16. Interview with Catherine D’Amico: Part 4

24 June 2011

– [Ms. D’Amico becomes increasingly agitated at the repeated mentioning of Earl Bishop’s name] I’ll tell you what his goddamn part in all this was, the son of a—

– Alright, I can understand some things. I really can. But Tony went to Earl for help because he was lost, okay? Floundering. He’d just gotten kicked out of med school for his grades, his student loan payments were about to kick in and, topping it all off, that bitch Louise left him. Just one more problem added to the heap of accumulated shit he already had piled up around him. No close family, no girlfriend, no friends besides Earl.

– Wouldn’t you consider that lost?

– Have you ever hit rock bottom?

– What type of things would you do to be happy? I bet you’d say there’s a lot, right? Most people think they’d do anything, no problem, but they’re usually too chicken shit to go through with any of it. That’s exactly what it is. Most people would look down at Tony and say he did what he did because he’s a coward or whatever, but they’d only say that because they could never do what he did. Because he did something that went completely against mainstream society. Because he didn’t roll over and play the good little debt ridden and miserable college graduate the way people expected him to. Who says it’s not okay to just start over? Who made that decision?

– Most people believe with all their heart that all they want is happiness, but everybody has their limits. Tony just didn’t see prolonged misery as an option.

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