in him, Killian. Not Prince Killian, not the second in line to the throne, not even the veteran of war who had served with honor and distinction. No, when Emma was with him, she was with him, and she saw him and accepted him and wanted him too.

But while there was a real contentment in being accepted for who he was, there was also a tremendous amount of guilt. Emma deserved to know all the facts, especially since he wanted a future with her. He couldn’t run away from this forever, and it needed to come from him. He worried every day that someone else would let it slip, and so far he’d been lucky, but luck could only last so long. He’d even tried to tell her half a dozen times, but every time he went to say it, he pictured a terrifying moment, a moment where she’d hear this, see the truth, and reject him. What if who he was to the rest of the world was too much to Emma? What if it made her pull away? What if this perfect private passion that they shared was tainted? It killed him to imagine such a scenario, and so he’d chosen a coward’s way out, clinging to all of the good right now, and hoping that the intensifying attraction between them would grow enough to keep her with him, even when his secrets were all revealed.

“Whatever is on your mind seems serious.”

The words came from Marco, who had appeared at Killian’s side here at the picnic. The man was constantly moving, running things here with a precision and a pure good naturedness that astounded Killian all the time. And in the midst of all of his actual work and responsibility, the man made time to be a mind reader. This was not the first time Marco had confronted him with a knowing look and a claim too correct to counter, and Killian doubted it would be the last.

“Aye, it is.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m certain it’ll all work out. The things that trouble us always do. One way or another, everything comes out in the way that it should.”

Killian didn’t reply, but he hoped that the older man’s words would ring true. He could handle anything, go through any hardship, as long as it meant getting to the other side and having Emma still with him. What a crazy thought that was, to so firmly believe in something that had yet to even really begin, but he couldn’t help the way he felt, and he had no real interest in trying to do so.

“But in the meantime, I was hoping you could help me with something.”

“Anything.” Killian offered, knowing that whatever was about to be asked for had to do with benefiting these kids. In three weeks time he’d grown attached to them all, and he’d do whatever he could whenever he could to help them.

“The children are headed to the wildlife preserve next week, and we are working to arrange everything. They’ve got it all laid out, but the preserve needs someone to go make sure things are set up for how we’ll need them next week. We’re bringing some of our own supplies, and there won’t be room in the vans when we’re bringing the children.”

“I can go. But I’ll need to bring -,”

“Your detail, yes. The dowager queen made it very clear that any off-site work would require their attendance. However, she assured me that she’s spoken to the King about some more lax protocols.”

“When did she…?” Killian trailed off, not bothering to ask when his grandmother might have mentioned that. She was a meddler by trade, and it was often better not to ask those kinds of questions. “Never mind.”

“I spoke with Jefferson and he agreed that it’s possible for you and Emma to drive in the van with the detail in a sperate means of transport.”

“Right. Right. Wait – Emma?” Killian asked, he hadn’t realized Emma was coming. This all suddenly took a big step in the direction of enjoyable now that he knew she was coming.

“Yes, Emma. She’s been working with Anna and Elsa on plans for the trip. She’ll know where everything needs to go, and both Elsa and Anna are needed here this afternoon. Emma’s the best one for the job.”

“Of course she is,” Killian said, not with any sarcasm, but full honesty. In his estimation Emma was the best one for every job, but he hadn’t meant to give that away in front of Marco, no matter how observant the institute’s leader may be.

“Well I appreciate the help. It’s likely best for you to head out now. The head of the learning and enrichment center at the preserve leaves early on Fridays, and she’s got the key to the portion of the preserve we’ll be visiting.”

Killian heeded the instruction and watched as Marco went to tell Emma the same thing. He noticed the surprise on her face at the new errand they were going on, but then she looked at him from across the picnic and smiled. God she was beautiful. And he was the lucky bastard who got to spend all afternoon with her. The thought excited him to no end, and as they took their leave from the picnic and headed out back to the van, his whole being came alive in a way that seemed more befitting a teenager in love than a man about to set off for a wildlife preserve.

As they drove the thirty minutes or so to the park, Killian found himself slipping into a sense of normal so much sooner than he would have anticipated. Soon he forgot about the presence of his detail and how out of the ordinary this was for him. He didn’t get to drive much, definitely not since leaving the service, and he’d certainly never driven with a woman who interested him so much. Here they were, sharing the space and just discussing the upcoming week’s activities for the children and Killian hung on her every word. Emma explained in intricate detail all the parts of the process that they’d planned out. This was more than just an outing to give the kids occupation, it was going to have an outdoor classroom component and also some discrete, blended group therapy. That was where Emma and Elsa came in most. Emma was still in school studying how best to provide for children in tumult like this, but Killian discovered much of the itinerary for next week came from plans she alone had designed.

“If you don’t mind me asking, love, why is the preserve the best place for work like this?”

Killian had zero doubt that it was the best place, and he knew that Emma and the team would have thought about this long and hard, but he wanted to hear her explain it to him. Her passion and enthusiasm did something to him that he’d come to crave, and every time she shared her thinking he felt he understood more, not just about her but about this kind of work. For the sake of the children at the institute, he wanted to learn as much as he could, and to find a way to always be a resource to these people and not a detriment or a let down.

“Well the themes of the group work line up really easily with their lessons for the day. Also the animal component. Studies done at the University of California demonstrate that children and young adults take comfort in animals and also practice this kind of self-projection when in their presence. Animals are proven empathy boosters. They’re tied up in a lot of emotions for kids, and for some of the charges here they are also a real wonder. They’ve never had much exposure to the world outside of Montenarro, or even the world outside the institute. We’re hoping the trip will be a sphere of possibility for them all, and therapeutically speaking, you can accomplish so much more with positive ‘what-ifs’ than anything else.”

Killian did his best to keep his eyes on the road as Emma explained all of this, but he kept glancing back over to Emma, tracking the motion of her full lips and the way her hair came loose from its ties as the breeze came through the open windows. Her voice moved over him like warm honey, and he was calmed and intrigued. He heard everything she said, reasoned that it was all brilliant, as per usual, but he found he didn’t have much to offer back. This was so outside of his wheelhouse. Everything they did here was about healing and growing. His past had been filled with fighting and defending. Those skill sets took very different parts of a person to finesse, and while he believed the royal navy could learn more than a few things from Emma, the way things currently stood, her work and his past occupation seemed miles and miles apart.

“I’m sorry for rambling on and on like that. I’m still not used to being here. Everyone really cares in a way that’s so rare, and I tend to get a bit over excited.”

Without thinking, Killian took one of his hands off the steering wheel and grabbed Emma’s hand. She stayed frozen for a moment but then her hand molded to his, grasping his back in a way that filled him with peace and elation.

“Never be sorry for what your heart decides, love. It’s clear as day you love this work. You have a real purpose, and you’re making real change. That’s something to be cherished, no matter what.”

Emma whispered out a thank you, and her thumb ran against his hand absentmindedly. They kept their hands together, clasped liked that as they continued the drive, and unfortunately it was too short for Killian’s liking. Before they knew it, they were there, and the time for them to talk had come and gone. But Killian took joy in the fact that they had the whole drive home to share together too. He smiled at that as he parked the car past the front gates and just outside the preserve’s outdoor classroom pavilion. Soon though that happiness and easy going feeling fled as a thought dawned on him for the first time this outing – he was no longer on turf where people knew to treat him normally. What if he was recognized? What if someone gave the truth away? Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

“Hey that’s the same insignia as the institute. I didn’t realize this was a JR Foundation grant too,” Emma said, and the unease coursing through him grew inordinately stronger.

“Um, err, yeah – I mean yes,” Killian said, scratching behind his ear and trying to fend off the embarrassment. “The preserve was donated by my family a long time ago though. Land prices were a different story then.”

Damn, why did he have to go and say something like that? Now he just sounded elitist, and that wasn’t him at all. Thankfully Emma laughed at him, taking his awkward bumbling as an intended jest instead of the show of panic that it really was.

“Right. Wouldn’t want to be too generous. I mean you all are already enriching the lives of all of those kids. Gotta spread out the random acts of kindness.”

With her lighthearted barb, Emma directed him towards the research center and told him that there was a woman here they’d been connected with. Emma warned him that the woman was a little… off, but in a well-meaning way. Killian just hoped beyond hope that she was old, frail, and barely able to see. Maybe he’d get lucky and she’d have thick glasses and a bit of a spotty memory. He hated to pray for anyone to have such ailments, but in this moment he was tempted.

“Hello? Zelena? Are you here?”

“In the back, dear.”

Oh well that was a good sign, right? Who called people dear at this point? Only his grandmother and at times his mother as far as Killian knew. Maybe he would get lucky after all. But then movement came from the back room and they were greeted by a younger woman with no glasses in sight, and a discerning face that made his stomach drop. Shit, she recognized him. Bloody hell, what was he going to do.

“Marco sent us to drop some stuff off. Killian and I just wanted to make sure that the back lot is still good?” Emma’s use of his first name made the other woman’s brows rise, but she took it in stride, only casting another glance of questioning at him. Killian was attempting a poker face, but he wouldn’t be surprised if this woman could sense his internal turmoil. Either way, she surprised him with her casual reply.

“Yes, that’s perfect. I’ll take you both back there,” Zelena said breezily, grabbing a set of keys and leading them outside. Emma and her spoke about the upcoming outing, and Killian kept waiting for things to take a turn, but they didn’t. This was nothing but a positive exchange. Emma’s comment was proven true, as Zelena did seem to have a tendency to interrupt with wildly irrelevant facts about the natural world and quotes from long dead naturalists, but Killian would listen to her talk about just about anything as long as his secret was spared.

The second we get out of here, I’m telling Emma the truth. I should have told her already. Please God, don’t let me be too late.

Finally, Zelena opened up all of the necessary pens for Emma and Killian to drive the van up here and set up. They all of them unloaded the materials for the outing next week, and covered up things with tarps on the off chance that there was rain. It was much quicker work with three of them acting on this together. But when they were finally finishing up and Emma had bid Zelena goodbye and thanked her once more, Zelena turned to look at him and hit him with a swift punch right to the gut.

“If you don’t mind me saying, you really do look so much like your brother.”

And there he was, left exposed and found out. He did everything he could not to wince openly, and he tried to get his bearings enough to say something else, but Zelena continued.

“But that’s pirates’ blood for you. Dominant stuff. Strong hereditary nature.”

He almost sank to his knees in relief as Zelena turned back around and walked away, all while prattling on about pirates and their effect on Montennaran geneology. She’d mentioned his family, but not their being royals. Maybe he was all right? He looked to Emma to see, and her look of shock scared the shit out of him all over again.

“Wait, so that pirate thing was real?”

“Aye, it was real,” he hedged.

“And everyone just knows that little tid bit about your family?” He nodded. “They must be a pretty big deal to have such a well-known reputation.”

“To me they’re just the people who love me most in the world,” Killian answered honestly.

And that was the truth. He didn’t see his family as royalty, at least not primarily. They were just people, the people he belonged to. Sure they played a role in the public life and persona of this country, and they were not allowed to live the full scope of normal that other people could partake in, but the love that bound them was no less real, and neither was the loyalty and honor that he felt for them. Still, he wasn’t doing any of them a service right now. This was his chance to tell Emma the truth. Just rip off the bandage so to speak, but her response threw him off kilter.

“I understand that. I never had anything like that until Henry, but now… family is so precious. I’m sure that’s just as true, even if you all have a bit of money.

“There’s more than money in our picture, I fear,” Killian said, trying to find the words to express this to Emma delicately. He didn’t want to just come out and say it, so he maneuvered around it all as best he could. “Being in my family comes with a certain level of responsibility. We’re fixtures here, property of public perception as much as we are of ourselves.”

“That sounds terrible,” Emma said softly, reaching out to touch his arm. The action was one meant to comfort him and he wish she could understand how true that was. But she surprised him with even more astute observation. “And it also sounds like the opposite of what you’d want for yourself.”

“You can tell that?” Killian asked and Emma nodded.

“Yes. You like to be useful, and you take pride in doing what’s right. Maybe that’s from your time in the service, but I suspect that’s just who you are at your core. You’re a helper, to the kids you’re a hero, but the second you get the recognition for it you kindly direct praise elsewhere. The spotlight seems like the last place you’d ever want to be.”

“Exactly right,” Killian acknowledged, gearing up to make his confession. “Emma, the thing is-,”

“Sorry to interrupt, sir,” A voice said from behind them, and Killian knew it was Jefferson before so much as turning. Still the presence of another person startled Emma enough to make her jump. Instinctively Killian grabbed her hand as a means to calm her. “But we’ve got a situation at the –,” Jefferson caught himself before saying too much. “Ehrm, something’s come up with your family.”

“Is everything all right?”

“Your brother needs your help with the board sir. I’m afraid it can’t wait.”

The board was a running joke in the family, and it stood for parliament. Liam needed his help with parliament? Killian had no idea what he could possible need, but whatever it was it couldn’t be good. Liam had never interrupted him at work, respecting Killian’s balance of life and duty. For him to make this move meant something, unfortunately it came at just about the least opportune time possible.

“You should go. I can get the van back to the institute. I was paying attention to the route up here. It seemed straightforward -,”

“Jefferson, have John see Emma back,” Killian said, looking to Emma and shaking his head. “I know that you could manage, love, but I also know you’re not used to driving here. Please, let me help, even if it’s nowhere near enough.”

“Sure,” Emma agreed easily, and he saw the worry in her eyes, guiding the way she was handling this with him right now.

“Jefferson could you give us a minute?”

“Sir, we really need -,”

“Just a minute, J.”

“Yes, sir.”

When he was sure they were alone, Killian knew he didn’t have the time to tell Emma the truth, but he had decided he was going to do so as soon as possible. He just needed a prolonged bit of peace and quiet for the two of them, with no interruptions and no unexpected hiccups. As it was, however, he couldn’t risk them being interrupted again, and without so much as a word he closed the space between them, bringing her into his arms, where his intentions could not be misunderstood. Almost instantly Emma melted against him, her hands rest on his chest as she gazed up at him curiously. Her eyes flicked to his mouth and that was all he needed to seal their lips and kiss this wonderful, miraculous woman.

The kiss was world-altering, a cosmic shift in the fabric of his very being, and it packed so much promise that he hardly knew where he ended and Emma began. In this embrace he felt like he was finally coming home after years of searching for his answers, and when they broke apart, both trying to catch their breath, he saw in Emma’s eyes his future. Everything he wanted, everything he never dared to dream of, it could only happen with this woman. She was the key to everything, and he wanted her to see that and to feel that every day of her life.

“This isn’t how I imagined things going today, Emma,” he admitted, his voice gruff from the emotion of their kiss and his frustration at having to leave. “And God knows I’ve thought of this kind of moment more times than I can say, but I find I can’t wait any longer for the perfect situation. So I guess I’ll just ask – Emma Swan, would you go out with me sometime? On a proper date, just the two of us?”

“Yes,” she immediately responded. And the smile she graced him with gave him so much hope that had just seconds ago been scarce.

“Tomorrow?” He asked and her smile faltered. Absentmindedly he brushed his thumb across her cheek, and he watched as she leaned into the motion.

“I can’t tomorrow. Henry and I are spending the day at the beach. Then we’re going to the Institute for the party. Someone mentioned you might be coming too.”

“For the holiday, right,” Killian said, having forgotten about his own agreement to be there. His plans had initially been to lay low, and actively avoid the day. He’d been promised a pass from any royal duties from his brother, and he thought he’d just head out on a long hike, enjoying himself out in the natural world. But when the children asked him to come to their party a few days ago, he couldn’t’ say no. Honestly he was somewhat ashamed he’d failed to remember their request. But when it came to Emma, everything else had a tendency of fading from view. “I will be there. I just…”

“Forgot?” Emma teased and Killian nodded. “Trust me I’m tempted to forget too, but it means so much to Henry. He’s really wanted to meet everyone and he’s been planning our outing all week-,”

“I understand, love,” he said, meaning it whole heartedly. Killian knew how much Emma’s son meant to her. He’d never ever fault her for seeing he was tended to. It was just another part of Emma to love and admire.

“But I could do the next night?” she offered, giving away how invested she was in making a date, and Killian smiled. Damn it felt good to have her in this with him. He’d honestly never felt so happy at anything in his life.

“Brilliant.”

They exchanged numbers and he got Emma’s address, promising that he’d pick her up at 7 in two days’ time. She was certain Elsa could watch Henry, and Killian was determined to make the date one so alluring, Emma would have to see beyond his blasted title. And in the meantime he’d see her still tomorrow, meaning that he didn’t have to wait to taste that bit of sunshine she always aimed his way. Still, despite the time crunch he was under, Killian couldn’t bring himself to say goodbye. It felt too final and too painful for him, so instead he pulled her back into his arms and kissed her again, taking comfort in how right this was between them, and how perfectly they seemed to fit together.

“I swear I’ll make this right,” he murmured when they broke apart. He knew there was no more time left. He had to go, but he hated to leave.

“This already is right,” she said, not realizing the full extent of his meaning, but giving him so much hope all the same. He stole one last fleeting kiss before stepping back. He turned and saw Jefferson was back, their moment was broken, but as Killian waved at Emma one last time and headed out to see his brother, he knew that this was not over. No matter what came, he’d make sure he and Emma were together. He would not mess this up. He would be the man she wanted and the man she deserved. He just needed a chance to do so, and he had every intention of taking said chance very very soon.

