Post by darkdisciple on Apr 19, 2012 13:07:46 GMT -5
"Wow...Stytch is one rich guy."
It was hard to think anything else given the circumstances. I knew the guy was a veteran, and a damn good wrestler, but I didn't even think it was possible to make this much wrestling. My own salary of $500 per show (when I was even able to squeeze it out of the financial team) was just barely enough that I could send $300 to my sisters and live off the other $200 until my next match. So looking at this training complex that must have cost several million was a bit of a shock. It was the sort of thing I hadn't really dreamed of before, but I knew I would be now.
"Nice place you've got here"
It was the understatement of the century. Stytch had tried to pass it off as someone else's work. Said all he had done was put the rings in. Looking at it was enough to disprove that. Sure he hadn't done anything major, but here and there you could tell something useful had been added: a punching bag here, a drink cooler there, an ostentatious collection of posters of Stytch hanging on a wall. It was clear that Stytch loved this place, and I could hardly blame him. However, I was here to find synergy with my new partner, not marvel at the amount of money he had earned for all of his hard work. The first match had been a squash in every sense of the word, it was hardly a prime opportunity for preparing for a high level match in the NYCCW. Alex Wright had told me, back when I had been able to train at his school in Nürnburg, that my psychology was my strongest weapon. 'Even stronger than your glutes' were his actual words, but he was always hiding great advice in his jokes. I figured Derren and Zak might benefit from an on-the-fly lesson on in ring strategy.
As Stytch and I climb the ring apron, I mumble in his ear.
"I'm gonna go ahead and let these guys try and mount some offense"
"What are you thinking?"
"I want to see how we do defensively, plus... I want to see what these guys can do."
"Fine with me, just don't lose. I'd never hear the end of it.
"Oh, don't worry, you'll break the pin right?"
*winks* "I might..."
I smirk as I turn towards my opponent, it looks like my little talk with Zak earlier didn't raise his confidence much, as Derren is the one who starts the match this time. Inexplicably, as soon as Stytch shouts 'go' my opponent decides to try and lock up with me. The first thing you learn as a wrestler is to never, ever put yourself in a position you can't win. So either Stytch was teaching these kids all wrong, or these kids had egos to rival Ace Styles himself. I let him try to wrench me either way for a bit before taking a step forward and flinging him to the mat. He ended up nearly going out of the ring as he hit the mat, but he grabbed the rope and managed to keep himself in. I held my hands out at my side and half taunted, half lectured him
"Come now, you can't try and chain wrestle someone stronger than you. That's basic strategy, use my disadvantages to your advantage!"
He paused for a moment, clearly thinking it over, before he charged me. I took a clumsy swing he easily ducked and he headed off the opposite ropes. He charged and went for a crossbody, but I easily caught him and quickly transitioned into a Gorilla Press Slam. I didn't put all of my effort into it, but I still got a satisfying slam noise from it, and I knew it would hurt enough to make the next part of the lesson stick in his mind.
"Speed works on technicians, if you want to try it on big guys, you need to weaken them first. What are you teaching these kids Stytch?"
"What am I supposed to do? They have their styles, they don't like trying new things. You've got to show them their old tricks won't work on everyone. That's why you're here."
No it wasn't, I was here to work on my teamwork with Stytch, but if these two didn't give me a good match, I wouldn't be able to focus on our teamwork. "Try again" I commanded the young trainee, who had struggled to his feet. He looked at me with a mixture of exhaustion and determination. I circled around as he did the same. We moved closer together and he jumped up for a dropkick. It was well executed, but he had telegraphed it too much, at least he was learning. He crashed to the mat and I shook my head at him. I wasn't expecting the Russian Leg Sweep. It wasn't strong, but the surprise took me off of one of my feet, I decided to humor him, and took my other leg out as well, letting myself go down to the mat. I wanted to see what Derren would do. He grabbed my arm and tried to wrench it behind my back in a weak submission attempt… at least it felt weak. I swung him off and climbed (intentionally slowly) to my knees. Derren took advantage and landed a kick to my chest. I glared at him.
"You really think that’ll hurt me at all?"
