Chapter 17
Ok, so no comments on the last chapter. I hope that means you all like it, lol.
DaoistW36PIs little late but she is on the list. Not for a while, however, seeing as she is, I think, 14 at this time. I have to look up her age, but she is definitely on the list. As for your other comment, there will be times when he seems like a simp or trying to curry favor with actresses, but remember, this is Hollywood. Building connections is a must even if he comes off as chasing a woman.
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There are moments in TV history. Moments that people don't easily forget. Sometimes, they are jump-the-shark moments like on Happy Days. Sometimes, they're like Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special. Regardless of what they are, the fact is that they don't happen that often. Most moments are forgotten as soon as they happen. In the latter part of 1997, I had my moment. It was a moment that people would remember for a long time. – Caesar Espinar.
Looking back, I don't remember the ride to the hospital all that well. I remember the fight; I remember the cops, and I remember just barely keeping conscious on the ride to the hospital. Something the doctors told me was a miracle, all things considered. Seeing as the knife wounds I had suffered were a lot worse than I had first thought. I, however, saw it as just another day at the office. It wasn't the first time I had been stabbed, after all, and thanks to that bitch of a foster mother, I had for a time, I knew better than to pass out.
When I arrived at the hospital, I remember clearly telling the doctor no drugs other than what was needed to numb up the area itself as they closed me up. I even went so far as to slap the pills the nurse tried to give me out of her hand. Telling her no fucking drugs. My mother was a crack whore, and me a crack babe. When I was brought into this world, I was already hooked on drugs. So, I knew all too well the risks that came with taking any drug with a strong addiction rate. Hell, I didn't even take aspirin that often. Preferring the headache to the chances of getting hooked on something
Needless to say, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night. So, I stayed up all night watching TV as the news covered my story. Smiling as I thought that fucker at the hospital had done me a huge favor. It was almost enough to make me laugh joyfully at the thought of what this would do for my career. That is so long as I capitalize on it while it is still big news. To do that, however, I had to wait. Wait for tonight when Danny shows up. Till then, I was trapped in a room with my lawyer and Tiff, who had arrived late last night.
"Caesar…. Caesar, are you okay?" My lawyer Alex called out to me while I was in a daze.
Looking at the woman with angry bloodshot eyes, I say, "Yes…. Yes, I hear you."
"Shit, Caesar, you really need to let the doctors give you something. You look pale." Alex says with worry in her voice.
I shake my head and say, "Forget it. Now repeat what you just said."
Shaking her head, Alex looks at Tiff for help, but she shakes her head, too. She has already tried several times since she got here to get me to take something for the pain, but with no luck.
With a sigh, Alex says, "I was saying there is a chance you could face charges for what happened at the club."
I laugh a bit and say, "Is that so?"
"Yes, that is so," Alex answers.
"But why? The other guy was the one who started everything? Caesar was defending that poor girl whom he hit." Tiff says in, outraged.
"Yes, and that is why the DA hasn't served an arrest warrant yet. But the fact remains that Caesar nearly beat a guy to death with his bare hands. The guy is still in the ER in a coma." Alex says, and I laugh.
"This is not a joking matter, Caesar. You could go to jail for a long time." Alex says.
I keep laughing to mask the pain and say, "You're right. It isn't funny. It's fucking hilarious that you think I will be arrested. The guy pulled a knife and tried to kill me, and the public is behind me, and it's an election year."
I then picked up the TV remote and turned it on to the news, which was covering the attack.
"Public support is behind me right now, and while I am not a political figure, they won't risk tossing my ass in jail. Still, to be sure, I called someone to help me." I say to them.
"Who," Tiff asks.
Hearing a knock at the door, we all hear a strong male voice call out, "Hey, chico, you alive in there."
"Ya, Danny, come in," I say in a somewhat weak voice.
Walking in, Danny first spots Tiff and Alex and says, "Hey Tiff, Alex, how is it going."
"Danny, what are you doing here?" Tiff asks.
"I don't know, Caesar called me. Said he needed some help with something." Danny says
"That is right, I did. Can you help me up?" I ask him.
He looks at me like I am crazy, then says, "What?"
