The tour overseas had been a wonderful new experience with Zayvion but he was really happy to just be back home in Inglewood, for all his friends and family, the ones who had been there for him since day one.
Cleo Phillips had truly pushed him to another level, but before even she came along there were ones that pushed him to be better even when he was ready to give up.
Without them he wouldn't be the champion, or man he is today.
__________
It was a warm California afternoon when Zayvion visited the cemetery where his mother was buried. It had been close to three years now since the drive-by that took his mother's life, and she had truly been the strongest woman he had ever known, stronger than Cleo even.
He rested his championship against her headstone and just sat there observing it for a while, she deserved that she was his champion after all.
“I did it.” he said. “Or I'm doing it, but I'm out there. I'm going to make something of myself. Your boys a champion now, and he ain't going to stop here. I'm going to stay on my grind Ma’ Dukes I promise you. I'm going to take care of my little brothers and sisters and Big Momma too.”
He let out a heavy heartfelt sigh.
“I couldn't have done it without you though.” he said “You taught me to be strong and you taught me how to persevere even through the hardest of times. All the love you showed me, all of the hugs and kisses, and even the whoopin’s they got me here.”
A comforting laugh exits his lips.
“I remember I was like what, about ten? And Kaelani and I were arguing about something stupid.” he said “I don't even remember what we were arguing about, but it got me upset so I went and cut the hair off her favorite Barbie doll. You gave me a good whoopin’ for that one didn't you?”
He shrugs.
“Can't say I didn't deserve that one.” he said. “You even made me use my allowance money to buy her a replacement. That helped teach me how to be responsible for my actions, it taught me accountability.”
He exhaled through his nose.
“I used to think you were hard on me.” he said “But as I got older, I understood things more. How easy it is to blame others, how easy it is to quit, that's something you never let me do.“
He nodded slowly.
“If we ain't got money, we got character. If we got no opportunities, we still got work ethic.” he said “You always told me things like that and I understand so much more now.”
He grabbed his championship has he rose to his feet and stood there for a moment.
“You would have loved this.” he said looking at his championship “You'd try to play it cool, but you'd be telling all your girlfriend's back at the salon how your son is a champion, you'd be lettin’ the whole neighborhood know.”
He thumbed away a single tear from his eye.
“I just wish you got to meet the man I've become.” he said “I know you'd tell me you already knew because you were the one who believed in me first, even before I ever did.”
He sighed softly.
“I love you Ma Dukes.” he said “And I promise I'm going to continue to make you proud,I know you are always up there watching over me, and the rest of us. Just know one thing..”
He pauses.
“I got this.” he said.
With another heavy sigh, he ran his fingers across the headstone with his free hand and turned heading back toward the cemetery gates. He wasn't leaving her behind, he was carrying her with him.
__________
The moment Zayvion opened the door to his grandmother's Inglewood home, he was barely able to set his bags down before the excited yell of his younger brother Malik, who came running down the hall straight into Zayvion like Dino greeting Fred Flintstone.
“ZAAAAAY!!!!” Malik's voice echoed throughout the house.
“There's my little man.” Zayvion said, stumbling back slightly as Malik glomped into him. "What happened to your tooth? You haven't been jumping off Big Momma's furniture again have you?”
“No.” said Malik shaking his head “It fell out and the Tooth Fairy gave me a dollar!”
“Wow!” said Zayvion wide-eyed “A whole dollar?”
“Yup.” said Malik proudly.
Then Zayvion heard another voice.
“Boy, you better shut my door before you let all this cool air out of here.” came the voice of Big Momma.
“Yes ma'am.” Zayvion said, closing the door behind him.
“Plus you got the whole neighborhood talking about you now." she said “I they see you I'm going to have everybody up on my doorstep.”
Zayvion laughed and hugged his grandmother.
“How you doing Big Momma?” he said.
“Oh my back's been bothering me a bit.“ she replied “But my old ass is fine. You ain't got to worry about me.”
Another voice came from the hall, Saphira this time.
“Zay!” she smiled as she hugged him. “You're home!”
“It's good to be home.” he said “Here check this out guys…”
He reached into his bag and pulled out the SCW Roulette championship.
“You brought it!” exclaimed Malik
‘It's shiny.” noted Saphira.
“Can I hold it?” asked Malik.
“Of course.” said Zayvion placing the championship in his brother's outstretched hand. The kid almost buckled under the weight, but Zayvion helped keep him supported.
“It's heavy..” said Malik.
“It doesn't look that heavy..” said Saphira “Maybe you're not strong enough.”
“You try then.” Malik taunted back.
Zavion helped place the championship in his younger sister's hands to the same result.
“I told you it was heavy.” said Malik
Saphira stuck her tongue out at Malik.
“Oh look, the big shot is home.” came yet another voice, Kaelani. 16 years old with all the attitude that came with it.
