FLAIR: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF KILLING - REVISITED
Character Background: JACK BEARD
Jack Beard started life as a happy youngster having been brought up in a strict household, he did what he could to enjoy his life with his friends. From a young age Jack was a shy kid who enjoyed reading fantasy comics and books.
Throughout primary school and later high school his interest in fantasy books, movies and role playing games remained firmly in place where he was labelled as a nerd by the other kids. Once he got older his more free willed class mates introduced Jack into a new realm of sensation, alcohol. Jack suddenly found that his nerdy shyness quickly evaporated when he started drinking which in turn made him feel a lot more confident about himself and thus more outspoken.
By the time Jack started university he was already a heavy drinker. No longer a fantasy loving nerd, his focus was on his new found life of meeting girls and going to parties. Although alcohol increased Jack's confidence, it also impacted his temperament, as a result he ended up getting into a number brawls and fights which the inebriated Jack had started himself.
It was through these university party years that he met Toni Rosslyn, a wild 20 year old party goer like himself. Pretty soon Toni and Jack hooked up and their relationship took off, though its only strength was in their physical attraction to each other. Despite having vast character differences, and the fact that Toni had a young baby girl named Flair, Jack found himself under the spell of Toni's affection without realising that she was sizing him up to become the second parent to Flair. Within a few months of them first meeting each other, Toni and Jack were married in a railroad ceremony at the Registry Office, their friends watched on in disbelief as it was clear that neither Toni nor Jack were ever destined for a long lasting relationship.
Now married, Toni and Jack's relationship quickly deteriorated as Jack became aware that Toni was only ever looking for someone to mind Flair whilst she was out on the town with her friends. Having no interest in baby sitting anyone, Jack took the opportunity to enjoy his own party life by drinking more and staying out late. This wild party life resulted in Jack failing to graduate university.
Thirteen years passed as the relationship between Toni and Jack destroyed itself. Jack was finding employment difficult because of his drinking problem and his constant drunken aggression towards Toni had driven a solid wedge between them, to the point where they barely spoke to each other. He also grew increasingly tired of being a parent to the young Flair who fortunately spent most of her time away with her friends.
It was on one particular night when Jack staggered home from a big drinking session with his friends that he realised that the house was empty of Toni's possessions, yet Flair's things were still there as were his own. While trying to focus on what had happened he came across a note left by Toni, "I'm leaving" is all it said. One hour later Flair arrived home to find her mother had left.
Suddenly being the sole guardian of Flair, Jack's life increased in pressure almost overnight, his financial situation became dire, his employment opportunities became more scarce and he quickly found that his friends were abandoning him. His only solace was in the bottle.
Without having any escape, Jack found that his life seemed to worsen because of Flair's dependance on him. He had no interest in Flair, he did not want to be in custody of her and he became more and more irrate of her bubbly persona. In time this irritation manifested itself into blind hatred as he struggled to hold a job, never had any money and was constantly receiving parking tickets from having his car parked outside of his local pub for too long at a time. As his life continued to spiral downwards, he watched as Flair grew older and more prettier. In an act of spite, he laid down some house rules that she had to follow as he quickly summised that she was covorting herself all around town which increased his anger as he himself had been unsuccessful in meeting women. It was also around this time he discovered that she was seeing some boy down the road.
Things for Jack suddenly started looking up when he met a woman down at his local bar. He organised to see her again that Friday night as he had not been with a woman in very long time and was desparate to finally break the drought.
But Jack's life turned totally upside down a day later. He was instantly fired from his job after arriving to work drunk, so in a fit of anger over what he believed was an unfair dismissal, he went to his local bar for a few drinks before going to the house of the woman who he was to meet that Friday night for some support. Upon seeing Jack in an inebriated state, the woman promptly withdrew her interest in him and told Jack not to visit her again. Furious over the day's outcomes, Jack got home to discover a summons in his letterbox over a large number of unpaid parking tickets. Jack was now in full rage and needed to take his hatred out on something or someone, it was around this time that Flair came home later than her allotted curfew time as she was seeing the boy from down the road.
At the time we join our story, Jack is using his fists to release all of his aggression against Flair and is about to head down a very dark path.