The Moment of Truth

I was jealous of your newfound fortune and fame. Especially the fame part as you were nowhere before then you appeared magically like a rabbit being pulled out of a magician's top hat.

You arrived on the scene and was planning on only being there for a short while or a hot minute. Then your plans changed with one word, "Money".

You turned from shy and quiet, to loud, obnoxious and proud, where you started to see dollar signs and you were hooked. You found the attention to be a breath of fresh air. You were reeled in like a rewinded video cassette tape and you shrugged your shoulders with a sigh.

You felt like you would owe anyone and everyone no matter whether they be stranger, friend or foe, old or young, rich or poor, yep starting to sound like a set of wedding vows. Then it hit you like a ton of bricks and slammed you dead in the face, point on.

You were not prepared to fulfill your new list of promises and the letdown was more than you could handle. You were at first surprised and morbid in your demeanor. You would slouch down and wish for them to leave you alone.

You wanted this, had wished for this moment in the sun and the five minutes of fame that was thought to be heavenly, turned into a nightmare of eternal chaos and grief. You were introduced to so many drugs (prescription and non-prescription), to so many women who were only after one thing, that was not involving your body (you are no and were no Charles Atlas, in that department) and you were becoming all that you had once considered less important now was mentally anguish.

Then the rumors started. The tongues wagged and you were on the receiving end of the gossip and lies. You had never known of or heard of such things before your rise to the top or your name becoming a Hollywoody household, maybe spoken of in the tabloids or mentioned on the local news networks, to say the least.

You were a minor known and most looked at this and just laughed. Those that knew were not talking. Most that didn't know were going about their business like it was nobody's business. Known today and unknown tomorrow. Say, "How do you like fortune and fame now that you have been given it only to be taken away from you all in the span of maybe one complete day?"

Yes, you felt alive with all your new friends, who were there for only one thing, Money. They too were out to use you up and get from you whatever they could get then they threw you away like a day-old bread.

To be on the arm of some of Hollywoody's hottest women and then looked at as though you meant less to them than before, since they didn't know way back when, and now they know you they could care less than before.

You rubbed elbows with many who were looking for a fresh new face and your face aged overnight, no cold cream could help them wrinkles. Plastic surgery was paid for by the best but that made you look distorted and no longer new and fresh, no longer young and carefree. They all looked at you and shrugged you off.

Once the phone rang endlessly, now the phone never rings. Your place in their world was cut short by your abuses that physically stole from you all that was there and now was less attractive and less appealing.

Then the bills started to pile up and you no longer could get work to pay the bills; the collectors were there beating on your door for one reason or another. They repossessed all your adult toys, and they offered you headache and heartache.

Your once full calendar for dates dwindled down to zero and you were no longer the hottest ticket in town. The in-crowd and the A-list were no longer around at your beck and call. The city was like a vise, and you falter with your words to express how you felt about this. Then you started to contemplate the final deal. The final straw that you knew would break your back, repeatedly.

You were pulling at your hair until the hair plugs came out. The once trimmed goatee was ripped out from the roots, your arms filled wounds of past shooting up beyond repair. You were turning to hard drugs then you fell backwards, relapsing into a blind stupor and were not sure what day it was or where you were.

You called me more than once, hoping for a sympathizing ear, that bridge was burnt long ago and you would never be able to cross that once again, it was beyond broken. Your lies and treason had made that happen more often than not.

You were long since gone before the fall and you were not willing to actually admit your responsibility for this, yet you were trying to get cleaned up, but you never truly did. You fooled yourself into believing it would finally come to this, and you finally won your battle which made the journey all the harder to travel.

You walked up to the roof, looked over the edge and was feeling faint. You slowly walked to the edge again, peering over the edge, then took a leap of faith that ended in a final splat and your final curtain call.

You name was mentioned again one more. But this time it was not for a new movie or a new part. It was to let the world know that Hollywoody had claimed another victim and you were chewed up and spit out like a wad of bland gum. You were the one-minute news item, that the adoring fans of yesterday were not in the least bit interested about. You finally did what you said you would never do at all. Live and Die in Hollywoody.