Survival Of The Fittest

(Continued from Nowhere To Go)

It had taken quite a while for Monty to arrive at the Prominade for his meeting with Dr. Manning. After all, Monty didn't own a car and had nobody to request a ride from. But, at least it offered him the opportunity to get a good jog in.

D'Amico & Sons was an Italian restaurant located on the third floor of the Prominade. It was too fancy to regulate itself to a food court, but not fancy enough to warrant a location other than the local mall.

Monty soon entered the place. He soon spotted Dr. Manning sitting alone at a table. She had long, blonde hair, large, red rimmed glasses and was fat. Extremely fat. Hell, Monty was surprised that she could even fit in the booth that she was sitting in.

Dr. Manning seemed to have spotted him and was waving Monty over. Monty silently strolled up and took a seat across from her. As he sat down, Monty noticed that there was a basket of garlic bread sitting to the side. Manning seemed to have already had a couple slices while waiting for Monty to arrive.

"Hello, Monty. Would you like some bread?" She said in her chirpy, high pitched voice, It was like nails on a chalkboard to Monty's ears. The pushiest and most condescending nails to have ever existed.

"I'm good." Monty muttered, pushing the basket to the side

"I trust you know why I wanted to see you?" Dr. Manning said, reaching over and grabbing a slice of garlic bread.

"Yeah, I do." Monty replied simply. He just wanted this to end as quickly as possible. And, in his experience, the less Monty said, the sooner these sessions ended.

"Why'd you do it? I mean, three fights in one day? What were you thinking?" Manning questioned, jumping right into the session.

"It was one fight. The other two were just a simple slap and a cigarette butt to the neck." Monty pointed out, half-heartedly.

"Just answer the question." Manning stated. Every word out of her mouth seemed to keep the same monotonous tone. Never in any of their sessions had Monty ever heard her raise the volume of her voice. It was just another thing about her that pissed Monty off.

"They picked fights with me. I responded. It's as simple as that. Those three got exactly what they deserved." Monty replied as simply as he could.

"Monty. You can't just go through life attacking everybody you don't like. It's just not..."

At this point, Monty began to zone out. He'd heard this speech from her many times. There was no point in listening to this when he'd already sat through this time and time again. This whole thing was just pointless.

((Theo Behr Starting))

Theo sat in the restaurant alone. He liked being alone. That was one of the reasons that he came here. It wasn't often other students did. The staff recognised him enough to know that he liked a quiet corner, and as little disturbance as possible. He just sat there, reading, and eating a small pasta meal.

Currently, he was working his way through a tract linking the Kennedy Assassination to Al Qaeda, which whilst there was a lot it wasn't saying, had enough subtext to those who understood the lingo that it was very plausible. He wondered how this played with the Freemason investment in SotF, and if there was a link? Most likely via the Vatican Bank. He'd have to do some more research before he put his ideas out there.

He took a sip of his water and looked up, to see Montgomery Pondsworth sat in a booth with some fat woman. This was not good. What the fuck was Monty doing here? He seemed to be more interested in the woman than anything around him. That was good. But why were they meeting?

Theo thought about leaving the money and getting out of the restaurant asap. The staff were used to him doing that, so it wouldn't be a problem. The problem would be if Monty noticed him. He figured the meeting was meant to be unnoticed, which was why it was up here. No, safest surely to just sit here and wait for them to leave.

Monty was getting bored with the fat woman, whatever she had to say, and his gaze was beginning to drift around the room. Theo knew that it was just a matter of time until he was spotted, and then surely Monty would want to know what he was doing spying on him. Basically, whatever he did, he was fucked.

As Dr. Manning droned on and on, Monty's eyes continued to wander. The place was mostly empty, aside from the occasional family having lunch. And some weird looking kid who seemed to be spying on him.

On closer examination, Monty recognized the boy. It was some guy from his school named Theo. Monty only really knew him as the paranoid whack job on meds.

I hate my life. If there's anyone here who needs therapy, it's him. So why am I the one stuck listening to this shit?