Derren responded with a dropkick to the face. It took me by surprise, it also knocked me over. The kid packed a punch. He’d probably be a good brawler if he could beef up somewhat, but he disappointed me when he went right for a pin instead of trying to inflict more damage. I threw him off of me in the general direction of our corner and rolled up to my feet. He climbed to his feet as well and got shoved towards me from behind by Stytch, I caught him and landed an Atomic Drop. The impact on his legs made him start to fall over, but I grabbed him with one hand and tossed him towards my partner. He landed hard in the corner and I tagged Stytch in.
Stytch wasted no time in getting to work, he grabbed my shoulder and used it as leverage and balance to hop to the top rope, he grabbed Derren by the hair and jumped off the rope, pulling Derren over his shoulder and flipping him into a rear naked choke. The speed of the maneuver took me by surprise, Stytch hadn't told me that he was even considering using me as a boost to get to the top rope, but my size made it a good support for such a high risk position. I shook my head as I realized Stytch was already starting to improvise maneuvers while I was still being relatively solo. Stytch whipped Derren to the ropes, where Zak had the savvy (though perhaps not the wisdom) to slap him on the back and tag himself in. Stycth still managed to take Derren down with a drop kick before kipping up to his feet and taking Derren down with a drop toe hold. For my part, I jumped off the apron and grabbed Derren by the feet and pulled him out of the ring. I left him ringside and climbed back on the corner. Stytch had been letting Zak try and build some offense, but he kept using his impressive speed and agility to stay just out of reach. Stytch wound up behind Zak, who swung around with a wild punch and ended up getting his arm hooked in a back to back Chickenwing. Stytch quickly dropped down and pinned Zak’s shoulders with a backslide. I started to count to three, but in doing so I forgot to keep Derren at ringside, and he flew in and broke the pin. I climbed in as Derren tried to stomp on Stytch while he was down. I tapped Derren on the shoulder, and managed to get a firm grip on his throat just as he turned around. I lifted him in the air and started to slam him, but I guess I was used to larger necks, because he managed to slip out. He bounced off the ropes thinking to build some momentum, but I caught him with a quick knee to the gut, bending him over double. Without even thinking I grabbed Stytch by the waist in a gutwrench position, shouting out ‘Head Scissors’ as I did. Stytch immediately understood, and as I swung his legs around Derren’s neck, sending the kid flying out of the ring.
"Again" I heard Stytch shout, I noticed Zak struggling to his feet and got the message, it was more precise this time as Stytch came in running, but I all but threw him into position; he executed his part perfectly. A rush of adrenaline sent Zak right back to his feet, but he staggered back into the ropes. I grabbed Stytch by the arm and swung him in an irish whip right into Zak. Stytch bounced back out and grabbed my own arm. I didn’t even have to think about it as he sent me straight into the kid. I climbed out of the ring as Stytch dropped Zak into the middle of the ring and non-chalantly dropped on his chest. Zak managed to impress me by kicking out. The two had fight, they were stupid, but they had fight in them. Stytch seemed somewhat disappointed in himself for not making a full cover. I offered my hand and he tagged me in. He grabbed Zak off the mat and whipped him right to me. I caught him and landed a nice heavy Spinebuster. I noticed Derren starting to climb to his feet outside and told Stytch to help me out. "I’m sending you over" was all I had to say, Stytch was veteran enough to know what I had in mind, I thought that anyway, turned out he thought I was just going to give him a boost, not grab him in a body press and throw him in a suicide spear at the kid. Stytch took it pretty well though, and it served its purpose as I turned to Zak and grabbed him by the throat. An easy choke slam let me picked up the one two three.
I helped Zak to his feet as Stytch started yelling at me from outside.
”What the hell was that?”
”What? I told you, you were going over!”
”I didn’t think you were going to fucking throw me!”
”It worked didn’t it? Besides, that just shows we’re starting to get in each other’s minds. We had some great teamwork that time.”
”True, I guess that’s right, we did pretty well there. Much better than the first match. We weren’t the only ones though were we?”
Stytch turned to Zak and Derren as they sat on the bench catching their breath. I nodded in agreement and patted Derren on the shoulder. He glanced up at me, still breathing heavy, and half grinned.
”I almost had you with that dropkick.”
”Sure you did, one drop kick is all it takes to bring down a superheavy isn’t it? You had him grounded, if you had kept assaulting him instead of going for the pin you might have done better.”
”It was a good place to start though. You have decent technique, you just need strategy and power.”
