Ayy, my walk is so cocky the bouncers don't even stop me
Ain't no pat down, no ID
They know me, that shit obvi
Bitch, I pack out the lobby just from fans tryna find me
I got daughters and mothers tryna fuck with the gunner
Chapter Nine Part One-Thanks for everything
Off Camera
Blackpool England
2 Years Ago
Alex sat cross-legged in the ring. The frayed ropes around him serving as a reminder as to where he was and where it all started. He wore a black hoodie zipper up with the hood over his head and a black pair of jeans. His breathing steadied as he looked down at the old stained canvas. His fingertips reaching out to touch it smooth surface. His eyes closed as he inhaled the scent of the gym. The years of history. His history. Her history. All of it was right there.
He looked over at his bag, packed and ready. The tickets sitting on top slid inside his passport. Alex took a slow breath and back out again. He turned and pushed up off the canvas to his feet. He moved around the ring one last tip bouncing on the balls of his feet in his black and white classic style converse. A small smirk coming across his face as he leaned against the corner. His arms stretched out across the top rope on either side as he felt the turnbuckle pad between his shoulder blades. He scoffed and shook his head stepping out of the ring to the apron and then down to the floor.
He heard the footsteps. Danny flanked by a few young students stood in front of Alex. He smiled warmly at his old teacher before shaking both the young men’s hands as they respectfully left their mentor and his guest to talk. Danny shook his head and sighed, his breathing labored as his aging body carried the extra weight and years of wear and tear. He folded his arms over his huge barrelled chest as his eyes wrinkled
“So ya goin home mate?” He raised his eyebrows feigning surprised before letting out a huge laugh. The type Alex had heard a thousand times when he was younger and even more over the recent visits. Alex gave him a simple smile and a nod. “Yeah I guess it’s about time eh?....go home to that pretty lil wifea yurs. Alex swallowed hard and sighed deeply with another smile and nod.
Alex’s mind flashed to Sonja. Her golden blond hair. Her tanned skin. The dimples she got when she smiled. The way she moved, her scent, it all came back to him, flooding all at once. Then as if a sudden punch in the gut it changed to her, Alex shook his head and clenched his hands together as if being shocked by some kind of electricity. Danny grabbed Alex’s arm looking deep into his pupil and friends eyes.
“Kid, ya can’t let it kill ya, remember...bury it…” Alex stared for a moment and looked down and away. “I can’t… Danny raised an eyebrow before sitting on the apron, his hands clasped together as he thought for a moment and then with a deep bellow exclaimed his advice. “Well, ya gotta hard decision ta make lad.”
“If ya can’t bury it, an ya dun want it ta kill ya….” He paused and looked at Alex, but it wasn’t the Alex we all knew. It wasn’t the 30-year-old 9-time world champion who had traveled the world. It was the 19-year-old skinny kid who couldn’t grow a beard to save his life, staring back with bright blue eyes. “Ya gotta cut her out….”
Alex shook his head and leaned back his body seeming to crumble under the advice. “I love her Danny. I wish I didn’t. I wish I could look at her and just see a friend. I came here to find the real me and to let it all go. But I feel like I’m leaving more confused than when I got here man.” Alex clenched his jaw and his fists balled up, his body seemed to break down and crush but then in an instant before hard as granite as he tried to hide it, all the pain, the frustration. He turned it inward.
“Aye, don’t do that lad…” Danny grabbed Alex’s shoulders and stared at him, his eyebrows raised and his eyes filled with understanding. The fatherly voice and advice cutting through the hard exterior like a knife as he broke down. Danny pulled him into a hug nodding and calming him down. After a few moments, Alex pulled back taking a few deep breaths. “I know ya don’t want ta hear it kid. But ya know she ain’t as strong as she thinks she is. Ya gonna have ta be the one to break it…..ta let it go….it ain’t fair Alex. Not to you and not to her….” He grabbed Alex by the back of the neck forcing him to look into his eyes. “If ya love that lass, let her go….” Alex again nodded his head slowly, his heart aching as he saw and felt the truth. His whole body wanting to become a quivering mess on the floor instead he stood up. His body calming, he offered out his hand and Danny took it with a grin “Thanks for everything old man….”
