The phone call was unexpected.
Ty looks at his phone, the caller ID coming up as unknown. Normally, he would send it straight to voice mail but something about it, a feeling inside told him to answer.
Ty
“Hello?”
Unknown
“Is this Tyler West?”
He knew it had to be either a telemarketer or something important. The last time someone had used his whole given name had been when they called him to tell him his Dad was found murdered in some alleyway.
Ty
“Yes.”
Ty hoped it wasn’t a call saying someone else was hurt or dead. He knew Effie had been in a weird place since she’d come back from Mexico. She’d even admitted that it had been hard for her to control her anger, hence adding the LFL to her activities. Violent physical activities helped her give it an outlet, but he didn’t think she was bad enough that she would be getting into trouble publically. Besides, he wasn’t even sure if he was still listed as her emergency contact now that her and Sin were married.
Unknown
“My name is Tom Bowden. I wondered if you might want to meet up. I would like to talk to you about your father.”
This makes alarm bells go off in his head. His father had supposedly been murdered by one of the loan sharks he had owed an exuberant amount of money too. Presumably, the one that had cut off his finger. He didn’t want to be involved in that.
Ty
“I am not responsible for my father’s debts. If you are threatening me, I will go to the police.”
The man on the other line is quick to answer.
Bowden
“No... no. I’m not calling about that. Actually, I used to work with your Dad, a long time ago. I have a feeling that you were never told the truth and I think you deserve to hear it. I’m sorry about his death, I only just heard about it recently.”
Ty is intrigued. A Former co-worker? He couldn’t even recall where his father had worked in the past. He had seen him so infrequently growing up that it had never come up in their time together. Until of course he got older, got into the gambling issues and was always calling Ty to bail him out.
Bowden
“I know it seems sketchy. I would be suspicious too if someone just randomly called me like this, but I promise, it’s a sincere ask. Could you meet for Coffee? Say around two today?”
The only plans Ty had was going to the gym to continue to prepare for his match on Sunday against Todd Williams, and that wasn’t a set time.
Ty
“Okay, but I am going to bring my Aunt with me. You understand right?”
Bowden
“Of course. I understand and it’s no problem. Nothing I say is confidential, at least not anymore. I’ll see you there.”
Bowden had given him the address of a shop along the strip. Hanging up, Ty was feeling a little anxious. How much more bad information could he learn about his father. He was almost ready to move on with his life, to forget about it all and just be happy and then this pops up. Even in death, the man had this grip on him.
***
Valora West was just as nervous as her nephew as they sat waiting at the small cafe table. She wrung her hands and Ty immediately puts his hand on top of hers.
Ty
“It’s okay Auntie.”
She nods, trying to offer a smile but Ty can see through it. Valora was like a second mother to him and she worried about him almost as much, if not more than his own mother did. Valora had never been in any real serious relationships besides Vinnie. She missed the boat on having children so Ty was in all intents and purposes, her son just as much as he was Gina’s.
Valora
“I know... I just worry that this could be more bad news. A new problem that you have to deal with. You were almost over all this garbage.”
Ty nods sympathetically. She always had a way of knowing exactly how he was feeling inside. It was her gift. He notes that she would have made a great mother.
Within minutes, an older man with a salt and pepper beard spots them and makes his way over to the table.
Man
“Tyler?”
Ty stands, offering his hand.
Man
“Tom Bowden, we spoke on the phone.”
The men shook, Tom then offers it to Valora.
Bowden
“You must be Valora West. You and Virginia look a lot alike.”
Valora instantly blushes. She always felt insecure next to her two older sisters. She had always been full figured, in her mind not as pretty or interesting so the attention of this man was nice, even if it was just pleasantries.
Ty
“Not to be rude Mr.Bowden, but I’d like to cut to the chase. It has been a hard year for me.”
Bowden
“No doubt. Teddy Ricci was not an easy man to like. Which is why you should know that his name wasn’t Teddy Ricci. It was Micheal Caron.”
Ty’s whole demeanor deflates. He had been lied to his entire life. He supposed it was good that he never took his father’s last name because now it would be wrong. But really, he wasn’t entirely surprised that his father had lied about his identity. Lying seemed to be what he was really good at, too bad he couldn’t have made a career out of it.
Bowden
“He was an undercover FBI, sent to protect your mother. Obviously, things got messed up. Even your mother didn’t know he was undercover. When she revealed she was pregnant, he had to bail, for both of your protection. It just got to him that he had to abandon you both. He quit, started getting involved with the people he was supposed to be investigating. He was a good man Tyler, I’m sorry that you never got to see that.”
Ty thought it seemed too simple. Like there were missing pieces in this story.