“Hello to you too, Kaelani.” said Zayvion.
There was a short pause between them.
“There it is.” Zayvion's grinned.
“There's what?” said Kaelani
“You smiled.” he said.
“Did not.” said Kaelani.
“I saw it too.” said Malik
“Admit it. You missed me.” said Zayvion.
“Well…Maybe a little.” said Kaelani folding her arms.
“I missed you too.” said Zayvion shaking his head and forcing her into a hug.
“All right. All right.” Kaelani protested “Don't make it weird.”
“I mean it though he said I missed all you guys.” he said “It was cool seeing all those different places all over the world but I'm really just glad to be home.”
“You made that Logan guy look like a wet dog.” Malik laughed.
Zayvion laughed along with them and rubbed the top of his little brother's head, just had some crying was heard from down the hall.
"Oh I better go check on the baby.." said Big Momma.
“No.” said Zayvion stopping her, "You relax.”
He headed to the backroom. Malik followed.
“I got this.” he said.
"I wanna help!" said Malik
With his helper following close behind, Zayvion went to attend to the baby's needs. It did feel good to be home and this was giving him a sense of normalcy before he had to go and get back to business once again.
__________
The park bench still looked the same as the Zayvion approached, where Bug and Lorenzo were waiting.
“Yo! There's my boy the champion.” said Lorenzo, dabbing Zayvion up.
“What's good?” said Bug dabbing Zayvion up as well.
“It's just good to be home and see my boys.” said Zayvion.
Bug and Lorenzo both observed the championship on his shoulder.
“It's really real, huh?” said Bug.
“Yeah it's really real.“ said Zayvion
“I used to sit in the same spot and listen talking about making it.” said Lorenzo "Now look at you you, you did it big dog. The blocks proud of you.”
“It still feels weird.” said Zayvion.
“So what was the coolest place you went to?” asked Lorenzo.
“It has to be Japan.” replied his Zayvion “You would have loved it there Bug, with all the anime stuff.”
“I bet it was amazing.” said Bug
“It was.” said Zayvion tapping the bench, “But it still feels better being back home.”
Zayvion looked around at the old park, the chain link fences, the kids playing on the structures, some old heads playing a game of chess. This was his home, this was where he felt most comfortable.
Then it only took a second for it to become uncomfortable.
“Well, if it isn't our local celebrity.”
Terrell Booker. The local problem. Same as ever, always always hanging around somewhere trying to become somebody else's problem. Most referred to him as the neighborhood “Deebo.”.
“That's some nice shine you got there, Hollywood.” Terrell said approaching them
“Yeah…” muttered Zayvion.
“You gonna let a homie hold it?” he said
“Naw…I'm good.” said Zayvion.
Terrell frowned.
“Oh so it's going to be like that?” he said “I thought you were all about the hood and shit, still Zay from the block and all that.”
“I am.” said Zayvion.
“Then come on just let me hold it for a second." said Terrell, reaching out for it.
“I said no.” Zayvion said, slapping Terrell’s hand away.
“What? You forget where you from or something?” Terrell taunted.
Zayvion stood to face Terell, looking him in the eyes.
“Ain't nobody forget shit.” he said
“What it looks like is everybody around here strugglin’ and you out here struttin’ your gold around trying to rub it in everybody's face.” said Terrell.
“It ain't like that Terrell.” Zayvion said, more sternly this time.
“Then let me..” Terrell reached for the championship again.
Zayvion slapped his hand away again, now both Bug and Lorenzo were standing.
“Hey he said no.” said Bug “Why don't you get out of here Terrell?”
“Or maybe I should stop asking.” said Terrell, yaking a step closer to Zayvion, Zayvion didn't back down.
“Sup?” said Zayvion, not breaking eye contact.
“Sup’?” replied Terrell, keeping his own eye contact.
They stood there staring at each other down intensely for just a few seconds when Lorenzo stepped between them.
“Bug, get him out of here.” he said
Bug nodded and started to pull Zayvion away.
“Lo’ you don't gotta do this” Zayvion said
“You got too much to lose.” said Lorenzo “Your career and everything you've worked for. Don't worry about this punk. He ain't worth the risk.
“What? You can't fight your own fights now Hollywood?” taunted Terrell.
“Just go.” said Lorenzo “Don't listen to him.”
“Lo”...” said Zayvion.
“Don't worry.” Lorenzo said. “I got this.”
Zayvion and Bug didn't look back to see what was happening, they could hear it, but Bug Zayvion moving along. Zayvion didn't like the idea but he understood. This wasn't his life anymore, but to Bug and Lorenzo this was still a regular Friday night.
These were the people he fought for, the ones who held them up and the ones who always had his back. His job was to make sure he stayed up, and at this moment that meant defending his championship for the first time against Ryan Keys.