”A Schwarzeneggerian body couldn’t hurt either. ”
I strike my signature flex pose, The Iron Cross (finished second place in the Herr Bavaria contest with that one, after entering just to promote my wrestling career too) then I laugh and tell them that size isn’t everything in wrestling, and it hadn’t been since the Cruiserweight revolution. They seem less than convinced, but it certainly helps that they’ve been trained by Stytch. I tell them to get changed so we can head out to a sports bar for dinner (on Stytch if I can swing it) Then I ask Stytch if he has a phone nearby.[/i]
”Yeah, There’s one behind that counter over there.”
He points over at what looks like what was once a bar back when the place was a night club, but had since been turned into a work desk of sorts, papers were thrown about everywhere, some were financial statements, some were Wrestling magazines, and others appeared to be High School mathematics homework, which probably belonged to one of the trainees. I didn’t see the phone, so I began opening the cupboards to see if it was stashed in one of them. While digging around, I came across a very small drawer hidden underneath the shelf of one cupboard. Forcing it open, I found a lone dusty bottle of whiskey inside. Brushing the dust off I could see it was unopened, which was a good thing, given the only people here were either underage or straight edge, I figured it must have been left behind from when the place closed down. I brushed off the label and nearly dropped it. The date on it read 1906, I had to re-read it several times before I believed it. It was definitely the bottle’s date, not the companies founding. I had found a bottle of whiskey over 100 years old. Sure, I didn’t like whiskey, but this was still pretty cool.
"Hey, Stytch!"
Stytch walked up nodding
"Yeah, I know the phone’s hard to find if you don’t know where to look. Sorry about that."
I handed him the bottle
"Look at the date on it"
”Hmm… that’s for this bottle?”
”Yeah, this stuff is over a hundred years old.”
”It’s probably gone rotten then.”
”Whiskey doesn’t go foul, it just gets better with age, like wine.”
”Well, in that case, enjoy it.”
”I can’t take this Stytch. It came with the building, it belongs to you. You could probably sell this for some good money.”
”Money is something I’m not desperate enough to sell alcohol for. I don’t want it. You take it. Happy Birthday.”
”My birthday is in October…”
”Then don’t expect anything!”
”Ya jerk.”
”I try. The phone’s over there, under the counter.”
I set the bottle in my gym bag. It was probably worth about 500 since I found it in a club, not a private collection. I decided it would make a nice thank you present for Carl Farmer, after the help he gave me. I had received my first paycheck the day before, with a promise that the back payments would be given to me eventually. I didn’t know if Carl liked Whisky, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.
I grabbed the phone and dialed the international operator. I asked her to dial up the house of my Aunt Maria and Uncle Norm. I was met with the sound of a familiar voice.
"Hallo, hier ist Tija Kreisinger für den Haushalt Norm Kreisinger"
I can’t help but smile as my native tongue starts to flow from my lips. "Hallo Tija, hier ist dein älterer Bruder" She squeals in excitement, like she always does. I cringed at the high pitchedness of it, but I knew she was glad to hear from me. I rarely got to talk to her since her School schedule was always conflicting with my wrestling, and the 6 hour time difference didn’t help. It was one of those rare Fridays where I was able to call though.
"Wie geht es Ihnen und wie ist Kamie?"
"Sehr gut danke. Aber wie geht es dir? Ich hörte, Sie hatten einen unheimlich Spiel. Bist du verletzt?"
"Nein, ich bin gut. Ich gewann das Spiel kein Problem."
"Ja! Das ist sehr schön! Ich wusste, dass du es schaffst. Es tut mir leid, aber Onkel Norm ließ mich nicht zu beobachten."
"Nein, nein, er hat Recht, du bist zu jung für Hardcore-Wrestling-so."
"Sie sind kein Spaß Willi. Ich will immer Sie sich ansehen."
"Hmm ... Sie beobachten diese Woche?"
"Ja, natürlich."
"Ich habe einen neuen Partner. Denken Sie daran, den Mann in der grünen Maske?"
"Ja, Herr Stytch?"
"Ja. Er ist ein netter Kerl. Du möchtest ihm, denke ich."
"Kann ich vielleicht ihn getroffen?"
"Tija, wir haben darüber gesprochen, bevor."
"Bitteeeeee! Ich gearbeitet habe, so sehr, sehr hart. Ich will dich wieder sehen. Und Kami ist okay mit ihm!"
"Wie geht Ihr Englisch Klasse?"
