“Some people say that blood is thicker than water.”
“But blood has only ever let me down.”
“My pop was an evil man. An adulterer, living a double life. In the moments where he was supposed to watch over and protect me, he was in that store of his, galivanting with another family.”
“And those were the blissful times. Because when he was at home, the last thing he was, was a doting father. Instead, he beat me from pillar to post. He took all his worldly frustrations out on me – his blood.”
“I’ve lost count of how many times I bled from those beatings. I’ve lost count of how many awful things he said to me in anger that didn’t make sense until now.”
“He was supposed to be my mentor, my hero, my… father.”
“We were bound by blood, by DNA, by an intricate web of familial history that dated back decades. I belonged to him. He created me.”
“And as much as I’m ashamed to say it, his blood runs through my veins.”
“Do you know why I always loved you, James?”
“I saw a little piece of myself in you.”
“You were let down by your father. By your blood. He couldn’t save you from that fire – your mother did that. He ran and hid in the obscurity of bandages and let you survive life alone.”
“He was supposed to protect you. He was supposed to be your guide in the world and what he became was paramount to nothing. Everything you are isn’t because of him, James, it’s in spite of.”
“Just like me…”
“The problem with blood is how much stake people put in it. It’s the value they attribute to being blood that’s the problem. You see James, your father was no good when you were a boy. He was absent when you became a man and he was nowhere to be found when Doom put you in the pool.”
“We were there though. We were by your side. We were your family for better or worse. We aren’t blood, but what’s blood when it’s in the form of Fernicus or Maxwell?”
“And now what has he done? He’s ripped you from the only family you’ve ever had worth a darn. Under false pretenses, he’s snatched you away from those who truly care about you and why? To finally do what he hasn’t ever done? To protect you?”
“Blood isn’t always thicker than water, James.”
“And a father who lets you down, will always let you down.”
“But water won’t. We won’t.”