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I’d see that motherfucker again. He defeated me, and took my championship. I knew the rematch was close, I just had to get the jump on him before he does me. I saw men in suits Men in dark suits Men dressed like preachers ”The wrong you’re doing…stop doing evil while you can. Stop because one day somebody will come for you. One day what you do to other people, that will be done to you” That voice from the past came and haunted me, whispers from a shallow grave. I felt like a knife being stabbed inside my wounded spirits It was the voice of the minister, the voice that started everything, the voice of Minister Coleman, before I killed him. I’d never forgotten what he’d said as he begged for his life. That I would have my day That day had come Someone had come for me. Seemed like everyman on the train wore a dark suit. Pallbearers dressed in the color of death. Every man wore the hue of mourning. European men, Nigerian men, Russians, Swedish, old me, young men. Killer owned no particular type of face And not all Killers were men. There were a lot of Black windows in the world. In some cases women were the best, they were the last to be suspected. Ten minutes later I was hurrying by that golden image of Freddie Mercury, making that night-chilled jog past all the people who were partying hard in Soho, Chinatown, and Leicester Square. Rain started to fall as I made it to the Odeon in Bloomsbury, came down with a steady rhythm as I hunched my shoulders and rushed by the red phone booths that served as warm places for picture-perfect whores to post their cards and advertise their well-traveled wares. No one was behind me What was in front of me would be a bigger surprise Myhotel was buzzing long after the midnight hour. The bar that was off to the right side, called Mybar, was packed, all the tables were taken and the drinks were plenty from wall to wall, Europeans at tables, legs crossed, smoking hand-rolled cigarettes and listening to jazz, saw all of that before I sliced through the cold and made it across the damp street. When I shook the chill off my bones, pulled open the glass doors, and stepped inside the lobby, I stopped moving. Stopped because I was surprised to see her, off all people, sitting on the leather sofa. I thought our last good-bye was the last time I’d ever see her face again. She shifted, coughed, turned and I saw a frown so deep she was damn near unrecognizable. She was waiting in the small lobby, alone, arms folded. Her face was painted with ten shades of anger I wanted to keep going, but I paused in front of her. I’d been chased As if it were all part of a bigger plan. She looked up, her expression changed, moved from being murderous to unsure. My expression owned no trust. She wiped tears from her eyes and sighed, that expression now sheer embarrassment. I squatted, put my hand on her chin, wanted to look her in the face, look for trouble Surprise What are you doing sitting out here in the cold, Lisa Mack? This is a nice hotel. That sushi bar is off the chains. Cool the way the sushi is on the conveyor-belt thing and rotates around the bar and you grab what you want, huh? I aint ever seen anything like that before in my life. Food passes by and people grab what they want to eat. Lisa. Focus. Look at me. Thought you were with your boy friend? I’m…I was… Her stomach growled and she moved with the pain. She wiped the tears from her eyes, pulled herself together, said Looking for Mrs. Jones. I’m looking for her… I licked my lips, tried to recall Mrs. Jones flavor. It was gone. Mrs. Jones isn’t here Damn. Where is she? She didn’t…she moved on. Got a room somewhere else, I guess. Have no idea Didn’t know what to do What’s going on? Now I’m the one crying, huh? Damn shame. I’m crying like Mrs. Jones was crying What happened Her bottom lip trembled. She took a hard breath I didn’t have anywhere to go Again I asked, What happened with your boyfriend? That Jerk That murderous look reappeared in her eyes Son of a bitch What happened? Son of a bitch said he missed me…said he loved me…wished I was here…and…I mean…I spent my last dime…got on a plane…gave up auditions…came over here…the lies…he’s been lying to me for god knows how long…Rent closed down months ago…He’s been here…because…because…he met somebody while he was touring…and…and he stayed here…He lied to me and stayed here…said he met somebody…shit happens, he said…that’s it…shit happens…and he shrugged…told his ass he better talk to me…tell me something…said he was working on the show and met somebody…and they’d been traveling together for months…they’d been doing it for months…now…He said he’s in love…benn shacking up with somebody…in love and shacking up. And I’m his damn girlfriend. I mean, how messed up is that? I know we haven’t seen each other, but I didn’t know it was like that. I mean, we’ve been having phone sex