"Now, much better I can… um… I can… TALK! I can talk English very good."
"Es ist 'I can now speak English very well'"
"Oh, tut mir leid. Aber, ich lerne jeden Tag mehr!"
"Ja, das ist so. Aber Sie müssen in der Schule für heute bleiben. Vielleicht im Sommer, vielleicht, aber du musst versprechen, hart zu arbeiten in der Schule."
"Ja ja, ich werde tun, wie du mein Bruder sagen herzlos."
"So hart ist. Na ja, ist deine Schwester da?"
"Nein, heute ist sie auf ihre Veranstaltung. Sie hat ein Match gegen den Angriff Blonde für die Meisterschaft."
"Oh, ich sehe. Na, dann muss ich Ihnen später zu sprechen. Ich muss mich für meine eigene Veranstaltung bereit. Mein Partner und ich fangen an, ein sehr gutes Team in den Ring zu werden."
"Ich kann es kaum erwarten, zu sehen."
"Seid gut. Helfen Sie Ihrem Onkel und Tante und Schwester. Und achten Sie darauf, im Klassenverband aufmerksam."
"Jawohl. Ich werde mein Bestes tun."
"Ich liebe dich Tija."
"Ich liebe dich großer Bruder."
"Tschüss."
"Auf Wiedersehen."
As I hang up the phone, I turn around to see Stytch, hand on his chin, a look of mock dreaminess on his face.
"I don’t know what the hell you just said, but damn did it sound nice."
"You might possibly be insane."
"True, but at least I’m not crazy."
I look at him with a look of mock anger, before we both burst into laughter.
"Come my friend, let’s go find a sports grill and watch baseball while complaining that they aren’t showing football."
"Sounds like fun. Let’s go."
Zak and Derren join us as we head out of the dungeon. I take one last look around the place, knowing I’d probably be back there again soon. I had decided I would have a place like this someday. A place where I could wrestle whenever I wanted and I could teach the art to the next generation. But before I got that far, I had a long way to go. And it all started with the match against Rye and Metallica. I glance over at Stytch, who is having a conversation with his two students. Nothing seems to faze him in the ring, which was something I hoped would rub off on me. I had a long time left in my career, and I planned on having a memorable one. It all began all over again with each match.[/i]
It was hard to think anything else given the circumstances. I knew the guy was a veteran, and a damn good wrestler, but I didn't even think it was possible to make this much wrestling. My own salary of $500 per show (when I was even able to squeeze it out of the financial team) was just barely enough that I could send $300 to my sisters and live off the other $200 until my next match. So looking at this training complex that must have cost several million was a bit of a shock. It was the sort of thing I hadn't really dreamed of before, but I knew I would be now.
"Nice place you've got here"
It was the understatement of the century. Stytch had tried to pass it off as someone else's work. Said all he had done was put the rings in. Looking at it was enough to disprove that. Sure he hadn't done anything major, but here and there you could tell something useful had been added: a punching bag here, a drink cooler there, an ostentatious collection of posters of Stytch hanging on a wall. It was clear that Stytch loved this place, and I could hardly blame him. However, I was here to find synergy with my new partner, not marvel at the amount of money he had earned for all of his hard work. The first match had been a squash in every sense of the word, it was hardly a prime opportunity for preparing for a high level match in the NYCCW. Alex Wright had told me, back when I had been able to train at his school in Nürnburg, that my psychology was my strongest weapon. 'Even stronger than your glutes' were his actual words, but he was always hiding great advice in his jokes. I figured Derren and Zak might benefit from an on-the-fly lesson on in ring strategy.
As Stytch and I climb the ring apron, I mumble in his ear.
"I'm gonna go ahead and let these guys try and mount some offense"
"What are you thinking?"
"I want to see how we do defensively, plus... I want to see what these guys can do."
"Fine with me, just don't lose. I'd never hear the end of it.
"Oh, don't worry, you'll break the pin right?"
*winks* "I might..."
I smirk as I turn towards my opponent, it looks like my little talk with Zak earlier didn't raise his confidence much, as Derren is the one who starts the match this time. Inexplicably, as soon as Stytch shouts 'go' my opponent decides to try and lock up with me. The first thing you learn as a wrestler is to never, ever put yourself in a position you can't win. So either Stytch was teaching these kids all wrong, or these kids had egos to rival Ace Styles himself. I let him try to wrench me either way for a bit before taking a step forward and flinging him to the mat. He ended up nearly going out of the ring as he hit the mat, but he grabbed the rope and managed to keep himself in. I held my hands out at my side and half taunted, half lectured him
"Come now, you can't try and chain wrestle someone stronger than you. That's basic strategy, use my disadvantages to your advantage!"
