Loui Neville

## Backstory (With Dialogue)

Loui was born in Milano, Italy. Raised in a family of wealth and gang crime. He has a sister named Angela which was always kept outside of the loop when it came to family business, only because she wasn’t a man. His father Giuseppe being the Don of the Neville Family and his loving mother Valentina Neville had different kinds of ideas on how to raise their children. Giuseppe always was the type of character that thought tough love was the way. Unlike Valentina, she always supported her kids even if she was on their father’s side when it came to business. The Neville family held a lot of power in their city and owned many businesses that kept them wealthy enough for years.

At the age of 9, Loui was taken to a forest near Milano by his father to learn how to hunt as he believed that to be a man you had to learn how to hunt to prepare himself to survive in the future in a life-or-death situation. Although Loui was nervous, he trusted that his father wouldn’t be as harsh as he usually is with him since hunting is his favourite hobby other than the things, he does at home such as making money of other people’s loses and suffering.

While they were in their car on the way to a forest near Milano, Loui asked his father if he could stop and park the car somewhere so he could use the public toilet. After 5 minutes that his father spent complaining and asking Loui why he didn’t just go before they left the house or why he must drag out every trip making it longer than it should be he finally agreed to stop at the next gas station only because he noticed the gas tank is half empty.

Whilst Giuseppe was filling up the car with gas, Loui finished his business in the public toilets and on his way out while walking back to his dad he gets distracted by the passing cars at high speeds and therefore bumps into a man which was standing and drinking a beer from a glass bottle. The sound of glass hitting the ground and shattering into pieces is heard behind the man. He turns around and looks down only to find young Loui staring at him in shock.

The man begins to shout at Loui with anger, “That was my beer you just made me drop you little brat!”. As Loui begins to shiver and murmurs that it wasn’t his fault, the man aggressively grabs Loui by his shirt and pulls him closer only to continue to shout at him.

One moment later, Giuseppe notices the situation and rushes towards it only to push the man down whilst shouting with pure anger, “What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Once Loui lands on the ground he witnesses his father violently kick the man whilst on the floor. Eventually he stops and goes to Loui to help him get up. However, he then proceeds to pull Loui with him back towards the man on the ground groaning in pain, with a busted lip, broken nose and blood running down his chin.

Giuseppe points at the man whilst looking at Loui in the eye as he says 2 words… “Kick him.” “What?” Loui replied. Giuseppe responds “Be a man and kick him! He disrespected you! Are you going to let him get away with that?”

Loui is pushed once again by his father to be brought closer to the man. Loui begins to look around as he notices a crowd of people from the gas station has gathered watching in silence and horror.

He looks back at the man begging for mercy. “Are you a man or are you a coward?” Giuseppe shouted making Loui jump placing him in a situation he doesn’t want to be in, nor does he agree with his father’s methods of violence which makes him feel pressured to the point he begins to breathe heavily. Feeling a sense of panic, Loui drops on his knees gasping for air.

Giuseppe realising Loui didn’t have it in him to finish the man off, he picks him up and places him in the car in a rush. Once he glances at the gas station’s shop, he notices a store clerk dialling 3 digits on the telephone rapidly. At that moment Giuseppe storms back towards the man on the floor and kicks him one more time, knocking him out. Afterwards he runs to the car and with haste he drives off as he hears sirens.

As Loui faces the car window, Giuseppe calls him a failure and a disgrace to the family. Whilst Loui recovers from his first panic attack as they drive at a highspeed away from the gas station, Giuseppe proceeds to call him a word that will stay in his head for years. “Coward!”

That day not only was a hunting trip ruined but it was the day Loui knew that when he grew up, he would not want to turn into his father. A man driven by power and violence.

19 years later, Loui is attending his father’s funeral. Due to poor healthcare and bad life choices Giuseppe Neville passed away. After nearly 2 decades of ignoring his father and shutting him out of his life, here he is. Watching his uncles, cousins and other family members making speeches and sharing memories they had with his father. Even his sister Angela made a short and simple speech about the little moments she had with her father. Until it was Loui’s turn as suggested by his mother giving him a glance.

Although his mother already knew he didn’t want to, she was hoping that the support she has given him over the years would help him be able to forgive his father. However, that wasn’t the case as Loui glanced back at her and shook his head in denial. Whether it was the anger issues his father let out on him or that day when he called him a coward, over the years it became this repetitive ringing sound of a word repeating itself in his head over and over again.

As the funeral’s wake reaches its end, everyone is sitting in groups of tables drinking and eating refreshments. Loui sitting sideways on his chair, still holding a glass of wine, and looking down on the floor. Hoping for the cars to come around real soon so he can leave as soon as possible and go back to what his life has been like the last few years. Bartender at one of the many family’s Pubs, working from 9 to 5, and sometimes even overtime. Earning his money independently, away from his family’s dirty businesses, living a somewhat quiet and peaceful life.

