B022 - Ruiz, Johnny Silva [DECEASED]

#1

DECEASED

Name: Jose ‘Johnny’ Silva Ruiz
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12th
School: George Hunter High School
Hobbies and Interests: Soccer, gaming, zoology, vet science

Appearance: A gangly, long-limbed young man, Johnny is 5’10” tall, much of which seems to be his prominently muscular legs, with highly toned calves and thighs. At around 170 pounds, Johnny is lean and fit, with a flat stomach. A second-generation Brazilian-American, Johnny’s skin tone is a light, cool bronze, a mix of Latino and partial European ancestry in his mother’s lineage. His features lean towards European as well, with a short, snub nose, close-set blue eyes, and full lips with a small mouth. Johnny’s face is diamond-shaped, with a prominent chin and narrow, flat cheeks. His ears stick out somewhat.

Johnny’s hair is naturally dark brown, with a wavy, stringy texture. He has allowed it to grow long, where it has become limp and developed split ends, made worse by his bleaching it a light yellow-blond. Currently, it is about 6 inches in the front and sides, about 4 inches in the back, with no bangs. Though it isn’t well-maintained, Johnny refused to cut it short because he believes having short hair wouldn’t suit him. His stubbornness on the matter only grew as his parents continued insisting, resulting in an absolute resistance to cutting it that stems more out of opposition to his parents than just his opinion. His hygiene in general is poor, and his complexion is oily and prone to acne breakouts at his hairline and around his nostrils.

Being in a low-income household, Johnny’s clothes are mostly hand-me-downs or second-hand, though he does his own shopping when he can to suit his tastes. Still, most of his clothes are somewhat ratty or well-worn. Because he’s aware of his shoddy appearance, Johnny tries to cover up with baggier clothes like hoodies and baggy jeans, though in truth this only worsens the issue. Johnny wears hats frequently, sometimes getting into conflict with staff when he repeatedly puts one on during the day after being told to remove it. Rather than style, he finds them comfortable and give him a feeling of security and cover, his favorite being knitted caps.

On the day of the abduction, Johnny was wearing a light gray, Nylon windbreaker over a black muscle shirt, a pair of distressed carpenter jeans, and white ankle socks with black steel-toe boots. He is also wearing a light blue knit cap.

Biography: The youngest child of three, Johnny is second-generation Brazilian-American, his parents having moved to the US to start a business and raise a family. Tomas and Paula chose to avoid the southwest of the country, afraid of persecution, and Tomas began working at a South American restaurant in Chattanooga by the time Johnny’s sister Marcela was born. Five years later, his brother Eduardo was born, and six years after that Johnny was born.

Johnny’s conception had been accidental, and though Tomas's employment was steady, it had hard hours and didn't pay very well. The high stress of the job and frustration of Paula regularly left to keep the home without Tomas, it also put a considerable strain on the two. This was complicated further by the challenges of being non-native English speakers who had moved to America, even before the increasingly prevalent political conflict around immigrants. Particularly, Tomas was naturally a loud and outgoing man, but by Johnny’s birth had become prone to shouting and sometimes belittling his wife. Though this often resulted in heated arguments, they were infrequent and never escalated beyond verbal conflict.

Still, this was a poor environment for Johnny and his siblings, especially since they had a small apartment in one of the poorest sections of the urban area. As the youngest, Johnny was faced with both a troubled home domineered by his father’s periodic anger, and the mixed attempts to deal with it by his other family. Though Paula was not completely submissive, she was inclined to concede just to end the situation, and his older siblings were constantly working to be out of the way or to appease their parents. Marcela, for example, was a hard worker in school, but by the time Johnny was in elementary school she was already taking certain high school-level classes as an 8th grader, and to the detriment of her friends and activities continued an ever-increasing workload for the rest of her schooling. Eduardo was much the same, and both would encourage Johnny to follow suit, gently pushing him towards academics as a focus of his life.

This did seem to coincide with a decline in Tomas’s angry outbursts, though was not the sole contributor by any means; an important contribution was Tomas becoming an executive chef, increasing the family's income. However, seeing his children succeed at school led to Tomas beginning to seriously contemplate their future, and fuel his desire to give them greater opportunities than he had ever had. Wanting to push them to reach a career that was of higher social status than the food industry ,Tomas became increasingly critical of his kids, especially Johnny, who wasn’t as naturally skilled as the other two and struggled with early reading. The passive-aggressive criticism bordered on belittlement, but while Paula knew it was often upsetting to the children, she wasn’t willing to clash with Tomas over it.

Johnny’s childhood wasn’t entirely dominated by this dynamic, luckily. Though his parents were often busy with their work or too fatigued for much activity, Johnny’s household only had one computer in his youth and he rarely had control over the TV, so he was inclined to playing outside. His general discomfort with being in the house when there was conflict encouraged this behavior, and he worked out his frustration with his parents and siblings playing soccer. Because it was such a massively popular sport in South America, Johnny’s parents were proud of his enthusiasm, encouraging his participation and signing him up for a youth league.