Post-Note: Okay so I know that this chapter features a lot of stuff – we’ve got some intrigue, a first kiss, and a lot of teasing moments. I just wanted this fic to have some of that, even though we’re getting close to the halfway point. As you might have guessed, the big reveal is coming sometime in the next few chapters, and there’s a few twists and turns coming in our story, but you can always trust that the heart of this story is true and it will land in a fluffy, love-filled place. Anyway, thanks so much to all of you for reading, and I’ll hopefully see you all next time!

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artificialqueens · 5 years

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Overpowered Part 4 (Branjie) athena2

A/N:Thank you all so much for your feedback and support of this fic, it truly does mean a lot to me. I want to apologize in advance for the angst in this one, but fluff is coming soon, I promise! *This chapter has mention of alcohol, violence, and mild injury* I would really appreciate any feedback or comments you have!

“You can seriously reach that?” Vanessa screeches as Brooke puts the star on top of the tree.

“Yeah, why?” She steps back and takes in Vanessa’s tiny frame. “Oh.”

“Yeah, Mary,” Vanessa laughs. “I almost broke my neck standing on a chair last year.”

It’s the first day of December and Christmas music is blasting, curtains closed as they pointedly avoid the inch of snow on the ground.

(Yvie said there’d be more snow. It’s fine. She’s fine.)

“You took your meds today, right?” She asks Brooke.

“Yes.”

Brooke takes her medication every morning and Vanessa’s heart fills with pride each time. Brooke works so hard with Nina and communicates her feelings a little better, and she doesn’t apologize for her nightmares anymore. Vanessa’s been watching her closely to see if anything’s changed with the meds, even though Nina said it could take a while for them to work, and not all medications work for everybody.

Vanessa plugs in the tree, reds and blues and yellows and whites twinkling brightly, reflecting off the shiny bulbs.

“One more thing,” Brooke says, pulling fake mistletoe from behind her back and holding it above them.

“You cheesy little ice princess.” Vanessa stretches up to kiss her. —

Two days later the clock by the cemetery stops working.

Exactly one minute after 11.

“What the hell does this mean?” Vanessa demands, barging into Silk’s office for the emergency debriefing she’d ordered. She turns to Yvie. “You said it stopped at 11:03, not 11:01.”

“I-I don’t know,” Yvie admits. “The clock isn’t cracked either, like it was in the vision. My visions have never been wrong like this.”

“So what am I supposed to do? Wait for the fucking clock to crack and move 2 minutes?” Her hands are itching to let flames dance across them, but she forces it down. She moves closer to Brooke so her icy skin will prevent an eruption.

“I don’t know. But for now, I think you need to be extra careful,” Silk says soberly.

Be careful? Vanessa wants to scream. There has to be more she can do.

She just doesn’t know what. —

She tries to distract herself. She bakes cookies with Brooke. They curl up under blankets and watch movies with the pets at their feet. She even gets hooked on the Great British Bake-Off, Brooke’s favorite when she’s anxious or needs to calm down after a really bad nightmare or panic attack. But even listening to the contestants talk charmingly about cakes is starting to fail. All the distractions are failing. No amount of cookies or make-out sessions on the couch behind closed curtains can hide the fact that it’s getting colder, that the snow hasn’t cleared.

She’s in her apartment, walls starting to buckle from the heat. Smoke clouds her eyes, hysterical screaming assaults her ears. She has to follow it, she has to help them, but she can’t see–

Her eyes open into darkness and she is relieved, the dark safer than the bright glow of the flames. The room is silent except for her violent heartbeat. Brooke is still sleeping soundly. Vanessa carefully eases her arms around Brooke, trying not to think that each time could be the last. —

She’s starting to feel that she’s not good anymore. Before, it was about saving people. Now, it’s like if she puts one more criminal behind bars, there’s one less person that could potentially kill her. Saving people is secondary. Why even bother when she’s just going to die anyway? She feels awful about it, that she cares more about herself than the people she’s supposed to protect, but she can’t deny it.

She’s sure Nina would tell her it’s reasonable to feel that way. She almost caves and makes an appointment but slams the phone down.

In some twisted way, she wishes it would just happen already. That the vision would pass, leaving her either dead or alive, and the whole thing can just be over, because the waiting is the worst thing.

Maybe it’s the exhaustion that makes her pick a fight with Brooke. Or maybe it’s the anger poisoning her. It’s probably not the whiskey, because that was hours ago. She doesn’t even know who said what first, only that she’s ready to answer Silk’s call and Brooke is worried, and it’s like Vanessa suddenly drops into her body and becomes aware that she’s yelling at Brooke, which she’s never done.

“You can’t tell me what to do, Brooke!”

“Vanessa, please, I-I just think you should be more careful.” She picks at her cuticles.

“Careful went out the window when Yvie put a fucking expiration date over my head!”

“You-you drank today.”

“It was just a glass of whiskey.” That’s a lie. It was four.

“I know you’re scared-”

“You think because you go to Nina you’re a therapist now? Is that it?” She tugs on her boots so hard they almost rip.

“No, I just-”

“So what about those people in trouble? You want me to let them die?” She leaves out the fact that yesterday she would have let them die, but now that her suit is on, she wants to save them. It’s just what she has to do.

“I don’t care about them!” Brooke’s hands are shaking.

It’s quiet.

“I-I didn’t mean that,” Brooke says softly, hand raking through her hair. “I’m sorry. I do care, I do, I just…look, it’s Silver Steel, he’s hard to fight, I’ll come with you.” She quickly attaches her mask and grabs her suit.

“No. You were holding me in the vision, remember? I’m probably safer without you.”

Even with Brooke’s mask on she can see the absolutely gutted look in her eyes, and Vanessa regrets the words the second they’re out, shame burning inside her and making her tear up. She regrets every damn word she screamed at Brooke tonight. Everything she’s felt in the past few months–confusion, sadness, misery, exhaustion–is all boiling down to one thing: anger. Pure, red-hot anger, the type that led to crimes of passion, that led people to scream words they didn’t mean and hurt the ones they loved. The kind of anger that burns from the inside out, leaving nothing but ash.

She jumps in Bertha and races off with no seatbelt, like if she gets away fast enough, she can pretend tonight never happened. —

She heads downtown, where Silver Steel has crumbled an office building. She pulls people up out of the rubble and herds them all away, and thankfully there’s no deaths that she can see. She leads him into the empty park and lets Vanjie take over. Vanjie didn’t feel dazed and exhausted. Vanjie hadn’t been an absolute asshole to the person she loves more than anyone. Vanjie didn’t need to worry if she had just ruined the greatest thing she’s ever had.

“Could you be a little more obvious with your name, buddy? I mean, Silver Steel, for someone with steel fists? Really?” She aims a punch at his chest.

“Shut up.”

“That’s origi–fuck!” His steel fist slams into her ribcage, and she hopes Silk’s bulletproof suit covers that, because her chest feels like it’s in pieces.

She forces herself to straighten up, only to have his fist get her again, sending her crashing into frozen earth.

Silver Steel hovers over her, his fist blocking out the sky. She closes her eyes, and she doesn’t fight. She just accepts it, like she used to accept the impending failure after a test she didn’t study for. If this is how she goes, that’s fine, though it sucks that she won’t even get to rub it in Yvie’s face that the vision was wrong–

The blow never comes.

She opens her eyes cautiously.

Moonlight glistens off the shiny ice crystals encasing his fist.

A powerful ice blast arcs through the air and Silver Steel thuds against the ground.

Frost holds her hand out to Vanjie, pulling her up. “You’re okay?”

She sucks in a painful breath, hand going to her ribs. “I’ll be fine. Brooke, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. When we get home, I need to give you a real apology. What I said to you…Look out!”

Silver Steel grabs Frost’s left arm and twists it behind her back while she struggles in his grip, and Vanjie hears something pop–

Vanjie tears him off her, fists raining down in a blur. She keeps going until he drops to the ground unconscious, then rushes to Frost, who touches her shoulder gingerly and grimaces.

“Are you okay? Tell me honestly.”

“M-my shoulder feels weird.”

Vanjie’s heart aches. “Get in the car.” —

After 5 minutes of going back and forth over who a doctor should take care of first, she and Brooke sit in Ra’jah’s office, Vanessa holding ice on her bruised ribs while they wait for Ra’jah to fix Brooke’s dislocated shoulder.

Whatever alcohol and drowsiness remained have cleared from her body, the image of Frost’s face paling and her eyes squeezing shut on the drive here sobering her instantly.

This is all her fault. If she hadn’t been an idiot, Brooke wouldn’t be sitting here sweating over seeing a doctor. They would be home in bed eating cookies and chips. She has to be more careful, she understands now. She’s not the only one she’s putting in danger.

Silk, Yvie, and Scarlet trickle in, and Vanessa grits her teeth.

“Didn’t you upgrade my suit when you did Frost’s? Shouldn’t it have stopped the steel fist, since it’s bulletproof?” Vanessa accuses angrily before Silk can start screaming about her recklessness.

“I said it would. Absorb. Most. Of. The. Impact,” Silk forces out, taking the bait of an argument. “Which it did, by the way, or you’d have a lot worse than bruised ribs. That was mainly for Brooke, if I’m honest. She’s a damn bullet magnet.”

“Did you know bullets actually aren’t magnetic?” Yvie asks to blank stares. “Just a fun fact,” she shrugs.

“I thought it was fun, honey,” Scarlet insists.

“Hey, maybe all you hoes can get outta here and let a doctor see Brooke!” Vanessa shouts, seeing Ra’jah in the doorway.

They clear out and Ra’jah walks in, Brooke immediately shrinking in fear. Vanessa takes her hand reassuringly.

“So, it’s only a minor dislocation, and I can push it back into place. I’m gonna give you a mild sedative for the pain, okay?” Ra’jah reaches for a needle and Brooke recoils as far back as the chair allows.

“No,” she gasps, breathing shallow, “I don’t want it.”

“Is it the needle? It’s okay, I’ll be right here,” Vanessa promises.

Brooke bites her lip. “It’s not that, it’s…it’ll make me sleepy, like I’m not in control. Just-just give me Tylenol or something. Vanessa, please. I can’t feel like that again.”

Brooke looks up at her, eyes desperate and trusting. Vanessa doesn’t want to see Brooke in any more pain, but how can she refuse when Brooke is begging her, when she would rather feel that pain than feel like the lab is drugging her again?

She looks at Ra’jah. “You got any Tylenol?”

Ra’jah nods and leaves the room, returning with two pills and a cup of water. “You’re sure about this?” she confirms, standing near Brooke’s shoulder as she swallows the pills.

Brooke nods. Vanessa squeezes her hand tightly.

“Okay.” Ra’jah positions herself and Vanessa looks away as Brooke almost crushes Vanessa’s hand and grunts in pain, but it’s a lot faster than she thought and they both breathe easier. Ra’jah puts Brooke’s left arm in a sling to keep it steady for a few days, and promises there won’t be any lasting damage.

Relief she doesn’t deserve washes over her. Brooke shouldn’t have gotten hurt at all. Wouldn’t have gotten hurt if Vanessa had just listened.

She pulls Brooke into the bathroom when they’re done.

“I’m so sorry, Brooke. No, don’t say anything,” she interrupts as Brooke’s mouth opens.

“I’m sorry I ran off like that and got you hurt. I’m so sorry for saying I’d be safer without you. I…I didn’t mean it. Brooke, honestly, I’ve never felt safer than I do when you’re around. You keep me safe and protect me even when I don’t deserve it. I mean, you showed up to help me tonight when I was awful to you. And I’m sorry for getting mad when you ask about my feelings. I know you’re trying to help. I don’t know what came over me, it was like I had no control. I’ve been so angry lately…but that’s not an excuse for what I said to you. I’m so sorry.”

She wipes her eyes furiously.

Brooke’s hand wraps around hers.

“Vanessa, it’s alright. I’m fine, really. I know you didn’t mean to say what you did. Me getting hurt was an accident. I knew the risks when I went out.” She takes a breath. “I need to apologize too. What you must be feeling…I-I can’t imagine the stress you’re under. I get why you’ve been angry and why it made you act out. If you want my help or you want to talk, I’m here, but I understand I need to not push so hard. And I shouldn’t have tried to make you stop helping people. Th-that was wrong. I’m sorry.” Brooke’s eyes are so sincere it takes her breath away. “I love you so much, Ness. I love you forever.”

She carefully eases Brooke down into a kiss, and things feel right again, more right than they have in months. —

A’Keria is waiting when they’re done and leads them into the conference room. Nina is at the head of the table and Vanessa immediately knows what this is but A’Keria has already shut the door, blocking her escape.

She glares at Silk. “An intervention?! You set up a fucking intervention?”

“Please don’t think of this as an intervention,” Nina says with frustrating patience. “We’re just going to talk a bit. If there’s something you want to share, that’s fine. If not, that’s fine too. Would you like to take a seat?”

So this isn’t an intervention. It’s her own personal hell.

Vanessa sighs and throws herself in the seat beside Scarlet, Brooke following as A’Keria joins Yvie and Silk.

“Would anyone like to start?” Nina asks.

“You need to be more careful, you could have gotten yourself killed!” Yvie snaps.

“Okay, maybe we can use a kinder tone in the future, but let’s start there,” Nina says. “So-”

“You think I don’t know that, Yvie? I learned my damn lesson, I don’t need you down my neck!”

“Let’s all take a breath,” Nina suggests, watching them expectantly until they do it. Vanessa feels slightly less ready to explode.

“Vanessa,” Nina continues. “Would you like to share anything about how you’re feeling, what you’ve been going through?” The amount of patience this woman has is quite honestly unbelievable.

She shrugs. “Mad, I guess. I mean, I’m possibly gonna die soon. How am I supposed to feel?” She mutters with defeat.

“You have every right to feel what you’re feeling,” Nina assures her.

“Can I say something?” Yvie asks.

“Of course.”

“I get the whole mad-at-the-world thing you’ve got going on.” Yvie takes a breath. “Two years ago I found out I have this connective tissue disorder. It makes my joints super-painful sometimes. I won’t be able to do this hero thing forever. This was right after I started getting the visions. I had no idea what I was doing. I was never fast enough to save anyone. So between my condition and being shitty at saving people, I figured, what’s the point? Why try to save people when I can’t and I have this condition anyway?”

Vanessa nods in understanding.

“Then I started getting more visions, and I couldn’t stop thinking about all these people in trouble, who didn’t have a chance because I wasn’t trying anymore. And I realized that just because I can’t do it forever, it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do it at all. So I tried harder, actually starting saving people. I want to just help people as long as I can. So, yeah, I get why you’re pissed.” She looks hesitantly at Vanessa, expression kind.

“Thank you sharing that, Yvie. Do you have anything to add, Vanessa? It’s perfectly okay to say no.”

She sighs. “I thought that way after the fire,” she confesses quietly. “When I got my powers, I didn’t want to use them. I was pissed. Why the hell should I save random people when I couldn’t save my own family? Why save someone else’s family when I couldn’t have mine? But that was the answer, I guess. Because I didn’t want anyone to lose their family. I probably…” she trails off.

Nina nods encouragingly.

“I probably blamed myself for losing them. Because if I hadn’t invited them over, they wouldn’t have died.” She’s surprised how easily the words leave her. It’s like they’ve been poisoning her heart all these years, just waiting for her to accept the antidote that would release them. She feels strangely lighter.

“I know you think that was your fault, but it was completely out of your control, Vanessa,” Nina’s voice is firm and Vanessa believes her. She knew, logically, that it wasn’t her fault, but it’s nice to have someone else say it.

“I, um, I know how it feels to blame yourself for something that wasn’t your fault,” Brooke says quietly. “I-I’m not ready to talk about it with everyone, but my past experiences haven’t been that great.”

“Jesus, am I the only one that didn’t get the tragic backstory memo?” Scarlet mumbles. “Sorry, that was probably mean, wasn’t it?”

But they all burst into laughter, and Vanessa feels better. She really does. —

The first thing she does is throw out all the liquor. She knows she won’t do it again, but she doesn’t even want the temptation.

She sinks into a routine. She cuts down on patrols and only goes with the group, like a preschooler on a field trip. She cooks dinner alone a few nights, then with Brooke when her sling comes off. They make breakfast for dinner and roll out homemade pizza dough and encourage each other to eat. She walks Riley and pets the cats and kisses Brooke every chance she gets.

Her mother is laughing at one of Vanessa’s work stories when the glass shatters.

Someone screams. Broken glass is all that remains of her windows, and she peers out the open gaps into the night. The chemical plant across the street is lost behind a cloud of hazy gray smoke tinged with green. Red-orange flames rise out of the smoke, headed straight for her apartment.

The smoke hits first, a burning sensation spreading through her veins as the gray-green blur touches her skin and throws the apartment into darkness. She tries to find her mom but she’s so dizzy, and flames are licking at the walls like a serpent’s tongue–

She runs to the bathroom and greedily gulps water like it can put out the fire in her mind. If she has that dream one more time she might smash something. She takes slow breaths that are not thick with smoke but do send bolts of pain through her still-bruised chest. When she comes back, Brooke is sitting up in bed, low lamplight illuminating her sobs.

