Chapter 6: Nine Years Ago

And so Marcus' flashback story began.

The year was now 1997. Marcus was living in his old hometown of Middlesbrough, England and his surname was just Kane, rather than Kane-Bridge. On a cool September evening, Marcus was just finishing off a DJ set that he was playing in a club downtown in Middlesbrough. Although he was only seven and still in primary school, he was a really popular DJ in his hometown and no mater where we went, there would always be someone knowing who he was.

Marcus had just faded away the end bit of the last playing track and the crowd inside the club started cheering and applauding what he had done. Finishing off his set, Marcus left towards the back door; clapping back the crowd with a huge grin on his young, innocent face. Marcus still looked the same as he did in the present day in 2006 but was much younger.

A few hours later, Marcus was travelling back home in his uncle's car. Leaning his head on the glass window he stared out into the darkness of the town's streets.

"Nice gig Marcus. I'd have to say that's yer' best one you've done so far." Marcus' Uncle, Andy spoke.

"Thanks uncle. At least that's another 80 pound from the gig I can put in the building society." Marcus replied; turning his head towards his uncle.

"I'm very proud of you Marcus. You've really gained a lot of skills doing all this DJ stuff you do over the past few months. You keep this going and you'll be even better than all the famous DJs you see on telly."

Marcus laughed softly.

"Well I've still got to school remember, I can't forget about that though."

The car continued to drive into the night and within a few minutes, Marcus was back home.

"Thanks for the ride Uncle Andy." Marcus spoke; holding the open door with one hand and grabbing his bag of vinyls with the other.

"No problem Marcus. You take care."

Shutting the door, Marcus walked up to the front door of his home as his uncle drove off back down the street and into the darkness of the night. Marcus was currently living in one of those semi-detached houses that were based on the outskirts of town. Marcus liked living in the area of Acklam that was in Middlesbrough.

Opening the front door, walking in and placing his bag by the porch door, Marcus immediately walked into the living room where he found both his parents sitting on the main couch.

"Oh, hello Marcus. You're back early aren't you?" Marcus' mum Liz spoke.

"Early, no way! I've just finished my gig and it's nearly 10 o clock. Besides, it's only Friday. It's not as if I've got school in the morning." Marcus replied; hanging his coat up and sitting down on one of the room's chairs.

Marcus' mum and dad looked at one another and began speaking.

"Ummmm, listen Marcus. We need to tell you something very important. Something that……well, may make you a bit upset." Liz spoke.

"Upset? What?" Marcus sat down and looked at his parents.

"You see son, me and your mother have had our……disagreements over the past couple of years and we've thought that maybe we should……"

"Should what? Come on, tell me dad."

His dad, James took a deep breath and continued speaking.

"Your mum and I are splitting up Marcus………we're getting a divorce."

Marcus was stunned into silence. The shock on his face drained away any remaining bit of happiness and excitement that once filled his mind and head.

"You……you what! No, no, no, you can't. You just can't!" Marcus pleaded; looking as if he was about to cry.

"I'm sorry Marcus, I have to go now. I'll talk to you tomorrow about it all." His dad spoke; walking out of the front door towards his car that was parked outside.

Marcus; looking down at the floor, looked back up and tried to chase after his father.

"Marcus…wait!" His mother Liz shouted; but it didn't stop Marcus from rushing out of the front door. Liz followed.

Marcus rushed out. Looking desperately for where his dad's car was, he spotted it in a dark part of the street's road. Inside was his dad beginning to drive forward. Marcus shouted and pleaded for his dad to answer but his father simply ignored him and drove off. Marcus stood in the street; isolated, cold and full of sad emotions. He ran down the street still thinking he could catch up with his dad was for some reason driving slower than the usual speed.

Marcus' mother followed him; being slightly behind from where Marcus was.

Whilst driving, James looked back at his son in the side-view mirror and sighed; showing a sign that he still cared. Although he was still driving, he continued to look into the mirror. There he could see Marcus running after him; pleading him to stop and talk to him.

Suddenly, as soon as his car came to a T-junction, a car as if from nowhere came rushing down the opposite street and slammed right into the right side of James' car; exactly where he was sat. The two cars jumped slightly from the collision and the glass windows and doors crumbled into thousands of pieces.

Marcus screamed the word 'DAD' in an extremely shocked and scared voice. People nearby rushed to the scene including Marcus and his mother to try to help the two seriously injured drivers.

Half an hour later, Marcus and his mother were running down a hospital corridor; with James lying nearly unconscious in a hospital bed next to him. Doctors and nurses buzzed round the bed to keep it moving. Marcus was feeling the worst; he had finally realised the full extents of his dad's accident and was gripping onto his dad's hand; hoping he would stay conscious.

More time passed. A nurse walked up to Marcus' mother and began speaking.

"Are you Mrs. Kane?"

"Y-yes, yes I am, how is my……err…husband. Is he gunna be alright?" Liz began speaking too; speaking in a slightly less worried and scared voice than how Marcus had spoke.

"We're still unsure about your husband's condition at the moment Mrs. Kane. However judging by what we've gathered, this is a serious accident."

"How bad is it?"

The nurse took a deep breath and continued. "Your husband's front and side chest have been severely damaged. He's been hit pretty hard by the collision. Unfortunately, he's been hit so hard that his physical condition has decreased dramatically."

"But he's gunna be alright, isn't he?"

"Like I said, we're still unsure about how bad your husband has been hit. Although the doctors are predicting that he has a slim chance of surviving with most of his previous conditions normal again. I'm sorry Mrs. Kane, but we'll do all the best we can."

Liz placed her hands over her face in utter shock. She looked over at her son; who was looking down at the floor; with his head in his hands and fearing the worst.

