Crenshaw, California
Late July 2019
Perspective is a fucked up thing, ain’t it? Like, when yer think about it, it’s kind of messed up to think that something can seem so obvious to yous but like entirely different to someone else.
And it’s frustrating. Like, you know without a doubt how something went down, but there’s always some cunt trying to play the two sides of every coin bullshit, telling everyone that there’s someone else’s side of the story, and like, okay that makes sense but some shit just is black and white, yer know?
My old man being a twat, that’s one of ‘em. To him, he’s the innocent party, just trying to make a living and bringing up three kids in the process… to me, he’s a fucking knob who beat on us, forced us to work to make him money and tried to shit on our dreams at every opportunity. Aye, two sides to every story and all that shite…
But I got out. I stood up to the fat cunt and got out. I saved money, worked his shitty shows and peddled his knock off cheap arse merchandise, did everything then as soon as I had enough, I got the fuck out.
Only shit part was leaving my siblings behind. I were the one keeping the old man from really making their lives a misery, oldest kid and all that, probably the best wrestler of the three of us too… so he’d work me like a fucking donkey and they’d get off lightly for the most part. But how long can yer do that, yer know? How long can you keep up sacrificing yer self for others?
So I got out.
I got out and didn’t look back. Sure, I kept in touch with Henry and Esme, sent them money at Christmas and birthdays, called and text when I could… but I didn’t once think about going home, even when I was struggling after MCW shit the bed and shut up shop.
I guess I’m selfish. I started thinking about myself, my new life. Especially with Emerge and stuff with Marie and all… everything was working out for me, and I guess that justified my selfishness. Until it slapped me in the face, anyway…
“Morning baby,” Marie said as I rolled over onto my back after waking up. With SCW on it’s summer break, post-Rise to Greatness, all Marie had to worry about was her GCW commitments and we took advantage of that wherever we could. Splitting time between my place in Crenshaw and hers in Boston. “Sleep well?” she asked, and I looked at her as she sat up in bed, resting against the head board, browsing her phone.
“Always sleep better next to you love,” I told her, smirking. It were something of a running gag between us at this point; I’d say all this cheesy shit and we’d both act like it were just me taking the piss, but at the same time there were more than just a grain of truth in it all as well. What the fuck’s happened to me, ey? “You been up long?”
“Not long, no…” she told me as she locked her phone screen and put it down on the bedside table before rolling over to look at me. “I didn’t like to move in case I woke you…”
“Wouldn’t wake me love, I sleep like a log,” I told her with a chuckle. “But I’m awake now, so how about I go and fix us some breakfast?”
“Mmm, sounds like a plan,” Marie told me, smiling. “I’ll grab a quick shower while you go fix us something then we can figure out our plan for the day!” she added, leaning forward to kiss me quickly before sliding out of the bed, my t-shirt just about covering her arse as she skipped towards the bathroom. Grinning, I slid out of bed and threw on my shorts so I could head downstairs. The Chuckle Brothers were probably still asleep out in their campervan on the driveway as it wasn’t even remotely close to midday yet, and they knew the deal when Marie was staying over anyway. Privacy and all that shite.
Five minutes later, there I were, busying me self with breakfast while the sounds of Marie singing to herself in the shower drifted downstairs, when there comes a bloody loud bang on the front door; honestly, I could have fucking killed whichever them two boneheads it were, making all that racket. They knew about the rules, not trying to come into the house when Marie were staying over unless invited, so gold help em I thought to myself as I walked into the hall read to throttle whichever one of em it was.
“Alright Tommy!” I was greeted enthusiastically as I unlocked the latch and pulled open the door, but it wasn’t Southern Softy or Northern fairy standing there and the voice definitely weren’t London or Doncaster. It was my accent. Brummie! And it belonged to…
“Henry?!” I asked, staring in disbelief as my younger brother stood there smirking at me. Then next minute I’m staggering back as a blonde whirlwind crashed into me as my bloody sister dove at me to hug me too.
I were in shock, well and proper, you know? Last I saw either of em, they were waving me off when I left Birmingham a couple years ago, and now there they were, right in front of me, in Cali-fucking-fornia of all places! “Bostin digs you’ve got ‘ere, Tommy!” Henry said as he hefted his and Esme’s bags and carried them into the hallway before closing the door behind himself. “Must be doing alright fer yerself if yer can afford a place as swanky as this, mate… better than what I was expecting, anyway!” he went on, looking around the hallway, nodding in approval as Esme let go of me at last and stepped back, grinning at me.
“Hang on, right… how the fuck did yer find where I live?!” I asked, not really sure if that was the right question to be starting with, but I was that flabbergasted to see my brother and sister that I more or less went into autopilot.
“Yer gave mam yer address, mate!” Henry told me, rolling his eyes.
“And we maybe sort of kinda stole it,” Esme informed me, grinning broadly. “And it weren’t exactly difficult to steal it to be honest, Tommy… I mean, dad’s thick, he didn’t think to look, but me and Hnery, we ain’t dumb like him!”
