Was gonna post this tomorrow, but work has me on a weird schedule so I’m posting it now in case I don’t get the chance tomorrow.
This might go against some new content rules we have since it’s a story that doesn’t revolve around Fluffies and it does feature one moment of harm committed on an animal. But the moment has been referenced in another story and I wanted to use that and the significance of the day to touch upon a little part of Josef’s backstory and shed some light on some of his Non-Fluffy related hobbies.
If the mods deem this unsuitable then I’ll take it down, but it’s a one-off story and I’d like to give a little sympathy to the devil.
Katherine tidied up the last of the clutter around her office before clocking out and making ready for home. She was done for the week and was looking forward to a relaxing weekend filled with wining and dining.
And maybe a little bit of sixty-nining, she giggled thinking about giving Josef a call.
She figured why not, a little treat for the two of them wouldn’t go amiss. She pulled out her phone and called him, her mind already tickled with some of the ideas she had planned.
Josef answered after a few moments. “Hey Kat, everything ok? Not like you to call.”
“Yeah, just fancied hearing your voice instead of a text noise. Listen, that’s me off for the weekend, I was wondering if you fancied spending a couple nights at my place, we can have a couple drinks, do a little dance, make a little love, that kinda thing.”
There was a slight pause before Josef let out a small chuckle. “Kat, do you know what day it is tomorrow?”
“It’s Saturday. Right?”
“Yes, but it’s also May the Forth, which means I have two days and 12 movies to get through. As much fun as I’m sure we’d have, I’m not giving up on my yearly tradition.”
“Are you seriously choosing Star Wars over a weekend of fucking with… Hold on, they made 12 of those fucking things?”
“Nine Main episode titles, two spin-offs and an animated prequel for the Clone Wars which I do include because I love the Clone Wars series. I’d include the Holiday Special but I fear if I watch that again I might actually go insane.”
Katherine chuckled. “You are such a fucking nerd. I never pegged you for the type back at University, and in all the years I’ve known you I’m still surprised that you put so much effort into this series. What about it makes it so important to you?”
Josef paused for a moment, thinking back on the day he was first introduced to The Skywalker Saga.
And how it could’ve easily become the worst day of his life.
Josef Mongola was eight years old and crying his eyes out, his vision blurred with tears, his body heavy to the point where he was one false move away from collapsing to the ground.
His arms too weak to properly lift the shotgun in his hands.
Behind him, Fitzgerald Mongola slapped his son across the back of the head.
“Stop crying you fucking fag, and get the job done with.”
“Bu…but dad… I… I… I can… can’t.”
“You can because I fucking say you can.”
“I don… don’t want t…to shoo… shoot the d…dog.”
Fitzgerald knelt beside his youngest son and forcefully gripped the back on his head, forcing Josef to look forward. In front of them, nestled between small crop of trees, was a lone dog, a black and white border collie who was laying lazily in the shade. Josef couldn’t see much more from this distance aside from a slight pudge in the dog’s stomach, but it looked to be friendly and just going about its business.
Fitzgerald didn’t see that. “You see that boy. THAT is vermin, you start letting beasts like that onto our lands and where does it stop? A bloody mutt on our land is an open invitation to the fucking dregs to treat this place like their own personal bathhouse. Zero Fucking Tolerance, any parasite nearby needs to smell the blood on the air and understand they are not fucking welcome. Now shoot the fucking thing or I will cut its fucking head off with a rusty hacksaw and you’ll have to watch me fucking do it.”
Josef held back a torrent of vomit at the mental image in his head and reluctantly raised the shotgun, with more effort than he could spare, Josef tried to hold back his shaking for long enough to aim the gun. Curious, the dog looked over wondering what was going on across the grass.
It locked eyes with Josef right as he pulled the trigger.
The body shook and twitched for a moment, before dropping down dead. Josef let the shotgun fall from his arms and dropped to his knees, the reddened image of where the head used to be stuck in his mind.
Fitzgerald was elated. “That-a-boy Josef, that bitch and her brood won’t be turning our gardens into a fucking nursery.”
“Wha… what did you…?”
“She was pregnant, did you not see the bulge in her stomach. She was either quite far along or had a large litter, not that it matters now of course.”
Fitzgerald laughed and went to pat his son on the back, only for his hand to meet air when Josef doubled over, vomiting onto the ground.
“For fuck sake Josef, have you no fucking shame. Get inside and clean yourself up.”
Wiping the sick from his mouth, Josef turned and went back inside, passing by his father’s servants, some of who looked at him with pity, most didn’t look at all for fear of Fitzgerald’s wrath. He passed by his mother Vivienne, who was too busy shamelessly flirting with the uninteresting groundskeeper whilst failing to keep her glass of red-wine steady to notice Josef as he walked upstairs to the bathroom.
As he climbed the final step and turned towards the bathroom, he was shocked to see Jonathan standing waiting to him.
“He’s a fucking monster Joey.”
Josef wiped a tear from his eye. “He’s our dad.”
“So? What right does that give him to force you to kill a dog? If he wanted it gone he could’ve scared it away or shot it himself. He wanted you to do it so he could have that little bit of control over you, that little piece of trauma he can use to fuck with your head.”
“Well you’re not any better, I heard about what happened at school, between you and Delroy. You want to tell me that attacking the black kid wasn’t Dad in your head.”
“You never mind about my head Joey, focus on your own. You gotta find some way to get him out of there, you need a place to escape to. I might have something, wash your face then come to my room.
Jonathan left the confused Josef there and went into his room, ominously closing the door behind him. Josef wanted to run over and follow him inside, but the taste of sick in his mouth took precedence.