and text sex and…and I spent a lot of money at Victoria’s Secret too…another reason my charge card is over the limit…this is so fucked up. I came here to be with him and- Lisa I’m rambling Yes. You are rambling I got my butt played. This is so humiliating I looked at her two over packed suitcases, at her stuffed backpack. She carried too much shit to be in this business. We traveled light. Again I thought about the man I had chased, the man who is donning a championship I once called mine. Confused and anxious, I looked around. Nobody inside the lobby seemed to be concerned with me. The left side housed the sushi bar. It was packed too. No one over there was concerned with me either. How long have you been sitting here in the cold? Forever. Was too tired to leave. And the tubes shut down, so that means my travel card has expired. Got frustrated Her voice cracked as tears fell Didn’t have anywhere to go So you’re telling me you’re stranded Yeah, broke and stranded and stuck with all this damn luggage Where have you been since you got to London? She shrugged Walking around like a damn homeless fool from America You walked around dragging two hundred pounds of luggage? Call me Erykah Badu, because I’m a damn bag lady First I rubbed my temples Then I thought about Mrs. Jones, leaving this warm hotel, almost being run down in front of the hotel, standing in her anger and sorrow, cold rain falling on her hot skin, her hair wild as her dress fluttered, carrying no luggage but dragging all of her invisible anguish behind her. I don’t have any money. Told you maxed out my charged card flying my butt over here. Stupid huh? Love makes you do stupid shit. And I spent the few dollars…I mean pounds…spent every pence of that funny-looking money I borrowed from you. The travel card, it sure came in handy. Well, I rode the train…thinking…got off one train…got on another…did that for hours…like a damn homeless person…tried to figure out what I could do…don’t know nobody Slow down, catch your breath, breath. Talk to me, when is your return flight? Uh…bought a one-way ticket. All I could afford. I figured I’d crash with my boo…with that son of a bitch I thought was my boo…figured I would be with him and not need anything…we used to be like that…now I don’t have a ticket back. I know, I know. Stupid is as stupid does She wiped her eyes a thousand times. That murderous glare came and went He said he’s in love with somebody else. In love, asked him how in the hell could he be in love with somebody else and he said some stupid shit, said love had its own laws Not knowing what to say, I said nothing. Part of my mind still back on Eternity First I get thrown on the back of the plane, now this shit. I hat London! Drama had built a nest on my doorstep. I had enough going on. I didn’t want Lisa to be here, but I couldn’t kick her out in the cold. I rubbed my eyes, my own tiredness swooping in on me. Her eyes were on the sushi bar. Anguish was in her face as she watched people eat. Have you eaten? I was in Pizza Hut and these tourists left some of their pizza and I grabbed it before it was tossed. And they left some soda too. Did you know Pizza Hut had apple soda? The apple soda was off the chain. Ever tried it? Apple soda. Pizza Hut carries it over here, cool, huh? You ate somebody’s leftovers? Tears fell from her eyes That’s fucked up huh? My eyes searched the darkness. I was an open target. Needed to get out of this lobby I went to the front desk, tried to get a room for Lisa. Something away from me, on a different floor. They told me the hotel was booked solid. I looked out at the cold rain. Not the best kind of weather for Lisa to go out and hunt for a hotel. Not this time of night. Not with all of her backpacks and luggage. And I didn’t want to go back out into Bloomsbury, not since I’d had that footrace, not with somebody hot on my trail. I told myself that I was safe here. If he knew I was here, he wouldn’t have needed to follow me. I went back to the front door. Looked out. Dark clouds. Freezing rain Then I went back to Lisa. Didn’t have a lot of options at this point. Why don’t you come up to my room and get comfortable No, that’s okay You really don’t have a choice I don’t want to be an inconvenience Her stomach growled Hungry huh? Little bit, yeah. I’m starving right about now Let’s get your two tons of luggage situated and get you some real food For real? Let’s kill the fatted calf and get you situated I need a bath Come on up You sure? Your stomach is growling so loud it sounds like two bears fighting Had that slice of cold pizza around noon Thirteen hours ago I’m used to eating three squares. I’m getting missed-meal cramps How does room service sound? You like sushi? Could have them bring up some sushi Hell yeah, I love sushi. But I’ll be happy with McDonald’s You didn’t come all the way to London to eat clown food, did you? You sure about sushi? It