"I asked if you could help me up," I ask again.
"Ah, chico, I don't think that is a good idea," Danny says to me while Tiff is outraged that I would ask Danny to do something like that when I should be resting.
"Caesar, what the hell are you saying? Of course, he isn't going to help you up." Tiff says to me in anger.
I ignore her and look Danny in the eye and say, "Danny, this is about keeping me from going to jail. So, can you help a friend, please? We don't have much time to spare."
Looking at me for a moment, Danny finally says, "Ah fuck, all right, but you better not fucking die on me."
"Danny, what the hell are you doing?" Tiff asks.
"Hey, you heard the man. If this is about keeping him from going to jail, I will help him in any way I can." Danny says. Not fully understanding what is going on. From what he had been hearing on the news, if Caesar fucked up that guy as bad as they were saying, then there was a real chance of him being charged with a crime. Self-defense or not, you don't beat the shit out of a guy that much without it coming back on you in some way.
As Danny helps me up and get dressed like a true friend, I look at Alex, who is not shy about me being half-naked in front of her. "Alex, this woman who was hit at the club, how is she?"
She starts realizing what I am attempting to do and says, "She is fine. The guy hit her pretty hard, and she hit the ground head-first. She will be fine, but she did suffer a slight concussion and sprained wrist."
I nod my head and say, "Good, make sure her medical bills are covered. I don't want her paying a fucking dime for anything."
Letting out a sigh, she says, "Understood, and let me guess, you want this to be leaked to the press."
I don't answer that as I finish dressing, and Danny helps me out of the room so I can check myself out. I checked the time; I had 30 minutes, maybe 40 minutes. I didn't have time to waste explaining myself.
Once we get to Danny's car, he asks me, "Okay, where are we going bróder?"
I wince in pain for a moment and say, "First, a liquor store. I am not going to make it past the night fully sober."
"Fuckkkkk, don't fucking bleed all over my car, man," Danny says as we drive off.
"And welcome back, folks, to Tonight's Show. I am your host, Jay Leno, and with me is the lovely Jennifer Aniston from the hit show Friends….." Jay is saying when one of the producers suddenly runs up to him on set.
It was highly unusual for them to do something out of the blue like this. However, when the producer whispers something in his ear, he quickly understands why.
"He is what?" Jay says, not believing what he is hearing.
The producer whispers in his ear again, and Jay doesn't know what to say, but his brain kicks into high gear.
"Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, for the small delay. We seem to have a surprise guest for you all tonight. You know him from his work as the writer of the hit movies Se7en and Scream. As well as the lead writer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I give you all Caesar Espinar." Jay says, and out walks Caesar.
Like everyone else, Jay didn't know what to expect or think when his producer told him Caesar had just shown up at the studio. What he did know was that at this very moment, Caesar walked onto the stage; they had just made TV History. Caesar's skin was pale, and he was clearly in pain as he walked out wearing nothing but a pair of jeans, tennis shoes, and a buttoned T-shirt that gave you a clear look at the bandages over his stomach where he was stabbed.
Walking up to Jay, I shake his hand with the arm that is also bandaged up. God, I was in pain, but I greeted him with a smile and then went to greet Jennifer Aniston, whom I had never met before.
Leaning in a bit, I say, "Sorry about this."
I am a little shocked when she says, "Think nothing of it, and good job last night, Caesar."
I nod to her thinking I would have to write something for her to make up for this shit later, before taking a seat. A technician runs up to me to get me all mic up, being very careful not to touch me too much.
Once the technician is done, Jay looks at me momentarily and says, "Well, Caesar, I have to say, you look good tonight?"
The audience laughs just a bit as a feeling of awkwardness falls over them.
I planned to get rid of the awkwardness quickly by saying, "Really? Thanks, Jay. I have to say, man, I was a little worried when I arrived. I was feeling kind of overdressed if you know what I mean."
"Oh sure, sure, bandages just send a strong message," Jay says with a smile.
I nod my head with a smile and say, "That they do, Jay."
Starting to feel somewhat more relaxed, Jay says, "So, how are you feeling."
"Like I have been stabbed for some reason," I say to him.
