The afternoon sun loomed above the sky as the glass doors swung open with the familiar ding of a bell. Rows of vinyl records stretched all across the small shop. Concert posters plastered the walls from every genre and era imaginable.
Zayvion slowly watered down one aisle glided his fingers across the top of the albums one by one, Cleo watching him with her arms folded.
“You know Spotify is a thing right?” she said
“That ain't the point.” he replied “It's about to hunt.”
“You sound like my granddaddy.” she grinned
“Hey, I just appreciate old stuff.” he said with a laugh.
“You buying anything?” she asked.
“Probably not.” he replied, “I just like wondering.”
“Wondering?” Cleo piqued.
“What was going through their head when they made it.” he said , "I mean every album started somewhere. Maybe they had a bad day, maybe they fell in love, perhaps they lost someone close to them, but there was something that inspired them to make their record. It's just kind of crazy to think about.”
“You think too much.” Cleo grinned.
“I know.” he grinned back
They continued perusing the aisles, every so often he would stop to admire an album cover before moving on again. Eventually he came to a slow pause in front of the hip-hop section.
“You know..” he said “I think people hear music differently than they used to. These days all they hear is a beat or a hook. They want to hear somebody say something cool.”
He picked up an older album and observed it for a moment.
“I hear people telling me who they are.” he said.
“That why you do your deal with the headphones?” she asked.
“Part of it.” he nodded, setting the album back. “When I was younger I used to put headphones on to drown stuff out. The hood’ the sirens, my siblings, all of it. Now they help me tune in.”
“Funny how that works.” Cleo said.
“Yeah..” he said “Music got me through a lot. Sometimes an artist just says exactly what you couldn't.”
He grabbed another album observing it.
“Jin Tha MC?” she said “He was with the Ruff Ryders, like DMX and them.”
“Yeah..” Zayvion nodded “He has this song I like called Same Cry and the core theme is about shared human suffering and connecting across different races and backgrounds. He focuses mostly on the struggles important to him about Chinese immigrants trying to come to America for a better life, away from all the injustice that China puts on its citizens. But the core theme is relatable to everybody, who's had to struggle through injustice and hardships. He even says it in the song, how you don’t gotta be Asian to relate to the pain and struggle.”
“That the one you're going with this time?” asked Cleo.
“Yeah, I think so..” he nodded. “I don't want to come off like I'm going to be trying to tell Carter what it's like to be him, just that I understand his struggle because we share very similar ones.”
“Hey I'm a gay black female.” Cleo said “You ain't got to tell me. I catch discrimination from three different directions.”
Zayvion laughed.
“Fair.” he said.
“The funny thing is..” she said “The folks that hate usually ain't even that creative. They look at my skin, or who I love, or the fact that I'm a woman. Like if they can't get you for one thing, they just finna move on to the next.”
“Sounds about right.” nodded Zayvion
“But after a while..” she said “You stop introducing yourself by the things they hate.”
Zayvion raised an eyebrow curiously.
“I wake up every morning thinking..” she continued “I'm Cleo, I'm a wrestling coach, and I'm a champion. I'm someone that kids like to look up to. The rest of it is just a part of who I am, not what defines me.”
“Yeah I get you.” Zayvion replied “You're not pretending those parts of your lives don't matter, they do. But they ain't the first thing you think about when you wake up.”
“Exactly.” Cleo nodded.
“I didn't grow up the way Carter did.” he said “He didn't grow up the way I did. Hell, neither of us grew up the way you did. But we understand that we don't need to live somebody else's life to understand what it's like to have somebody decide who you are before they even meet you.”
He paused, looking at the record in his hands
“I guess that's why I like the song." he continued. “It doesn't say everybody's the same, it just says we all know what it feels like to hurt.”
He tapped his headphones.
“Yeah.” Zayvion said tapping his headphones, “I know exactly how I want to approach this now.”
“I think you always did.” Cleo smirked
Zayvion smirked back and slid the record back into its place on the shelf as the two exited the shop together.
__________
The video starts with footage of a Juneteenth march, African-Americans carrying signs and chanting together as they march down the street, the footage cuts to a pride parade, groups of LGBTQ people marching down the same street carrying signs and chanting in the same fashion.
As the video of the marches fade out, we cut to Zayvion Lyons leaned up against a wall on a street corner with his headphones on in what has seemingly become a trademark opener for him, as the chorus to “Same Cry” by Jin the MC plays. Cleo Phillips is posted nearby, supportive, but letting Zayvion have his stage.