Ty
“Why did my mother need protecting?”
Bowden
“I don’t know the whole story but your mother witnessed something bad. She was being watched. She was skittish, known to be a flight risk so, Mike was moved in next door to keep an eye on her. He wasn’t supposed to be anything more than just a friendly neighbour. But Mike got too deep. Got to know her too well. And you know the rest...”
Ty still can’t believe it. He didn’t think that Tom was lying but his father had been such a skilled liar. He had never let any of this slip in the entire time Ty had known him.
Ty
“Why come now? After he’s died.”
Bowden nods.
Bowden
“I normally would leave it alone because that’s what Mike wanted, but you have another family Tyler. Grandparents, an uncle, and a nephew.”
Ty’s eyes go wide.
Ty
“I had a sibling?”
Bowden sighs.
Bowden
“Had. Yes. Older than you. Drunk driver. Your nephew was only a baby. After she died, she had no one else so your grandparents took him. I know this sounds a lot like a daytime soap opera. I wish it could just be cut and dry but they know about you Ty. They actually asked me to get in contact with you. They want to meet you.”
Bowden pushes a card toward Ty across the table. Jesse Caron, Carpenter. The address was in Montreal, Canada. Canada? Ty had so many unanswered questions. And now, he was just as confused as before Bowden had called him.
Bowden
“That’s your uncle. He’s waiting for your call.”
Tom stands, wanting to make a quick exit from this awkward meeting.
Bowden
“I wasn’t privy to any of the information in the case so if you want that, I suppose you’ll have to talk to your mom. I just know that before that happened, Mike was a decent guy. Something broke him. I don’t want to see you go down the same path. And you have a right to know you have family out there. Oh and... this meeting never happened okay? If they found out I told you anything it could get me fired.”
Bowden nods and then turns, leaving quickly. Valora who had remained quiet the whole time puts her hand on her nephew’s shoulder in comfort.
Valora
“What are you going to do?”
Ty stares down at the business card. He had an uncle. Grandparents. A nephew. It was a lot to absorb. Not to mention that his own father seemingly was forced to lie to protect his mother from something. His first instinct was to call his mother but with her so heavily pregnant and already under stress from being a geriatric new mom, he didn’t want to add stress right now. He supposed he would contact his uncle first. Maybe get to know them. For all he knew, maybe they would reject him. What if they weren’t comfortable with the fact that he was dating a man. So many questions.
Ty
“I’m not sure. I think I’m going to talk to Jan and Aron though. They deserve to know too. I’m going to wait to talk to mom. I don’t want to stress her out so close to when the baby is due.”
Valora agrees, then without asking she moves in to hug her big nephew, rubbing his back in big wide circles.
Valora
“I can’t imagine what you are going through right now, but we love you. We are always going to be here for you no matter what. I promise. And you know Jan isn’t going to let anyone hurt you either.”
Ty nods. Kristjan, Jan being the nickname that he and his Aunt had given him, was very protective of his beau. Some probably thought their relationship was odd, given that Jan was so much more dominant over Ty. In fact, there had been comments regarding how submissive Ty was to him and how it might affect his ability to be a good athlete. For a while, it had bothered the large man but after a while, he realized that his own happiness and abilities were not determined by the thoughts and assumptions of someone who could only talk behind a screen or someone that was unable to beat him in the ring itself.
Ty knew that this was a shock but he had to remain strong, neutral. He couldn’t assume how his new found family would be until he actually spoke with them. The part that hurt was that he had a sister that he never got to meet because a drunk driver had stolen her life. He would have liked to meet her. As an only child, he often had wondered what it would be like to have brothers and sisters. Like maybe he wouldn’t have been so lonely growing up, even if he hardly saw them, at least he would have known he wasn’t alone. Parents are great but they can’t replace the feeling of having someone your own age. Someone that can really understand you, or at least feel like they understand you. Sure, adults had been there, at that exact stage of life but once they become adults, they sometimes forget how hard it is to be a kid, especially one that is alone. He loved his mom, he loved his aunts. But he had missed a lot. It had made him naive and trusting but it had also made him exactly the type of guy that Kristjan needed too. And despite how hard it had been growing up, how lonely it had been, it was all worth it for what he had right now.
The West-Ward Blogicles
Season 3, Entry #14 -- “Who Am I?”
Ty West has a thoughtful look about his as he faces the camera. There was something about it that would intrigue a regular watcher of his serial blogs.
