Why did Mathew Judge become Homer Jackson? This is my take on the idea.
Good men are rarely free of sin, while bad men are often the creation of anthers sin. But what we as people tend to forget is that every man has his limits. That there is a saint and a killer within us all. All it takes is for one event to change the course of our entire destiny. A person meant to grow old with his family finds that world ripped away like a cruel dream. Fate was cruel but especially merciless to one man.
I feel I must recount the story of Mathew Judge, he came from good family and a loving home. He was taught that a man who stood idly by and did nothing was guilty as the perpetrator of an evil act. He was good, brave, kind, generous and loving yet this was not enough to protect those from harm that he cherished most.
Johns Hopkins Hospital Baltimore.
Mathew was in a excellent mood, the day was almost at a end and soon he could go home. The excitement would not stay off his face, soon he would soon return to Merida and Noah. Unlike many he worked with he himself was always keen to return home. Colleagues would often comment that after 7 years of marriage he was still as besotted as a newly wed, even though it was the common period for a mans eye to begin to wonder. At times like this the young surgeon would smile and comment that he had not bored of his wife, so pray tell why would he look elsewhere?
Then there was Noah, sweet devoted boy. The child had come to them purely by accident. The boys parents had perished in a severe fever, he was blessed to survive it. Mathew had been tending to him when Merida came to visit with the sick. There seemed to be a instant connection between the two. The 12 year old had stolen her heart. Within a month it was decided, Noah would be their son. It had been difficult to begin with, but eventually the three had become a happy family.
A young orderly by the name of Wilfred had pulled him from his happy thoughts and he left them easily. If only he had known the truth, Mathew would have savoured those moments longer. He had been summoned to take care of one final patient, a wealthy merchant. Like a man unaware of impending doom he was led to a private room. Before him stood the most horrific scene he had ever witnessed. The older quickly left apologising for his deceit.
His son raised his head tear streaked face from the bed and barrelled straight in to his chest, the child was bruised bloody and terrified, all he could speak were repeated apologies. His whole frame was shaking with pain and self loathing. Almost without thinking he summoned a nurse and ordered the relevant materials he required to tend to his family. He hugged Noah to his chest and told him all would be well, not truly believing a word of it himself.
Merida was a mess, her velvet dress was in shreds. The monsters had beaten her face black and blue, her legs were a mass of bruises and blood streaked. His beautiful and angelic wife had been brutalised in the worst way possible. Anger bubbled up but he pushed it straight down, instead of vengeance he decided to tend to his wife's injuries. The entire night was spent taking care of his family. His wife had been brutalised, probably by the McCloud boys. They were local bullies, who thought themselves above the law. For months they had been harassing his family feeling slighted by Meridas lack of attention.
Now I could go in to intimate detail, but this is not the time. In simple fact a innocent girl was raped by three men, she was left for dead. Her poor son was forced to bear witness to the sin, a happy home was ripped to shreds. But this was not the final tragedy, worse was yet to come. Unbeknownst to them the police chief was heavily in debt, he owed almost £500 to the McClouds. They cleared it for one simple request, destroy the case against them.
So destiny changed, Merida went from victim to hired whore. Mathew went from contented family man to tortured husband. While poor Noah stewed in is self loathing and inability o protect his mother. But an individual can suffer in silence for so long, eventually Mathew Judge broke, another insult o his wife's character was too much. In the space of one night he murdered three men. It gave him temporary peace but ripped away everything else.
London, England (6 years later)
Today is the day I loose my last shred of hope, when it all ends. I've travelled almost a month by sea to have my suspicions confirmed. My uncle had tried to convince me but i would not be swayed. i would speak to the policeman in London myself, so many questions remained unanswered. Had there been visual confirmation of death? Could Mathew have been robbed? But survive the resulting attack? I would not take things at merely face value, more investigation would be required.
When the news arrived all around me people rejoiced, but I would not believe the horrific news without confirmation. The Pinkertons had been wrong before, Mathew had escaped them on so many occasions previously that it had become a embarrassment to them. They would have him die in name alone to put an end to that chapter of their history. Like many previous occasions they had falsehoods to appease their sponsors and shareholders.
I would meet a inspector Reid at his station in Whitechapel around midday, he had Mathews property. A ruby ring that I had gifted him after our first year of marriage. It was found in the presence of a violent kids-man. In the letter I had received the inspector had confirmed Mathews death, and I was here to collect his affects. Noah my adopted son had accompanied me on this journey to confirm or deny our loss.