In the meantime, a gentleman with a worried look on his face stares at Loui one table away. Loui begins to notice the man, but he remains where he is and tries to ignore him. “What could he possibly want from me?” Loui thinks to himself. A moment later, his questions are answered as he stands up and approaches Loui.

“You’re Loui Neville? Right?” he asks. “Who is asking?” replies Loui. “Just somebody that didn’t want to miss this funeral.” In confusion Loui responds, “Listen, whatever you think I am involved in, I am not.” “That’s funny coming from you.” The man says. Loui decides to stand up, place his drink on the table and walks away. The man not being finished, proceeds to follow him as he grabs Loui by the shoulder to pull him back towards him to say, “Must have been a great feeling to watch your father kick my nephew to death.” Loui is left in shock as he knows exactly what he is talking about. After all, how could he ever forget that traumatic day. However, Loui does not respond and stays silent. After a minute, he walks towards the nearest balcony and grips the metal railing tightly. He looks down with sadness as he wishes he could put it all behind. That moment is interrupted as the man joins Loui on the balcony, and asks him “So are you not going to say anything? No, “Sorry.” Or “I am sorry for the pain I have caused you?” Loui remains silent, whilst looking down. “Do you even realise the kind of suffering that you caused my nephew? He had to eat from a straw for 3 months! Followed by medical bills that no one in our family could afford. Few years later he died after having lived a miserable life.” Loui grips the metal railing even tighter and closes his eyes for a moment beginning to feel the guilt. “Must have been easy for you with mommy and daddy paying for everything. I mean, what kind of man are you? A **coward**?”.

Suddenly Loui opened his eyes, looked up and turned around. He no longer saw a man accusing him of being responsible for his nephew’s death. He began to see his father instead, standing right in front of him. Loui forms a tight fist while trying to hold back. The man looking like Loui’s father then brings up the question, “What now? Are you going to hit me? Like the man that your father is? Or as the **coward** that you are? Hiding from the truth?”

That was the moment Loui snapped and threw a punch at the man’s face knocking him down to the floor. He then grabs him by his shirt and starts to furiously beat the man with his fist repeatedly. Hearing the man groaning in pain didn’t stop him. However, he then stood back up and began to kick him.  He kept hearing his father’s voice in his head shouting, “Kick him!” per each kick over and over again. Loui repeated his father’s words by shouting them back. “Kick him!”

Suddenly, he heard his mother shouting at him, “Loui that’s enough!” as her bodyguards rush in and pin him to the wall. Loui then turns to his mother and notices the look in her eyes. The same look she would have during an argument with his father. Loui, then looked down to see his hands and noticed his heavily bruised red knuckles. A gasp was then heard from behind his mother’s shoulder. It was Angela, looking at Loui with shock, whilst her nose and mouth were buried in her hands.

As much as Loui hated to face it, he realised he truly became his father. All those years he spent ignoring him whether it was for the best or not he would still cease to be a better man and become his nightmare of a father. All those years he would occasionally run into him however no word was said. Only a look that only his father could perfect so much that you could read right through it and hear what word he would think of. Failure.

Yet here he is, beating a man whose family suffered for his and his father’s actions. That’s when the man slowly gets up to turn around, spits blood on the floor out of his mouth, with a smug face and then lays back down facing the sky and proceeds to say the one sentence Loui always feared to hear.

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

A tear fell down Loui’s face as he was ashamed. The men holding him to the wall let go of him and watched him run to the closest toilet. The door is then loudly shut, followed by the sound of the lock being turned.

Loui in despair turns on the faucet and begins wash his hands and face in hope to make himself feel better. However, he then notices his right-hand trembling, his breathing slowing down, feeling once again the sense of panic. As he tries to calm down, he leaves the faucet on, slides down to the ground and closes his eyes. He suddenly passes out for a few minutes.

Next thing, he wakes to the sounds of his mother knocking and calling out his name in worry. “Loui? If you can hear me, I want you to know we can fix this. We can just get rid of him and go back to normal.” Loui didn’t like the sound of that idea. Other than the few minutes he had laying down to calm down, he hears the ocean and its waves. That’s when he notices the wide-open window. That was it. That was Loui’s chance to run away and leave it all behind.

Not knowing where he was heading, Loui safely climbed out of the window and took the first taxi that he saw. Got in a rush and when driver asked him, “Where to?” He looked at the corner of the postcard sticking out of sun visor with the American flag. Then remembered his dear friend named Tia-Marie Watson which he met her a while back in Braiport in the US. She had sent him a postcard in the past recommending him to visit them in Los Santos.

15 hours later, Loui relives that day of the hunting trip repeatedly. Hearing his father calling him a coward like a ringing bell. Until the world started to shake like an earthquake.

Loui opens his eyes and wakes up from his nightmare. He realises it was no earthquake. The plane landed.

Then a flight attendant announces, “We have officially landed in Los Santos International Airport.”

There it was. The start of a new chapter in Loui’s life. Full of possibilities and potential. Loui promised himself that from now on he will do his best to give himself a second chance and be the best of a good man that he will ever be capable of becoming.