He paused for a moment, clearly thinking it over, before he charged me. I took a clumsy swing he easily ducked and he headed off the opposite ropes. He charged and went for a crossbody, but I easily caught him and quickly transitioned into a Gorilla Press Slam. I didn't put all of my effort into it, but I still got a satisfying slam noise from it, and I knew it would hurt enough to make the next part of the lesson stick in his mind.
"Speed works on technicians, if you want to try it on big guys, you need to weaken them first. What are you teaching these kids Stytch?"
"What am I supposed to do? They have their styles, they don't like trying new things. You've got to show them their old tricks won't work on everyone. That's why you're here."
No it wasn't, I was here to work on my teamwork with Stytch, but if these two didn't give me a good match, I wouldn't be able to focus on our teamwork. "Try again" I commanded the young trainee, who had struggled to his feet. He looked at me with a mixture of exhaustion and determination. I circled around as he did the same. We moved closer together and he jumped up for a dropkick. It was well executed, but he had telegraphed it too much, at least he was learning. He crashed to the mat and I shook my head at him. I wasn't expecting the Russian Leg Sweep. It wasn't strong, but the surprise took me off of one of my feet, I decided to humor him, and took my other leg out as well, letting myself go down to the mat. I wanted to see what Derren would do. He grabbed my arm and tried to wrench it behind my back in a weak submission attempt… at least it felt weak. I swung him off and climbed (intentionally slowly) to my knees. Derren took advantage and landed a kick to my chest. I glared at him.
"You really think that’ll hurt me at all?"
Derren responded with a dropkick to the face. It took me by surprise, it also knocked me over. The kid packed a punch. He’d probably be a good brawler if he could beef up somewhat, but he disappointed me when he went right for a pin instead of trying to inflict more damage. I threw him off of me in the general direction of our corner and rolled up to my feet. He climbed to his feet as well and got shoved towards me from behind by Stytch, I caught him and landed an Atomic Drop. The impact on his legs made him start to fall over, but I grabbed him with one hand and tossed him towards my partner. He landed hard in the corner and I tagged Stytch in.
Stytch wasted no time in getting to work, he grabbed my shoulder and used it as leverage and balance to hop to the top rope, he grabbed Derren by the hair and jumped off the rope, pulling Derren over his shoulder and flipping him into a rear naked choke. The speed of the maneuver took me by surprise, Stytch hadn't told me that he was even considering using me as a boost to get to the top rope, but my size made it a good support for such a high risk position. I shook my head as I realized Stytch was already starting to improvise maneuvers while I was still being relatively solo. Stytch whipped Derren to the ropes, where Zak had the savvy (though perhaps not the wisdom) to slap him on the back and tag himself in. Stycth still managed to take Derren down with a drop kick before kipping up to his feet and taking Derren down with a drop toe hold. For my part, I jumped off the apron and grabbed Derren by the feet and pulled him out of the ring. I left him ringside and climbed back on the corner. Stytch had been letting Zak try and build some offense, but he kept using his impressive speed and agility to stay just out of reach. Stytch wound up behind Zak, who swung around with a wild punch and ended up getting his arm hooked in a back to back Chickenwing. Stytch quickly dropped down and pinned Zak’s shoulders with a backslide. I started to count to three, but in doing so I forgot to keep Derren at ringside, and he flew in and broke the pin. I climbed in as Derren tried to stomp on Stytch while he was down. I tapped Derren on the shoulder, and managed to get a firm grip on his throat just as he turned around. I lifted him in the air and started to slam him, but I guess I was used to larger necks, because he managed to slip out. He bounced off the ropes thinking to build some momentum, but I caught him with a quick knee to the gut, bending him over double. Without even thinking I grabbed Stytch by the waist in a gutwrench position, shouting out ‘Head Scissors’ as I did. Stytch immediately understood, and as I swung his legs around Derren’s neck, sending the kid flying out of the ring.