I wasn’t hearing this, I was convinced it was all an optical allusion or something; Henry and Esme were stood in the fucking hallway, the two people who tried to talk me out of leaving because of how angry it’d make the old man! And here they were! In America! “How the fucking hell did yous two end up here though?!” I asked, trying to make heads or tails of what was going on.
“We bought tickets,” Henry told me, like it was the most natural answer in the world. I mean, okay, maybe that was the obvious answer as to how, but I didn’t mean that and they knew it! “But being less pedantic, we saved up. It’s a lot cheaper when you’re buying one way and ain’t coming here as a tourist..”
“One way?!” I blurted out, not entirely sure whether it was a statement or a question to be honest. “You mean you’re staying?!”
“We are if you’ll have us, yeah?” Esme said, practically fluttering her bloody eyelashes at me. Which were a real shitty thing of her, ‘cause she knows I always struggled to say no when she asked me for anything, it’s how she ended up owning all those bloody pokemon cards when we were kids, ‘cause I couldn’t say no when she asked for money to buy ‘em! “You will let us stay, right Tommy?”
What the fuck did yer even say to that, ay? ‘Oh, cheers for travelling on a plane for twelve hours, it’s nice to see yer, but fuck of now?’ weren’t exactly what they were gonna be expecting, were it? But what the fuck were I gonna do wi’ my younger brother and sister in town, ay? Jesus Christ. “Course he is, Es… he ain’t gonna see is out on the street, he ain’t like that, are you Tommy?” Henry asked me, sounding pretty sure of himself. Smug prick knew he had me where he wanted me.
“I mean, of course am not, right, but… this is kind of… I’m just surprised to see yous ‘ere, yous know?” I spluttered, trying to pull myself together. “Leave the bags there ay? Coffee’s brewing, was just making breakfast… you guys want to eat?”
“Well look at Fanny Craddock ‘ere, Esme. Quite the little homemaker our Tommy, ain’t he?” Henry said, grinning to himself the clever cunt, as he took it upon himself to head through to the kitchen. Esme flashed a smile and linked her arm in mine though, and we walked after him together. We stepped into the kitchen to find Henry already sat at the island, pouring himself a coffee into the mug I’d got ready for Marie. “Nice place this, ain’t it? Bet it ain’t cheap… what yous forking out a month for it, ay?” he asked as Esme sat down across from him and I grabbed extra plates from the cupboard.
“So yous gonna tell me how this happened then?” I asked as I switched the burner back on for the frying pan. “Ain’t no way that fat prick let yous two come out ‘ere to see me with his blessing, I know that much…”
“Fuck him,” was the answer that came back, but the thing that was most surprising was that it was Esme who said it, not Henry. I turned around to look at her in disbelieve and she just shrugged. “You were right Tommy, everything you said before you left was true… he’s an arsehole who only cares about himself and his precious wrestling company. We got fed up of the same thing you did, him taking advantage, so we started saving money… and now ‘ere we are,” she finished with a smile. Well, they can’t say I didn’t warn em.
“Hey baby, I couldn’t find the hairdryer, have you seen it-oh!” Marie said as she walked into the kitchen with just a towel wrapped around her, evidently not realising we had company.
She gripped the towel with her hang for added security as Henry stood up, grinning as he ran a hand over his hair to smooth it down. “Well ‘ello there love, we didn’t know Tommy had company staying the night,” he said as he stepped out from behind the kitchen island and tried to walk straight towards Marie. I grabbed the collar of his jacket and yanked him back before he could get more than two steps towards her. “Fucking hell, watch it would ya?” he said, rubbing at his neck like I’d given him whiplash. “Yous wanna be careful doing something like that, you could really hurt someone…”
“If I wanted to hurt yous, Henry, you’d know about it, now sit down would ya?” I told him before turning to walk over to Marie, standing in the doorway to talk to her. “I’m sorry Marie, I didn’t know they were coming, I promise yous,” I told her, wishing I’d been able to pre-warn her that we weren’t alone, but given how shellshocked I was to see them, it sort of slipped my mind.
“Isn’t that… isn’t that your brother and sister?” she asked, risking a glance over my shoulder to where Henry and Esme were sitting at the kitchen island watching our every move. “Henry and Esme, right?”
“That’s us love… don’t worry about an introduction though, we obviously know all about yous!” Henry shouted over to us; clearly we weren’t talking as quietly as we thought. That or he just had supernatural hearing.
“I’m a big fan Ms. Jones, it’s nice to meet yous,” Esme followed up, grinning at the sight of Marie, looking as excited as a kid in a sweet shop.
Turning back to look at Marie, I gave her a weak smile, hoping it would be enough to convey everything else that needed saying; I mean, Marie was probably the perfect person to understand about family and stuff, right? I mean, Kim wasn’t exactly the dictionary definition of normal, was she? And her aunt as about as narcissistic as they come, her mother was going down the same path, her other sister who I’ve not met yet, has a chequered past from what I’ve ‘eard as well. Can’t choose yer family, basically. She seemed to get it though, if her touching my arm was owt to go by. “Hairdryers probably still in my case, love… go get dressed and then I guess we figure out what the fuck’s going on, ay?” I asked and she just nodded, smiling as she gave me a quick kiss before turning to head back upstairs.