Part Two-Homecoming
Off Camera
New York City
9 months ago
He was nervous. It was a strange feeling for him. Alex was usually so confident in everything he did. In his actions, his words and his history. When it came to his everyday life he puffed out his chest and usually got the job done. In the ring, in business, with women. Alex never had a plan he just did. But this. This was different. He’d been gone a few weeks. He’d snapped due to inner pressures and thoughts. The headaches he had ignored for months before that had become too great. His memories were like daggers that pushed into his mind over and over.
And eventually, he bled out. The stress forced him away.
He ran. He ran to where he’d met her. He ran to someone he thought could understand. He ran to a place he felt safe. A few calls back home or messages just to reassure her that he was alright. And now here he was. Vulnerable. Open. Insecure. Fearful. What was he going to say?. What was he going to feel?. Or worse still. What wasn’t he going to feel?. He stared at the door for what seemed like an eternity. The courage in the pit of his stomach slowly working up. He balled his fist but before he could knock the door opened.
“Alex?” Her voice sounded like an angel. No longer distorted through a patchy international call. no longer a faceless voice of a woman he thought he knew. Now she stood in front of him. A living breathing reminder of what she wasn’t. But it had changed. It wasn’t about who she wasn’t anymore it was about who she is. The moments passed and Alex smiled. A true genuine smile. He loved her. He knew it and felt it but there was always a wall. A block. Just something in the way stopping him from seeing it all. But it had melted the second he saw her.
The golden hair that sat atop her head in a bun. Her soft skin a tanned light brown. The shape of her lips curled up in an awkward, surprised grin forming dimples on her cheeks to go along with her freckles. Her bright blue eyes shining as she stared at him and the tears welled up. She was even more beautiful than he had remembered. The moment lingered and Alex smiled. He didn’t dare say a word. He reached forward and wrapped his arms around her waist.
They embraced as he picked her up in his arms with ease. Her legs wrapped around his hips, her arms around his neck as she met his lips with hers. He pushed into their home kicking his bag through the door and shutting it behind him. She held on tight resting her head on his shoulder nuzzling against his neck the tears flowing freely.
He smiled and sat her down on the kitchen benchtop, her sweatshirt sliding down her shoulder as she wiped her eyes. He smiled again. This time it was calm, weak and mild. His lips curling into a boyish look before his hands reached up cupping his wife’s face. His thumbs glided over her cheeks discarding the tears. “What’s wrong Sonja?....” His voice was deep but soft. His eyes staring into hers. “You miss me or something?”
She laughed and shook her head playfully hitting him as she again wiped her face free. She took a deep breath calming herself before hitting him again harder this time, her face curling in pain as she wept. “I thought you weren’t coming home...I thought..” He made a light shushing sound as he pulled her into his chest. His arms now wrapping all the way around her. She gripped his shirt and refused to let go as he inhaled her scent and it felt like home. His hand brushed her back as she calmed down.
“Don’t you ever do that again.” She hit him again and shook her head. Alex couldn’t help but laugh. He kissed her forehead and grabbed her hand in his, their wedding rings touching. She looked down and sighed with a nod as he leaned forward resting his forehead against hers. “I love you, I’m not going anywhere again….”
He smiled wide squeezing her hand. And for the first time in a long time, the headaches were gone.
I am the Alpha Omega, came from Sonic on a Sega
Crumblin' chronic on the table
Mumbling lyrics in the basement
Like I'm finna go Super Saiyan
I'm saying I ain't had a plan coming out the land
Hanging with my man, tryna sling a gram
Just to rent a van, just to try and tour
Turn some common clothing in to couture
Steal money from the sewer
Look at all that I been doing
All them years I couldn't afford, places in the morgue
We are not the same, say the fuckin' name
God save the Queen….
”I’m not surprised you know….about our win, but that can wait...”
Alex smirks sitting outside what looks to be a run-down gym in Blackpool about an hour west of Manchester. Young men and women carry large sandbags in and out as an older man barks orders. Alex looks over with a fond smile before taking in a deep breath.
