Jack Of Arts

It took Tayaw a second to process what just happened. He immediately stared at the 'View Points' in his vision to access the white void. While waiting to be pulled away, he started to piggyback on Joe's advice. "I agree with what Joe said. You should leave. Staying with her out of guilt should not be the basis of a relationship." – Then Tayaw was pulled away.

Tayaw found himself in the white void, and immediately cursed in frustration. "WHAT THE F.U.C.K?" Tayaw cursed out, frustrated that Joe did not even give him a signal before passing him the question. "A serious question at that." Tayaw shook his head. Tayaw then started to think, with his full concentration of what he will say.

Five minutes later in the void, he was kicked out and Tayaw picked up where he left off. "I'm no expert, but I think her suicide threat is a tool of manipulation. She is using the guilt of any decent man to her advantage, so I know it's scary to actually leave. I agree with Joe when he said you should call the cops. When she starts threatening you, call the 911 immediately and ask the operator to stay on the line to listen in, hold on to the phone until the cops come. That will assure that the cops won't come for you, but her.

"Then, make the cops talk to her, make her realize that threatening to kill herself is no threat at all. If you can muster the courage, and if you can financially afford it, just leave without telling her, but call the cops, her parents, and your parents to tell that you're leaving.

"Technology is also improving and our phones are getting better, so buy a smart phone. While gathering your courage, try to secretly record every fight you have. You spent many years with her so you should know her habits. In the first sign that she will start attacking you, start recording immediately and secretly. Also, record every call you make to the cops.

"Why am I telling you to doc.u.ment? Because I'm almost certain that your girlfriend will definitely not kill herself. Once you leave, she will have no one to vent her anger at. I'm also almost certain of what she will do next after you leave; she will harass you through your phone. She will send you a photo of broken glass, your balcony, or a wounded wrist, but those are just her manipulations. So when you leave, block her number in your phone as well.

"If harassing you through the phone won't work, she will threaten to 'Expose' you as a 'piece of shit' to your friends and your family. Don't fall for this as well. That's why I told you to record. You have proof that she's the piece of shit and she's the one who should be exposed. Even if you did not gather evidence against her, you know that you did nothing wrong.

"Once her threat to your reputation didn't work, she will be cornered. She might do something more dangerous. She will try and incriminate you; she will accuse you of being an abuser to the cops. This is why it's important to record her abusive behavior before you leave.

"She's not a child who doesn't know any better; this means she DECIDED to abuse you. You are also an a.d.u.l.t, and had your kindness been in the right place, then you also would not have been MISLED TO DECIDE to getting abused is better. She decided to abuse you; you decided to get abused, so you can also DECIDE TO LEAVE. What would you rather do? Suffer indefinitely and get killed? Risk possibly becoming a criminal once you retaliate? Or do the right thing? Just leave and start anew? If it was me, I'd rather look for someone who will treat me justly, and with love.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure that she will not really do it, but she really does it, then I'm a hundred percent sure that you are zero percent NOT responsible. If you really love her, then leave because it's also the best for her. If you don't love her anymore and just staying because you're scared, please leave. Leave her now, before it's too late for you, or for her. Just look around you. The first girl you will see is a hundred times better than your girlfriend."

Tayaw, after a few minutes of tirade, finally took a deep breath and sighed. The studio has also gone quiet; no flipping of papers, no typing, and no tapping on any surface. Only the fans of the computers running are heard. Joe, being an experienced broadcaster, recovered first.

"Good advice. To our dear listener, I hope you got all that, follow it, and start fresh. Please give us an update soon… I will play you a song and I hope it helps… We'll be right back." Joe said, smoothly ending the segment.

As the show entered another commercial break, Tayaw could not help but give Joe a glare. Joe saw this and felt guilty at the situation he put Tayaw in. "I'm sorry about that, Isaac. I know I shouldn't have done that. In the many years of my show, this is the first time I was called about abuse! I didn't know what to do so I stuck to my habits of asking the guest for an opinion.�� Joe apologized and quickly explained himself.

"I'm just glad I was able to give a reasonable answer. What if I didn't though? What if it was another guest?" Tayaw started venting his frustration at Joe. "I don't know how I can make it up to you, but in the future, I'll be on my toes better." Joe could only promise. Tayaw also have no idea what else Joe could do, so he finally dropped it. Tayaw also felt Joe's sincerity in his apology so he is starting to calm down.