##You'll never know you'll never get it##
##There is no choice we can't forget it##
##When we look up we see the same sky##
##When we look up we cry the very same cry##
As the music fades out, Zayvion lowers the headphones and looks directly into the camera, resting his eyes confidently for a few moments before speaking.
“You know Carter, we're not so different you and I.” he began “We share similar struggles, deal with similar oppression from the same groups of people, but neither of us let that get us down. We continue to fight through our respective adversities and shove it right back in their hateful faces. We let them know that we're here and we ain't about to go nowhere except straight to the top.”
He pauses shortly.
“When I look at you, I don't just see a former world champion.” he continued “I see somebody celebrating who he is, someone who refuses to apologize for existing, and I respect the hell out of that. I know something about overcoming too, but you know as well as I do that respect, isn't surrender.”
He grins playfully.
“I can't tell your story and you can't tell mine.” he said, "But our struggles come from the same place. Ignorance. Despite it all, you proudly become a world champion, and an icon for your community. So you, better than most, understand I need to go out there and represent for mines.”
He pauses shortly, his expression sharpens.
"But that's where the similarities end." he says "Because when the bell rings it ain't about Juneteenth and it ain't about Pride. It's not about proving who struggle was harder or whose voice deserves to be her louder we both fought those battles long before either one of us ever stepped into a wrestling ring. This…”
He taps the SCW logo on his hoodie.
“…Is about proving I belong with the very best of this company has to offer.” he continued "You've climbed that mountain you've held the richest price this business has to offer you've shown the world exactly who Helluva Bottom Carter is. But me? I'm still writing that chapter.”
He takes a step toward the camera.
“I'm still trying to become the man that little kids from neighborhood like my point to and say if he can do it maybe I can.” he said “I'm trying to show them that you still keep showing up even when you suffer a setback like I did with the roulette championship.”
Another step.
“You know any other time I'd probably be cheering you on.” he said his eyes narrowing, “But not this one this time you're standing between me and the future I've been chasing ever since I first laced up my wrestling boots. So understand, when we meet in that ring, I'm not trying to tear down what you've become. I'm trying to build the man I'm destined to be, and if I have to go through a former world champion to do that, then that's exactly what I'm going to do.”
“Preach.” Cleo ad-libbed
“Every time I step through that curtain I carry every kid that's ever been told they weren't enough. Every kid that got judged before they got a chance.” he said “I carry every kid that refuses to let somebody else write their story and that's something I know you understand because you've carried that weight too.”
He nods respectfully.
“But I want to be a champion again.” he said “And championships don't care about our stories or where we came from. Championships don't care who doubted us, or what we had to overcome. Championships belong to the person who's willing to take them.”
He pauses.
“So when we stand across from each other, don't expect sympathy.” He said “Because you're going to get everything I got. Every lesson Cleo's beaten into me, every setback I've learned from. Every ounce of heart that carried me from the streets of Inglewood to the biggest stage in my career because after everything we've both overcome, the greatest way I can show you respect is by giving you the very best version of Zayvion Lyons.”
He takes in a slow breath.
“Let's make this one something people remember.” he continued “Not because we yelled the loudest, or because we hated each other but because we stood in that ring, looked in each other's eyes and proved exactly why we both earned the right to be there.”
He exhales.
“All I ask of you is that you bring me everything you've got.” he continued “I want the former world champion. I want the man that fought through every ounce of ignorance life threw his way. I want the Helluva Bottom Carter that the world knows.”
He grins confidently.
“If I can beat that man.” he continues “Then nobody gets to question whether I belong in this conversation ever again.”
He leans back against against the wall.
“They wanted us to quit.” he said “They wanted us to believe we didn't deserve to be here, but every time we step in that ring and refuse to back down we prove them wrong all over again. That's why when that bell rings, don't look across that ring and see some twenty-two year old kid from Inglewood, because you're going to get a man who's willing to leave every ounce of himself on that canvas. A man that knows opportunities like this don't come around every day."
He pauses.
“You've already written your legacy Carter.” he continued “Now I'm coming to write mine and you'll find out exactly why they say that Zayvion Lyons is that guy who KEEPS SHOWING UP..”
He raises the headphones back up, music plays again as everything fades to black.
##When we look up we see the same sky##
##When we look up we cry the very same cry##
_________