costs a grip. And with the exchange rate, it’ll be a super grip. If you want a bottle of wine, order that too Sushi and a bottle of wine? Take a long bath, eat, drink, be a queen for a while Thank you, thank you, thank you. I want to jump up and down and scream Please don’t Again she cried, a different kind of tears I can’t pay you back, not right now Don’t worry about it I mean…I will, I promise Just don’t talk me to death, okay? She laughed We dragged all of her luggage toward the lift. Then I felt uneasy. Lisa had shown up here right after I’ve lost the championship. Maybe Lisa getting placed next to me on the plane wasn’t a coincidence. Maybe when I hooked up with Mrs. Jones it threw off her plan. Right now it was all about having my enemies closer. While we waited for the lift, the receptionist called me back to the front desk. She handed me a FedEx box. The sender’s name was written in bold letters. Scaramouche No return address. My eyes went toward the darkness out on Bayley Street, to a group of drunken people coming inside. She wasn’t there. But she was there at the same time. Arizona had delivered information for the other jobs. I went back to the bar, looked around, but didn’t see her. She would only be seen when she wanted to be seen, I knew that. There was no note to say it, but I understood. Arizona was saying she was sorry for acting like a square, for the things she said, we could still be associates, we could still do business. She had work for me. And there was money to be made. Lisa held the lift door open for me. I struggled, crammed all of her luggage inside the small vertical carriage. She wiped her eyes You look like somebody just killed your favorite cat I wanted to say I’d accepted a contract and killed a friend. And I’d found the source of all my pain and anger. That soon I’d be fighting for my championship, fighting a man I haven’t yet been able to defeat But I pushed my lips up into a strained smile and sighed, I don’t like Cats FedEx underneath my arm, I got on the lift, two hundred pounds of luggage separating us. She took her tears to one side of the small vertical carriage, I took to the other. Lisa was nervous Carmine…found out a lot about London today. Being homeless gives you time to read. Lot of black people over here. Some areas are like Compton and Detriot and Oakland. Found out that most people thought black people were new to England. But they have been here more then fifteen minutes. People think we just got over here like in the forties, came here to play Jazz and run away from wars. But blacks have been here forever. Have fought in every war with Britain. Romans brought black warriors with them to Britain. Three Huh? Push the button for three. I’m on the third floor Oh, I’m sorry, guess I was rambling I guess Sorry, I’ll stop. At least I’ll try When the elevator door closed, Arizona’s scent became stronger. I inhaled, the vague scent of cloves and expensive perfume, her body gone but her essence remaining in the dank air. Cloves The scent of a love gone by, Like her man Scamz used to smoke. Arizona had been here, she’d been inside this elevator. I expected to see her waiting outside my door when the elevator opened. I looked for my golden-skinned cylon. Looked for the grafter who had chosen to employ fear to gain respect. And like a Cylon, I wanted to destroy my creator We were both Cylons The third-floor hallway still smelled of cloves. I looked up and down the hallway. No one was there. She’d been here moments ago. I didn’t trust Arizona. Women and treachery, Deceit and murder had been a part of my life. My eyes went to Lisa I didn’t know what her angle was. Didn’t know what her game was. She didn’t say anything, just kept her eyes down while we dragged her luggage down the slender hallway. I opened the door, let Lisa inside my room. I left both of her bags at the floor of the bed. She shifted, took off her backpack, put that load down in front of the desk. She took her coat off, looked around This is a nice room Thanks I mean this is a really nice room Order some food Thanks, Carmine. I really mean it I repeated myself, maybe sounded a little irritated, told her, Order some food She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands, got on the phone, called room service. Shrimp tempura roll. Spicy tuna roll. Rainbow roll. Tuna tataki. Spicy squid roll, Softshell crab roll. Island roll. Tobiko with quail egg. She ordered a bottle of shirakaqago sansannigori, a bamboo leaf sake. The way she ordered, she had to be starving. Still I kept thinking about having my enemies closer I watched Lisa, no trust in my eyes, wondering what game she was playing. I stared at her and kept hearing whispers from a shallow grave haunting me. It was the voice that had once belonged to a reverend named Colman… The wrong you’re doing…stop doing evil while you can. Stop because one day somebody will come for you. One