"Or maybe, go back to the original practice of sorting the questions from the mail and prepare an answer for it." Tayaw said, that statement finally draining the frustration he has left. Tayaw's words were also felt by the production team; the producers of the show especially. The producers want to tell Tayaw that Joe's shows became famous because of the advice segment's spontaneity and that it's a rare and revolutionary practice in radio broadcasting.

They had no choice, however, but to swallow Tayaw's suggestion. Tayaw after all saved the show from having a broadcast accident.

During the commercial break, Tayaw and Joe had to talk about mundane things to regain a calm atmosphere, or the listeners would notice something wrong. Thankfully, it worked. "We're back. I'm still joined by Isaac Tayaw, who just gave one of our listeners earlier, a good advice." Joe introduced Tayaw once again, for the listeners who just tuned in. "Hello everyone." Tayaw said, regaining the mood he had in the beginning of the broadcast.

"Isaac here is a young promising artist that I became a fan of, and I'm glad he's here today. Isaac, I believe you have a song for us?" Joe saying it's finally time for Tayaw to play his song. "Yes. This is a song I wrote. It was inspired by the legend of the famous Blues guitarist Jesse Johnston." Tayaw replied. "Ah. I know this one! Music fans would have definitely heard of Jesse Johnston and the rumors. So, what's the song called?" "'The Devil's Suit and Tie'" Tayaw responded as he started playing.

-

Somewhere on the other side of Nashville, listener 8312 is seated on his cubicle, secretly listening to Joe's Kiss the Radio on his phone. With the good cover of his cubicle, no one noticed his reddened eyes, tears threatening to roll down his face. For a long time, he wants to end his relationship, but worried about Kay's life, he could not bring himself to do it. They spent years together after all. When 8312 heard Tayaw's advice for him however, he felt it gave him the final push to move out.

He realized that Tayaw is right. He knows that Kay is not the type to hurt herself, much more take her own life. 8312 laughed bitterly that he never noticed the manipulation. He realized he was too blinded by fear and guilt to actually think logically. Had he not fell for Kay's manipulation, he realized he actually could have left a long time ago.

The closest he got to leaving was prevented by Kay actually cutting her wrist. Looking back, the wound Kay inflicted on herself did not need any stitches or a visit to the hospital. She just covered it with a handkerchief, and even then, he did not remember the handkerchief being soaked with blood. A handkerchief being soaked in blood is something that he would remember.

Tayaw's advice also opened up a plan on 8312's mind to avoid as much consequences as possible from leaving Kay. He could totally see Kay doing what Tayaw said she would do. Kay is a dangerously petty person and does something extreme in retaliation to the smallest annoyance that 8132 would cause, so her destroying his reputation to their friends is a certainty. With a plan in mind, 8132 is ready to prepare.

8132 stood up from his chair and headed to his manager's office. "Boss. May I leave for the day?" 8132 asked his boss. "8132, you alright man? Jesus, you don't look good." the boss said, misunderstanding the reason for 8132 red eyes and face. "Yeah. I think I just caught the flu. I don't want to pass it to others." 8132 replied. "Alright. Go home. You're basically a lot ahead with your work anyway."

"Yeah. Just call me when you need something." 8132 said. "Tell you what, here." The boss opened his drawer and pulled out a laptop. "I'm lending you this. Save your work in it and when I need you to change something, I'll call you. Take the whole week off." The boss said as he handed 8132 the laptop.

"Alright. Thanks boss." 8132 said in sincere gratitude. "I'll see you Monday. If you're still sick then, I'll need a doctor's pass." The boss said, urging 8132 to leave.

8132 went back to his cubicle, powered up the laptop and hurriedly saved every file he worked on since the beginning of the month and packed some other reference files. After leaving the office, he then proceeded to buy extra li-ion batteries and a larger capacity memory card for his digital camera.

An hour later, 8132 arrived home, finding Kay watching TV in the living room. 8312 then secretly turned on his camera and positioned it somewhere hidden. 'You spent many years with her so you should know her habits' Tayaw's advice replayed inside 8312's mind, and he felt an unprecedented feeling of excitement to what he's about to do.

8312 over the years, mastered Kay's landmines to avoid triggering them; but today, he will use that same knowledge to trigger as many landmines as he can. So, with camera all set up and his phone's recorder on, 8312 is finally ready.

"Hey Kay. I'm done. I can't take being with you anymore. I'm packing my bags. Whatever you do, you can't stop me from leaving."