She rushes to her side, her own dream forgotten. She cautiously puts a hand on her back, since touch sometimes scared Brooke when she couldn’t distinguish dream from reality. She leans into it, though, and Vanessa rubs slow circles. “Baby, what’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”

Brooke nods shakily. She can barely get the words out. “Th-they caught me and said I’d nev-never s-see you again, and I wo-woke up and you weren’t there and I thought…”

She feels like her heart is being ripped out. That might actually hurt less. She lets her own tears fall and pulls Brooke into the tightest hug she can manage. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere, baby.”

She’ll do everything in her power to keep that promise. —

“Red velvet!”

“Cheesecake, bitch!”

“Momma wants red velvet!”

The brunch table is at war over what dessert they should have on Christmas (in addition to the 20 types of cookies Brooke’s already started) with A’Keria leading the cheesecake charge and Silk ready to die on the battlefield of red velvet.

“We can have both?” Brooke offers, as Scarlet stops Silk from catapulting bacon at A’Keria.

It’s 13 days to Christmas, and Vanessa wants to be optimistic. She gets Brooke a bunch of the cozy, oversized sweaters she loves, soft as a cloud, then orders some baking thing she had excitedly talked about when a chef used it on the Food Network. She gets her fuzzy pajamas with snowflakes and reindeer for her winter-loving, Canadian ass. One of the presents requires a lengthy phone call and a page full of notes, and one reduces her stomach to a ball of nerves.

She hopes she gets to see Brooke’s face when she opens them. —

They get their shot at Shockwave and Quake the next night, teaming up with Scarlet and Yvie. She vows to be careful, but they all know she can’t sit this one out. Not against powers like theirs.

She doesn’t even realize it’s that church until she sees the 11:01 staring down at her. It’s oddly comforting, seeing the wrong time. Even though it’s the scene from the vision, it feels normal. Vanjie doesn’t know if she expected to feel the presence of death or what, but all she feels is annoyed as the wind whips around, tangling her hair in front of her eyes. She gathers it into a ponytail, alarm bells sounding faintly in the back of her mind.

“Where are these bums?” She demands, kicking through inches of snow.

On cue, they appear from behind the church and saunter over.

“Nobody move!” Quake orders, Shockwave brandishing balls of lightning. “We want to talk first.”

“Long time no see,” Vanjie mutters. “It was nice not looking at your busted faces.”

“There’s a reason for that,” Shockwave promises. “We had to get it just right, you see.”

“Get what right?”

But he doesn’t answer.

“We have an offer for you, Frost,” Quake says darkly.

“I-I don’t want anything from you.”

“You want to hear this one,” Quake promises. “All those years we spent working for you. We want you to work for us. Do our dirty work while we focus on our ideas. I bet you’re not feeling so well without your medicine. Probably having a lot of nightmares. Wouldn’t you like them to stop? Don’t you think you’d feel better if you had it again?”

He pulls a syringe filled with blue liquid from his belt and Vanjie knows what he meant by getting it right. They want to drug her again, make her their pet.

“I don’t want that,” Frost says firmly.

“You might think that. But I know you do,” Shockwave says. “We left one little thing out. You come with us, or your girlfriend dies.”

And then he lunges at her, clenches an arm around her neck and lowers a lightning bolt beside her head, and the heat coming off it makes her sweat.

No one moves. Frost’s eyes go wide. She bites her lip, and Vanjie knows. She’s going to say yes. She’s going to let them take her, all to keep her safe.

Frost lifts her hands, and Vanjie’s heart tears.

“You can have me,” she says. “Please don’t hurt Vanjie.”

“B-Frost, no! Don’t worry about me!” She yells uselessly. Frost is already walking over to Quake, whole body shaking.

She thinks to when they were enemies, when Frost had that cold, dead look in her eyes Vanjie thought was malice but was just the drugs numbing her emotions, stealing her identity. She thinks to that first night they spent in her bed, when her hands warmed Frost’s face, and the later realization she’d had that Frost probably couldn’t remember being touched by hands that didn’t hurt her. She thinks of Brooke flinching whenever she sees a doctor, looking over her shoulder everywhere they go to make sure they’re both safe. How she tries so hard to stop doing those things. The nightmares where she cried in her sleep and re-lived things Vanessa couldn’t even imagine–

No.

They’re not taking her, and Vanjie won’t let them use her against Frost–against Brooke. This ends now.

She slams her boot down on Shockwave’s foot, and it’s enough to get her off him and into Yvie’s punches. She hurls fire at Quake, sending him flying backwards, syringe breaking, before he touches Frost.

Vanjie throws her arms around Frost, who is still trembling, eyes damp. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she pants. “I couldn’t let them kill you…”

“Shh, shh, it’s okay. We’re okay. Don’t be sorry. You’re not going with them. I won’t let anyone take you.”

The ground suddenly rumbles beneath them, a gap opening like a giant mouth and splitting them apart. Rocks and dirt fly into the air, and Vanjie covers her face to ward off the sharp edges.

She looks wildly for Frost once the dust settles, and spots her on the other side of the 20-foot gap. She looks okay, but she turns and Vanjie’s heart clogs up her throat. There’s a small cut along her hairline slowly trickling blood down the right side of her face.

Brooke’s face was bleeding, Yvie had said. It can’t be. Not already.

“I’m going after Quake!” Scarlet calls, running into the woods. “Yvie’s with Shockwave!”

“Shockwave’s mine,” Vanjie insists.

Frost nods. “I’ll go with Scarlet.”

Vanjie reaches out her hand, longing to touch Frost’s cold fingers, but the gap between them is as large as the ocean.“Be careful, alright? I love you.”

“I love you too,” Frost says. Her blue suit fades into the trees.

Vanessa trudges around the front of the church to Shockwave and Yvie locked in battle.

Lightning buzzes around his hands, and Vanjie feels the energy, the electricity, in the air.

The clock is wrong, but three pieces of the vision are in place, and if this is it, Vanjie’s not going down without a fight. Or answers.

“Do you know what happened to the Memoriax formula?” It’s a shot in the dark, but if there’s even a chance, she has to take it.

He scoffs, landing a blow to Yvie’s side. “Trying to help your ice bitch? Please. We destroyed that months ago. It would have failed anyway. Everything about it was wrong. Would have scrambled her brain even more than we did,” he snickers as he swerves away from Yvie’s fist.

She sighs. She senses he’s telling the truth; he’d never miss a chance to call out someone’s stupidity. Maybe it’s better Brooke didn’t take it when she had been tempted all those months ago.

“Why’d you kill the other lab employees?” Vanjie demands, throwing flames.

He lurches out of the way. “They were worthless. The General’s pets, just like Frost. But Quake and I are different,” he declares, and one of his bolts grazes her arm, her whole body buzzing with pain. So he was one of those average white dudes who thought he was special. Vanjie should’ve seen that one coming.

She throws another fireball as he continues. “They followed the rules. They looked down on us. Would’ve turned us in if they knew we were experimenting. With them gone, no one would stop us from actually using our inventions. No one would stop us from giving ourselves powers. And we did.”

“But what’s your point? You hated the lab, so you killed everyone there. You gave yourselves powers. Now what?” She inches closer, punching his nose with her sore arm and delighting in the blood that spurts out as Yvie kicks his back, but he’s up quickly, lightning around his hands preventing another move.

“We got our revenge. Now we make Frost suffer. She’s the last piece. After that?” He shrugs. “We do whatever we want.”

He hurls another ball of lightning and she throws herself on the ground, twisting her neck as it flies above her. Then she sees its path, in slow motion. The ball crackles through the air and bursts against the base of the clock tower. It forms a jagged crack in the wall that travels up to the face, splitting the porcelain and jostling the minute hand.

Vanjie knows she shouldn’t look.

She doesn’t need to look.

But she does anyway.

11:03.

A silent death bell.

Yvie kicks his ribs, but Shockwave sends her sprawling across the snow, and she doesn’t move. He comes at Vanjie violently as she stands, and she’s not fast enough. She’s not fast enough and he avoids her fireball, and his lightning explodes in her chest, and it doesn’t let up. It zaps her energy, and she can’t even lift an arm to fight, collapsing as electricity tears through her body and her thoughts ignite.

This isn’t happening. She’s going to eat both the cakes Brooke’s making for Christmas.

Her blood is boiling from the electric current.

This isn’t happening. She’s going to see that grin stretch across Brooke’s face when she opens her presents.

Her veins are frying.

This isn’t happening. She’s going to kiss Brooke again.

Her heart is on fire.

Brooke.

It all goes black.

#rpdr fanfiction #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #yvie oddly #scarlet envy #branjie #angst #hurt/comfort #lesbian au #superhero au #overpowered #athena2 #tw alcohol #tw violence #tw mild injury #concrit welcome #submission #s11

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blackkudos · 6 years

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Joe Louis

Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981), best known as Joe Louis and nicknamed the "Brown Bomber", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949, and is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Louis' championship reign lasted 140 consecutive months, during which he participated in 26 championship fights. The 27th fight, against Ezzard Charles in 1950, was a challenge for Charles' heavyweight title and so is not included in Louis' reign. Louis was victorious in 25 title defenses, a world record second only to Julio César Chávez with 27. In 2005, Louis was ranked as the best heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization, and was ranked number one on The Ring magazine's list of the "100 greatest punchers of all time."

Louis' cultural impact was felt well outside the ring. He is widely regarded as the first African American to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II. He was instrumental in integrating the game of golf, breaking the sport's color barrier in America by appearing under a sponsor's exemption in a PGA event in 1952.

Detroit's Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League, and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County's Joe Louis "The Champ" Golf Course, situated south of Chicago in Riverdale, Illinois, are named in his honor.

Early life

Born in rural Chambers County, Alabama (in a ramshackle dwelling on Bell Chapel Road, located about a mile off state route 50 and roughly six miles (10 km) north of Lafayette), Louis was the seventh of eight children of Munroe Barrow and Lillie (Reese) Barrow. He weighed 11 pounds (5 kg) at birth. Both of his parents were children of former slaves, alternating between sharecropping and rental farming. Munroe was predominantly African American, with some white ancestry, while Lillie was half Cherokee.

Louis spent twelve years growing up in rural Alabama, where little is known of his childhood. He suffered from a speech impediment and spoke very little until about the age of six. Munroe Barrow was committed to a mental institution in 1916 and, as a result, Joe knew very little of his biological father. Around 1920, Louis's mother married Pat Brooks, a local construction contractor, having received word that Munroe Barrow had died while institutionalized (in reality, Munroe Barrow lived until 1938, unaware of his son's fame).

In 1926, shaken by a gang of white men in the Ku Klux Klan, Louis's family moved to Detroit, Michigan, forming part of the post-World War I Great Migration. Joe's brother worked for Ford Motor Company (where Joe would himself work for a time at the River Rouge Plant) and the family settled into a home at 2700 Catherine (now Madison) Street in Detroit's Black Bottom neighborhood.

Louis attended Bronson Vocational School for a time to learn cabinet-making.

Amateur career

The Great Depression hit the Barrow family hard, but as an alternative to gang activity, Joe began to spend time at a local youth recreation center at 637 Brewster Street in Detroit. His mother attempted to get him interested in playing the violin. Legend has it that he tried to hide his pugilistic ambitions from his mother by carrying his boxing gloves inside his violin case.

Louis made his debut in early 1932 at age 17. Legend has it that before the fight, the barely literate Louis wrote his name so large that there was no room for his last name, and thus became known as "Joe Louis" for the remainder of his boxing career. More likely, Louis simply omitted his last name to keep his boxing a secret from his mother. After this debut – a loss to future Olympian Johnny Miller – Louis compiled numerous amateur victories, eventually winning the club championship of his Brewster Street recreation centre, the home of many aspiring Golden Gloves fighters.

In 1933, Louis won the Detroit-area Golden Gloves Novice Division championship against Joe Biskey for the light heavyweight classification. He later lost in the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions. The next year, competing in the Golden Gloves' Open Division, he won the light heavyweight classification, this time also winning the Chicago Tournament of Champions. However, a hand injury forced Louis to miss the New York/Chicago Champions' cross-town bout for the ultimate Golden Gloves championship. In April 1934, he followed up his Chicago performance by winning the United States Amateur Champion National AAU tournament in St. Louis, Missouri.

By the end of his amateur career, Louis's record was 50-3, with 43 knockouts.

Professional career

Joe Louis had 70 professional fights with only three losses. He tallied 52 knock outs and held the championship from 1937 to 1949, the longest span of any heavyweight titleholder. After returning from retirement, Louis failed to regain the championship in 1950, and his career ended after he was knocked out by Rocky Marciano in 1951. The man who had been called the Brown Bomber was finished.

Early years

Louis's amateur performances attracted the interest of professional promoters, and he was soon represented by a black Detroit-area bookmaker named John Roxborough. As Louis explained in his autobiography, Roxborough convinced the young fighter that white managers would have no real interest in seeing a black boxer work his way up to title contention:

[Roxborough] told me about the fate of most black fighters, ones with white managers, who wound up burned-out and broke before they reached their prime. The white managers were not interested in the men they were handling but in the money they could make from them. They didn't take the proper time to see that their fighters had a proper training, that they lived comfortably, or ate well, or had some pocket change. Mr. Roxborough was talking about Black Power before it became popular.

Roxborough knew a Chicago area boxing promoter named Julian Black who already had a stable of mediocre boxers against which Louis could hone his craft, this time in the heavyweight division. After becoming part of the management team, Black hired fellow Chicago native Jack "Chappy" Blackburn as Louis's trainer. Louis' initial professional fights were all in the Chicago area, his professional debut coming on July 4, 1934, against Jack Kracken in the Bacon Casino on Chicago's south side. Louis earned $59 for knocking out Kracken in the first round. Louis won all twelve of his professional fights that year, ten by knockout.

In September 1934, while promoting a Detroit-area "coming home" bout for Louis against Canadian Alex Borchuk, Roxborough was pressured by members of the Michigan State Boxing Commission to have Louis sign with white management. Roxborough refused and continued advancing Louis's career with bouts against heavyweight contenders Art Sykes and Stanley Poreda.

When training for a fight against Lee Ramage, Louis noticed a young female secretary for the black newspaper at the gym. After Ramage was defeated, the secretary, Marva Trotter, was invited to the celebration party at Chicago's Grand Hotel. Trotter later became Louis's first wife in 1935.

During this time, Louis also met Truman Gibson, the man who would become his personal lawyer. As a young associate at a law firm hired by Julian Black, Gibson was charged with personally entertaining Louis during the pendency of business deals.

Title contention

Although Louis' management was finding him bouts against legitimate heavyweight contenders, no path to the title was forthcoming. While professional boxing was not officially segregated, many white Americans had become wary of the prospect of another black champion in the wake of Jack Johnson's highly unpopular (among whites) "reign" atop the heavyweight division. During an era of severe anti-black repression, Jack Johnson's unrepentant masculinity and marriage to a white woman engendered an enormous backlash that greatly limited opportunities of black fighters in the heavyweight division. Black boxers were denied championship bouts, and there were few heavyweight black contenders at the time, though there were African Americans who fought for titles in other weight divisions, and a few notable black champions, such as Tiger Flowers. Louis and his handlers would counter the legacy of Johnson by emphasizing the Brown Bomber's modesty and sportsmanship. Biographer Gerald Astor stated that "Joe Louis' early boxing career was stalked by the specter of Jack Johnson".

If Louis were to rise to national prominence among such cultural attitudes, a change in management would be necessary. In 1935, boxing promoter Mike Jacobs sought out Louis' handlers. After Louis' narrow defeat of Natie Brown on March 29, 1935, Jacobs and the Louis team met at the Frog Club, a black nightclub, and negotiated a three-year exclusive boxing promotion deal. The contract, however, did not keep Roxborough and Black from attempting to cash in as Louis' managers; when Louis turned 21 on May 13, 1935, Roxborough and Black each signed Louis to an onerous long-term contract that collectively dedicated half of Louis' future income to the pair.

Black and Roxborough continued to carefully and deliberately shape Louis' media image. Mindful of the tremendous public backlash Johnson had suffered for his unapologetic attitude and flamboyant lifestyle, they drafted "Seven Commandments" for Louis' personal conduct. These included:

Never have his picture taken with a white woman

Never gloat over a fallen opponent

Never engage in fixed fights

Live and fight clean

As a result, Louis was generally portrayed in the white media as a modest, clean-living person, which facilitated his burgeoning celebrity status.

With the backing of major promotion, Louis fought thirteen times in 1935. The bout that helped put him in the media spotlight occurred on June 25, when Louis knocked out 6'6", 265-pound former world heavyweight champion Primo Carnera in six rounds. Foreshadowing the Louis-Schmeling rivalry to come, the Carnera bout featured a political dimension. Louis' victory over Carnera, who symbolized Benito Mussolini's regime in the popular eye, was seen as a victory for the international community, particularly among African Americans, who were sympathetic to Ethiopia, which was attempting to maintain its independence by fending off an invasion by fascist Italy. America's white press began promoting Louis' image in the context of the era's racism; nicknames they created included the "Mahogany Mauler", "Chocolate Chopper", "Coffee-Colored KO King", "Safari Sandman", and one that stuck: "The Brown Bomber".