I sighed and made me way back into the kitchen again, getting a look from both Henry and Esme, but they were entirely different looks. “Well, ain’t she bostin, ay?” Henry said with a smirk.
“She’s really pretty Tommy,” Esme told me. “I didn’t know yous two were--”
I cut her off, mean as it made me feel when I saw her face drop. “We can talk about that once we’ve finished talking about this,” I told her, motioning to the two of them. “You realise you can only stay for ninety days before you need visa’s, right?”
“Course we bloody do, we got the visa waver things, didn’t we?” Henry said, looking annoyed at me for clearly pointing out what he thought was the obvious. “And I don’t see what that’s got to do with it, Tommy. We told immigration we were looking at applying for visa’s when we came into the country, so it’s not a problem. They already know!” he finished, which caught me off guard.
“Alright, so what yous gonna do for money then, if they do let yous stay?” I countered. “Because I just about afford this place with everything else. I get a bit of money from the Chuckle Brothers out in the driveway, to help like, but I’m not raking it in, working for SCW’s developmental yous know?” I said and suddenly Esme’s face flushed beetroot red. “Alright, what is it? Come on, out with it…”
She clammed up. She obviously didn’t wanna tell me, because Esme does this thing where she disappeared into herself when she don’t wanna talk. And it can be like breaking into the bank of England when she does it. “Well… that’s the thing I need to tell you, Tommy…” she mumbled, looking down at the counter as she played with her hair.
“What is?” I asked.
She didn’t answer for probably six or seven seconds, and didn’t look at me when she did. Don’t think she could. “I’ve got a try-out… with EMERGE…”
Oh fer fuck sake…
“I’m not gonna stand here and say that how EMERGE twenty seven ended were right… but I’m not gonna pretend to be something I ain’t, either.
If others want to be the saviours of this place, then so be it. I did say that we need to band together and if I’m needed I’ll fight whoever… but right now, I’m here to talk about one thing, and that’s this belt I’ve got right here on my shoulder.”
I brought me hand up to tap the belt, ‘cause some people are thick and need stuff pointing out to em after all…
“My biggest problem with this place right now, ain’t the maniacal crazy bitches we’ve got running around trying to cripple people, strange as that may sound… my biggest problem is with that twat who just bought this place, the one who’s been trying to run it into the ground since the moment he took over as GM: Drew Bryant!
Yous hear me, Drew? My problem is with you, mate… ‘cause I’m standing here right now, as your Spirit champion, first bloke to pin Jenni Helms in any match… and instead of wanting to give this title the showcase it deserves, you stick all the people you’ve either ignored or not bothered to come up with anything for into a tournament on the fucking pre-show and then tell em that the winner faces me for this…”
I point to the belt again. Thick, remember…
“Ain’t that just a nice way of not only treating your champions but treating your championships, ay Drew?
Fucking hell mate, I’d hate to know what you’d do if you actually didn’t like someone who worked for yer…
When I came here, it wasn’t to make a quick buck, I came here to make sure people knew exactly how fucking wrong they were about their assessment of me. I came here to prove that looks didn’t matter, that the business weren’t just about jumping around doing flips, that it weren’t about being rich, coming from a powerful family… the only thing that matters, the true ‘Spirit’ of the business if you’ll pardon the pun… is about fighting!
Too many cunts forget that, they really do! Yer don’t need to be a model, yer don’t need to defy gravity, splash the cash or whisper the family name to get ahead, yer just have to be able to kick someone else’s arse before they can kick yours… and me beating Jenni Helms were proof of that, weren’t it?
Yous fucks watching at home, you thought that she had it all. Good looking, talented, adopted by two great wrestlers – even if one of ‘ems a wanker – and figured she’d whipe the floor with me. AND I PROVED YOU WRONG!”
Calm down Tommy, don’t get too worked up.
“Ugly Tommy Cook, the dirty fucking gypo from Birmingham, he ain’t gonna do anything in this company, he’s a waste of a contract… only he did. I did. I beat Jenni in my debut, and then did it again to take her belt… and now Drew Bryant has offered up the right to challenge me for it as an afterthought for eight people on the pre-show! Which says everything I need to know about our new employer, it really fucking does.
Well I hope you’re paying attention Drew… because in Miami, I’m gonna show you exactly why this belt right here should have been given the attention it deserved from the start, not forgotten about until last minute!
Because that tournament, that sets the tone for the entire pay per view. Eight people competing to challenge, the winner facing me, the head of the division… only I’m not ready to step down yet, not until you’ve taken note of exactly who the fuck I am, Bryant! Concentrating on bad business decisions, trying to run a second company into the ground and watching the lunatics take over the asylum has taken up your attention…
…but whether it’s Masters, Robinson, Shelley, Yuyo, Copeland, Swann, Devna or even my old mucka in Monarchy, Aubrianna… the SPIRIT championship steals the fucking show and Tommy Cook steals the spotlight with it! Said I’d do it against Jenni and I did. Tommy Cook ain’t a liar, whatever else I may be. Monday night, I prove it. See if I don’t.”
