The screen cuts to a darkened backstage room, a long corridor deep in the underbelly of the arena. In the distance, at the far end of the corridor, a silhouette is visible, their arms extended and carrying a long stick or pole in their right hand. The figure begins to draw closer to the camera, a gentle tapping noise as the stick repeatedly knocks against the wall.

Tap... Tap... Tap

”You know, when I was just a boy, I dreamed big...” a man’s voice began muttering from the shadows, a deep southern accent echoing from the darkness. ’ I used to tell my motha’, one day... one day I’m gonna make you real proud. I’m gonna go be a lawyer, or a docta’. And always, I could see it in her eyes... she never believed me. My family was poor, and god forgive me, my family was stupid. Unambitious.”

Tap... tap... tap

”But I was always different. I proved my motha’ wrong, yessir, I did! I was a straight A student, even got myself into college, studied law, did pretty well for that matta’.” Still he drew closer, and still the tap, tap, tap...

”Then the time came, and I graduated, and I entered the civilized world. And you know what?” For the first time, his calm voice cracked, as his face pulled out of the shadows and into the light of the camera. His long, matted beard was as black as the thick hair on his head, and tattoos engulfed his neck and shoulders.

”The civilized world didn’t want me. They didn’t want me because of the way I look. Because of the way I talk. None of them ever said it like that, o’ course... too afraid of me to ever be honest with me.” He leaned in and got extremely close to the camera, the hair on his face twitching with each breath that eked from his nostrils.

”One day, I had just about enough of this, so this guy, this rich sonofabitch, partna’ in some very important firm, well he turns me down before the door had shut behind me. I could see it in his eyes, he didn’t want me there, just like none of the rest ever did...”

A wicked smile spread across his Machiavellian face, and he lifted the stick he had been holding up to the camera to reveal it as a thick pool cue. ”And so I waited outside his fancy ass buildin’, and in my little Ford, I followed him in his big Mercedes, and I waited until he got home and pulled into the driveway of that big goddamn mansion... and then I shoved this cue down his fuckin’ throat, where it belonged. I smashed each and everyone of those goddamn windows on that big car, and I liked it...”

A pause in his deranged tale, as he dropped his head and stared at his feet, gathering himself and choosing his words carefully. A slight shudder crept its way up his spine, to his neck and causing his head to convulse, before he continued on. ”So I guess you could say I gave up on being better than my family, better than what was expected of me... People look at me and see a violent, dangerous man. So maybe that’s what I should be.”

A chuckle creeps it’s way out of his mouth, a forced laugh, in every possible way lacking any form of real emotion or humour. ”So that’s why I’m here. Because here, no one cares how you look. No one cares how you talk. Here, your actions will define you, will shape you, will guide you and will leave you the legacy that you deserve... one way... or anotha’.”

He turns his back on the camera and begins to slouch off into the shadows once more, before pausing and raising his head, fully upright. He turns his head just a fraction, just enough so that the outline of his face can be seen by the camera. ”My name is Gabriel... and I am here to find my destiny.” He finished, before returning to the shadows that he had emerged from, skulking into the darkness, his head bowed and the silence deafening as the screen fades to black. Except for...

Tap... Tap... Tap...