Ben Jackman strides out to his parked car outside the First Union Center. A full moon hangs almost solemnly over Philidelphia, hours after the completetion of the SHOOT Project's latest Oblivion. Ben Jackman, always the first one in the building and the last to leave walks out with a crooked smile on his face after another successful Oblivion. Jackman fumbles in his pocket, his hand finally closing over his car keys, he pulls them out and slides them into the door unlocking the car. Jackman pauses momentarily to toss his gym bag in the back seat before sliding into the driver seat of the car, the driver door shutting behind him with a hollow thud. Jackman cranks the car and pulls forawrd, steering toward the nearest parking lot exit as he blindly searches through the center console for his cellphone. A quick press of a few keys and the screen lights up revealing three missed calls and a voice mail message for each.
"Hmmm..nothing from Del."
Jackman pulls out of the parking lot and onto a main street, holding the cell phone up to his ear as the first of three messages begins to play.
"Message one. SUNDAY 8:15 P.M."
Stephanie, the mother of Jackman's sole child, speaks in a voice born of a pure disdain for Ben.
"Hey there. Loser. Looks like your about to lace up your boots and slide into the ring with the Riot. And you know what I hope he mops the fucking mat with your sorry ass. I'm sure he will, hell anybody could you overrated motherfucker. Y'know I don't have a fucking clue how you got to be such a fucking hotshot around that place. Who have you ever beat? Noone. Noone at all. And tonight, you're gonna slide even farther down the ladder. When are you going to give it all up? You aren't worth a shit now, and you never were. Well, good luck Benny, hope you don't embarass yourself too badly, you fucking lush."
The message clicks to an end, and there again is the almost soothing computerized voice mail voice.
"To save this message, press 1. to delete this message, Press 7. To repeat thi.."
Jackman finds the seven key with his index finger and the computerized voice returns.
"Message Deleted. Message Two...Sunday 9:27 PM"
Its Stephanie again. The same voice, with a mild hint of anger in it.
"Well would you look at that. You actually won for once. Thats a shock. But then again you've made a career out of feasting on the lower midcard. Let me know when you finally beat someone I've heard of. Loser."
The computerized voice returns again and Jackman presses the seven key deleting the message instantly.
"Message deleted...Message three...Sunday 12:45 PM"
Jackman moves to delete the message before it begins but the voice mail doesn't accept it and the message continues.
"Daddy. This is Johnny."
A smile crossed Jackman's face at the sound of his seven year old son's voice, only to quickly fade at the almost immediate thought of what his son's mother has told their son to say.
"Don't worry, Mommy is asleep. She told me that you're a loser. But I don't believe her. I still love you daddy. You're my hero. I.."
The sound of the phone being ripped from Johnny's hands comes through the phone into Jackman's ear, followed by the scolding sound of Stephanie's voice.
"What did I tell you, Johnny? I told you your daddy didn't love you. I told you not to call him and what did you do? You called him anyway. He doesn't care. How many times do I have to tell you that?"
The faint sound of Jackman's son crying can be heard in the background as Jackman can only imagine Stephanie waving the phone in her son's face.
"Goddamn. Go to bed you little shithead."
The message clicks to an end, and the voice mail operator comes onto the line again. Jackman presses one immediatly before the litany of options is run through for the third time.
"Message Saved. End of messages."
Jackman hangs up the phone and slides it back into the center console as he again turns his full concentration to the road ahead. He glances down at the dashboard clock once.
"1:25 A.M. Too late to call a lawyer? I'll take care of that tommorow."
FADE
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