Soccer has subsequently been one of the most positive facets of Johnny’s life. Even at a young age he had a lot of negative energy, and soccer’s intensity on the field was a good match for his restlessness. Though he was never very coordinated naturally, he was more dedicated than many of the other children; by the time he was eight, Johnny hoped to become a professional soccer player, and spent a lot of time trying to improve himself as a player. Though Eduardo was older, he also liked to play with Johnny, which was one of the few periods in Johnny's life where he felt a bond with his brother.

Despite this good influence, Johnny has always had behavioral problems, especially at school. As soon as he began, his entire family leaned on him to excel, the precedent set by his siblings contributing to the pressure his parents put on him. The result was that by late elementary school, Johnny had repeatedly experienced strong negative feedback when he failed. He also watched his siblings become increasingly stressed and obsessive about their own academics, taking on more electives than necessary and exhausting themselves on aiming for the highest possible grades. Marcela was named valedictorian, but when Eduardo was not, the shame over missing the position put him in a state of despair until after the start of undergraduate school.

The result was that Johnny’s worldview was tainted by the cynical interpretation he took from this; he quickly began to feel that being successful, academically if not otherwise, made people unhappy. Confused and uncomfortable with this idea, he often tried to get a better explanation to the problem he saw from his teachers. However, his means of doing this often came across as confrontational and defiant, as he challenged the faculty on their assignments if he felt it was too hard to be worth it. Because of his unintentional insubordinate behavior, he would be chided or even disciplined, but this had the effect of provoking more active rebellion from Johnny, who recognized he was misunderstood but interpreted it as deliberate malice.

By middle school, Johnny had been subjected to a long history of behavioral incidents, which fell into a cycle of acting out, being disciplined, and withdrawing from school and peers out of frustration, then returning to problematic behavior after a couple of weeks. At home, this behavior was met with more serious punishment; his parents often attempted to assert their authority with corporal punishment, such as grabbing Johnny by the shoulders and shoving him, washing his mouth out with soap, or even occasionally slapping him. As he got older these methods ceased, and Johnny was never seriously harmed.

Tomas’s temper and offense at being disrespected by his son was the main cause of this behavior, and his impulse was to use force to show Johnny his place. Paula usually tried to be a calming presence to avoid escalating, but she felt that Tomas was in the right to be angry and that Johnny’s disrespect was out of believing his parents couldn’t stop him, so she often took a passive stance in these situations. Eduardo was nearing the end of his high school experience by this point, and though he was sympathetic he also encouraged Johnny to try to meet Tomas' expectations, which to Johnny felt like a betrayal.

All of this had the exact opposite of the intended effect; by middle school Johnny was openly resentful of authority figures, refusing to follow instructions and physically resisting his parents if they tried to force him into punishment. Embittered and frustrated, Johnny developed an extremely negative view of people and society as a whole, feeling distrustful of others by default and thinking that social obligations served only to make him miserable. Though he had never been particularly well-liked among peers, since he so often got into trouble, by this point his irritability and distrust for others left him mostly alienated.

This trend has continued into high school, though by freshman year he became more composed and sociable, having found that a bad attitude made it hard to have friends, and that he actually appreciated the company of others who didn’t try to hold superiority over him. Though his temper is under better control, he is still quick to retaliate if he feels disrespected or someone offends him. His self-esteem is very low, and he doesn’t really see himself as worthwhile. While Johnny doesn’t feel like working hard makes people happy, he also feels that people don’t respect him and think of him as a failure, so he is very defensive and lashes out if he feels threatened.

Because of this, Johnny has difficulty forming close bonds with other people. His small friend group mostly consists of other athletes, but he doesn’t have much in common with many of them. The group he has most in common with is usually gamers, especially fans of fighting games. Initially brought into the scene playing Super Smash Brothers 4 with an acquaintance, Johnny became a big fan of the game style, enjoying the intensity and competitive play. He stopped playing Super Smash Brothers when he got into other games, though, not wanting to be thought of as playing a kid’s game.

Johnny also experienced other positive developments in high school. One of the biggest developments was his parents' successful opening of their own family restaurant, featuring Brazilian food that also drew from Southern US cuisine. Having save up for several years, Tomas was able to quit his job and become co-owner and executive chef, while Paula worked as a manager. Though not a spectacular success, the restaurant does well and the family makes more than they used to. By this time, his siblings were living on their own, so the family’s apartment had much more available space, all of which served to give Johnny a greater sense of security and comfort in his life.

At school, Johnny growing older led him to recognize that acting out was hurting him, and behaved better in school, improving his relationships with his peers, teachers, and parents. His grades were also better, but often fluctuated by whether he finished his work; if he felt unmotivated or that the work was too hard, he would simply not do it. Despite that, he is good at sciences and history, finding it easier to connect the effects of real people and direct natural phenomenon to something with meaning. He was never a strong reader and finds English classes and essays a major challenge.