"Again" I heard Stytch shout, I noticed Zak struggling to his feet and got the message, it was more precise this time as Stytch came in running, but I all but threw him into position; he executed his part perfectly. A rush of adrenaline sent Zak right back to his feet, but he staggered back into the ropes. I grabbed Stytch by the arm and swung him in an irish whip right into Zak. Stytch bounced back out and grabbed my own arm. I didn’t even have to think about it as he sent me straight into the kid. I climbed out of the ring as Stytch dropped Zak into the middle of the ring and non-chalantly dropped on his chest. Zak managed to impress me by kicking out. The two had fight, they were stupid, but they had fight in them. Stytch seemed somewhat disappointed in himself for not making a full cover. I offered my hand and he tagged me in. He grabbed Zak off the mat and whipped him right to me. I caught him and landed a nice heavy Spinebuster. I noticed Derren starting to climb to his feet outside and told Stytch to help me out. "I’m sending you over" was all I had to say, Stytch was veteran enough to know what I had in mind, I thought that anyway, turned out he thought I was just going to give him a boost, not grab him in a body press and throw him in a suicide spear at the kid. Stytch took it pretty well though, and it served its purpose as I turned to Zak and grabbed him by the throat. An easy choke slam let me picked up the one two three.
I helped Zak to his feet as Stytch started yelling at me from outside.
”What the hell was that?”
”What? I told you, you were going over!”
”I didn’t think you were going to fucking throw me!”
”It worked didn’t it? Besides, that just shows we’re starting to get in each other’s minds. We had some great teamwork that time.”
”True, I guess that’s right, we did pretty well there. Much better than the first match. We weren’t the only ones though were we?”
Stytch turned to Zak and Derren as they sat on the bench catching their breath. I nodded in agreement and patted Derren on the shoulder. He glanced up at me, still breathing heavy, and half grinned.
”I almost had you with that dropkick.”
”Sure you did, one drop kick is all it takes to bring down a superheavy isn’t it? You had him grounded, if you had kept assaulting him instead of going for the pin you might have done better.”
”It was a good place to start though. You have decent technique, you just need strategy and power.”
”A Schwarzeneggerian body couldn’t hurt either. ”
I strike my signature flex pose, The Iron Cross (finished second place in the Herr Bavaria contest with that one, after entering just to promote my wrestling career too) then I laugh and tell them that size isn’t everything in wrestling, and it hadn’t been since the Cruiserweight revolution. They seem less than convinced, but it certainly helps that they’ve been trained by Stytch. I tell them to get changed so we can head out to a sports bar for dinner (on Stytch if I can swing it) Then I ask Stytch if he has a phone nearby.[/i]
”Yeah, There’s one behind that counter over there.”
He points over at what looks like what was once a bar back when the place was a night club, but had since been turned into a work desk of sorts, papers were thrown about everywhere, some were financial statements, some were Wrestling magazines, and others appeared to be High School mathematics homework, which probably belonged to one of the trainees. I didn’t see the phone, so I began opening the cupboards to see if it was stashed in one of them. While digging around, I came across a very small drawer hidden underneath the shelf of one cupboard. Forcing it open, I found a lone dusty bottle of whiskey inside. Brushing the dust off I could see it was unopened, which was a good thing, given the only people here were either underage or straight edge, I figured it must have been left behind from when the place closed down. I brushed off the label and nearly dropped it. The date on it read 1906, I had to re-read it several times before I believed it. It was definitely the bottle’s date, not the companies founding. I had found a bottle of whiskey over 100 years old. Sure, I didn’t like whiskey, but this was still pretty cool.
"Hey, Stytch!"
Stytch walked up nodding
"Yeah, I know the phone’s hard to find if you don’t know where to look. Sorry about that."
I handed him the bottle
"Look at the date on it"
”Hmm… that’s for this bottle?”
”Yeah, this stuff is over a hundred years old.”
”It’s probably gone rotten then.”
”Whiskey doesn’t go foul, it just gets better with age, like wine.”
”Well, in that case, enjoy it.”
”I can’t take this Stytch. It came with the building, it belongs to you. You could probably sell this for some good money.”
”Money is something I’m not desperate enough to sell alcohol for. I don’t want it. You take it. Happy Birthday.”
”My birthday is in October…”
”Then don’t expect anything!”
”Ya jerk.”
”I try. The phone’s over there, under the counter.”