"Hmmm, I wonder why?" Jay answers right back.
"I have no idea either, Jay," I answer as we start to get into a grove, and the audience begins eating it up and relaxing.
However, before Jay can ask me the question he clearly wants to ask, I stop him and say, "Jay, Jay, one moment before you ask anything else, can I just say something real quick?"
"Go ahead," Jay answers.
Now, I am not the best actor, but I do my best to make it look like I am nervous and rub my pants for dramatic emphasis: "God, wow, I didn't think I would be this hard, but…" I look at Jennifer Aniston and say, "Miss Aniston…." I lick my lips, "Can I have your autograph?"
The audience busts out laughing at him. Here was a guy who had just been stabbed and rushed to a hospital, and he looked too scared to ask a woman for her autograph.
Again, I am no actor, so I am unsure how well I sold it, but that isn't what mattered. What mattered was that right then, I had captured them. They were eating out of the paws of my hand, and Jay, being the veteran he was, knew it. So did Jennifer, for that matter, who quickly jumped in. While this was clearly not what she expected to happen tonight, she was too much of a professional not to know how to take advantage of this moment.
For the next 10 minutes or so, we just go back and forth, having a good time even as blood starts to show a bit on the outside, my bandages from laughing too much. Then, the show goes to a commercial break. Jay stands up and walks to me, but I don't stand in turn—unable to because of the pain I was in.
So, he very casually sits down next to me and whispers in my ear, "Caesar, you bleeding man, are you still good to go?"
I wave at the audience so they don't realize how bad the pain is getting, and I say to Jay, "Keep the show going, Jay. Let's give them one they won't soon forget, but have a team ready to rush me back to the hospital."
Jay nods and says, "You got it, and thank you for this. I won't forget it."
And how could he? Neither of us knew it then, but we had just made the Tonight Show the number-one talk show in the US.
When the commercial ended and he welcomed everyone back, Jay quickly moved on to the subject we both knew he wanted to discuss, and I was ready to answer him.
"So Caesar, I guess you know what is coming next." He says.
"I'm pretty sure I do, but first, let me give a shout-out to Dr. Dre and Usher for having my back last night and let everyone know that if it weren't for them having my back, I wouldn't be here tonight," I say into the camera, and the audience starts to clamp loudly.
Jay does as well and says, "Yes, about last night, can you tell us more? I mean Caesar, you were stabbed."
"Not just stab but cut to Jay," I say, holding up my left arm to show the bandage.
I then told the story of what happened in detail, including what wasn't in the news. Once I got to the end, Jay, Jennifer, fuck everyone in the fucking building was stunned. The exact reaction I wanted from them. After all, the one who controls the narrative controls people's opinions.
Jennifer is the first to speak and, without any acting required, says, "Oh my God, Caesar, that is so brave. To jump in to protect someone you don't even know when they are being attacked. I don't know what else to say."
"Thank you for saying so, Miss Aniston," I say softly.
"Hold up, hold up a moment, Caesar. Let me get this straight. From what you're telling me, you may go to jail for this?" Jay asks in an unbearable voice.
I nod my head and say, "That is right, Jay."
"Why?" Jay asks in slight shock.
I take a moment before answering that.
"Well, I mean Jay, you must look at it from their point of view. I literally beat a man half to death. He is in a coma right now, in fact, and the Doctors have no idea if he will make it." This gets people to suck in a breath because this was not reported on the news yet.
"Ya, but you were just defending someone." Jay points out like it was so obvious, and you know something it was.
But that didn't matter to the DA right now. Popular opinion is what matters. Not that I am going to say that, so instead, I say, "You know something, Jay. You're right, but you know something it doesn't matter."
"What do you mean?" Jay asks
Looking him dead in the eye, I say, "I mean, Jay, if I have to go to jail for this, that is fine. I have spent my whole life thinking I would end up either dead or in jail if this is how I end up in jail. By defending a woman who no one else would, then so be it. I can live with that."
I say this as the audience starts to clamp like crazy. If I take this reaction and apply it across the board, I wish the DA luck in getting anything to stick. And even if they do, all they will do is add to my legacy.