Helping the white press to overcome its reluctance to feature a black contender was the fact that in the mid-1930s boxing desperately needed a marketable hero. Since the retirement of Jack Dempsey in 1929, the sport had devolved into a sordid mixture of poor athletes, gambling, fixed fights, thrown matches, and control of the sport by organized crime. New York Times Columnist Edward Van Ness wrote, "Louis...is a boon to boxing. Just as Dempsey led the sport out of the doldrums...so is Louis leading the boxing game out of a slump." Likewise, biographer Bill Libby asserted that "The sports world was hungry for a great champion when Louis arrived in New York in 1935."

While the mainstream press was beginning to embrace Louis, many still opposed the prospect of another black heavyweight champion. In September 1935, on the eve of Louis' fight with former titleholder Max Baer, Washington Post sportswriter Shirley Povich wrote about some Americans' hopes for the white contender, "They say Baer will surpass himself in the knowledge that he is the lone white hope for the defense of Nordic superiority in the prize ring." However, the hopes of white suprematists would soon be dashed.

Although Baer had been knocked down only once before in his professional career (by Frankie Campbell), Louis dominated the former champion, knocking him out in the fourth round. Unknowingly, Baer suffered from a unique disadvantage in the fight; earlier that evening, Louis had married Marva Trotter at a friend's apartment and was eager to end the fight in order to consummate the relationship. Later that year, Louis also knocked out Paolino Uzcudun, who had never been knocked down before.

Louis vs. Schmeling I

By this time, Louis was ranked as the No. 1 contender in the heavyweight division and had won the Associated Press' "Athlete of the Year" award for 1935. What was considered to be a final tune-up bout before an eventual title shot was scheduled for June 1936 against Max Schmeling. Although a former world heavyweight champion, Schmeling was not considered a threat to Louis, then with a professional record of 27-0. Schmeling had won his title on a technicality when Jack Sharkey was disqualified after giving Schmeling a low blow in 1930. Schmeling was also 30 years old at the time of the Louis bout and allegedly past his prime. Louis' training retreat was located at Lakewood, New Jersey, where he was first able to practice the game of golf, which would later become a lifelong passion. Noted entertainer Ed Sullivan had initially sparked Louis' interest in the sport by giving an instructional book to Joe's wife Marva. Louis spent significant time on the golf course rather than training for the match.

Conversely, Schmeling prepared intently for the bout. He had thoroughly studied Louis's style and believed he had found a weakness. By exploiting Louis's habit of dropping his left hand low after a jab, Schmeling handed Louis his first professional loss by knocking him out in round 12 at Yankee Stadium on June 19, 1936.

World championship

After defeating Louis, Schmeling expected a title shot against James J. Braddock, who had unexpectedly defeated Max Baer for the heavyweight title the previous June. Madison Square Garden (MSG) had a contract with Braddock for the title defense and also sought a Braddock-Schmeling title bout. But Jacobs and Braddock's manager Joe Gould had been planning a Braddock-Louis matchup for months. Schmeling's victory gave Gould tremendous leverage, however; if he were to offer Schmeling the title chance instead of Louis, there was a very real possibility that Nazi authorities would never allow Louis a shot at the title. Gould's demands were therefore onerous: Jacobs would have to pay 10% of all future boxing promotion profits (including any future profits from Louis's future bouts) for ten years. Braddock and Gould would eventually receive more than $150,000 from this arrangement. Well before the actual fight, Jacobs and Gould publicly announced that their fighters would fight for the heavyweight title on June 22, 1937. Figuring that the New York State Athletic Commission would not sanction the fight in deference to MSG and Schmeling, Jacobs scheduled the fight for Chicago.

Each of the parties involved worked to facilitate the controversial Braddock-Louis matchup. Louis did his part by knocking out former champion Jack Sharkey on August 18, 1936. Meanwhile, Gould trumped up anti-Nazi sentiment against Schmeling, and Jacobs defended a lawsuit by MSG to halt the Braddock-Louis fight. A federal court in Newark, New Jersey, eventually ruled that Braddock's contractual obligation to stage his title defense at MSG was unenforceable for lack of mutual consideration.

The stage was set for Louis's title shot. On the night of the fight, June 22, 1937, Braddock was able to knock Louis down in round one, but afterward could accomplish little. After inflicting constant punishment, Louis defeated Braddock in round eight, knocking him out cold with a strong right hand that busted James' teeth through his gum shield and lip and sent him to the ground for a few minutes. It was the first and only time that Braddock was knocked out (the one other stoppage of Braddock's career was a TKO due to a cut). Louis's ascent to the world heavyweight championship was complete.

Louis's victory was a seminal moment in African American history. Thousands of African Americans stayed up all night across the country in celebration. Noted author and member of the Harlem Renaissance Langston Hughes described Louis's effect in these terms:

Each time Joe Louis won a fight in those depression years, even before he became champion, thousands of black Americans on relief or W.P.A., and poor, would throng out into the streets all across the land to march and cheer and yell and cry because of Joe's one-man triumphs. No one else in the United States has ever had such an effect on Negro emotions—or on mine. I marched and cheered and yelled and cried, too.

Initial title defenses

Despite his championship, Louis was haunted by the earlier defeat to Schmeling. Shortly after winning the title, he was quoted as saying, "I don't want to be called champ until I whip Max Schmeling." Louis's manager Mike Jacobs attempted to arrange a rematch in 1937, but negotiations broke down when Schmeling demanded 30% of the gate. When Schmeling instead attempted to arrange for a fight against British Empire champion Tommy Farr, known as the "Tonypandy Terror",—ostensibly for a world championship to rival the claims of American boxing authorities—Jacobs outmaneuvered him, offering Farr a guaranteed $60,000 to fight Louis instead. The offer was too lucrative for Farr to turn down.

On August 30, 1937, after a postponement of four days due to rain, Louis and Farr finally touched gloves at New York's Yankee Stadium before a crowd of approximately 32,000. Louis fought one of the hardest battles of his life. The bout was closely contested and went the entire 15 rounds, with Louis being unable to knock Farr down. Referee Arthur Donovan was even seen shaking Farr's hand after the bout, in apparent congratulation. Nevertheless, after the score was announced, Louis had won a controversial unanimous decision. Time described the scene thus: "After collecting the judges' votes, referee Arthur Donovan announced that Louis had won the fight on points. The crowd of 50,000...amazed that Farr had not been knocked out or even knocked down, booed the decision."

It seems the crowd believed that referee Arthur Donovan, Sr. had raised Farr's glove in victory. Seven years later, in his published account of the fight, Donovan spoke of the "mistake" that may have led to this confusion. He wrote:

As Tommy walked back to his corner after shaking Louis' hand, I followed him and seized his glove. "Tommy, a wonderful perform—" I began... Then I dropped his hand like a red-hot coal! He had started to raise his arm. He thought I had given him the fight and the world championship! I literally ran away, shaking my head and shouting. "No! No! No!" realising how I had raised his hopes for a few seconds only to dash them to the ground... That's the last time my emotions will get the better of me in a prize fight! There was much booing at the announced result, but, as I say it, it was all emotional. I gave Tommy two rounds and one even—and both his winning rounds were close.

Speaking over the radio after the fight, Louis admitted that he had been hurt twice.

In preparation for the inevitable rematch with Schmeling, Louis tuned up with bouts against Nathan Mann and Harry Thomas.

Louis vs. Schmeling II

The rematch between Louis and Schmeling would become one of the most famous boxing matches of all time and is remembered as one of the major sports events of the 20th century. Following his defeat of Louis in 1936, Schmeling had become a national hero in Germany. Schmeling's victory over an African American was touted by Nazi officials as proof of their doctrine of Aryan superiority. When the rematch was scheduled, Louis retreated to his boxing camp in New Jersey and trained incessantly for the fight. A few weeks before the bout, Louis visited the White House, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt told him, "Joe, we need muscles like yours to beat Germany." Louis later admitted: "I knew I had to get Schmeling good. I had my own personal reasons and the whole damned country was depending on me."

When Schmeling arrived in New York City in June 1938 for the rematch, he was accompanied by a Nazi party publicist who issued statements that a black man could not defeat Schmeling and that when Schmeling won, his prize money would be used to build tanks in Germany. Schmeling's hotel was picketed by anti-Nazi protesters in the days before the fight.

On the night of June 22, 1938, Louis and Schmeling met for the second time in the boxing ring. The fight was held in Yankee Stadium before a crowd of 70,043. It was broadcast by radio to millions of listeners throughout the world, with radio announcers reporting on the fight in English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Before the bout, Schmeling weighed in at 193 pounds; Louis weighed in at 198¾ pounds.

The fight lasted two minutes and four seconds. Louis battered Schmeling with a series of swift attacks, forcing him against the ropes and giving him a paralyzing body blow (Schmeling later claimed it was an illegal kidney punch). Schmeling was knocked down three times and only managed to throw two punches in the entire bout. On the third knockdown, Schmeling's trainer threw in the towel and referee Arthur Donovan stopped the fight.

"Bum of the Month Club"

In the 29 months from January 1939 through May 1941, Louis defended his title thirteen times, a frequency unmatched by any heavyweight champion since the end of the bare-knuckle era. The pace of his title defenses, combined with his convincing wins, earned Louis' opponents from this era the collective nickname "Bum of the Month Club". Notables of this lambasted pantheon include:

world light heavyweight champion John Henry Lewis who, attempting to move up a weight class, was knocked out in the first round by Louis on January 25, 1939.

"Two Ton" Tony Galento, who was able to knock Louis to the canvas with a left hook in the third round of their bout on June 28, 1939, before letting his guard down and being knocked out in the fourth.

Chilean Arturo Godoy, whom Louis fought twice in 1940, on February 9 and June 20. Louis won the first bout by a split-decision, and the rematch by a knockout in the eighth round.

Al McCoy, putative New England heavyweight champion, whose fight against Louis is probably best known for being the first heavyweight title bout held in Boston, Massachusetts, (at the Boston Garden on December 16, 1940). The popular local challenger dodged his way around Louis before being unable to respond to the sixth-round bell.

Clarence "Red" Burman, who pressed Louis for nearly five rounds at Madison Square Garden on January 31, 1941, before succumbing to a series of body blows.

Gus Dorazio, of whom Louis remarked, "At least he tried", after being leveled by a short right hand in the second round at Philadelphia's Convention Hall on February 17.

Abe Simon, who endured thirteen rounds of punishment before 18,908 at Olympia Stadium in Detroit on March 21 before referee Sam Hennessy declared a TKO.

Tony Musto, who, at 5'7½" and 198 pounds, was known as "Baby Tank." Despite a unique crouching style, Musto was slowly worn down over eight and a half rounds in St. Louis on April 8, and the fight was called a TKO because of a severe cut over Musto's eye.

Buddy Baer (brother of former champion Max), who was leading the May 23, 1941, bout in Washington, D.C., until an eventual barrage by Louis, capped by a hit at the sixth round bell. Referee Arthur Donovan disqualified Baer before the beginning of the seventh round as a result of stalling by Baer's manager.

Despite its derogatory nickname, most of the group were top-ten heavyweights. Of the twelve fighters Louis faced during this period, five were rated by The Ring as top-ten heavyweights in the year they fought Louis: Galento (overall #2 heavyweight in 1939), Bob Pastor (#3, 1939), Godoy (#3, 1940), Simon (#6, 1941) and Baer (#8, 1941); four others (Musto, Dorazio, Burman and Johnny Paychek) were ranked in the top ten in a different year.

Billy Conn fight

Louis' string of lightly regarded competition ended with his bout against Billy Conn, the light heavyweight champion and a highly regarded contender. The fighters met on June 18, 1941, in front of a crowd of 54,487 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York City. The fight turned out to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxing fights of all time.

Conn would not gain weight for the challenge against Louis, saying instead that he would rely on a "hit and run" strategy. Louis' famous response: "He can run, but he can't hide."

However, Louis had clearly underestimated Conn's threat. In his autobiography, Joe Louis said:

I made a mistake going into that fight. I knew Conn was kinda small and I didn't want them to say in the papers that I beat up on some little guy so the day before the fight I did a little roadwork to break a sweat and drank as little water as possible so I could weigh in under 200 pounds. Chappie was as mad as hell. But Conn was a clever fighter, he was like a mosquito, he'd sting and move.

Conn had the better of the fight through twelve rounds, although Louis was able to stun Conn with a left hook in the fifth, cutting his eye and nose. By the eighth round, Louis began suffering from dehydration. By the twelfth round, Louis was exhausted, with Conn ahead on two of three boxing scorecards. But against the advice of his corner, Conn continued to closely engage Louis in the later stages of the fight. Louis made the most of the opportunity, knocking Conn out with two seconds left in the thirteenth round.

The contest created an instant rivalry that Louis's career had lacked since the Schmeling era, and a rematch with Conn was planned for late 1942. The rematch had to be abruptly canceled, however, after Conn broke his hand in a much-publicized fight with his father-in-law, Major League ballplayer Jimmy "Greenfield" Smith. By the time Conn was ready for the rematch, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had taken place.

World War II

Louis fought a charity bout for the Navy Relief Society against his former opponent Buddy Baer on January 9, 1942, which raised $47,000 for the fund. The next day, he volunteered to enlist as a private in the United States Army at Camp Upton, Long Island. Newsreel cameras recorded his induction, including a staged scene in which a soldier-clerk asked, "What's your occupation?", to which Louis replied, "Fighting and let us at them Japs."

Another military charity bout on March 27, 1942, (against another former opponent, Abe Simon) netted $36,146. Before the fight, Louis had spoken at a Relief Fund dinner, saying of the war effort, "We'll win, 'cause we're on God's side." The media widely reported the comment, instigating a surge of popularity for Louis. Slowly, the press began to eliminate its stereotypical racial references when covering Louis and instead treated him as an unqualified sports hero. Despite the public relations boon, Louis's charitable fights proved financially costly. Although he saw none of the roughly $90,000 raised by these and other charitable fights, the IRS later credited these amounts as taxable income paid to Louis. After the war, the IRS pursued the issue.

For basic training, Louis was assigned to a segregated cavalry unit based in Fort Riley, Kansas. The assignment was at the suggestion of his friend and lawyer Truman Gibson, who knew of Louis's love for horsemanship. Gibson had previously become a civilian advisor to the War Department, in charge of investigating claims of harassment against black soldiers. Accordingly, Louis used this personal connection to help the cause of various black soldiers with whom he came into contact. In one noted episode, Louis contacted Gibson in order to facilitate the Officer Candidate School (OCS) applications of a group of black recruits at Fort Riley, which had been inexplicably delayed for several months. Among the OCS applications Louis facilitated was that of a young Jackie Robinson, later to break the baseball color barrier. The episode spawned a personal friendship between the two men.

Realizing Louis's potential for raising esprit de corps among the troops, the Army placed him in its Special Services Division rather than sending him into combat. Louis went on a celebrity tour with other notables, including fellow boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. He traveled more than 35,000 km (21,000 miles) and staged 96 boxing exhibitions before two million soldiers. In England during 1944, he was reported to have enlisted as a player for Liverpool Football Club as a publicity stunt.

In addition to his travels, Louis was the focus of a media recruitment campaign encouraging African-American men to enlist in the Armed Services, despite the military's racial segregation. When he was asked about his decision to enter the racially segregated U.S. Army, his explanation was simple: "Lots of things wrong with America, but Hitler ain't going to fix them." In 1943, Louis made an appearance in the wartime Hollywood musical This Is the Army, directed by Michael Curtiz. He appeared as himself in a musical number, "The Well-Dressed Man in Harlem," which emphasized the importance of African-American soldiers and promoted their enlistment.

Louis's celebrity power was not, however, merely directed toward African Americans. In a famous wartime recruitment slogan, he echoed his prior comments of 1942: "We'll win, because we're on God's side." The publicity of the campaign made Louis widely popular stateside, even outside the world of sports. Never before had white Americans embraced a black man as their representative to the world.

Although Louis never saw combat, his military service saw challenges of its own. During his travels, he often experienced blatant racism. On one occasion, a military policeman (MP) ordered Louis and Ray Robinson to move their seats to a bench in the rear of an Alabama Army camp bus depot. "We ain't moving", said Louis. The MP tried to arrest them, but Louis forcefully argued the pair out of the situation. In another incident, he allegedly had to resort to bribery to persuade a commanding officer to drop charges against Jackie Robinson for punching a captain who had called Robinson a "nigger."

Louis was eventually promoted to the rank of technical sergeant on April 9, 1945. On September 23 of the same year, he was awarded the Legion of Merit (a military decoration rarely awarded to enlisted soldiers) for "incalculable contribution to the general morale." Receipt of the honor qualified him for immediate release from military service on October 1, 1945.

Later career and retirement

Louis emerged from his wartime service significantly in debt. In addition to his looming tax bill—which had not been finally determined at the time, but was estimated at greater than $100,000—Jacobs claimed that Louis owed him $250,000.