”Ahhh England. You know, when I was a kid, about 18 or 19, I traveled around the world to get better at this. I went to Mexico to learn the finer aspects of high flying, I went to Japan to learn how much it hurt to get punched in the face, something that I was fairly sure I knew before going to those gyms, and I also spent time here. See England has a fine tradition of smash-mouth, submission based tough as nails professional wrestlers. It was here I learned the most, not just about wrestling, but life. I learned how to be a man in England before I returned to the United States and started the career and life that has now led me...in an ironic twist..back here…”
“The blast from the past coinciding with the SCW European tour. It’s been amazing going from Ireland to Wales and Scotland before arriving back here. The last stop before London Brawling. Great name by the way. A clever play on words with a wrestling edge. Classic. But, it would be rude of me to ignore the match Devona and I just had. She and I stepped in the ring against Roxi Johnson, SCW and wrestling legend, hall of fame star and her partner. The perennial loser we all know as Caleb Storms who, somehow has the attention of Fenris, now, call me a horrible person but I am looking forward to seeing just what Fenris will do when he gets his hands on Caleb. I mean, as good as I am and I embarrassed the heavy metal dweeb, he has personally offended a man who...well has the demeanor of a wet cat and claws four times as sharp.”
“I knew Caleb was the weak link…”
“And I exploited that.”
“See Devona has the natural raw ability to be a star and to continue what she started during her first run. But I have the wrestling mind that will get us to that final and allow us to win the Blast from the past. We went from the sweet sixteen to the elite eight and now the final four. That’s right it’s us, Kale Smith and Brittany Williams, Amy Santino and Vinnie and of course. Our opponents. Mackenzie Page and Goth.”
Alex slides down from the large concrete slab he was sitting on, he slides his hands into the front pockets of his black jeans, a long sleeved tight fitting black shirt draped over his body cuts an outline of his impressive trim body and muscles. He moves along past some of the trainees including Austin James Mercer and Alicia Lukas who seem to be out training the English recruits, Austin laughing the entire time as he easily moves and throws two cinderblocks in each hand at once leaving all the others in awe.#AustinIsABeast
”Now, first off I want to applaud the female side of Blast from the past. See there have been so many impressive athletes on that side, not just my own partner Devona, but Roxi Johnson, Amy Santino, Alicia Lukas, and our opponent, a member of London Underground, Miss Page. All of the women in this tournament have been amazing and for the most part, let down by their male counterpart. Devona hasn’t, but Roxi was, Alicia was, and I’m afraid to say. Mackenzie will be too.”
“Mackenzie I will say that from what I’ve seen you are impressive and I could see you strike out on your own and be a major player in SCW and you’d be a great challenge for Wilfslair’s own Alicia Lukas. In fact, I could see a great match between London Underground and us. But, alas that’s not to be as you have a giant, well…”giant”
Alex looks over at Austin, all 6’7 of him and laughs.
”6’4 piece of trash named “Goth” as your partner. So, I am very very sorry about that, you deserved better. Many people did really. But, in the spirit of sportsmanship and the fact I really like your hit first ask questions later attitude I’m going to wish you luck. The same can’t be said about Goth…”
“Well, this is interesting, isn’t it?. One of the most decorated men in SCW history against a man who has yet to be decorated in SCW ….but still has more cred than you. A former World champion, roulette champion and internet champion. A man who came back and is everything that this tournament embodies. Blast from the past. And what a Cinderella story it would be huh?. A man who was one of the big names in SCW that helped forge the name sin city coming back and winning a tournament to re-establish himself as a force and face whoever the World champion will be following London Brawling.”
“Well, that champion will be my friend and member of Wolsflair Austin James Mercer and honestly, I think Austin deserves a better class of opponent than a disgusting pervert who refers to women as “broads” who looks like he hangs around outside middle schools in a giant white van with “free candy” hastily painted on the side, You may be a former star of SCW and a champion. But in this world, now, you’re an old warrior who is just looking for a sword to fall on, a shield to lay on and someone to put a bullet in his brain like a broken down old racehorse.”
“Truth is, you were once a threat, but now, you’re just someone limping along in this tournament and being carried by a younger, more talented performer. And you will be in the ring against a guy in his prime who has done more than you could ever possibly imagine. I have already yelled from the rooftops about my title reigns and who I beat and the fact is the only loss I have in this company was in a world title match where it was that other idiot Caleb who got pinned. I am a force of nature and you my friend. Are just in the way. The plan is simple...Alex Jones...beats the old man down and wins the match. Taking myself and Devona to the final at London Brawling...and you?...well..who gives a shit…”</color>
