Cletus Redding

Daniel-fore.pngEarly life in Angel Pine
Born on March 2nd, 1968 into a strictly religious home in Angel Pine, as part of the state's bible belt, Cletus Nathan Redding, his middle name inherited from his late grandfather, saw early experiences with a life suppressed by firm regulations within the house of his family. His parents were socioeconomically low- to mid-income earners, and were never quite fully satisfied with their daily habits and routines which they had to limit themselves to in order to fully keep the economy functioning. Angel Pine at the time was renowned to house a portion of the state's strongest believers in Jesus, the holy spirit and the Lord Almighty, so taking it to the next step was never any questioned issue for Cole and Gladys Redding. In plain simple English with that said, they gradually stepped up violence towards their son from the day he turned five. Cletus would thereafter often find himself in situations where he had done just minor misdemeanours such as littering the floor of his room with a single piece of crumpled paper or not wanting to eat the very last piece of fish on his own plate during dinner. His punishments or "Behavioral corrections" as the term preferred by both his parents, ranged from being grounded inside his own room to being whipped a two-digit amount of times to his back with his father's belt.

This became more and more of a daily basis in poor Cletus's life, as he saw his upbringing being coined by domestic violence, not only towards himself, but between his parents at times, when they were in their most unlucky conditions.

Thursday, 8th/Nov/1979 - Diary entry by Cletus Redding:

"Just came home, mom is yelling like today and yesterday. Dad wanted me to fix the drain leakage he said I did for not flushing properly, but I know I had nothing to do with it. I just want to get away from here, forget school.. yeah.. fuck school. I don't want to know more about or believe in God either, not with that personality my two bit folks preach him having. If God is good, why doesnt he do something about my parents or tell them to stop? Why is there starvation in Africa then? I wish I could just go to sleep right here on the floor and dream myself away to a place where everyone is nice and I get served dessert after dinner. All for today.. dad yelled again.. Seems its the last time he tells me to do this in a nice way, I can tell.."

Shaping and molding a fragile mind
A few fragments of that very diary entry, aswell as numerous others he came to make, laid the base for the philosophic turn he went to take later on in life as a fully grown man. Writing was a way for Cletus to drift away and pass time which evidently worked rather effectively, by using his diary in a sheer one way communication just as if talking to a wall, he could get most his troubles, occasional (though rare) happy experiences and everyday thoughts off his mind. Most often though, his formed introverted personality guaranteed him a spot in the shadow, in the background, and he never got to taste the sweet fruits of the life as a young buck. His writing obviously led to him becoming adept in authoring though, as English soon enough stood out as the only subject he really got merits in as finishing high school. Cletus never made it to college and instead decided to take his life experience, mind and opinions elsewhere. The pulsating city life of each of the major melting pots in San Andreas had still not gained his confidence. Thus, Cletus much rather started to pursue his goal in Red County, wanting to preach his message about reducing the human population for the world and, according to himself, Jesus, to a desired effect noone yet knows and may only take a wild shot of guessing.

While driving along the lonesome, deserted country road to his new destination, a local radio put on a rather famous Rammstein song, to which Cletus for some reason started to sing along.

"Wer zu Lebzeit gut auf Erden, wird nach dem Tod ein Engel werden. Den Blick gen Himmel fragst du dann, warum man sie nicht sehen kann."

"Erst wenn die Wolken schlafen gehn', kann man uns am Himmel sehen. Wir haben Angst und sind allein. Gott weiss ich will kein Engel sein."