After he’d cleaned himself and changed his clothes, Josef knocked on his brother’s door.
“Come in.”
Josef walked inside, he and Jonathan would often spend their time bouncing between each others rooms, but Jonathan being the older sibling meant that Josef always appreciated the more complex and mature items in his brother’s room.
There were only a few years between them, but at that age it meant something.
Jonathan was laying on his bed, his back against the headrest, he patted the spot next to him, signalling for Josef to sit next to him. Josef took the hint and climbed onto Jonathan’s bed whilst his brother set up the TV.
“Now, dad didn’t like it when I found this movie, but he realised it kept me quiet for a few hours so he won’t say anything about you watching it now. It’s not much, but it’s a way to keep your mind off the shit around us, at least for a little while.”
Before Josef could ask anything, Jonathan pressed play, and suddenly Josef’s ears were filled with a triumphant chorus of trumpets as two massive yellow words filled the screen.
‘Star Wars’
Suddenly Josef felt something, he felt… happy, something about that soundtrack lifted his spirits in ways he’d never felt before. Even his minor confusion about why Jonathan was showing him Episode IV first vanished as he found himself engrossed in this backstory of a Galatic civil war between a ragtag rebellion and an evil Empire.
Josef said nothing for the next two hours, his view was fixated on that screen, following Luke Skywaler from his farmboy beginnings, to meeting Obi-Wan and Han, to rescuing Leia, to defeating the Death Star. All throughout this timeless tale of Good vs Evil, of growing beyond your humble roots, of defeating tyranny and fascism enraptured the young Josef as he saw himself in Luke, and his own struggles against his father’s ideologies on screen.
Jonathan looked over at his brother, and knew what was going on in his head. He chuckled knowing what happened in Episode 5 and how Josef would react when he saw THAT twist.
As the rebel audience applauded the heroes, and Chewbacca gave a final roar, the film came to an end and Josef felt his heart-rate return to normal. He turned to Jonathan, the two brothers sharing a smile as Jonathan ejected the tape from the player.
“So, what did you think?”
“That was… incredible.”
“I figured you’d like it, and guess what there’s more.”
“MORE?”
“Yep, two more movies plus I’ve heard rumours of them doing some prequel films but I’ll believe that when I see it. We’ll save the other films for another day.”
“But JOHN…”
Jonathan jumped back onto the bed and grabbed his brother in a headlock, playfully messing up his hair.
“Oh, does little brother want to wear the big boy pants? Well great kid, don’t get cocky.”
“John… John please… let me… let me go.”
Jonathan released Josef but kept his arm over his brother’s shoulders.
“Joey, do you know why I showed you this film today?”
“Because it’s awesome.”
“It is, but I could’ve shown you any number of awesome films. I chose Star Wars because I knew it would speak to you, much in the same way it did to me. The Empire is Dad, he’s powerful, he’s terrifying and he’s evil, but the Empire still got destroyed in the end. I wanted you to see that no matter how strong or scary Dad is, people like him are always defeated in the end. Maybe it’ll be passively with both of us getting away from him, leaving whatever legacy he thinks he has in tatters, or maybe it’ll be done actively by someone taking that fucking shotgun and turning it against him.”
Josef chuckled. “What, you think you’re gonna do that?”
Jonathan shrugged. “Maybe. To get back on topic, fascist assholes like Dad don’t last, they’re too filled with hatred to survive outside of their own pathetic bubble. It might take some time, and I’m sure it’s gonna hurt, but one day we’ll live in a world without dad, and when that day comes, we’ll have beaten him.”
Josef smiled and hugged his brother, silently thanking him for taking his mind off the day’s events.
“So can we watch the next film now or what?”
Jonathan let out a hearty laugh and playfully chased Josef around the room for being a cheeky little shit.
It would be the last time the brothers were happy together for a while.
Back in the present, Josef thought about that day, he thought about how Jonathan himself was indoctrinated into the dark side, how Fitzgerald corrupted him with his White Supremacist Bullshit, how Josef had to turn against his own family to save himself.
How defeating Fitz wasn’t as clear-cut as the movie made it seem, how was brought on through years of trauma, regrets and depression and still didn’t feel like a victory.
And yet that day still remained one of Josef’s favourite memories, because even if Jonathan was wrong, it installed a new hope in him and nothing, not even his own abusive father, could take them away from him.
“Hello? Josef you still there?”
“Sorry Kat I was miles away. Listen I’ll explain it all to you some day, but for now I’m gonna embrace my inner nerd and enjoy myself. You’re welcome to join me.”
“Ugh, no thanks. I think I’ll go home and binge-watch Parks & Rec again. Let me now if you change your mind.”
“Will do, talk to you later Kat.”
The two of them said their goodbyes and hung up. Josef put his phone back into his pocket and returned to the living room. On the screen, Anakin and Obi-Wan were fighting to the death on the volcanic planet of Mustafar.
And on the table, a light brown stallion was in floods of tears as he looked down at his brother, his once rich brown Fluff reduced to blackened ash, all but one of his limbs violently hacked away. Only the slow breathing gave any indication that he was still alive.
“Pwease mistah, nu gib bwudda mowe huwties.”
“Say the fucking line or I’ll do the same to you.”
The light brown stallion cried but reluctantly looked down at his brother. “Huu, it…it oba Anakin. Obee-wun hab da hi-gwound.”
Josef smirked as the two brothers wailed in pain, both physical and emotional. They had a long day ahead of them, but Josef had all the time in the world.
And he had to admit, the dark side was certainly more fun.
recreating you are hrm! 
