Chapter 15

At the White Ridge Mountain Rehabilitation Center, Mok began to tell his story to Nicholai.

It was 45 years ago, a year before I was born. My mother and father married, but I believe my mother thought it was a big mistake in her life.

My father, whom I called him Bull for he had the temperament of one, began to control my mother, Cherine's life ever since the day they got back from their honeymoon.

Bull ordered her to never get a job because he wanted her to be the typical housewife. Every day, she clean and dust their apartment, iron Bull's shirts, cook his meals, and do the shopping. If she ever questioned his authority over her, he responded by beating her.

Bull was also an alcoholic and he spent every cent on vodka and whiskey. Whenever he got drunk, Bull would rape Cherine.

It was one of the rapes that Cherine got pregnant with me. Bull did not want children and he ordered her to have an abortion. She defied him and went on to have me.

Bull told the doctors that my name would be Mok because I was a mockery to him.

For as long as I can remember, Bull would come home late and drunk. Cherine would sometimes ask him if he brought home any money, but he would not say.

While I was growing up, I remember going to bed hungry because there was no money for dinner.

When I was 8, Bull came home early one day. Cherine was out shopping and I knew I should've stayed a little longer at school that day. Bull had been drinking and he went on saying that his boss fired him for being drunk on the job.

He then broke the vodka bottle he had been drinking out of and attacked me with a shard. He cut me from my shoulder down to my stomach.

Cherine came home and found me, bleeding on the floor. She took me out of the apartment and to the hospital, where I received probably 100 stitches.

We went back to the apartment and started packing what we need. Then Bull came back, rambling on about how sorry he was for attacking me, but Cherine would not hear it.

He then took out a very sharp knife and started cutting himself. He then threatened Cherine by saying he will commit suicide and make it look like she killed him.

She believed him and we had to stay in that apartment of terror.

It was later that I found comfort in music and magic. When I was old enough, I began to play music in many places in order to support myself and Cherine. Bull did not approve of my career choice, said I should go and shout orders at everyone, but I did not like it.

I had to hide my earnings from him because he would take them and spend them on booze.

It was then that my life took a turn, I don't know if it was for the worst or the better. When I was 21, I came home one day and found Bull shouting insults and punching Cherine. That made me tick and I pushed him off my mother. He was quite stunned and he started attacking me.

The years of enduring Bull's abuse fueled my anger towards him. It was during the scuffle that I managed to get a sharp knife and stab Bull in the chest. I don't know how deep it went, but he died when he hit the floor.

When Cherine saw what I had done, she ordered me to take all my earnings and whatever I can carry and leave and never come back.

It was all a blur from there, but I remember getting on a bus heading to Ohmtown. From there, I made a living performing at bars and nightclubs.

I remember my first take of cocaine and other drugs and I loved it. Then, I was becoming a local celebrity and my name popped up everywhere, on billboards, in magazines, you name it.

Then the whole world knew my name and my talent and I gave it all to them, but my story is not quite finished.

The first woman I fell in love with was Emmy, whom I met during a night on the town and I was high on drugs at that time.

She brought me back to her place and nursed me back to health. She insisted that I quit the drugs and do my acts while clean.

I did what she told me and I was drug-free for about three years. Unfortunately, it was during that time that Emmy's cancer became aggressive and eating her life away.

Before she passed, she made me swear that I find someone to share my hardships with and never go back to the drugs. When she died, I broke the promise.

I returned to the drugs and never found anyone who would understand my hardships, but I had other relationships with women, none were permanent. 20 years I lived with that guilt.

Then I was hooked on a myth. The legend goes that whoever opens the door between this world and the other, a monster would arise and grant whoever summoned it many wishes.

In order to release the creature, I needed a special voice to open the portal. I traveled around the world to find this special voice, but I really didn't need to look far.

I found her, Angel.

Mok stopped talking when he mentioned the name. "Angel," he repeated.

"You never went through with your plan because something or that girl made you change your mind," Nicholai said, looking at Mok.

"No, I fell…I fell in love with Angel, that's what made me stop from achieving that plan," the rock star replied. "And when your daughter asked me, I realized that Angel was the one."

Nicholai looked at Mok, astonished by his story. They were quiet for some time till a nurse came into the lounge and calls out, "Curfew everyone! Time to turn in!"

Nicholai led his friend back to his room. When they got to the door, Nicholai says, "Mok, I can keep your story a secret, even from the media. I do have a question, what happened to Angel?"

"I let her go," Mok answered.

"Go? You mean you let her walk out without telling her?" Nicholai asked.

Mok placed a hand over his mouth and didn't answer. "If I were you, I start looking for her when you go home," Nicholai said to him.

"When I complete my rehab I will and I want to thank you for listening, because I never told anyone. Can I trust you in not telling anyone else? Not even Minnie?" Mok asked.

"Of course, I cross my heart," Nicholai replied and the two retired to bed.