(One dictionary defines a fable as a FICTIONAL morality often with animals speaking in the voices of humans)
DT was a rocking and rolling, self-proclaimed real estate tycoon, with a raging case of ADHD and an out of control libido. He desperately needed someone to yank on his reins. He kicked all the way through gestation, wailed at birth and never slowed down. His mother was, “sensitive” and his father was, “busy” so they hired DT “keepers” none of which lasted very long so in time they sent him away to boarding school where he worked not at all and got in trouble all the time requiring Busy Daddy to buy forgiveness, which he did, repeatedly. At the time of this tale DT has been, “working” for a while but really he’s just been spending or losing Busy Daddy’s money in unwise real estate schemes because his impulse control is so bad and his attention span so short that he’s unable to really understand the transactions he calls, “deals”. But he is smart. Not smart enough to approach anything akin to wisdom or good judgment but smart enough to plot his way through the labyrinths self-created by sexual predation and no damn business sense at all.
Roy was a sinewy snake of an old lawyer with a brilliant intellect and no moral compass. Roy loved the labyrinth. Plenty of places to hide and slither there. He was the master of, who me, can’t be me, you must be mistaken or you misunderstood or simply, shut up or I’ll sue you which he did, often, winning just enough to gain the reputation as one you don’t want to face in court as such experiences inevitably left you stained and scorched by his special brand of verbal vomit. Audacity, Roy had mastered audacity because audacity was an effective tactic. In his mind effectiveness always cancelled right, wrong, good, bad, moral, immoral, up, down or sideways. Roy had no friends. Nobody respected him. Everyone feared him. And he was very effective so certain people called upon him from time to time. One of those people was DT’s Busy Daddy.
Busy Daddy said, “Roy, DT needs a mentor”.
Roy said, “You mean DT needs a new keeper”.
Busy Daddy replied, “OK, you’re right. You want the job? It pays well.”
Now DT always called Roy an, “associate”. Roy thought that was funny. He wasn’t an associate. He was there to teach DT how to stand on his own so Busy Daddy wouldn’t have to keep bailing him out and besides Busy Daddy really didn’t much like DT so that’s why he kept hiring people to keep an eye on him or to fix his messes. He made a lot of messes.
Roy was always strategic. He had a particular lesson he wanted to teach but because DT was DT he needed to devise a delivery strategy, one which could overcome impulsivity and inattention and most importantly stick.
DT loved going to the most expensive restaurants and always sat in a booth which opened onto the room from which he could in effect hold court and gaze upon the rabble as he smiled charmingly and waved, basking in the attention which he mistook for adoration. So, on this particular occasion DT and Roy slithered into a garishly decorated gold sparkled booth for lunch. DT stopped about midway. Roy’s habit was always to sit uncomfortably close but nobody, even DT, ever said anything to him about it for fear of being bitten. Now this time Roy sat even closer, smooching himself right up, almost on DT’s lap and put his arm around DT’s shoulders.
All this time DT was talking about himself, telling some tale about a deal he’d conceived and how he’d come out king of the empire. He talked on and on until Roy said, “DT, perhaps you could stop talking”. But DT seemed not to notice and kept right on, when Roy said, “DT, you really should stop talking.”
Given that DT was DT he had none of what has become known as social intelligence. Roy could have pulled a pistol and yelled for him to shut the hell up and he likely would not have noticed because regaling the universe about tales of himself was his life’s cause. At this moment though Roy had a plan, a lesson he wanted to teach DT that DT would forever remember. A more persuasive tactic was in order.
Recall that Roy had one arm around DT’s shoulders. His other hand rested in his lap, below the fringe of the table cloth, unseen. Like a cobra striking Roy’s hidden hand shot out and grabbed DT’s balls. He looked DT in the eyes. DT stopped talking. Roy squeezed. “I suggested that you stop talking. You ignored me.” DT learned and remembered.
But what did he learn and remember? A father like figure might say this was a harsh but necessary way to teach DT to pay attention to social cues in order to save himself from having his nuts crushed. That was not Roy’s intent. Roy was imparting audacity. Roy understood that almost everyone else in the world would never consider grabbing another individual’s private parts in order to make a point or to get their attention . That’s where Roy was different. His audacity enabled him to win in any situation. It was very simple. There was no right or wrong, no true or false, no contracts nor boundaries, no treaties or rule books, no morality, empathy or conscience. There was only dominating and winning the interaction of the moment. Win no matter what and in the process all the other messy stuff that happened along the way just falls away because audacity mesmerizes and once mesmerized you have control and with control you have power and then they let you do whatever you want. DT learned and remembered.
In later years DT routinely employed the lesson when speaking in public gatherings. If any hint of opposition was encountered he’d strike, audaciously, and they all fell away and he could go on doing whatever he wanted.
The end. One dictionary defines a fable as a Fictional morality tale often with animals speaking in the voices of humans.
