Timberwood: Short Stories Edition - Vol. 34
Rodney Johnson (Rock) was sitting on the living room couch, while reminiscing with Treyshawn Jones & reflecting on his life. They were both sipping on a couple of Hennessy shots. I guess, to mask the pain & trauma of what they were talking about. They talked about times from the good ol' days to the bad ol' days, & back to the good ol'days.
The children were sitting on the floor, wrestling & horse playing with their toys. Kristina's son, Teddy, was misbehaving & acting the most disobedient. Rock called Teddy over & gave him a little pep talk. He used the lecture, hoping that Teddy could straighten up & act better.
During the lecture, he asked Teddy, "You wanna know why they call me 'Rock'?"
Teddy was about to cry because he thought he was in trouble or about to get punished. He humbled himself REALLY quick & slowly shrugged his shoulders.
Rock explained, "See? The reason why they call me 'Rock', is because I was always a knucklehead growing up. STAYED in trouble! See? You lucky yo' momma don't spank dat ass! Don't grow up to be like the OLD me. 'Cause see? The OLD me would've probably been in the penitentiary for the rest of my life. Sit down, Lil' boy!"
Teddy sat down on the couch, in between Rock & Treyshawn. Everyone in the room listened curiously & intently. Teddy had tears in his eyes, still fearful of getting a belt whipping. He started looking around all sad, hyperventilating. Rock lectured him some more.
Rock told Teddy about how many whippings & beatings he got as a child. He was always considered as hard-headed & stubborn. Punishments didn't phase Rock until he started getting into trouble with the law, & he was always in & out of jail & prison. He told Teddy that he woke up 1 day & realized that there's a chance that he could one day go to prison for the rest of his life & never get out.
He took another sip of drink & told Teddy, "With all the grace & mercy that the system was giving me, I realized that there HAS TO BE a God. Has to be!" Teddy started nervously biting his nails.
Rock told Teddy that he mistakenly thought that he could join Timberwood, for a better life opportunity. He told the boy that the Timberwood cult just enabled him to commit more criminal activity that he thought he could get away with. He said that Timberwood turned out to be like another form of prison, & that being part of the cult was like going back to a bad drug habit, but more addictive & destructive.
Rock & Treyshawn were telling Teddy how much freedom he has, & that he wouldn't have gotten away with such behaviors if he was in Timberwood. More of the grown folks were telling their personal experiences to Teddy, in hopes that he would straighten up his act, not to spook him.
Rock also told Teddy that finding out the truth about the Timberwood cult mess is actually what made him to become a better person, & that inspired him to start doing right in life. He admitted to Teddy that he shouldn't even be drinking right about now.
Rock started to cry, himself. He told Teddy, "Don't grow up to be like me, man! All I want, is for everybody to do better. We deserve it."
They both hugged it out, & then Rock offered to teach Teddy & the other boys how to play football. The boys really enjoyed learning a new game that they never played before.
Let's hope that Teddy doesn't grow up to become Rock #2.
THE END