In particular, Johnny has developed a burgeoning interest in science, mainly biology. He finds animals more relatable and simpler than people, thinking that their existence is more interesting and less complicated. He isn’t naïve enough to think that animals have easier lives than people, but he finds the things animals do and the things they do to survive. He also simply likes to learn about the obscure and often bizarre characteristics of animals.

As part of Johnny’s growing interest in animals, Johnny was reluctantly permitted by his family to adopt a dog on the condition he improved his grades, which was actual motivation to him, though his performance worsened soon after. As part of his agreement, Johnny was to pay for any expenses related to Sunny. Tomas expected this to be a final deterrent; he refused to employ Johnny at the own restaurant when Johnny asked, not wanting Johnny to follow in the family's career path as he'd hoped for them to excel in more prestigious fields. To his surprise, however, Johnny was further motivated, and as such has been working at a Subway for the past 3 years, though he and his father hate the arrangement as he still ended up in a food service position.

Johnny’s dog in question, Sunny, is about 11 years old, being relatively healthy for her age, but still at risk for health issues as a result. Worrying about her wellbeing, Johnny found himself increasingly involved in studying animal medicine, something he found himself surprisingly passionate about. He finds himself far more empathetic for animals than for most people, since interactions with humans put them at a huge disadvantage in many ways. This growing interest has led him to volunteer at the local animal shelter, where he helps socialize and provide care for the animals, though he is somewhat irregular in his visits if he's feeling down about other things.

This passion has become a worry for Johnny though, as he has realized that his poor academics and lifelong resistance to achievement would made it much harder for him to get the chance to practice, as veterinarians require both undergraduate and specialized MDs. As a result of this, he has reluctantly begun putting in greater effort and working on extra credit and other ways to improve his grades, a source of internal conflict for him as he recognizes that this extra work has proven stressful for him as he expected.

Luckily, it has also proven successful; as a result of his great improvement from freshman year to the end of junior year and onward, a few of Johnny’s applications were accepted, including Cornell University. However, while his family is still not middle class, they are no longer struggling as they were, and his mediocre grades reduce his chances of scholarships. His soccer experience helps, but Johnny is currently struggling to plan his finances and as such is still not sure what school he can afford to attend if any. This is made worse by his parents’ attempts to support him, as he is angered by their improved attitude stemming from his academics and thinks that they are therefore conceited and appraise him entirely based on his grades.

Soccer continued to be a distinguished passion in Johnny's life. By his teens, he was a solid player, with an aggressive playstyle that favored the forward and striker roles, but he was by no means exceptional. An above-average at best, though he did make the varsity team, Johnny sometimes feels discouraged because he has difficulty improving. For this and other reasons he has given up on reaching pro level, but he still enjoys the sport. He also follows college and professional games, either rooting for the most local teams or for Brazil. This is one of the few activities he willingly participates in with his family.

Having been a casual fighting game player since 9th grade, in the last year Johnny is involved in low-level competitive play, where he performs reasonably well. To facilitate this, Johnny saved up for an purchased a PlayStation 4, which became his main gaming platform. His main games are Tekken 7 Street Fighter, especially the former, where he mains Dragunov. He plays other games, like Marvel Vs. Capcom, casually, and in general favors aggressive rushdown characters in all games. He is technically skilled and can play his preferred characters very well, but usually loses in the mental game and is known to be easily baited and to lose his patience against turtling players.

The strain of Johnny’s relationships with his family is still prevalent. Though maturing has softened his resentment of his parents, he still finds their desire to push his siblings and him selfish and callous. He is reluctant to spend any time at home and avoids speaking to them when he can. He is slightly less hostile to Paula, who at least tries to understand his feelings, but she ultimately defers to Tomas.

Johnny is somewhat more amicable towards Marcela and Eduardo, but because they are much older than him, they have little in common. Furthermore, Marcela currently lives in New York City as a practicing psychiatrist, while Eduardo is studying for his masters in anthropology in South America. They are both doing relatively well despite their struggles in school, and Johnny is happy that they are doing well, though he has little contact with them. Eduardo in particular is more inclined to reach out to Johnny to support and bond with Johnny, but such efforts are usually met with suspicion and reluctance.

Advantages: Johnny is physically in excellent shape, with extremely strong leg muscles, high core strength, and great stamina. Johnny is stubborn, which shows strongly in his resistance to being controlled or restricted by others, and he becomes more determined when faced with opposition.
Disadvantages: Johnny isn’t very affable and can be prone to barbs or hostility with minimal provocation. His rebellious nature may make him more resolute, but also adds greater risk of inciting a conflict if he feels provoked. Johnny has low self-esteem and a negative attitude in general, and if he isn’t absolutely dedicated to a goal, he loses motivation very quickly.

Designated Number: Male student no. 022

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Designated Weapon: Bryan Calvert’s SPAS-12 shotgun

Conclusion: He'll rebel to anything as long as it's easy. Fucking pussy. - Josie Knight

DECEASED