day what you do to other people, that will be done to you - [ * * * ] – I find it to be very amusing when for the past few months I’ve been the only man willing to fight to keep this company alive, weeks after weeks I stop at nothing to try to keep this promotion alive while all the legends and the men that created NLCW enjoyed retirement. Now that Dade has tossed out an open challenge for the NLCW Undisputed Champion, everyone seems to be jumping out the wood works. Hell I bet Sean Galen will even show up The amusing part of it all is that Dade really believes there here to hold down the fort, here to keep F1X from buying out NLCW. But really there here for their own selfish needs. Can’t say I blame them though, because I have my own agenda going into 1NE That’s to become a two time champion, and to put the final blow into the coffin that is NLCW Now Dom, I’ve saw your speech and I’ll be the first to admit that it brought shivers down my spine. I mean your all for the people and really that’s something you don’t see much of anymore. But Dom, how will all these fans feel when you just up and leave again? We all saw the match between you and Champion, the pure violence. We also watch you both leave the NLCW, so what would stop that from happening if you two had a rematch? What if Champion becomes the number one contender and you leave 1NE as the champion. The rematch would be itched in stone. The stories about the match, about the friendship will all be replayed. As well the talks about retirement. Then what would happen to NLCW? It well be in worse shape than it is. Instead of the ship taking on water, the ship will have been sunk. I’m the only one who can stop No Limit Championship Wrestling from becoming the Titanic, and you want to know the fucked up part of all this? I’m all for killing NLCW. Dom our first battle for the Championship was epic, I gave you everything I had and you kept on coming. I’ve watched that tape over and over again and still don’t believe I could have done anything different. Except be more prepared. I followed the hype that surrounds your name Dom, rather than focusing on killing it. A mistake I look to correct this week. But that night wasn’t a total lost, as I seemed to have gathered your respect, if you ask me that night I made you a fan of mine. Now, I actually respect people who respect me. It shows me class. It shows me dignity. Hell, I actually am starting to like you Dom. Ah, who am I kidding? Fuck your respect and fuck you, I want my championship and I’m willing to do whatever it takes. See, you can respect me all you want. Bravo, I suppose. You can say you’re my biggest fan and that you’re finally see me as a contender. But before you do, I don’t need, or want, your respect and I damn sure don’t want fans. I’m preparing you for 1NE, son, because after then you won’t be a fan. After 1NE, you won’t have any respect for me. I’m on a rampage and I will crush anyone in my path. You’re in the way of supremacy. It’s not going to be pretty man. It’s gonna be brutal. This is going to be your wake-up call, Dom. This is going to be the match where, ten years down the road, you’ve be reminiscing with Champion and you’re going to wonder who the hell killed your big fight to save NLCW. You’re going to wonder who the hell gave you that limp in your step. You’re going to be wondering who the hell caused your eye to become swollen shut for life. You’re going to wonder why you’re paying a chiropractor to straighten your back out each week. You’ll think back and you will remember this match. You will remember the day that This hungry Lion mulled your ass from pillar to post without even dropping a bead of sweat. Believe that. But, knowing all these old dogs, you’ll be putting up a fight. You said yourself that you’re not going down without a fight, your fighting to correct everything that’s wrong with NLCW, fighting to send the board a clear message, fighting to have the people believed there is hope in NLCW. Maybe you should polish off a application for F1X, at least that would show some sort of progress. Everyone seems to think I’m not ready, that I believe in my ego more than I do my abilities, isn’t that what you said the first time around Dom. Everyone seems to think I walk around with ‘clouded designer shades’ and I don’t see reality. They seem to think I don’t understand what is real and that my ‘perception’ is not real. My perception is reality. I’ve been at the once all ready. I know the reality of what it takes to get there. Reality is that people know that NLCW is my stomping ground, mine to kill. Reality is that no one cares how much hard work you do in a match or how much blood is shed. Did you win? That’s the only thing they care about. If you don’t then they aren’t interested. That’s reality. Reality is the fact that passion, in this business, doesn’t mean performing while worrying about having any sort