Theo still seemed to be staring at Monty. So, Monty simply looked the smaller boy in the eye and silently mouthed "Fuck off". Unfortunately, this action was promptly noticed by Manning, who finally realized that Monty wasn't paying attention to a single word that she'd been saying.

"Monty, pay attention." She said, still not changing her tone or raising her voice. She waited until Monty looked back up at her to continue.

"This is exactly what's wrong with you. You just have no off switch. The only reaction that you ever have is anger. Why is that, Monty? Where does the hate come from?"

"It comes from everybody I know being an idiot." Monty snapped back simply.

"Look Monty," Manning started, "I'm just saying that you need to learn some self control. Think before you act. Don't let yourself get so upset by the most minor annoyances"

At this Monty resisted the urge to burst out in mocking laughter. After all those years she spent getting a degree, the best advice Manning could offer Monty was self-control.

Does she really think that nobody's ever told me that? I've already gotten this fucking speech from her. And my mother. And the principal. Hell, I've even gotten told this by my classmates. My licensed psychologist is about as insightful as some douche bag highschoolers.

But Monty didn't say any of that. Instead, he kept his mouth shut and nodded, still wanting to get this session over as soon as possible. And Manning responded by suggesting ways for Monty to repress his anger.

Dr. Manning was a joke who never should have received a degree in psychiatry. For some in explicable reason, she actually thought that she understood Monty and how he felt and how to improve him. But she didn't. Her advice was bland, generic, and made Dr. Phil look like Sigmund Freud in comparison.

Still, Monty was still stuck here, listening to this barely qualified quack. After all, therapy was a term of his probation. If Monty were to skip a session or run out on one, his ass would be back in prison. And, no matter what he said in public, Monty didn't really want to end up back in there.

So, Monty just sat there and listened to her suggestions. None of Mannings suggestions were too life-changing, just random garbage like getting a journal or stress ball. There was absolutely no way in hell that Monty would ever even consider following through with any of her suggestions, but he still continued to half-heartedly listen.

The session would probably end soon anyways. Soon enough, she would run out of things to say and let Monty off the hook. All he had to do was wait.

Fuck. This was not good. Theo hadn't meant to stare. It had been more of a deer in headlights, but Monty had noticed him. Fuck fuck fuck. He was in for it now. Monty looked severely pissed at him. When he was told to fuck off, he began to feel the panic attack rising.

No, keep calm. I can't get flustered. Flustered is bad. It makes me nervous, it makes bad things happen. Breathe. He tried to control himself, but could feel his breathing and his heart rate increasing. It was times like this that his therapist told him, when you can't remove the stressor, you must remove yourself from the stressor. Yes, get away, get out. Unfortunately, the stressor lay directly in the path to the door.

He gathered his stuff into his bad quickly, breathing heavier all the time. Not here. I can't let it get to me here. But he's going to kill me. I know he is. If not now, then later. He'll find me, and rip my arms off, and then he'll kill me. Him and the rest. All of them. They never liked me. He threw some money on the table, way more than was needed to cover his bill, and began walking as confidently as he could towards the door.

You found one of my private places, and you ruined it. You took this place from me. You knew what it meant, and you destroyed it. And for that, I'll get you.

Just as he reached Monty, he knew that he had to ruin Monty's day as well. He had to stand up for himself. He couldn't let this fucking prick get the better of him. He turned, and despite knowing just what a mistake it was going to be, he grabbed Monty's shoulder and shouted "No, you know what, Monty. Fuck you. I was here first. I'm not letting you force me out of here, you fucking bastard."

The session had started to get back on track. Dr. Manning was back to yammering and saying unimportant crap. If left uninterrupted, Monty may have even been able to get out of this session earlier.

Unfortunately, it would not be that easy. For some inexplicable reason, Theo had decided to confront Monty, placing his hand on Monty's shoulder and cursing him out.. It was an unmistakably stupid move, one which was only going to end with him getting hurt.

Why the fuck is everybody picking fights with me today? Is there something in the water making the kids in this town too stupid to live?

"I'm kind of in the middle of something, dipshit!!!" Monty pointed out, really not wanting to have anything to do with the paranoid lunatic.