Despite the financial pressure on Louis to resume boxing, his long-awaited rematch against Billy Conn had to be postponed to the summer of 1946, when weather conditions could accommodate a large outdoor audience. On June 19, a disappointing 40,000 saw the rematch at Yankee Stadium, in which Louis was not seriously tested. Conn, whose skills had deteriorated during the long layoff, largely avoided contact until being dispatched by knockout in the eighth round. Although the attendance did not meet expectations, the fight was still the most profitable of Louis's career to date. His share of the purse was $600,000, of which Louis' managers got $140,000, his ex-wife $66,000 and the state of New York $30,000.

After trouble finding another suitable opponent, on December 5, 1947, Louis met Jersey Joe Walcott, a 33-year-old veteran with a 44–11–2 record. Walcott entered the fight as a 10-to-1 underdog. Nevertheless, Walcott knocked down Louis twice in the first four rounds. Most observers in Madison Square Garden felt Walcott dominated the 15-round fight. When Louis was declared the winner in a split decision, the crowd booed.

Louis was under no delusion about the state of his boxing skills, yet he was too embarrassed to quit after the Walcott fight. Determined to win and retire with his title intact, Louis signed on for a rematch. On June 25, 1948, about 42,000 people came to Yankee Stadium to see the aging champion, who weighed 213½, the heaviest of his career to date. Walcott knocked Louis down in the third round, but Louis survived to knock out Walcott in the eleventh.

Louis would not defend his title again before announcing his retirement from boxing on March 1, 1949. In his bouts with Conn and Walcott, it had become apparent that Louis was no longer the fighter he had once been. As he had done earlier in his career, however, Louis would continue to appear in numerous exhibition matches worldwide.

Post-retirement comeback

At the time of Louis's initial retirement, the IRS was still completing its investigation of his prior tax returns, which had always been handled by Mike Jacobs's personal accountant. In May 1950, the IRS finished a full audit of Louis's past returns and announced that, with interest and penalties, he owed the government more than $500,000. Louis had no choice but to return to the ring.

After asking Gibson to take over his personal finances and switching his management from Jacobs and Roxborough to Marshall Miles, the Louis camp negotiated a deal with the IRS under which Louis would come out of retirement, with all Louis's net proceeds going to the IRS. A match with Ezzard Charles—who had acquired the vacant heavyweight title in June 1949 by outpointing Walcott—was set for September 27, 1950. By then, Louis was 36 years old and had been away from competitive boxing for two years. Weighing in at 218, Louis was still strong, but his reflexes were gone. Charles repeatedly beat him to the punch. By the end of the fight, Louis was cut above both eyes, one of which was shut tight by swelling. He knew he had lost even before Charles was declared the winner. The result was not the only disappointing aspect of the fight for Louis; only 22,357 spectators paid to witness the event at Yankee Stadium, and his share of the purse was a mere $100,458. Louis had to continue fighting.

After facing several club-level opponents, the International Boxing Club guaranteed Louis $300,000 to face undefeated heavyweight contender Rocky Marciano on October 26, 1951. Despite his being a 6-to-5 favorite, few boxing insiders believed Louis had a chance. Marciano himself was reluctant to participate in the bout, but was understanding of Louis's position: "This is the last guy on earth I want to fight." It was feared, particularly among those who had witnessed Marciano's punching power first-hand, that Louis's unwillingness to quit would result in serious injury. Fighting back tears, Ferdie Pacheco said in the SportsCentury documentary about his bout with Marciano, "He [Louis] wasn't just going to lose. He was going to take a vicious, savage beating. Before the eyes of the nation, Joe Louis, an American hero if ever there was one, was going to get beaten up." Louis was dropped in the eighth round by a Marciano left and knocked through the ropes and out of the ring less than thirty seconds later.

In the dressing room after the fight, Louis's Army touring companion, Sugar Ray Robinson, wept. Marciano also attempted to console Louis, saying, "I'm sorry, Joe." "What's the use of crying?" Louis said. "The better man won. I guess everything happens for the best."

After facing Marciano, with the prospect of another significant payday all but gone, Louis retired for good from professional boxing. He would, as before, continue to tour on the exhibition circuit, with his last contest taking place on December 16, 1951, in Taipei, Taiwan, against Corporal Buford J. deCordova.

Taxes and financial troubles

Despite Louis's lucrative purses over the years, most of the proceeds went to his handlers. Of the over $4.6 million earned during his boxing career, Louis himself received only about $800,000. Louis was nevertheless extremely generous to his family, paying for homes, cars and education for his parents and siblings, often with money fronted by Jacobs. He invested in a number of businesses, all of which eventually failed, including the Joe Louis Restaurant, the Joe Louis Insurance Company, a softball team called the Brown Bombers, the Joe Louis Milk Company, Joe Louis pomade (hair product), Joe Louis Punch (a drink), the Louis-Rower P.R. firm, a horse farm and the Rhumboogie Café in Chicago. He gave liberally to the government as well, paying back the city of Detroit for any welfare money his family had received.

A combination of this largesse and government intervention eventually put Louis in severe financial straits. His entrusting of his finances to former manager Mike Jacobs haunted him. After the $500,000 IRS tax bill was assessed, with interest accumulating every year, the need for cash precipitated Louis's post-retirement comeback. Even though his comeback earned him significant purses, the incremental tax rate in place at the time (90%) meant that these boxing proceeds did not even keep pace with interest on Louis's tax debt. As a result, by the end of the 1950s, he owed over $1 million in taxes and interest. In 1953, when Louis's mother died, the IRS appropriated the $667 she had willed to Louis. To bring in money, Louis engaged in numerous activities outside the ring. He appeared on various quiz shows, and an old Army buddy, Ash Resnick, gave Louis a job greeting tourists to the Caesars Palace hotel in Las Vegas, where Resnick was an executive. For income, Louis even became a professional wrestler. He made his professional wrestling debut on March 16, 1956 in Washington, D.C., defeating Cowboy Rocky Lee. After defeating Lee in a few matches, Louis discovered he had a heart ailment and retired from wrestling competition. However, he continued as a wrestling referee until 1972.

Louis remained a popular celebrity in his twilight years. His friends included former rival Max Schmeling—who provided Louis with financial assistance during his retirement—and mobster Frank Lucas, who, disgusted with the government's treatment of Louis, once paid off a $50,000 tax lien held against him. These payments, along with an eventual agreement in the early 1960s by the IRS to limit its collections to an amount based on Louis's current income, allowed Louis to live comfortably toward the end of his life.

After the Louis-Schmeling fight, Jack Dempsey expressed the opinion that he was glad he never had to face Joe Louis in the ring. When Louis fell on hard financial times, Dempsey served as honorary chairman of a fund to assist Louis.

Professional golf

One of Louis's other passions was the game of golf, in which he also played a historic role. He was a long-time devotee of the sport since being introduced to the game before the first Schmeling fight in 1936. In 1952, Louis was invited to play as an amateur in the San Diego Open on a sponsor's exemption, becoming the first African American to play a PGA Tour event. Initially, the PGA of America was reluctant to allow Louis to enter the event, having a bylaw at the time limiting PGA membership to Caucasians. However, Louis's celebrity status eventually pushed the PGA toward removing the bylaw, but the "Caucasian only" clause in the PGA of America's constitution was not amended until November 1961. It paved the way for the first generation of African-American professional golfers such as Calvin Peete. Louis himself financially supported the careers of several other early black professional golfers, such as Bill Spiller, Ted Rhodes, Howard Wheeler, James Black, Clyde Martin and Charlie Sifford. He was also instrumental in founding The First Tee, a charity helping underprivileged children become acquainted with the game of golf. His son, Joe Louis Barrow, Jr., currently oversees the organization.

In 2009, the PGA of America granted posthumous membership to Ted Rhodes, John Shippen and Bill Spiller, who were denied the opportunity to become PGA members during their professional careers. The PGA also has granted posthumous honorary membership to Louis.

Personal life and death

Louis had two children by wife Marva Trotter (daughter Jacqueline in 1943 and son Joseph Louis Barrow Jr. in 1947) . They divorced in March 1945 only to remarry a year later, but were again divorced in February 1949. Marva moved on to an acting and modeling career. On Christmas Day 1955, Louis married Rose Morgan, a successful Harlem businesswoman; their marriage was annulled in 1958. Louis's final marriage – to Martha Jefferson, a lawyer from Los Angeles, on St. Patrick's Day 1959 – lasted until his death. They had four children: another son named Joseph Louis Barrow Jr, John Louis Barrow, Joyce Louis Barrow, and Janet Louis Barrow. The younger Joe Louis Barrow Jr. lives in New York City and is involved in boxing.

Though married four times, Louis discreetly enjoyed the company of other women like Lena Horne.

In 1940, Louis endorsed and campaigned for Republican Wendell Willkie for president. Louis said:

This country has been good to me. It gave me everything I have. I have never come out for any candidate before but I think Wendell L. Willkie will give us a square deal. So I am for Willkie because I think he will help my people, and I figure my people should be for him, too.

Starting in the 1960s, Louis was frequently mocked by segments of the African-American community (including Muhammad Ali) for being an "Uncle Tom."

Drugs took a toll on Louis in his later years. In 1969, he was hospitalized after collapsing on a New York City street. While the incident was at first credited to "physical breakdown," underlying problems would soon surface. In 1970, he spent five months at the Colorado Psychiatric Hospital and the Veterans Administration Hospital in Denver, hospitalized by his wife, Martha, and his son, Joe Louis Barrow Jr., for paranoia. In a 1971 book, Brown Bomber, by Barney Nagler, Louis disclosed the truth about these incidents, stating that his collapse in 1969 had been caused by cocaine, and that his subsequent hospitalization had been prompted by his fear of a plot to destroy him. Strokes and heart ailments caused Louis's condition to deteriorate further later in the decade. He had surgery to correct an aortic aneurysm in 1977 and thereafter used an POV/scooter for a mobility aid.

Louis died of cardiac arrest in Desert Springs Hospital near Las Vegas on April 12, 1981, just hours after his last public appearance viewing the Larry Holmes–Trevor Berbick Heavyweight Championship. Ronald Reagan waived the eligibility rules for burial at Arlington National Cemetery and Louis was buried there with full military honors on April 21, 1981. His funeral was paid for in part by former competitor and friend, Max Schmeling, who also acted as a pallbearer.

Films

According to IMDb, Louis appeared in six full-length films and two shorts, including a starring role in the 1938 movie Spirit of Youth, in which he played a boxer with many similarities to himself.

In 1953, Robert Gordon directed a movie about Louis's life, The Joe Louis Story. Filmed in Hollywood, it starred Golden Gloves fighter Coley Wallace in the role of Louis.

Legacy

In all, Louis made 25 defenses of his heavyweight title from 1937 to 1948, and was a world champion for 11 years and 10 months. Both are still records in the heavyweight division, the former in any division. His most remarkable record is that he knocked out 23 opponents in 27 title fights, including five world champions. In addition to his accomplishments inside the ring, Louis uttered two of boxing's most famous observations: "He can run, but he can't hide" and "Everyone has a plan until they've been hit."

Louis was named fighter of the year four times by The Ring magazine in 1936, 1938, 1939, and 1941. His fights with Max Baer, Max Schmeling, Tommy Farr, Bob Pastor and Billy Conn were named fight of the year by that same magazine. Louis won the Sugar Ray Robinson Award in 1941. In 2005, Louis was named the #1 heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization. In 2007, he was ranked #4 on ESPN.com's 50 Greatest Boxers of all-time list. In 2002 The Ring ranked Louis #4 on their 80 best fighters of the last 80 years list. Louis was also ranked #1 on The Ring's list of 100 Greatest Punchers of All Time.

Louis is also remembered in sports outside of boxing. An indoor sports venue is named after him in Detroit, the Joe Louis Arena, where the Detroit Red Wings play their NHL games. In 1936, Vince Leah, then a writer for the Winnipeg Tribune used Joe Louis's nickname to refer to the Winnipeg Football Club after a game. From that point, the team became known popularly as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

His recognition also transcends the sporting world. In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Joe Louis on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans. On August 26, 1982, Louis was posthumously approved for the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award given to civilians by the U.S. legislative branch. Congress stated that he "did so much to bolster the spirit of the American people during one of the most crucial times in American history and which have endured throughout the years as a symbol of strength for the nation". Following Louis' death, President Ronald Reagan said, "Joe Louis was more than a sports legend—his career was an indictment of racial bigotry and a source of pride and inspiration to millions of white and black people around the world."

A memorial to Louis was dedicated in Detroit (at Jefferson Avenue and Woodward) on October 16, 1986. The sculpture, commissioned by Time, Inc. and executed by Robert Graham, is a 24-foot-long (7.3 m) arm with a fisted hand suspended by a 24-foot-high (7.3 m) pyramidal framework. It represents the power of his punch both inside and outside the ring.

In an interview with Arsenio Hall in the late 1980s, Muhammad Ali stated that his two biggest influences in boxing were Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis.

On February 27, 2010, an 8-foot (2.4 m) bronze statue of Louis was unveiled in his Alabama hometown. The statue, by sculptor Casey Downing, Jr., sits on a base of red granite outside the Chambers County Courthouse.

In 1993, he became the first boxer to be honored on a postage stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service.

Various other facilities have been named after Joe Louis. In 1984, the four streets surrounding Madison Square Garden were named Joe Louis Plaza in his honor. The former Pipe O' Peace Golf Course in Riverdale, Illinois (a Chicago suburb), was in 1986 renamed "Joe Louis The Champ Golf Course". American Legion Post 375 in Detroit is also named after Joe Louis. Completed in 1979 at a cost of $4 million, Joe Louis Arena, nicknamed The Joe, is a hockey arena located in downtown Detroit. It is the home of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League.

In one of the most widely quoted tributes to Louis, New York Post sportswriter Jimmy Cannon, when responding to another person's characterization of Louis as "a credit to his race", stated, "Yes, Joe Louis is a credit to his race—the human race."

Wikipedia

#Joe Louis #05-13 #04-12

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alixofagnia · 6 years

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Space Jane Eyre in 10 Quotes (Or Why Charlotte Brontë Would Have Been a Reylo)

Basic Character Similarities

Rey/Jane Eyre

The most obvious similarity between the two is their origins. Rey and Jane are orphans and they both had hard, cruel childhoods because of it. Jane, poor and lonely, is raised by her cold relations, the Reeds, and later sent to suffer the harsh and starving conditions of the Lowood school, run by the autocratic hand of Mr. Brocklehurst. Rey, also poor and lonely, was abandoned by her parents, who are apparently dead. She grew up in the harsh conditions of Jakku, where hunger was a constant companion. Unkar Plutt is the Star Wars counterpart of both the Reeds and Brocklehurst.

Interestingly, neither heroine is embittered or cowed by these grim beginnings. Of necessity, they have a keen sense of self-reliance and self-loyalty, and cling to their own sense of merit. Rey and Jane come from nothing, but they make the better choices.

Ben Solo/Rochester

The most obvious similarity between the two is their turbulent family history and the direction they went because of that. Ben Solo is the sole inheritor of a galactic legacy with a family who expected great things of him. But, one by one, they lost faith in him and the betrayal fueled his descent to the Dark Side. Rochester comes from a wealthy family, but he is a younger son and his father, who refused to split his estate between two sons, arranged to have Rochester marry a rich woman. Both the father and older brother, Rowland, in their desire for wealth, withheld from Rochester the fact that hereditary mental illness ran in her family. The anger over the betrayal and subsequent burden of an insane, violent wife fueled Rochester’s descent into debauchery.

Both men can be said to have misspent their youth, live by a skewed moral compass, and give in far too often to primal instincts, such as fear, anger, and violence. Ben and Rochester come from everything, but they make the poorer choices. In a way, each has given up hope of being something different or changing course, until they meet their respective (or potential) partners.

10 Quotes

OK, here we go.

1) After Jane and Rochester meet:

R: And you came from-?

J: From Lowood school, in –shire.

R: How long were you there?

J: Eight years.

R: Eight years! You must be tenacious of life. I thought half the time in such a place would have done up any constitution! No wonder you have rather the look of another world. I marveled where you had got that sort of face.

Reylo parallel: This is essentially similar to Kylo’s reaction in TFA to finding out that Rey is from the harsh environs of Jakku and isn’t as, well, crusted up (physically and mentally) as she ought to be. It’s sort of where I feel some of his nascent fascination with her starts.

2) Jane speaking to Rochester’s housekeeper, Mrs. Fairfax, about Rochester:

F: If he has peculiarities of temper, allowance should be made.

J: Why?

F: Partly because it is his nature – and we can none of us help our nature; and, partly, he has painful thoughts, no doubt, to harass him, and make his spirits unequal.

J: What about?

F: Family troubles, for one thing.

J: But he has no family.

F: Not now, but he has had – or, at least, relatives. […] Rowland combined to bring Mr. Edward into what he considered a painful position, for the sake of making his fortune: what the precise nature of that position was I never clearly knew, but his spirit could not brook what he had to suffer in it. He is not very forgiving: he broke with his family, and now for many years he has led an unsettled kind of life.

Reylo parallel: Mirrors Ben’s painful parting from his own family through a series of perceived personal betrayals. We can also draw comparisons between the imbalances of nature in both characters.

