SURVIVOR.

BIOGRAPHY

Trigger Warnings: Alcoholism & physical abuse.

        Growing up in Miami, Florida, Jason Blackwood was born into a troubled family, but nobody would have ever known. In the small, two-bedroom apartment filled with cracked walls and broken beer bottles on the floor, he lived with his father, Daniel, mother Janessa, and his two younger siblings, David and Joslyn. Outside of their house, they acted as one of the picturesque families seen in picture frames. They smiled and laughed together, but that was because Daniel was their puppet master, and if they didn’t behave as he wanted them to, all of them were in trouble. Inside the home, they lived in the devil’s playpen. Daniel worked as a failing lawyer who was losing case after case. Already an alcoholic, a wave of newfound anger was brought home to the rest of the Blackwood family, and none of them saw what was coming.

At the age of 13, Daniel started to abuse Jason and the rest of his family physically. This lasted for four years. During these four years, his father hurt him if he didn’t do anything right by him. If he didn’t bring him more beer, he got kicked in the gut. If he made the slightest noise while he was on a phone call, more scars were added to the collection found on his body. Since the young boy didn’t know any better, his father made him believe this was normal and that every family had this exact situation. While all of this was happening, he and his siblings went to school and got a good education. The school was his seven hours of freedom. He hated leaving school, his teachers, and his friends as he never wanted to return home.

At the age of 17 and almost done with his junior year of high school, Jason couldn’t handle being beaten anymore. He wanted to tell his best friend about his situation, but Daniel knew his best friend’s dad was a police officer. He demanded never to see his friend again. As his best friend secretly knew about the bruises and scars covering his body, he confronted him in no time. He told his best friend what was happening at home, and he quickly learned that his situation wasn’t normal and he wasn’t safe. Before his father could find out, he and the rest of the family joined a local child advocacy center, and they helped him immensely. In a matter of days, his father was arrested and it took him three trials until he was finally put in prison.

At the beginning of his senior year of high school, Jason still couldn’t believe he was free from his father. His family was safe, and so was he. Finally, feeling stress and fear lift from his shoulders, he started to become a new person. After the first week of school passed, he already knew his place as the wallflower. As his social skills were a mess and motivation was at an all-time low, he observed the party-goers and quickly joined their group. Having alcohol roam through his system, he felt laid back, more extroverted, and overall happy. With his head buzzing and body clinging onto couches and walls, he was making friends, dancing the night away, and having fun. Coming home drunk or crossfaded as can be, he found a healing family and an attention-seeking side of him he never knew about. After graduating from high school, he didn’t know what to do. As his mother found new stress laying on her shoulders from unpaid bills his father left, he helped support his family as much as he could. As tension brewed within his home, he acted out in the only way he knew how. He knew his family was building from the ground up, and he could have helped them more, but instead, he partied in local clubs, bars and passed out in multiple booths when he didn’t want to go home. Feeling like he didn’t have a home anymore, he left Miami for good.

Grabbing any money he could, Jason packed up his things and walked onto a bus with no destination in mind. After a day and a half flew by, he woke up in Las Vegas, Nevada. He never thought he’d end up here, but he was somewhere where nobody knew him or his last name. Taking everything he had and entering the city, he found himself partying in the closest bar he could find. Waking up hungover the next day, half of his stuff was gone, including the rest of his money and snacks. Living on the streets, he’d beg for money, eat wrapped up food from garbage cans, and live off of free drinks in bars. One night, he was drunk and happy, and the next thing he knew, he was someone’s sugar baby. Having no expectations, he found himself now living his best life. He was dressed in fabrics he couldn’t pronounce and eating the best food, and it was easy for him to forget his life in Miami and its people. He lost touch with his family, friends and turned his full attention to his new person. Learning they worked in the porn industry, he decided to join it too. In a matter of a few years, he was seen in short videos, in big movies, and became a well-known porn star.

Being in the business for a few years, Jason gained a lot of money. He sent some to his family members, lived in his own place, became friends with other celebrities like himself, his social skills skyrocketed, and he learned to be friends with people he was having sex with. When it was time to leave the business, he decided to pursue a new profession in the restaurant business. Entering his dirty thirties, he was ready to say goodbye to Vegas and start somewhere new. He loved the city and the memories it gave him, but it was time to go. Once he was ready to work as a server, he started to job search, and before he knew it, he was offered a serving job at the only diner in Pine River, Virginia. He was not fond of the small town size. He was ready for a new change and decided his fresh start would begin there. Packing up his things, he said goodbye to the city and headed back east. A few weeks later, he moved to town, found his tiny one-bedroom apartment at The Village View, and started working as a waiter. Just like Vegas, he was more than ready to start new again in Pine River, Virginia.

PERSONALITY TRAITS