Art was born into a high end political family in Rome, Italy. He seemed to be a perfectly normal child until around the age of 3 when his parents became concerned that he couldn't talk, walk, feed himself or anything. It was then they found out that he had severe mental impairment. Being highly political, his parents came to despise him and before long abandon him on the front steps of the Police station.
It was then that a young rookie cop named Tony Johnson found Art and became real fond of the lad. He knew who the parents were, but the father had a card in his favor reguarding a single case of infidelity. Tony kept his mouth shut and a close eye on Art as he made numerous rounds through the foster care system.
Around the time Art was 5 Tony gave him a stuffed bunny, that became known as Mr. Stuffies. It is Art's most prized possesion and he would be lost without it. By the time Art was 13 he had been through more foster homes that imaginable, the only constant thing in his life being Tony and his wife Alice and Tony made extra effort to spend time with Art because he loved him like a son. He taught him as much as he could, but Art was slow and had to be taught things time and again. Progress was slow, but by 17 Art could speak real broken english, dress himself for the most part and knew a lot about horses.
It was about the time of his 18th birthday when he was hired on at the Capelli Ranch as a ranch hand, a job he took to like a duck to water. he loved working with the horses and did it well, always willing to work as long and as late as the head ranch hand asked him to. He was happy.
It was around this time that two life changing events happened, the meeting of two people, a young housekeeper named Susie and another ranch hand named Bobby.
Susie was caring and kind to Art, took her breaks and spent them helping him learn to talk better among lots of other things. She grew very fond of Art and they started swimming in the main ranch house pool. Not having suits, they swam nude and played around in the usual way. Until a few months before Art's 19th birthday, when a lot more happened and it was the lasts time he and Susie played in the pool. A few days later she quit and moved to Venice to be with her family after the death of her father. She didn't know it at the time, but she was pregnant with Art's child.
Once she found out, she started writing Art but he couldn't read or write so he just saved the letters as more prized possesions with hopes that one day someone would read them to him.
Bobby on the other hand, was polar opposite of Susie. He was mean, cruel, uncaring and controling. Soon after being hired at the ranch, he started using the ranch to circulate his cocaine around Italy. After a few years, Art discovered it and was going to tell. It was then that Bobby started beating on Art near daily and concocted a story about him having a non existant sister of Arts named Sandy. Being simple, it wasn't too hard for Bobby to get Art to believe it and used it as a controler for him to keep him silent. Which it did for a few years.
Until one fatefull day when he helped to save the head ranch hand's life. Ben Allen is the brother in law of the ranch's owner Cher Capelli and when Art brought the near gone Ben in from the feilds, he forever endeared himself to the Capelli family. Within a few days, almost every skeleton in the ranch's closet came out. From the drugs, to the abuse Art suffered daily to the simple fact that the main houses housekeeping staff took advantage of Art and concieved a total of 10 other children by him, making a total of 11. One of which lives with Art along with his son with Susie, who died in a car accident.
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