__________
The scene opens with Zayvion Lyons wearing his usual headphones leaning back against a wall as the sound of American Pharoah by Jase Harley plays.
##Woke up in the morning##
##Broke all my chains##
##Money's my language##
##But I'm nobody's slave##
##Open my eyes##
##See the crabs in the barrel##
##'Cause I'm on the rise##
##An American pharaoh##
As the music fades out, he lowers the headphones and looks to the camera.
“Ryan Keys…” he said “Or should I call you your majesty?
A playful grin grows across his face.
“So you won King for a Day..” he said “Giving you full control to make whatever matches you wanted for one show and you did the predictable thing and gave yourself a championship match. My main question is why me?”
He raises an eyebrow.
“I mean I'm not trying to sell myself short or anything…” he said “But Miles Kasey holds the biggest prize in the game. Why would you not choose to challenge him? Do you think that perhaps I might be the easier target? Because if that's true, then that tells me something. You lack confidence.”
He steps off the wall, moving closer to the camera.
“I mean if I were in your position.“ he continued “I would most certainly challenge the world champion, not the up and comer, because I'm doing whatever I can to get my bag. If that means going toe to toe with the person on top and that's what I'm going to do.”
He shrugs.
“But that's not you is it Ryan?” he said “You don't think you have what it takes to beat Miles Kasey, so you chose me thinking you can reclaim this championship after losing it to Logan Hunter.”
He shakes his head.
“Nah homie, I ain't with that.” he said “With all due respect I ain't about to be seen as the easier target over anybody, and if that's really what you think I ain't got no problem teaching you a hard-ass lesson.”
He pauses.
“I may not have the accolades of a Miles Kasey.” he said “But I ain't about to fold for nobody. You have to understand that this ain't going to be no party. I like to celebrate and have fun as much as the next guy but at some point the party does got to stop, and you got to tell the homies to go home because you got shit to do in the morning.”
He keeps his attention on the camera.
“That bell's going to ring.” he said “And that's when the party is going to stop because I'm going to have some business to handle, and that business is defending my roulette championship in my first ever main event.”
He taps the championship on his shoulder for effect.
“You have to understand.” he said “You can't just look at me as a guy that just won a championship. You're walking in with that kid from Inglewood that learned real quick nothing gets handed to you. A kid whose mom taught him character, but never got to see the man he became. The man whose family holds things down while he's gone providing for them, the man who got friends protecting the investment before the investment even existed.”
He exhales.
“It's just things you can't understand Ryan.” he said “Because you're too focused on the prize and the party that you don't understand the bigger picture of what it all represents. I got people I'm doing this for, I got people counting on me that I refuse to let down.”
He keeps his tone firm and direct.
“I don't just do this for me.” he said “I do this for every underprivileged kid out there who's been told they can't make it. Every kid who's been told that they weren't going to amount to nothing. You ever had a teacher tell you you weren't going to be shit? Because I have. Well guess what Mrs. Walker? Your old crusty ass was wrong.”
He pauses shortly.
“When I brought this belt home to my family and friends.” he said “They all saw proof that where you start don't decide where you finish. I'm going to defend my championship because I still remember what it's like to have nothing, to look around and wonder if life was ever going to be bigger than my block.”
He looks at his championship with a sense of pride.
“Now that I got something.” he said “I ain't giving it away. So if you want to use your King for a Day powers to take a shot at the champ you best make sure you don't miss.”
He pauses for a beat.
“I don't think you're a bad guy Ryan.” he said “I actually think you're pretty cool and we could probably kick it at some point, but you chose to call me out so right now we got some business to handle and my business is keeping my people fed and this championship is bringing me bigger paychecks to help make that happen. I ain't about to let nothing take that away from them.”
He pauses again.
“So you can have your crown Ryan.” he said “But only one of us can walk out a champion. Your crown is only temporary, but what I'm doing with this championship is going to last for a lifetime.”
He nods slowly before continuing.
“One show gave you authority.” he said “But life has giving me responsibility, and that may not be as flashy, there's no crown to go with it, no fancy speeches. Just long nights away from my family and lots of pressure. But pressure makes diamonds and so come Climax Control, we will find out if you picked me because you think you're the better man, or because somewhere deep down you thought I was the safer bet.”
He pauses.
"Because if it's the second one and it's going to be a rough night for you." he said "Because my whole life has been people underestimating me because I'm too young or I come from the wrong background, but I'm still here and now I have a championship. When I do lose this championship it will be because somebody was undeniably better than me on that night and if that turns out to be you I will shake your hand, but if it ain't you then all you did was waste your King for a Day.”
He turns to walk off but pauses once more.
“King….” he said “I think I'd rather call myself a pharaoh, because they also used to be called kings and history remembers which ones actually built something. I'll see you at Climax Control,...your majesty.”
He does sort of a mock bow to the camera with a cheeky grin on his face before walking off and everything fades out.