I set the bottle in my gym bag. It was probably worth about 500 since I found it in a club, not a private collection. I decided it would make a nice thank you present for Carl Farmer, after the help he gave me. I had received my first paycheck the day before, with a promise that the back payments would be given to me eventually. I didn’t know if Carl liked Whisky, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.
I grabbed the phone and dialed the international operator. I asked her to dial up the house of my Aunt Maria and Uncle Norm. I was met with the sound of a familiar voice.
"Hallo, hier ist Tija Kreisinger für den Haushalt Norm Kreisinger"
I can’t help but smile as my native tongue starts to flow from my lips. "Hallo Tija, hier ist dein älterer Bruder" She squeals in excitement, like she always does. I cringed at the high pitchedness of it, but I knew she was glad to hear from me. I rarely got to talk to her since her School schedule was always conflicting with my wrestling, and the 6 hour time difference didn’t help. It was one of those rare Fridays where I was able to call though.
"Wie geht es Ihnen und wie ist Kamie?"
"Sehr gut danke. Aber wie geht es dir? Ich hörte, Sie hatten einen unheimlich Spiel. Bist du verletzt?"
"Nein, ich bin gut. Ich gewann das Spiel kein Problem."
"Ja! Das ist sehr schön! Ich wusste, dass du es schaffst. Es tut mir leid, aber Onkel Norm ließ mich nicht zu beobachten."
"Nein, nein, er hat Recht, du bist zu jung für Hardcore-Wrestling-so."
"Sie sind kein Spaß Willi. Ich will immer Sie sich ansehen."
"Hmm ... Sie beobachten diese Woche?"
"Ja, natürlich."
"Ich habe einen neuen Partner. Denken Sie daran, den Mann in der grünen Maske?"
"Ja, Herr Stytch?"
"Ja. Er ist ein netter Kerl. Du möchtest ihm, denke ich."
"Kann ich vielleicht ihn getroffen?"
"Tija, wir haben darüber gesprochen, bevor."
"Bitteeeeee! Ich gearbeitet habe, so sehr, sehr hart. Ich will dich wieder sehen. Und Kami ist okay mit ihm!"
"Wie geht Ihr Englisch Klasse?"
"Now, much better I can… um… I can… TALK! I can talk English very good."
"Es ist 'I can now speak English very well'"
"Oh, tut mir leid. Aber, ich lerne jeden Tag mehr!"
"Ja, das ist so. Aber Sie müssen in der Schule für heute bleiben. Vielleicht im Sommer, vielleicht, aber du musst versprechen, hart zu arbeiten in der Schule."
"Ja ja, ich werde tun, wie du mein Bruder sagen herzlos."
"So hart ist. Na ja, ist deine Schwester da?"
"Nein, heute ist sie auf ihre Veranstaltung. Sie hat ein Match gegen den Angriff Blonde für die Meisterschaft."
"Oh, ich sehe. Na, dann muss ich Ihnen später zu sprechen. Ich muss mich für meine eigene Veranstaltung bereit. Mein Partner und ich fangen an, ein sehr gutes Team in den Ring zu werden."
"Ich kann es kaum erwarten, zu sehen."
"Seid gut. Helfen Sie Ihrem Onkel und Tante und Schwester. Und achten Sie darauf, im Klassenverband aufmerksam."
"Jawohl. Ich werde mein Bestes tun."
"Ich liebe dich Tija."
"Ich liebe dich großer Bruder."
"Tschüss."
"Auf Wiedersehen."
As I hang up the phone, I turn around to see Stytch, hand on his chin, a look of mock dreaminess on his face.
"I don’t know what the hell you just said, but damn did it sound nice."
"You might possibly be insane."
"True, but at least I’m not crazy."
I look at him with a look of mock anger, before we both burst into laughter.
"Come my friend, let’s go find a sports grill and watch baseball while complaining that they aren’t showing football."
"Sounds like fun. Let’s go."
Zak and Derren join us as we head out of the dungeon. I take one last look around the place, knowing I’d probably be back there again soon. I had decided I would have a place like this someday. A place where I could wrestle whenever I wanted and I could teach the art to the next generation. But before I got that far, I had a long way to go. And it all started with the match against Rye and Metallica. I glance over at Stytch, who is having a conversation with his two students. Nothing seems to faze him in the ring, which was something I hoped would rub off on me. I had a long time left in my career, and I planned on having a memorable one. It all began all over again with each match.[/i]