3) Rochester opening up to Jane about the person he was at her age:

R: Nature meant me to be, on the whole, a good man, one of the better end; and you see I am not so. Take my word for it – I am not a villain: you are not to suppose that – not to attribute to me any such bad eminence; but, owing, I verily believe, rather to circumstances than to my natural bent, I am a trite common-place sinner, hackneyed in all the poor petty dissipations with which the rich and worthless try to put on life. […] Remorse is the poison of life.

J: Repentance is said to be its cure, sir.

R: It is not its cure. Reformation may be its cure; and I could reform–I have strength yet for that–if–but where is the use of thinking of it, hampered, burdened, cursed as I am? Besides, since happiness is irrevocably denied me, I have a right to get pleasure out of life: and I will get it, cost what it may.

Reylo parallel: Rochester’s first quote reminds me of Adam Driver’s interpretation of Kylo Ren when he said that the most dangerous and the most complicated villain is the villain who believes they’re right. Ben, despite his upbringing which would suggest otherwise, was in some ways a victim of his circumstances. Intensely lonely, very much isolated as much by his Force inheritance as his bloodline, Ben was ripe for being preyed on by someone wanting to twist his insecurities for their own machinations. Rochester’s second quote, at Jane’s prompt, echoes the back and forth conflict we see in Kylo in TFA and in Ben in TLJ. He thinks he made his choice and continues to try to rationalize and resign himself to it the way Rochester does.

4) Jane’s response to this:

J: Only one thing I know: you said you were not as good as you should like to be, and that you regretted your own imperfection; one thing I can comprehend: you intimated that to have a sullied memory was a perpetual bane. It seems to me, that if you tried hard, you would in time find it possible to become what you yourself would approve; and that if from this day you began with resolution to correct your thoughts and actions, you would in a few years have laid up a new and stainless store of recollections, to which you might revert with pleasure.

Reylo parallel: Oh, Jesus, Jane/Rey. How pure you are. This touches a bit on the “kill your past” mantra that Ben hammers into Rey, who like Jane, has already dealt with her past in some ways. It colors who they’ve become and it’s painful to both, but the pain of it didn’t completely twist them, like it did in Ben and Rochester. Jane’s advice here sums up what Rey’s thought process regarding the turning of Ben Solo might have been like.

5) Jane reflecting to herself on Rochester:

J: And was Rochester now ugly in my eyes? No, reader. Yet I had not forgotten his faults: indeed, I could not, for he brought them frequently before me. He was proud, sardonic, harsh to inferiority of every description: in my secret soul I knew that his great kindness to me was balanced by unjust severity to many others. He was moody, too; unaccountably so. But I believed that his moodiness, his harshness, and his former faults of morality (I say former, for now he seemed corrected of them) had their source in some cruel cross of fate. I believed he was naturally a man of better tendencies, higher principles, and purer tastes than such as circumstances had developed, education instilled, or destiny encouraged. I thought there were excellent materials in him; though for the present they hung together somewhat spoiled and tangled. I cannot deny that I grieved for his grief, whatever that was, and would have given much to assuage it.

Reylo parallel: Holy shit. Well, aside from being a scarily accurate character study of Ben Solo as well as Rochester, this is basically summarizing the intimate notes that come out of Reylo’s Force connection, Rey’s gradual empathy for Ben, and her later rationalization for trying to bring him back: the belief that Ben can change his “faults of morality.” But, like Jane, this quote reflects Rey’s probable understanding that Ben still has some serious personality flaws to overcome before she could really love him. It also includes the definition of a Byronic hero and in it, you can see the clear parallels to Ben’s characterization as a Byronic hero.

6) Rochester disguises himself as a gypsy to try and obtain unguarded answers from Jane:

R: You are cold; you are sick; and you are silly.

J: Prove it.

R: I will; in few words. You are cold, because you are alone; no contact strikes the fire from you that is in you. You are sick; because the best of feelings, the highest and the sweetest given to man, keeps far away from you. You are silly; because, suffer as you may, you will not beckon it to approach; nor will you stir one step to meet it where it waits you.

Reylo parallel: This, to me, in both stories, is Ben/Rochester trying to lure Rey/Jane to him by forcing her to re-evaluate her truths. He’s trying to break her resolve. It doesn’t really work, in either case, because as I’ve said, though they may feel pain from time to time, Rey and Jane have not let these wounds fester, and it has made them basically untouchable from Ben/Rochester’s manipulations.

7) Just to nail that point home, Rochester (still in gypsy form) analyzes Jane:

R: [Jane’s] brow professes to say, - “I can live alone, if self-respect and circumstances require me so to do. I need not sell my soul to buy bliss. I have an inward treasure, born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld; or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give. Reason sits firm and holds the reins, and she will not let the feelings burst away and hurry her to wild chasms. The passions may rage furiously, like true heathens, as they are; and the desires may imagine all sorts of vain things: but judgment shall still have the last word in every argument, and the casting vote in every decision. Strong wind, earthquake shock, and fire may pass by: but I shall follow the guiding of that still small voice which interprets the dictates of conscience.”

Reylo parallel: Let me just say, I really love Charlotte Brontë. For me, this is a further character similarity between Jane and Rey that makes me love both characters so much. Rochester might be getting a little carried away here, but this is such an apt description of Rey, too, and again foreshadows her final resolve to leave Ben just as it foreshadows Jane’s decision to leave Rochester. His analysis hits Rochester pretty hard and he ends the gypsy charade by revealing himself to Jane, who basically knew all along that it was him. I like to think Ben comes to a similar understanding of Rey over the course of their Force connections and admires her for it.

8) Rochester is mad and desperate over Jane’s rejection:

R: Never was anything at once so frail and so indomitable. A mere reed she feels in my hand! I could bend her with my finger and thumb: and what good would it do if I bent, if I uptore, if I crushed her? Consider that eye: consider the resolute, wild, free thing looking out of it, defying me, with more than courage–with a stern triumph. Whatever I do with its cage, I cannot get at it– the savage, beautiful creature! If I tear, if I rend the slight prison, my outrage will only let the captive loose. Conqueror I might be of the house; but the inmate would escape to heaven before I could call myself possessor of its clay dwelling-place. And it is you, spirit–with will and energy, and virtue and purity–that I want: not alone your brittle frame.

Reylo parallel: Well, this is pretty much the inner thought process flooding Ben’s mind space after the throne room proposal and its rejection. It contains Rochester’s violent undertones, which are actualized by Ben’s actions on Crait and echoed in his claimed intention to destroy Rey. The insight Rochester gains, however, from this violent thinking is something Ben (likely) realizes too late on the floor of the abandoned base: his violence has given way to the hollowness of a false victory.

9) Jane’s tragic leave-taking and famous line:

J: I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you.

R: And your will shall decide your destiny. I offer you my hand, my heart, and a share of all my possessions.

J: You play a farce, which I merely laugh at.

R: I ask you to pass through life at my side – to be my second self and best earthly companion.

J: For that fate you have already made your choice, and must abide by it.

Reylo parallel: Essentially, this is the dialogue between Reylo in their final, closing Force interchange. You could subtitle their shots with these lines.

10) After Jane and Rochester are reunited she self-reflects:

J: I should not have left him thus, he said, without any means of making my way: I should have told him my intention. I should have confided in him: he would never have forced me to be his mistress. Violent as he had seemed in despair, he, in truth, loved me far too well and too tenderly to constitute himself my tyrant: he would have given me half his fortune, without demanding so much as a kiss in return, rather than I should have flung myself friendless on the wide world.

Reylo parallel: This is the retrospection that Reylo should get in IX. How many of us noted that, had Rey been less impulsive and just asked what Ben meant by creating a new order, maybe Reylo would have ended TLJ on the same side? Ben wasn’t obviously asking Rey to be his mistress, but it represents the moral miscommunication that happened between them. And, obviously, Rey isn’t friendless in a sense. But Ben knows how deep her loneliness and isolation run, and is protective of that the way Rochester is protective of Jane’s well-being. The angst!

Reylo is Space Jane Eyre. That is all.

Bonus Quote

R: I sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you–especially when you are near me, as now: it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous channel, and two hundred miles or so of land come broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapt; and then I’ve a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly.

Reylo parallel: Force bond.

#reylo #reylo meta #rey #ben solo #kylo ren #star wars episode ix #the last jedi #space jane eyre #long book report

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lytahalifax · 7 years

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XI Questions Tag

(I don’t know why I did that in Roman numerals, I’m obviously in a weird mood :)

I was tagged by @byjillianmaria for this. Rules: always post the rules, answer the questions given to you, write 11 questions of your own, tag 11 people. I don’t think I really know 11 people here, or can come up with 11 questions, so I promise NOTHING with regards to following rules. Because I am an iconoclast*, baby! (makes air guitar gestures and noises) *iconoclast (n) = a fancy way to say “lazy”.

Questions:

1.) What’s a line of dialogue that you’re most proud of? Holy cripes, that’s kind of a tough one to answer, having written a bunch, and forgotten even more, in the past four years. I would say it’s easier for me to talk about chapters of things I’m proud of, and in that, I’m particularly proud of a chapter I wrote in my Mass Effect series “Once More Unto The Breach” called “We Who Are About Die”. It’s essentially about the people who initially designed and floated the specs for The Catalyst, and how they came together as one race and expended all their efforts, not in self-preservation, but in giving the galaxy a fighting chance against the Reapers. They knew it might take millions and millions of years for their goal to be achieved, if ever, but they were committed, almost as one, to the notion, choosing to die not screaming and in fear, but as an almost indomitable force that would not be denied, no matter how long it too for their plan to bear fruit. However, there was a line my editor particularly adored that spun off from that whole thread, about “the weight of a billions years of justice, no longer denied”. My Shepard also had some really nice comedic bits throughout that whole series. OMUTB, as my first real “child”, is the series I made absolutely the most mistakes with, but also am the proudest of to this day. “Near Wild Heaven” from “Black Swan” is another personal favorite, a chapter I was having so much fun writing, I had to force myself to stop.

2.) Which of your characters would you most like to hang out with? Camilla Davies from Black Swan. I suspect she would understand me and my life experiences the best out of anyone on the planet, would be able to give me savagely effective life advice, and possibly transfer my brain into a cloned female body. In fact, I think I’d probably really enjoy hanging out with her, Reese and Alanna; I always felt they were kind of the Three Musketteers of SOAP. Bledoc Caitor, a one off OC I wrote for Once More Unto The Breach as a shoutout to a longtime reader, would be a distant second because he would probably make me the galaxy’s best bowl of ramen, and I really, really love ramen. 3.) Do you have any goals for the rest of 2017? Survive the oncoming storm of massive life and career changes coming up in the final quarter of 2017, and essentially prepare for some major life retooling I hope to achieve in 2018. Unfortunately, this probably means taking a sabbatical or otherwise semi-retiring from writing, at least for a while.

4.) What season inspires you the most? It’s a toss up between Spring and Autumn. Probably Spring; March/April is usually about the time I come out of my winter doldrums and do a lot of my writing again. 5.) If you could rewrite one part of an already-published work, what would it be? The first 20 chapters of Once More Unto the Breach. Well..maybe not ALL of them, but holy crap, there are some massive technical errors and embarrassing gaffs and continuity glitches I made there. I very nearly gave up on the entire endeavor were it not for the fact that I started working with a real top notch editor who essentially trained me how to be a better ,more effective writer, and it’s clear the final 20 chapters are SO much better as a result. I might also redo “To Bask In Your Starshine”. But maybe not. 6.) Do any of your characters have pets? What kind? Shepard kept coming back to the Normandy, even when she didn’t command it anymore, to collect Space Hamsters from the lower decks. Her oldest daughter has a pet kakliosaur. I imagine Camilla has a couple of cats, because they were the only animals she could really relate to: one of them is a tortie Maine Coon, which she adopted because she liked the coloration, not realizing how diva-esque torties are in their behavior. Reese probably has a fancy tropical fish tank setup he poured way too much time and money into. Nicole has a dog, like a golden retriever or a bulldog or something. A mutt for sure.

7.) What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re feeling uninspired? This is the answer - or at least part of it - that will make people gasp in shock and go, “Lyta! You can’t say things like that!” I have two techniques: one I would recommend, and one I would not. It should be obvious which is which. First, I smoke weed. Not often, not all the time, I’m actually on a bit of a six month break from it. I don’t smoke specifically going in to look for inspiration, I just do it to relax, but I would be lying if I said there weren’t times when inspiration didn’t come and come HARD when I was stoned. At least two of my stories, Old Soul and How Can I Sleep?, are the result of me breaking through serious blocks after toking up. Seriously, I could not figure out how to do Old Soul and almost gave up until I got baked and started watching old 1970s tv commercials, and then it came to me. I’m pretty damn sure that good chunks of the final three chapters of Black Swan came to me while I was toked up as well. Second, and much more often, I go for a lot of walks. Like a lot a lot of walks. I try to walk about 12,000 steps a day at a minimum now, which is probably why I’ve lost 20 pounds since April. But for years, I’ve done this when I can, because I find it can get me into a good “zen headspace”, almost like a walking meditation, where ideas flow easier from out of the great miasma of notions inside my brain. Large chunks of Black Swan chapters 5 through 12 were “flashes of inspiration” that came to me when I got “into the zone” during walking, and made sure to write quick emails to myself on my cell phone, so I wouldn’t forget. I’m pretty sure the same goes for Grande Dame, and definitely so for Bearing Witness to Time. If it weren’t for my walks, I wouldn’t have most of my writing ideas. Indeed, it’s gotten so that if I go down a path I haven’t traveled in a long time, my brain starts to play back memories of writing a particular story, as if the brainstorming somehow became encoded in the local metalayer of that location, and walking through it is like replaying a tape in my mind.

8.) Do you have a go-to writing snack/drink? Beef jerky. Usually of the spicy variety It’s high in protein, tasty, and a provides a viscerally satisfying experience in the eating of. Grrr! Chomp! Chew chew chew.

There is an awesome jerky shop at Container Park in Las Vegas that I love to stock up at whenever I’m there...unfortunately my supply never lasts. I should probably find out if they do mail order.

9.) Do you have any self-indulgent stories/characters that you’d never publish (or even write down)? Hah! Oh boy.....yeeeeeah. There was this one crack fic I came up with called “The Yurizoku Formula, or GAYBIES!” It was a weird story, in the vein of “Chloe Price’s Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny (which I recently took down for personal reasons) or “Today’s Fish is Trout ala Creme” from OMUTB. If I remember correctly, the long and short of it is Warren accidentally infecting Brooke with a virus that makes her incredibly irresistible to all the women on campus, and she has to deal with their unwanted affections as she tries to get through her day, growing increasingly exasperated and flustered, sorta in the vein of Miyuki-chan in Wonderland. I remember it being much funnier and more clever back then than it obviously is. Sometimes I get ideas and my own personal kinks bleed through a little too much...as an example, the end of “The Domina Effect” in Black Swan was originally written to be a faiiiir bit more “sexy” between Rachel and Victoria, but NQW correctly convinced me to drop it. (As an example of my “kinks”, my first complete work ever written was a lesbian erotica sci-fi mind control story which I called Love is the Drug, which sadly I lost the files to before I could submit it to an appropriate archive. There are actually strong echos of this story in A Power Greater Than My Own...the bit where Victoria, as the domme, finds herself feeling helpless in the face of her so-called submissive at the end, because of how hard she’s fallen in love with her. I) I was also thinking about writing an AU fic in the ME universe called Domination: A Love Story, where the Asari are much more in the mold of Frank Herbert’s “Honored Matres” from the later Dune novels, and a 19 year old Shepard is helpless to watch as her colony ship is essentially taken over by an Asari “diplomatic expedition” who are slowly but inexorably brainwashing everyone over to their way of thinking. Not every Asari agrees with this method of behavior however, prompting a young(er) Liara T’Soni to try and help Shepard get through the horror of that particular situation; in the end, she’s forced to temporarily brainwash Shepard, in order to keep up appearances around the Asari Inquisitors, but eventually “releases” Shepard, so the two of them can run off and join a resistance cell. Huh...I might actually come back to that one someday... Usually, when I get ideas that are terribly self-indulgent, they tend to not hang around, and then get swept out by whatever part of my brain reclaims needed storage space for better things. I’m sure there are whole stories that I’ve completely forgotten about. 10.) What works inspire you to be a better writer? Oh gleesh. Believe it or not, one of the reasons I tend to avoid reading other peoples work in general, with some exceptions, is that I find it very intimidating and daunting. Like “OMG! This person is so good, how could you even think that you are on the same level with them, you absolute hack? What could you possibly have to offer up to the great Singularity of Human Artistic Expression that someone hasn’t already done, and done WAY WAY better than you? For instance, I’ve specifically avoided watching TransParent on Amazon, because I still have an idea for a TV show about a “transhumanist transwoman” which I call “Swing Out Sister”. I probably will never do it, but I’m afraid that if I watch Jeffrey Tambor’s no doubt AMAZING work, I will give it up forever and ever. That said, the things I am watching right now that just blow me away with their style and panache are Rick and Morty and especially BoJack Horseman; I’m most of the way through BoJack season 4 and holy holy holy shit. Obviously, I am a fan of dark, almost cynical takes on the nature of suffering and the human condition. 11.) Say something nice about your writing! (Not a question, don’t care). What?! No! You can’t make me, you’re not my supervisor! Oh, okay. I will say this: people tell me that I am really good at writing dialogue, and this is the only thing I have ever agreed with. I write good dialogue. Sometimes, I even write great dialogue. Once, I wrote superb dialogue - I suspect. Dialogue and snappy patter is my forte, along with weird, high level ideas that I can never properly fill the details in. I’m good at A to C plotting, but figuring out “B” is where I still need a lot of work. Okay, well, I enjoyed this a lot but I am going to be a Naughty Lyta, and not pass it forward. At least, not for now, but I reserve the right to pick it back up and move it forward at a later date.