"Is it alright if my son goes in and talks to his father."

"……Yes, I suppose so. But you must understand that your husband has been put on a life-support system so he may not be able to see or hear your son whilst he's there."

"OK, I understand."

A few minutes later, Marcus and his mother walked into the room where James was lying. Marcus; leaning his head against his mother's side in a deep upsetting mood, walked up to where his father lay. Liz left the room; leaving Marcus to talk to his dad alone.

Marcus tried not to let a single tear fall down his face but he was struggling to do so.

"Dad……can you hear me? It's me…Marcus." A few tears trickled their way down the side of his cheeks. "If this is to do with anything I've done; you know, the whole divorce thing, I'm sorry. I never meant to do anything wrong." He continued speaking; still in an upset and sad tone of voice. "Please…I don't want to lose you. You and mum are the two only things in my life that I love most. If you go…then I'll have no one to look up to when I'm down."

He got hold of his father's right hand with both his hands. Suddenly, his dad started breathing louder and his eyes slowly opened slightly.

"M-M-Mar…cus……is that you?" His father began to speak in a slow paced tone.

Marcus raised a slight smile but was still trying not to cry. James smiled also.

"Hi dad, yes it's me." Marcus replied.

"Son……you've made me ever so proud. Ever since you were born, I always knew that one day you would turn out to become a nice, loving young man. And……I guess……I was right all along."

"Don't worry dad, once we get you out of this hospital, our lives can go on again. You know that don't you?"

His father took a slight deep breath and resumed speaking. "Marcus……listen to me. Listen to me…very…carefully. I want you to look after both yourself and your mother. I see now as you grow older, your life is changing all around you. And I know that you'll become even stronger; I know you're a great son to have Marcus."

"Please…please dad, don't go. I don't want to go on with my life; knowing that I'll have no father to look up to, no father to talk to and no father to say 'I love you' to. I can't live without you dad; you mean loads to me. Please don't die!"

"Marcus……there'll come a time in your life where you'll have to make your own decisions in life; decisions that either your mother or I can't help you with. But I know that you're strong enough to go up against anything that's thrown in the path of your life. Remember Marcus, look inside yourself……and always trust your true feelings and instincts. I believe in you Marcus……I believe in you."

"Don't worry dad, I will…I won't let you down. I PROMISE."

His dad looked right at him and smiled again. He closed his eyes.

"You've made me proud Marcus……you've……made……me……proud."

And with his father finished speaking, the beeping sound on the life support machine beeped one final time and then continued on without stopping or pausing. The line on the machine's screen was as straight as it could possibly be and suddenly, Marcus broke into tears and started crying; leaning his head against his father's side and still keeping hold of his dad's hand.

Marcus' father, James Kane……was dead.

A few weeks later, in the bright sunshine of a Sunday afternoon, Marcus stood; looking down at his father's grave. The gravestone had written on it; 'James Robert Kane, Husband, Friend and Loving Father; 19th July 1968 – 29th September 1997'.

Marcus looked back up.

"Don't worry dad. I'll always make you proud. I won't let you down…I PROMISE!"

He walked off back down the graveyard's path and off into the bright distance; now one less of a loved one; a father that he would never ever forget.

The flashback ended and time returned to the present here and now age.

"And that's the whole story. The last words he said we're 'you've made me proud'. And everyday even when I'm not focusing on it, I still hear that little voice in my head telling me the same thing; something that I will never ever forget." Marcus spoke; finally ending the flashback story he had been telling the four boys.

Stan and Kyle were the more shocked of the four; yet they had no idea what to say. But Cartman quickly broke the silence:

"BOOOOOORING!"

"Cartman; you self-centred fat bastard! You didn't listen to one f---ing word of what he's just said!"

"Shut yer' god dam Jew mouth Kyle. I'll say what the f--- I want."

"Hey, don't listen to that fat-ass dude." Stan spoke to Marcus whilst Kyle and Cartman were continuing to argue. "I'm sorry yer' dad died Marcus. I didn't know that you…well……didn't have a dad."

"It's alright Stan; it's not your fault. Besides, after what happened, my mother and I decided that we couldn't stay in a town full of horrific memories. So a few months after my dad died, we moved to London to get away from it all. A few months later, my mum finds someone she likes, marries him and now we all live in a home in the central area of London. I've tried to live my life normally as if nothing ever happened. But every time I see something like that, it just brings all those horrible memories back to me."

"Well at least you've got a dad now, right?" Stan replied; trying to get a smile back on Marcus' face.

"Yeh, but I don't like him though."

"Oh……right."

Marcus stood back up and grabbed hold of his metal box full of vinyls.

"Come on boys, I better get all four of you home before your parents start worrying." Marcus began to walk off. The four boys followed him and were soon home in no time whatsoever.

A few hours later at Marcus' house, just as soon as Marcus was about to go to sleep, he took hold of the picture of him and his dad James standing next to each other and smiling off his bedside table and looked at him. The words of his dad were repeating in his head all the time.

'You've made me proud Marcus…you've made me proud. Always trust your true feelings and instincts. I believe in you Marcus……I believe in you'

Marcus looked over at the document file that was lying on a nearby desk. Picking it up and looking at it, he opened it up and looked inside it; realising that it was the mission folder that was given to him by MI6. He looked at the picture of the four boys and spoke to himself.

"I made a promise to dad that I would never let him down. And he told me to always follow and trust my true feelings and instincts………and so I will." He put the photo down. "Don't worry dad, I won't let you down. I PROMISE."

Marcus returned to his bed, turned off his bedside lamp and quickly went to sleep; already knowing what he was going to do the very next day.