And now it can be told. The story of my nephew Chad and his death
threats to me and mine.
Some time ago, as a result of the many shenanigans surrounding my
brothers death, my nephew discovered my blog site. Whether he was
directed there by Nita or found them on his own has never been decided.
Point is, he was none to happy with my musings about his father and
the many crimes of Michael.
As a result, in his many attempts to deal with his many emotions
concerning the events of most of 2010, he decided to write a song,
inspired by me and my blogs to vent his frustration. Chad fancies
himself a rap artist. Why the world would want to listen to a thirty
something white ginger with mediocre talent attempt to Rap is beyond me,
but there you have it.
God forbid he contact me directly and talk about it. Seriously, am I
that scary? Snarky, certainly... but scary?
Now I'm all for freedom of the arts, free expression and all that, but
even I have to draw the line somewhere. And threatening to kill me, in
several different manners, with full disclosure divulging my name and
so forth. Well, that was the line. And you still can't yell 'FIRE' in
a theater without repercussions...
I was tempted to post the lyrics from the entire song here in this blog
for you, but frankly, unless you're intimately involved with all this
family nonsense, you'd find it pretty boring indeed. It tends to
ramble, and some of the rhyming is painful to read when stretched so
thin.
If you're really dying to read it, shoot me an email and I'll send it
to you.
So once Chad posted the song 'Revenge', discussion broke out amongst
what I like to playfully refer to as "The Consortium". This ragtag
group is pretty much dominated by Michael's son Dan and his wife Nita,
their children and some of Dan and Nita's siblings. There are
satellite members like Judy and Sue, but I digress.
Much glee and anticipation of my reaction was expressed. I think they
were all waiting for me to explode or take them all to task in written
form in my blogs. Well, I have to admit that I was sorely tempted, but
I hate to be predictable. There's no fun in that whatsoever.
So I kept silent. Must have driven them crazy.
Eventually, I knew I was going to have to approach Chad. This was a
serious situation after all. I'm sure some of the family just wrote
off what he did as emotions running high and his inability to deal with
his father's recent death. Bottom line was that he posted death
threats on the Internet. Don't think that's a serious situation?
Google it.
Check out how things turned out for people that did the same thing.
So I wrote to Chad and flat out asked him what was going through his
mind to pull a stunt like this. To my surprise, he answered promptly.
Basically he admitted that he 'probably' wasn't going to kill me since
this would cause unnecessary drama in the family that was sorely not
needed.
You think?
Chad talked a lot about his feelings of inadequacy, fear of falling
short of his father's expectations. Daddy issues. I could relate. The
guy really could do with a few session of grief counseling. Some anger
management wouldn't be a bad idea either.
And so talks with Chad were opened. I was optimistic, maybe I could actually get the guy to stop listening to those idiots in The Consortium and start thinking for himself again. Chad ever assured me that he would be glad to talk to me in messages, as long as Mommy Dearest never found out. Judy's mad on for me apparently verges on manic. Even Sue warned me that Judy is the kind of person that won't stop until she destroys you if you cross her. At least now I knew where Chad gets it from.
Ironically enough, Chad's 'Revenge' is quite the hit with most of his
friends and The Consortium. Not enough to sell tickets to headline a show, mind
you. But enough for the crew to snigger amongst themselves for a while.
Sometimes dealing with these people is like still being in high school.
Flash forward a few months, and Chad becomes increasingly
incommunicado. So much for his assurances that he would talk to me
anytime. His postings on facebook start to become increasingly
concerning to some of the family as well. We're talking cuckoo for
cocoa puffs concerning.
Now I'm a fan of conspiracy theories now and then. They can be a fun
diversion. But Chad is starting to drink some serious Kool-Aid. I call
this to his attention, which is not too well received. Nobody likes it
when someone points out that the sewer stinks.
So how and why did Chad take down the 'Revenge' song, complete with its
death threats? With a whimper, not with a roar.
As with most things with me, it started with a short email to him. I
ventured a question his direction, wondering what his employer would
think of him posting death threats on the Internet. Considering that
he works for a giant in the Internet industry, my best guess was Not
Very Well.
And so I sent an inquiry off the the HR department of his
employer. Imagine my surprise when I got a personal reply from the
President of the company, complete with phone numbers to contact him
back personally. Never underestimate the power of a well placed email.
In turn, I sent another message to Chad asking what he thought I should
do next. I let him know it was time to remove 'Revenge', post a
statement as to why it was posted in the first place and why it was
being taken down. And to state publicly that he would never harm myself
nor any member of my immediate family in the future.
Next thing I noticed, was that "Revenge" had indeed vanished from the
Internet, off his facebook and myspace and Reverbnation pages. No
trace of it to be found, other than the many downloaded versions
sitting in the phones and computers of The Consortium. And my own
downloaded copies for future use. Just in case.
Step one complete. And I let him know this. I waited for the rest of
the statements to appear, but I knew the little weasel wasn't going to
go that far in his public withdrawal. Not in his nature. And I already
knew from my contacts that certain members of The Consortium were all
het up over what I had done so far. Interesting the twists they were
putting on what actually happened. Nita is never happier than when she's
spitting nails over something I've done and embellished it.
And so that's where we're at now. Chad made the death threats. Chad
removed the death threats, once he realized he was about to lose his
job and everything that was important to him.
Tell me once again how "Words are words I wish not to speak for my
actions will repeat night when I creep. You think you're slick but you
failed to see my father's son is smarter than thee."
I warned you his lyrics were painful.