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sueboohscorner · 7 years

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#Power S4Ep10: You Can't Fix This*Recap & Review* Season Finale #Raina'sDead

Episode Rating Scale: (10)Exceptional (Epic)

Omgggg! Season 5 where you at? Lol! Man oh man, this episode gave me goosebumps. This was one of the best season finales I have seen in a long time. Let's jumped right into Power Season 4 finale.

Tariq sits there in tears being questioned by the police. Tarsha and Ghost are sitting by his side. They never thought going to would end with their child dead. The weight of the world has to be on Tariq's shoulders. Raina just wasn't his sister. She was his twin. I can only imagine apart of him feeling empty and guilty. The detective asked Tariq about a size ten male footprint being found on the scene. Tears are rolling down his face, Tariq denies knowing anything. For a kid who was shelter, he learned the street rules mighty quickly. He is Lil Ghost in the making. Like father like son. With Tariq being upset, Ghost and Tarsha lost and tried to get answers; the questioning ends. Tarsha finds it hard just to leave Raina, but an autopsy has to be done. She does leave with Raina's property. The St. Patrick family has been through hell this season. Does it get better or worst?

Tommy is starting to bond with his family. He is about to be introduced to more people in his father's life. As he and Sammie are walking to the spot, a car pulls up. Kanan jumps out the car with a gun in hand. Sammie is ready to protect Tommy. Tommy tells Sammie it's all good and to go inside. Dre first mistake in his takeover. He sent rookies to kill Kanan. Kanan thinks Tommy is behind the hit on his life. Tommy didn't know Kanan was back in town. He tells Kanan they have no beef. He saved Tariq's life, so there is no beef. Besides Tommy and Kanan never had beef. Kanan beef was always with Ghost. Kanan is one crazy dude. He was riding with three dead bodies in the trunk of his car. LMAO!!! Tommy spots a familiar tattoo on one of the attackers. He tells Kanan they are Cristabel's men. Kanan has been out the game for awhile, so Cristabol doesn't ring a bell to him. But once Tommy mention Cristabol and Dre was close; Dre second mistake just came to light. He should never betray Kanan. I hope he has his daughter in a safe place. He remembers what happened when Kanan resurfaces. Too funny, Kanan told Tommy him, and Ghost needs a marriage counselor. Hey, that's what brothers do, fight and make up. Kanan makes plans to take Dre out. Which brings you to Dre third mistake. He should never be crossed, Tommy. Tommy plans to get local help to assist Kanan with Dre. Before Tommy can meet back up with Sammie, he gets a 911 it's Raina text from Ghost.

Tarsha, Tariq, and Ghost pull up to their building. Tarsha begs Tariq to tell them what he knows. Tariq lies and Tarsha know he is lying. When she tells Ghost he is lying; Ghost believes he isn't. Unfortunately, he is. Like his father, Tariq has a double life. He has been doing all kinds of things they don't know about. But for Ghost, he thinks he has it figured out. He tells Tarsha, Tommy warned me the Jimenez cartel was coming for them. Tarsha can't believe her ears. She thought he was going clean. She didn't know about that secret meeting with the Jimenez cartel. He explains how their corners were in the way of his development deal. Now we have seen Tarsha have Ghost back. We have seen Tarsha advise Ghost. In this scene, we see how much a ride or die chick Tarsha truly is. Once she tells Ghost he can't fix this; he responds with, but I will finish it. I know that's right Ghost. Tarsha says to Ghost, " You do that. Don't you get killed and don't you get caught." A grieving mother is something to fear. Especially one with street tires and hood mentality.

Tarsha and Ghost arrive home to friends and family. Keisha consoles Tarsha. Ghost changed clothes and prepare to take out the Jimenez cartel. No matter how many ghosts try to remove his self from being Ghost the more James get lost. Angela is having her first meeting as department head. Saks comes to the meeting late. He purposely tries to push Angela's buttons. He tells the entire room about Raina's death. After falsely accusing Ghost of murder, the DA office wants nothing to do with James St Patrick. Angela is once again in the middle of Ghost's life whether she wants to or not. Ghost leaves Tarsha to grieve with a house full of people. Once he gets downstairs to meet up with Tommy, he finds Angela. She tries to warn him do not take matters into his own hands. But Ghost not trying to hear that. Once Angela is gone, Tommy and Ghost strap up to seek revengee.

Tariq calls Kanan. He wants to find Ray Ray. Ray Ray was more Jukebox side kick than Kanan, so he hasn't seen Ray Ray. Ray Ray over stepping his boundaries. He is a dirty cop with access to information. He looked up Tariq's statement. Tariq's no snitch, so he didn't tell the truth. Ray Ray assumes he didn't snitch because Ghost is looking for him. Ghost is looking for him because he killed his daughter; however, it's all a mystery of who and why Raina was killed. Destiny is caught up in her cousin's mess. Far as I see it, she is an accessory to murder. She needs to go down with Ray Ray. She knew her cousin wasn't just going to talk and get money from Tariq.

Angela visit Ray Ray. She questioned him about his visit to Tariq's and Raina's school. You can tell Angela think something is off. Her facial expression showed that. Ray Ray lied of course, but he was right about Tariq heading down the wrong path. Ghost and Tommy roll up on Uriel, members of the Jimenez cartel. They find out the Jimenez's wasn't the one who killed Raina. Scared people run their mouth. They found out who killed Julio and who has been setting Tommy up. Yassssssssss, blast Uriel for killing Julio. Boom!! Dre mistakes keep piling up. Tommy was so right not to trust Dre. Dre is going down Season 5.

Terry shows up for Tarsha. Now, Tarsha must have given him some awesome loving. Terry is already saying I love you. The boy was that fast. Lol. Tarsha wants to trust Terry but she can't. Terry wants to help Tarsha, but he needs answers to start. He can wait on them answers. He noticed James was nowhere around. He warns Tarsha the chance Ghost is facing if he goes back to jail. Tarsha asks Terry to leave. With Tarsha being vulnerable she still has to be careful. Terry is Mr. Nice Guy and a lawyer, and both will make him talk. He doesn't love Tarsha enough to risk his job.

Tommy was about to end Dre life. He stopped once he saw Dre talking to a dude. That dude was Ray Ray. Ray Ray needs to get out of town. The jukebox is dead, so he can't get help from her. He blackmails Dre into giving him more money. Dre tries to play hard, but Ray Ray has the upper hand over Dre. He is a dirty undercover cop. He claimed he has been wearing a wire. I guess he needed insurance. He has Kanan and Dre on tape plotting drugs and money. Dre agrees to meet up with him later. Dre troubles are getting bigger and bigger. He thinks he smart, but his secrets are coming to light. Poor Cristabol, you going down with him. You pick the wrong team Cristabol.

Tariq is sipping the syrup to cope. Everyone is trying to console him. He sits by Brooke, and she asked, "when Raina is coming home?" She is too young to understand. Tariq walks off. It's all too much for him. He walks away. Kanan put a team together to take down Dre. As they surf the internet looking at the picture, one of the dudes tell Kanan about Raina's death. Kanan gets this strange look on his face. Tommy is confessing again to the Father. That's shocking being that he was mad at him. When the weight of the world on your shoulders, nothing else matters when you have to vent. Tommy is taken Raina's death hard. As a godfather, he feels he should have been there. He feels he should have protected. When you don't know, you don't know. Tommy drops another confession. He tells the Father how Dre set up Julio. The Father couldn't believe Dre operate that way. Before they can discuss anything further, Tommy gets a phone call. Kanan put two and two together. He figured out Ray Ray killed Raina. Once he tells Tommy that info, Tommy gets Ray Ray address. Man oh, man!! You knew the flame just got it. You knew the next few scenes were going to make your TV explode.

Earlier, Ghost had got a text from Tate. Tate has set it up for Raina's funeral to be at this big church. Tate is exploiting Raina's death for his gain. Ghost is not trying to let no one use his daughter's death for publicity. Unfortunately, Ghost has no choice. Tate makes that very clear. Tate is also aware of Ghost's past. I wonder how much he does know.

Tommy finds Destiny. Tommy kicked that door in with no hesitation. He probably would have killed her if he knew she set him up. Gun loaded, ready to aim and shoot to kill; Destiny tells Tommy where he can find Ray Ray. Tommy calls Tarsha to fill her in on what happened. Tommy tells her to know cops and keeps an eye on Tariq. Tommy told Tarsha to figure out some alibis. Tarsha looks for Tariq in the house. Too bad he already was gone and with her gun. What is Tariq going to do with a gun

Tariq visits Dre. This wasn't a friendly visit at all. No smiles, no dab, no homie hug..none of that. Dre apologizes for his sister death. He then finds a gun pointed at him. Tariq asked Dre where Ray Ray was at. Dre claimed he didn't know. Tariq got street smart real quick. He put all the pieces to puzzle about Dre. Dre thought he was stupid. That's Ghost's son Dre, what you expect. Tariq is broken down. You introduced me to Kanan. You knew where to find me when Ray Ray sent that text. I assume you know everything. Lmao. That's what Tariq told Dre. Oh, he wasn't finished. Dre, you look at yourself right now. You showed no loyalty to Kanan, Ghost, and Tommy. Now Tariq paying you back with no loyalty. Tell me where Ray Ray or I am telling my pops and my uncle Tommy you knew Kanan was alive. I will tell them you knew who killed my sister and didn't say anything. At this point, I don't know if Dre was trying to protect Tariq from Ray Ray or just being shady. But after Tariq lay the law down, even you speak or I will; Dre gave up Ray Ray location.

After discovering Tariq is missing and took her gun. Tarsha need help with finding him. She can't turn to Tommy and Ghost right now. She doesn't trust Terry. So who did she turn to? Wow, she turned to Angela. Can't be mad at that. She is desperate right now. While they wait on the response of Tariq where about, Angela question Tarsha. She asked Tarsha did Tariq killed Raina. Tarsha could believe her ears. Neither could I. Angela is good. You have to give her credit. She put the case together in such a short time. She nailed it when she asked did Raymond Jones kill Raina. The sad part about this situation, he a cop. Protect and Serve was his job. Instead, he was a dirty, heartless cop; who killed an innocent girl for knowing his identity and standing up for her brother. Before Tarsha's grief get her talking, she got what she needed. Angela gave Tarsha the address to where Tariq was located. Angela is once again in the mix of Ghost's life.

Tommy, Ghost, and Tarsha are all in a rush to get to Tariq. Ghost arrive to see Tariq getting on the elevator. Desperate to stop his son from making the worst mistake of his life, he breaks the building door. A little after goes get in the building, Tommy pulls up. Once Tommy hit the steps, Tarsha pulls up and sees Ghost and Tommy car. Well, who going to come up with the alibi now? They all there.

Tariq breaks in the apartment just like Kanan taught him. He finds Ray Ray packing. Ray Ray got his gun on the stand. He tried to distract Tariq with the small talk. He knew Dee told him where he was at. Tariq held his own through the fear. You can tell he was scared. Being off the syrup gave him some kind of heart and courage. But killing is a twin in front him was Ray Ray mistake. Ray Ray keep running his mouth. He called Tariq a bitch nigga. Told him your sister had more heart than you. He thought Tariq didn't have back up. Tariq had an unexpected backup, but he didn't need them. Ray Ray opened his mouth too much and reached for his gun. All you heard was gun shots fired. Tarsha scared out her mind standing in the street. Tommy and Ghost stop in their tracks for a second. Ghost finally makes it to the apartment. Once inside, Ghost finds Tariq standing over a bloody dead Ray Ray. He checks Tariq out to see if he was shot. Then Tommy enters, a shock to see Tariq. Tariq confuse he shot Raina, I had to fix it. Then enters Tarsha asking was he alright. Tarsha takes her gun. Ghost and Tommy start removing the body. No time for a full clean up. The neighbors heard gunshots and called the police. As we hear the sirens, you can't help but wonder how are they going by getting out of this one?

Tarsha made Tariq turn his jacket inside out. Tommy recognizes Ray Ray from earlier talking to Dre. He asked Ghost if he knew him. Ghost shook his head no. He asked Tariq how he knows how to find him. Tariq gave up Dre. I say again, Dre mistakes just keep piling up. Tarsha gets Tariq out of there. Tommy and Ghost are still trying to get the body for removal. You could hear the police sirens getting closer to the location.

Saks is still trying to take Tommy and Ghost down. He talks to Ms. Robinson about a witness who can solve a murder against Ghost. Saks was quick to throw Angela under the bus by saying she been gone from work for hours. At first, Ms. Robinson was not trying to hear Saks. Just the mentioning of James St. Patrick she was done with the conversation. However, with Angela being MIA, Ms. Robinson decided to listen to the witness. Ghost about to have another problem on his hands.

Dre meets up with the Father. The worst thing the Father could have done was meet Dre alone. Tommy confession made the Father not want to do business with Dre. I thought confessions are supposed to be kept in the booth. The Father tries to get out. He tells Dre he doesn't like how he does business. He mentioned having Julio killed. Bad mistake. On top of that, you throw Tommy under the bus. Now Dre knows Tommy is on to him. Our Father may he rest in peace. Dre stabbed the father.

Tariq and Tarsha arrive at their building. Verses are going upstairs to the penthouse, and they go to the basement. Tariq shh Tariq as he asked, "where are we going?" Tarsha tells Tariq to trust her. Tarsha just seems like a pro at all this. Once they get to the basement, Tariq makes it clear he isn't sorry. Tarsha reassures him, she not sorry either. The secrets of the family just add up. Tarsha burns Tariq's hoodie She then gives him specific instructions on what to do when they go upstairs. Yes, Tarsha is truly an OG.

As they get upstairs, Keisha is there holding things down for Tarsha. Tariq goes into his parent's bathroom and does exactly what he was told to do. Don't touch anything, bag his clothes, wash his hair, scrub his nails and wash this day off of him. Tommy and Ghost prepared to take Dre out. But Ghost gets a call on Tommy's phone. I wonder who that was. Dre takes over distributing the drugs. But before the Jimenez cartel join forces, they need to know if anyone of them killed Uriel. Dre assures Jimenez that no one in the room killed Uriel. Dre is now the big man. The deal with the Jimenez just got close as the connect.

Tarsha meet up with Terry. She wants to confide in him, but Terry gives off this vibe of a saint. Instead of being straight with Terry, Tarsha talk in the third person. Right on cue, the saint and judgment of Terry come out. He tells Tarsha to tell James to get a lawyer. So loud and so wrong. Tarsha confesses it was her and she needs a lawyer. Terry response was just what I thought it would. He tells Tarsha he can be her lover or her attorney; he can't be both. But he was just saying I love you to her man get out of here. Yes, Tarsha decided for Terry to be her lawyer. He isn't riding or die boo but he a good lawyer. But where is Proctor?

Just when we thought it was almost over. Angela gets called to the apartment where Ray Ray was killed. You have blood, a missing rug, a shell in the wall and Angela knowing Tarsha plus Tariq was in this area. Plus Raymond Jones was looking at Tariq's police statement after being at his school. Angela doesn't know who but she knows everyone involved. How is she going to pursue this case?

Dre is happy about his come up. He wanted to be the big man, now he is. Little did he know, his come up about to bring the heat. Tommy and Ghost are sitting watching him. Now that he is partnered with the Jimenez cartel, Dre soldiers are too long. Ghost and Tommy have to plan this one out very carefully. Dre has betrayed Ghost and Tommy. But to our surprise, who is sitting in the back seat of Tommy's car? Kanan, Kanan, Kanan. Another person Dre betrayed. Them three together as friends vs. enemies about to be deadly. Then you add Tommy's new family into the mix, this about to be lit season 5. I don't feel sorry for Dre at all.

This season of Power was epic. The leaks and the beef between 50 Cent and Starz didn't take away from the season. We were all waiting for Sunday 12 am or 9 pm to get here. Now we have to wait till 2018. This season was so good you can watch it over and over again until Season 5. I must say, I am very happy about season 4 of Power. The plots, the twists and the puzzle coming together was awesome.

I don't know if 50 and Starz will work out their differences but I am truly hoping they do. I don't know if any other network would allow the storyline to be so hood, so real and so intense as Starz has allowed Power to be. Whether it's on Starz or a new network, it just better be a Season 5. What will they do Season 5?

Catch up on Power on Comcast On Demand. Take a day to binge on the entire season. It will be well worth it.

Please be the first to comment, like and share. Subscribe to sueboohscorner.com or visit Sueboohs Corner TV Series Page on Facebook for your latest recaps and reviews of your favorite TV shows.