of job protection, in this line of work, when you’re a wrestler Job protection is never set in stone, that’s what you have to realize Dom, fighting to keep this place open is a losing battle. In this business passion means walking down the ramp every week with the intent on winning. And leaving the office duties to the board. Reality is consistency. Reality is making sure that everyone knows your name and knows that a certain federation is yours to own. Reality is something you know nothing about, Dom. You’re just so naïve. You don’t know the first thing about reality, Dom, and it disturbs me. Because if you did then you wouldn’t even have been bothered to give that speech last night. But I’ll change all that soon. I’ll make you see reality through when it’s all finished. It might be a bit hard to see, though, because blood will hinder your eyesight. There will be plenty of that. You seem to believe that being champion means that you walk down there to entertain the fans each and every night and to put on some sort of ‘show’. Understand, Dom, that the fans don’t buy pay per views to watch the lower card matches. The fans don’t spend their hard earned money to see you wrestle in a match that could or couldn’t be good. The fans buy pay per views to watch consistency. The fans spend their money to watch the greatest wrestler alive today dominate in the main event. They see that as passion. They see that as reality. They love to spend money to see me. Why? I win. I simply win, Dom. Now, before you go on for the hundredth time with the ‘You didn’t win against me so you’re not so great’ rant, let’s analyze something here for a second, shall we? Winning is a lot harder to do that losing. Losing is easy. Losing requires you to go out there, put a few moves on someone, and to get beaten by the better wrestler. What does winning entail? Winning requires you to up your game every single time you step into that ring. The person you’re fighting this week will have watched the tape of you from last week and will know what your style could be. To win you have to change up your style and show your opponent that you’re the better competitor. Simple, yes? Now, let’s look at something real quick. The last time you were in a match with me, you damn near didn’t even make it out of the ring. Sure, you won at The Eternity, I’m not denying that. You beat the greatest wrestler of all time. You got the upper-hand on me but you have to understand that your kind of consistency is your downfall. Even you have to see this coming; you have too much on your plate. Your focus on saving NLCW, Keeping the championship and now Champion’s back Come 1NE, I will be willing to use everything in my power to destroy your legacy. I will be willing to take my belt back and call it a day. I will be willing to spin you around, like I did at Eternity, but this time with a different outcome. I just hope your brainwashed fans are ready for a lot of blood shed. I hope your brainwashed fans are ready to see the reality of this business. I hope your brainwashed fans are ready to see your brains washed all over my boots as I hold up the NLCW Undisputed championship high in the air. It will glimmer in the lights and that’s the point where I’ll peel off my designer shades and hand them to you. I don’t want you to go blind, Dom. I want you to see me walking over your carcass. I want you to see how a company should be run with greatness at the helm. I want you to see this Lion at the next phase. I want you to see that all your talk and grandeur about attacking me week after week will mean nothing when you’re without a title. I want you to see the scars that I give you and the scars you will, undoubtedly, give me. Oh… that’s the other thing I wanted to mention. Scars. You know, Dom, I was thinking about those the other day. Scars mean a lot to people. Scars, tell a story. You pick out a scar and you can tell part of your career with that one scar. Now, before you give me a story to tell my grandchildren, I would like you to call up everyone I’ve beaten before and ask them about the scars I’ve given them. Each and every one of them will tell you a story about the match they had with me. With a pen and paper I want you to jot down their experiences and keep those next to you when you’re in the hospital that night. Those will be all the ‘I told you so’s’. Everyone seems to think I have an ego. You’re damn right I have an ego. It’s an ego I can brag about and back up. It’s an ego that Dom will undoubtedly understand soon enough. You can smear my blood all over the NLCW championship, Dom, but I’ll wash it off when I get home. Then I can go on record of being a two time champion and I beat a man who claims people talk about him all the time. Now, Dominic, all the bloggers and writers can talk about you losing and talk about a massacre where they’ll actually remember the winner. -- That’s a Wrap! -- |