He then glanced up at Dr. Manning, who had suddenly stopped talking. She was staring at him. Studying him. Examining how he would react to this. Like some kind of lab experiment.

At this point, any desire to hold back vanished. Monty found himself growing angrier and angrier. He didn't like the idea that his psychiatrist was testing him. He didn't like that some kid who he barely knew had to come and pester him. And most of all, he hated the fact that this bullshit just seemed to keep happening to him.

So, Monty simply took a deep breath and, with considerable strength, swung back his elbow, hoping to slam it into Theo's stomach. He didn't want to get in a fight, all he was hoping for this to make Theo get the hell away from him.

((Excuse me, R-S-Lee, but I really must interject. Monty's actions in this thread are a clear case of God Modding and must be edited. Remember that writers cannot simply make "called shots" against other characters. You may amend the post to state that Monty swings for Theo, but you may not, without Killer_Moth's permission, say that the strike connects. If Killer_Moth did, in fact, give permission for this action, please make an OOC note at the beginning of the post. In either event, please take care of this at your earliest possible convenience and refrain from similar transgressions in the future.))

Theo doubled over as the pain of the thrust to his gut shot through his body. What had he been thinking, confronting Monty Fucking Pondsworth? He knew at the time it was a bad idea, but still, just going up to him, mouth flapping. He wishes at times that he was better able to control himself.

He looked around. The restaurant had gone deathly silent, all eyes on the pair. Theo had tears in his eyes and was struggling to control himself. All that he could say was ‘I'm Sorry. I'm so, so sorry.' more to the restaurant than to Monty. No, Monty would pay for this. He was sick of being bullied by people like him. Yes, he would find a way to get revenge.

No, that was wrong. All of this was just so very, very wrong. He grabbed his bag from where he had dropped it, turned and ran out of the door, all the while thinking, "Damn, Doctor Brock is going to want to up the dosages again. How am I going to explain this one?"

((Theo Behr continued in Meltdown))

Luckily for everybody involved, Theo was not stupid enough to come back for more. He simply ran off in tears, leaving Monty alone with Dr. Manning. By this point, every eye in the restaurant was now on Monty

"You didn't have to do that." Manning said, grabbing the last piece of garlic bread and taking a bite.

At this point Monty couldn't keep his mouth shut any further. He jumped to his feet and stood at the side of the table, looking down on his therapist

"Yes, I did." Monty pointed out. "He came over here, looking to pick a fight with me. And he got it. That asshole got exactly what he deserved. So did Carlson, and Logan, and that Russian chick. They pushed me and I fought back."

"Monty, sit down." Manning said simply, still not showing any change in emotion.

"You know what, fuck you!!!" Monty snapped back. "I don't have to sit here and take this. I'm only supposed to see you once every Sunday. You can't just call me up like this on a fucking weekday."

He took a deep breath before continuing. This was definitely not a good idea. After all, Monty was still on probation. And antagonizing his therapist was definitely an easy way to end up back in prison. But he just couldn't help himself.

"I'm going home. I'll see you at our session. On Sunday." Monty added, turning around and stepping towards the exit. At this point, Manning actually got to her feet and followed after him.

"Monty, do you realize how close you came to ending up back in prison today?" Manning finally said. "You assaulted three students. I don't care if you felt like they deserved it, it was still illegal. I had to beg with your principal to keep you from getting expelled. Seriously Monty, do you want to go to jail?"

Monty felt his stomach sink at her words. He turned around to face Manning, standing there quietly for a couple seconds before coming up with a reply.

"I don't care. It's not as if I have anything else to do. I don't have college or a career to look forward to. What the fuck else am I going to do with my life?" Monty blurted out, immediately regretting those words as soon as they were out of his mouth. With a little bit of hesitation, Monty turned back to the entrance and started walking back to the exit. Manning just stood where she was.

"I don't want to see you end up in a cell, Monty. I'm not going to give up on you." Manning said just softly enough for Monty to hear. This time Monty did not look back as he stormed out into the hallways. But, before leaving, Monty managed to spout off a reply.

"Well, I have!!!"

(Monty Pondsworth continued elsewhere)