Editor: Lattice Johnson

#50cent #Power #finale #powerfinale #starz #omarihardwick #urbandrama #urban #rotimi

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newagesispage · 7 years

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JUNE 2017

PAGE RIB

*****The writers are working on Arrested Development season 5 which Netflix has confirmed is coming in 2018 with the full cast. Ron Howard tells us he is “Warming up my uncredited narrator vocal chords.”

*****The world was welcomed to Live with Kelly and Ryan! I admit that I don’t watch it but this surely won’t help. Why?? Why him?? His name recognition, his power, his falling ratings at E!? Seacrest showed his interview prowess by mistaking Jeffrey Tambor for Vincent Schiavelli, the now deceased actor from the subway in Ghost. Read the new memoir Tambor was selling, Are you anybody?

*****Val Kilmer says he is healing from cancer.

*****Conan is being sued by a former writer of Leno’s. The man claims that Conan and his writers “lifted jokes from his blog.” They deny the charges. TBS showed their belief by inking him to 4 more years. Next up an animated series called Final Space and more branching out on the way.

*****We miss U Gwen Ifill but Robert Costa is doing a great job on Washington Week!

*****Clerics are a bit uneasy about scary clown’s order to ease limitations on places of worship and their ability to talk politics from the pulpit. Some fear the two existing side by side and some are very happy to feel the freedom.

*****Nigerian school girls that were abducted 3 years ago are slowly being released. May has brought a second release after the first one in October.

*****Turkey’s President Ertogan sent his thugs out in Washington to beat peaceful protesters. There was no consequence for they have diplomatic immunity. Really? There must be limits. Welcome to Trumps America. **Turkey later gets upset about the ‘treatment’ of those bodyguards.

*****Jimmy Kimmel and his wife welcomed a baby boy named Billy. He was born with heart problems and Kimmel came out to explain to his audience before letting guest hosts take over the rest of the week. His genuine concern for children that are not as fortunate financially was touching. Of course, those who vote against such things did not seem to agree.** Kimmel is also set to once again host the Oscars.

*****Scandal will run its last season next year.

*****Mystery Science Theatre 3000 is going on tour. Keep an eye out for the Watch out for snakes! tour around the country.

*****Met Gala: The soiree for the who’s who: Best dressed- Nicki Minaj, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Frances Bean Cobain, Lena Dunham, Mary J. Blige, Bella Hadid, Zoe Kravitz, Pryanka Chopra. Worst dressed- Solange Knowles, Helen Lasichanh, Pharrell Williams, Clare Danes

*****Scary Clown 45 tells us that Andrew Jackson could have avoided the civil war. He also told John Dickerson that he calls his program, ‘Deface the Nation’. Stephen Colbert was so incensed by the disrespect shown to the journalist that he had a few choice words like; disgrace the nation. He said that Trumps mouth was best used as Putin’s cock holder. He was bleeped but the FCC still looked into complaints, no action was taken.

*****Drake beat Adele’s record at the Billboard music awards. Best dressed were Rachel Platten, Machine Gun Kelly and Madison Beer. Worst dressed were Alex Pall, Andrew Taggart, Halsey and Billy Ray Cyrus.

*****Pence was invited to speak at Notre Dame’s commencement and dozens of graduates and family members silently stood and walked out.

*****Bobby Moynihan, Sasheer Zamata and Vanessa Bayer are out at SNL.

*****Netflix is bringing us Ozark with Jason Bateman (also executive producer and director), Laura Linney and Esai Morales. Look for it in July.

*****So sad to see icons on Fox news. When you see an occasional clip of someone like Joe Nameth, you wonder why??

*****Michael Moore is doing a one man show on Broadway. ‘The terms of my surrender’ will premiere on July 28. He is working on a feature right now about Trump called Fahrenheit 11/9 that will be distributed by the Weinstein’s. In the fall he will be in TNT prime time with Live from the apocalypse. The climate is giving him a time to shine. Go Michael!!

*****Norman Lear has received the Woody Guthrie prize.

*****Michael McDonald is working on a new LP, Wide Open.

*****Hillary Clinton has put together Onward Together! The political group asks people to get involved and organize!

*****A report claims that your nipple color is your perfect lipstick shade.

*****A cameo from Paul McCartney is slated for the new Pirates of the Caribbean. He will play a jail guard.

*****The x Mrs. Johnny Depp, Amber Heard has moved onto Tesla founder Elon Musk.

*****An x German rapper, Denis Cuspert , who became an Isis recruiter briefly married FBI operative, Daniela Greene.

*****American Housewife has been renewed for another season.

*****Jesse Jackson has been giving motivational speeches in some high schools. On May 12 he appeared at Peoria High.

*****Larry Wilmore is back with a podcast: Black on the air!

*****James Corden takes his show to the U.K. with Harry Styles and many more.

*****Brick and mortar stores are taking a big hit this year. 85% of all sales still come from these stores but they grew too fast for their own good. Mall building surpassed the population and we will have to say good bye to many of them.

*****James Comey tried to defend himself with the FBI oversight committee. He informed us that he asked for search warrants for wiener’s computer and had not yet got them when he released a memo to congress about looking back into Hillary’s e mails case which was called mid year exam. He claims he could not tell us about the Russian investigation because it was not and still is not finished. I have to wonder that if Hillary’s e mails were so fascinating to them, are they looking into the casual way that trump conducts business ? They are probably looking into starting the while Clinton Email thing instead. I have to shake my head at the slow progress of so many of these old senators on both sides of the aisle. It makes the whole thing repetitive and unproductive. The biggest sound bite was Comey’s statement that it made him mildly nauseous to think he would affect the election. Oh, please!!** Things did get going a bit finally and In the middle of some rather hard driving questions, Trump suddenly appeared on my TV with the President of Palestine. The media bought right into it and it was everywhere. I had to find C-span 3 to continue the hearings and skip the photo op.

*****And then Comey is fired on May 9 starting a whole new shit storm that distracts from Sally Yates damaging testimony. There have been multiple excuses for that. I think most dems can agree he completely mishandled the Hillary stuff but the timing is just so Trump! He does not even care how it looks, he bulldozes on. There is a giant fucking cloud over the whole thing. There is a letter from deputy attorney general , Rosenstein and Jeff Sessions recommended the firing but Trump says he was gonna fire him all along. Word is that Comey is mad, Rosenstein is livid and also the Presidents communication team. Acting FBI head McCabe assures us that the files were immediately secured. The Prez says Comey informed him that he wasn’t under investigation. The Fox spin seemed to blame the fact that Comey would not take the Obama wiretap allegations seriously. Trump also signed an executive order to look into his claims of voter fraud. It is like the biggest conspiracy theory nut got to be president and now we could spend millions of dollars on his crazy whims. OMG! **I feel that I may puke if I have to again see that clip of Comey and Trump shaking hands. Word is that Comey hated that day. ** And now the Justice department has appointed former FBI head Robert Mueller to lead a special counsel on the Russian probe.** Trump claims that ”No politician had it worse” at a Coast Guard commencement.** He probably should not have thrown Rosenstein under the bus because his appointment of Mueller gives him a lot of room to investigate.

*****Constitutional law prof. Laurence Tribe of Harvard writes that trump should be impeached because a President can’t ask for loyalty from the FBI director. He states other reasons like Trump can’t be trusted to stay within the law. Could Comey, the man who helped get him elected be the one to bring him down?

*****The treasury department is looking into money laundering issues with Trump.

*****Scary Clown takes his first trip out of the country as Pres. While there Toby Keith will be playing a ‘men only’ show in Saudi Arabia.

*****Mrs. Callista Gingrich is the ambassador to the Vatican.

*****Princess Mako of Japan will marry Kei Komuro and give up royal status.

*****Once the Stones do it, others always follow suit. Pink Floyd now has an exhibit of their history at the Victoria Albert museum.

*****Scary Clown has threatened to shut down all press briefings.

*****Studies from the CDC show that teens are drinking less.

*****Wow!! Was blown away by Joanne Froggatt in Dark Angel on PBS Masterpiece.

*****JS.. Saw Levon Helm’s Electric Dirt on Axl’s wall on The Middle finale.

*****Brazil’s President is also in some trouble with bribe allegations.

*****A tide brought back a beach on the west coast of Ireland that washed away 33 years ago!!

*****Jared Kushner’s sister, Nicole Meyer told Chinese investors that she could help foreign nationalists get visas through her family’s real estate business.

*****Trump took the Russians gleefully into the oval office and only let in the Russian press, No Americans allowed!! The White house claims they were misled about the Russian photographers. Russia is spreading the news that they have a better relationship with our President that we do. The Washington Post had a story that Trump released classified info to them. Once a President says it , it is declassified.

*****David Brooks wrote a NY Times piece after the “leak” calling out Scary Clown. He calls Trump an infantalist for immaturity is becoming the dominant role of his Presidency. He writes, ‘His falsehoods are attempts to build a world in which he can feel good for an instant and comfortably deceive himself. He is an ‘incompetent person who is too incompetent to understand his own incompetence.’ Well said!

***** I personally think that some people just like to live in chaos. Those people have taken over for now. I suppose that Trump loyalists like being puppets. It seems they can’t really think for themselves because everything scary clown does seems just fine to them. As long as he is firing people and disrupting the status quo, they are good no matter the cost. No backbone.

*****The Kennedy Center will honor David Letterman with the Mark Twain prize for American humor.

*****Have we ever had a first lady whose parent was a communist?

*****Nightcap on Pop will be back on June 7.

*****Comedy Central brings comics like Jerry Seinfeld and Kevin Hart with Colossal Clusterfest.

*****The Great British Baking show will be on PBS on June 16.. Hey.. that is Tom’s birthday!!

*****The Battle of the Network Stars is coming in June.

*****People of Earth is back on TBS on July 24.

*****Marijuana business owners were in Washington this month to fight for their rights. They specifically brought attention to section 280-E of the tax code that does not allow deductions and The Respect the State Marijuana Laws act of 2017.

*****Rumors have always been out there that H H Holmes escaped execution. His great grandchildren have petitioned for and been granted permission to exhume his body.

*****The house voted to end health care as we know it. It is opposed by the AMA, AARP, ACA and on and on. The groups are trying to ban together to hold town halls and explain just what they will get if Obamacare is taken away. But Scary Clown and all his other smug white buddies were laughing and joking about how wonderful it all is. Idaho congressman, Raul Labrador even said later that “Nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care,” They all have a very strange sense of humor. To quote a song from another time, “Ain’t no time to wonder why, whew! We’re all gonna die!” It is like a nightmare. I guess their thinking is that if they get rid of all the poor people, they won’t have to look at us anymore? They do not understand the idea of paycheck to paycheck. To get money back on your taxes to help fund your own health care is impossible for many people. They feel they have to get this health care plan through so they can then do the tax plan. They need the health care money for the poor so that the top moneymakers can have their big tax cuts.** Why not just fix the problems with Obamacare like a not for profit public option to buy into?**Women are a majority in this country, how the fuck did we get here? ** I loved Bette Midler’s tweet on it the best: “GOP passed a health care bill so bad they exempted themselves from it. They may live longer, but when they die, it’s straight to hell.”

*****Richard Simmons is suing American Media Inc. and their Radar online and National Enquirer for a story about his transitioning into a woman.

*****Bob Newhart came to Chicago to headline the Salvation Army’s annual civic luncheon.

*****The IFC’s Brockmire is fun and raunchy and you can see Hank Azaria nude. He and Amanda Peete have great chemistry but the rest of the cast is awesome too. I am so loving Tyrel Jackson Williams, the tech nerd and Daisuke Tsuji , the Japanese Free mason pitcher. The Pennsylvania town of Morristown is so Monessan like.

*****A woman may face a year in prison for laughing about Jeff Sessions. Desiree Fairooz was convicted for disorderly conduct but some are calling this fake news.

*****Loretta Lynn had a stroke and has postponed her tour. She is now in rehab.

*****Oh Conan.. Please.. More of the “Gilligan” writer please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

*****Days alert: More of the tech nerd Myron Radditz!! And let’s keep going with the love story of JENERIC!!** I saw the Days punk pimp on a new ad for Geico. He is going places?!** Could they make Nicole any more whiny or stupid!! C’mon!** It is time to kill off Jade.**Morgan Fairchild has joined the cast as Angelica Deveraux.

*****I always knew that Debra Winger was cool. I see that she has admiration for Better Call Saul and The Americans. Yes!!

*****Jeff Goldblum will be back for the next Jurassic Park!

*****Always Dreaming won the Kentucky Derby!

*****Gov. Greg Abott has signed a ban for sanctuary cities in Texas.

*****Norway has the wonderful slow TV on their public broadcasting. It started with a train trip. You can watch chopping wood or burning logs or sheering sheep and knitting. There was a cruise that lasted 5 and a half days. It is syndicated around the world. YES!!

*****Hooray!! Paris did it! Macron wins!!

*****New Orleans is courting controversy with the removal of many civil war statues.

*****The U.S. has armed the Kurds in Syria. **The White House is also considering new troops in Afghanistan.

*****Trump quote: During the Clapper /Yates testimony: “Watch then start to choke like dogs. Watch what happens. They are desperate for breath.”

*****If you haven’t been reading Carl Reiner’s tweets about Donald Trump.. you must check it out. A recent example: “In his first hundred days in office, trump has succeeded in affirming to our citizens that our great nation will cheer his impeachment.”

*****The Stones are revving up for a new tour in Europe.

*****American Crime Story will tackle Katrina with Dennis Quaid playing George W. Bush.

*****Sam Rockwell will play a KKK leader alongside Taraji P. Henson as a civil rights activist in Best of Enemies.

*****After the court said that Trumps website still stated that ALL Muslims should be banned and Sean Spicer was asked about it in a briefing, it immediately disappeared.

*****Why is frat house hazing still allowed to go on?? These are grown ass people that act like 5 year olds but with booze and drugs.

*****In 2011 a nodosaur mummy was discovered in Alberta with the skin and stomach contents intact!! Paleontologist Vinther says the dinosaur, from 110 million years ago was so well preserved that it might have been walking around a couple of years ago. It is now on display at the new Alberta museum. How fucking exciting is that?

*****Jeff Sessions tell us that he would like the harshest sentences possible for drug offenses. These guys sure like their torture and punishment.

*****RIP Jean Stein, Steven Holcomb, Powers Boothe, Roger Ailes, Chris Cornell , Lisa Spoonaver, Roger Moore, Gregg Allman and Susan Hurt.

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blackkudos · 7 years

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Joe Louis

Early life

Louis attended Bronson Vocational School for a time to learn cabinet-making.

Amateur career

By the end of his amateur career, Louis's record was 50-3, with 43 knockouts.

Professional career

Early years

Title contention

Never have his picture taken with a white woman

Never gloat over a fallen opponent

Never engage in fixed fights

Live and fight clean

As a result, Louis was generally portrayed in the white media as a modest, clean-living person, which facilitated his burgeoning celebrity status.

Louis vs. Schmeling I

World championship

Initial title defenses

Speaking over the radio after the fight, Louis admitted that he had been hurt twice.

In preparation for the inevitable rematch with Schmeling, Louis tuned up with bouts against Nathan Mann and Harry Thomas.

Louis vs. Schmeling II

"Bum of the Month Club"

world light heavyweight champion John Henry Lewis who, attempting to move up a weight class, was knocked out in the first round by Louis on January 25, 1939.

Chilean Arturo Godoy, whom Louis fought twice in 1940, on February 9 and June 20. Louis won the first bout by a split-decision, and the rematch by a knockout in the eighth round.

Clarence "Red" Burman, who pressed Louis for nearly five rounds at Madison Square Garden on January 31, 1941, before succumbing to a series of body blows.

Gus Dorazio, of whom Louis remarked, "At least he tried", after being leveled by a short right hand in the second round at Philadelphia's Convention Hall on February 17.

Abe Simon, who endured thirteen rounds of punishment before 18,908 at Olympia Stadium in Detroit on March 21 before referee Sam Hennessy declared a TKO.

Billy Conn fight

Conn would not gain weight for the challenge against Louis, saying instead that he would rely on a "hit and run" strategy. Louis' famous response: "He can run, but he can't hide."

However, Louis had clearly underestimated Conn's threat. In his autobiography, Joe Louis said:

World War II

Later career and retirement

Post-retirement comeback

Taxes and financial troubles

Professional golf

Personal life and death

Though married four times, Louis discreetly enjoyed the company of other women like Lena Horne.

In 1940, Louis endorsed and campaigned for Republican Wendell Willkie for president. Louis said:

Starting in the 1960s, Louis was frequently mocked by segments of the African-American community (including Muhammad Ali) for being an "Uncle Tom."

Films

According to IMDb, Louis appeared in six full-length films and two shorts, including a starring role in the 1938 movie Spirit of Youth, in which he played a boxer with many similarities to himself.

In 1953, Robert Gordon directed a movie about Louis's life, The Joe Louis Story. Filmed in Hollywood, it starred Golden Gloves fighter Coley Wallace in the role of Louis.

Legacy

In an interview with Arsenio Hall in the late 1980s, Muhammad Ali stated that his two biggest influences in boxing were Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis.

In 1993, he became the first boxer to be honored on a postage stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service.

Wikipedia

#Joe Louis #05-13 #04-12

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