“The one question everyone asks at one point or another in their life is, ‘Who Am I?’. Not because of amnesia or in some sort of power struggle but legitimately assessing who you are as a person. What are you goals? Your values? What are you doing here? This is me saying I am having an existential crisis of sorts. A moment at which an individual, questions if their life has meaning, purpose, or value. This issue of the meaning and purpose of human existence. Why do I exist? Now it’s easy to see that yes, I have value, I have a purpose but who am I? Really? Am I the boy scout they all claim me to be? Am I really a guy that can’t be mean enough to be a wrestler? Should I just go back to being the pretty boy actor and model and let the big boys have the shots.”
He shakes his head.
“No. I own the Boy Scout Moniker. I even own the pretty boy one too. Because yes. I am a boy scout. I genuinely care about people. I will go out of my way to help others who need it because that is how I was taught. To be a good person. Maybe that’s a rarity in this industry but that in no way means I am not capable of getting in that ring and doing exactly what I need to do in order to earn my way to a shot at the SCW heavyweight title. A title that now lays upon the waist of Austin James Mercer and I don’t like it. “
“Who am I? That’s a really good question. I am the man who won the Roulette title in a 6 man match. I beat a lot of people including the great Ben Jordan. I defended the title twice and won. Yes, I lost to St.John Cross, twice, but I am not ashamed of that. He earned it. It’s just a shame that he is going through his own existential crisis right now that doesn’t put his mind in the right place to be a champion. I hope that Levitt can hold onto it longer than either of us did. I had hoped to at least tie the record set for longest reign but unfortunately, that just wasn’t in my cards. Casey Williams said something to me recently that struck home. That he thought I was main event material. The main event to me means that I should be challenging for the Main title. Maybe in the back of my mind, I wanted to lose to Sin. I wanted to have a reason to move on. I can’t know for sure really. I didn’t set out to purposely lose.”
“The mistake I kept making before was to allow other’s opinions to dictate how I do things. I didn’t want to be seen as weak or not worthy but now I realize, their opinions don’t really have much weight. How can someone that is not an integral part of my relationship with Kristjan, comment on how our relationship is? Based on some playful often comical, tweets between the two of us? Like that’s a proper representation of how it is behind closed doors? To assume that because I openly state to being ‘his beta’ that automatically makes me subservient to him is foolish. It just means that I acknowledge that he is the more dominant in our relationship, it doesn’t mean I let him walk all over me. In a wolf pack, every member has a position. I have no problem not being the one to be its leader. I know it might seem like a silly way to define ourselves but I have learned so much. So much about him, so much about his family, his culture. So much in fact that I would set up my permanent residence in Iceland in a hot second. It doesn’t make me weak. It makes me happy.”
He nods, a smile tipping the corners of his lips.
“And being happy makes me focused and ready. I am ready to take on Todd Williams and show him exactly why I am going to be the victor in the match. I don't want to dash his dreams of gold, but like I have been saying all week, where has he been? He only really shows up when he thinks there might be some kind of opportunity or to leach off his ex-wife, his child or friends. Todd has not made any sort of significant advances for him to deserve to be in the same place as me. I’m not trying to be mean, I am trying to be honest. I’m not saying that the man doesn’t have talent, obviously, he would not be on the SCW roster if he didn’t. Mark and Christian are the not the types to hold on to invaluable people but maybe he is not quite the type of guy they want in the running for a title that holds so much stake. Obviously, they have no control over who wins it, but they have control over who challenges for it to some degree. Fenris held that title for a very long time, beating everyone up until Austin James Mercer. Fen even beat me, twice. And I like to think that I am not just a pushover around here. My name has become synonymous with SCW as one of its top talents. And no, I didn’t get that because I am dating the former world champion. I mean look, I’m still here, even though he is no longer champion. Plus we are still happily dating. Sorry to disappoint anyone that was counting on some big break up.”
He gives the screen a big smirk.
“Todd is unstable. He’s unreliable. He’s untrustworthy. SCW needs me to be a beacon. To represent a title that hasn’t had a good guy standing behind it for a very long time. Not to say Fen isn’t a good guy, he’s just not exactly getting any merit badges for helping old ladies cross the street if you know what I mean. And where has Mercer been? Has he been promoting the title either? Except to say, look I beat Fenris and then just sit back like it’s a vacation? That isn’t me. I win this title and I’m going to be a champion that fights, that represents SCW, the promotes the company that took me in when I was just some actor that had a childhood love of wrestling. They have been behind me the entire time, even in my dark days when I felt like I wasn’t good enough to be here. That deserves to have its return. It’s time for me to repay what was given to me and it starts with Todd. It starts now. No more doubts, no more anger. Just determination to succeed and do whatever I need to do, the honest way. That is what a real champion is made of. I know I have what it takes. I’m not stopping. Even when I get there, I will continue to fight.”
He puts two fingers to his forehead and salutes.
“Scouts honor.”
